Fall 2019 Course Syllabus LDU 101 Elementary Dutch I Instructor Kathleen Caenen holds a Master Degree (cum laude) in Romance Philology, French and Spanish Literature and Linguistics from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and a BA in Law from the Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix in Namur. Teaching at Vesalius College since 2008, she has been a visiting professor on the Drew University Brussels Program and held the position of Resident Director for the BCA Study Abroad Program in Brussels for two years.From 2012 to 2017 Kathleen also held the resident directorship of the Brussels based Internships in Francophone Europe/ Institute for Field Education - (IFE) Programme. Furthermore she also used to work as an editor for the Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie, in the Parliament of the Brussels Capital Region and has been teaching Business French at Odisee Univer- sity College/ KULeuven since 2016. She is also working on her Ph.D thesis in Belgian Francophone Literature and Women Studies: “ L’évolution de l’émanicpation de la femme en droit belge, quels liens et quelles interactions avec l’image de la femme dans les oeuvres romanesques de Neel Doff, Marie Gevers, Suzanne Lilar, Lilane Wouters et Eliza Brune” under the supervision of Prof. Gullen- tops at the VUB. Contact Details E-mail: [email protected] Office hours and location: Professor Caenen: Tuesday and Thursday :8h00-8h30 (by appointment only) and 13h-13h30. Other possibilities exist on other weekdays (except Friday) but appointments need to be scheduled a week in advance. Emails will be answered anywhere between 8h AM and 16h00 PM. Any emails sent later will be answered the following day. Emails sent over the weekend will be answered the next business day. Email is the preferred channel of communication for this class, any messages sent through Canvas are not guaranteed to be answered within reasonable delay. How to make an appointment? Ask in class or send an email a day or two prior to the appointment. Course Description and Course Methodology SHORT DESCRIPTION This course is an absolute beginner’s course, conform to the CEF Common European Framework for Languages, entrance level A1 and exit level A2. Students acquire an elementary knowledge of the Dutch language, and will be able to communicate autonomously very quickly. Basic communication skills will be exercised by reading short dialogues and small texts. Phrase structures and vocabulary will be practiced with the instructor and in small groups.Students will also work on small simple written texts. Students who have any prior Dutch knowledge will be given other exercises and assignments. LECTURES Classes will be taught in Dutch progressively from the beginning and every student is expected to produce Dutch phrases to his ability during classes. Gaining confidence while speaking is far more important than worrying about the mistakes you might make. Classes will be taught twice a week, classes are devoted to learning and understanding new theory, new grammar or new vocabulary skills. We will use the handbook “Help 1”. Students will need to prepare classes in advance by reading at home and listening to the MP3’s and making the announced exercices in the book..We will also be making exercises and practice Dutch in use, be it reading, writing, speaking. Students can use the “Hulpboek Engels” specially designed to offer background to English native speakers. This “Hulpboek Engels” has vocabulary lists and grammatical explanations in English. The book is available from the instructor upon request, as it is quite expensive and therefore not compulsory. A few class sessions will also be spent learning more about and discussing diverse cultural, sociolog- ical and political elements from both Flanders and the Netherlands. To keep up with the day to day news from Flanders in English, consult www.flanderstoday.eu on a regular basis. Course planning and schedule. 1) Weeks 1-6: Les 1-4 2) Midterm in Week 7 3) Weeks 8 -14: Les 5-8 => Thursday Week 12 : Language Department Show and tell (5-7 PM) 4) Final exam in Week 15 This is an approximative course planning, as this course focusses on the skill of learning a new lan- guage the plan might be modified during the semester to accommodate the pace of the students. Course Content Grammar 1. Conjugation of verbs in the present and the future: clear/dark vowels, double consonants,inver- sion with je/jij, auxiliary verbs ( kunnen, zullen, winnen, mogen) 2. Syntax: main clauses, inversion, questions, statements, subordinate clauses with want/omdat, om te + infinitive, er + numeral. 3. Pronouns: subject and object pronouns, pronouns after a preposition, possessive pronouns, 4. Articles: definite article de/het, indefinite article ‘een’, the plural of the definite and indefinite article 5. Nouns: regular forms of the plural, and the irregular forms of the plural. 6. Adjectives: both in use as a predicate and before a noun, the basic form of the comparative. 7. Interrogatives : basic forms. 8. Negation: with, geen, with niet, of a finite verb, in sentences with a definite object, of a word group starting with a preposition, negation of an adjective and an infinitive. 9. Numerals : cardinal numerals 10. Time: indications of time :dates, days of the week, months of the year, seasons, festivals. Conversational skills and vocabulary 1. Presenting oneself and asking others to present themselves in formal and informal circumstances. Asking and giving an address, a telephone number, completing a simple administrative form, asking information or help. 2. Asking and giving directions, understanding signs and questions, means of transportation, voca- bulary linked with public life. 3. Making an appointment with someone ( both formal and informal), scheduling, inviting someone, organizing an activity. 4. Giving and asking for time indications, specific parts of the day, holidays and festivals, congra- tulations and commiserations. 5. Ordering in a restaurant or a café, asking for the menu/ the price/…, food and drink vocabulary, asking for and giving information in a shop, both for food and clothing. 6. School vocabulary: classroom items, the school system, different courses, .. 7. Family vocabulary, the family tree and different relationships. 8. Reading and responding to an add in a newspaper, housing vocabulary. Course Prerequisites Decent knowledge of general grammatical concepts and terminology. Learning Objectives After this course, students will have the following skills, and should be able to: • Skill :Understand basic communication and be able to participate in everyday basic conversations. • Skill and knowledge: Read and understand basic Dutch texts and compose simple written work. • Attitude: Feel confident while speaking Dutch in front of their peers. • Knowledge: Know the basic grammar and basic vocabulary to manage living in a Dutch speaking environment. • Knowledge: Gain insight into and knowledge about Dutch speaking countries in Europe and their culture. Course Materials 1) E.,Ham, W.H.T.M, Tersteeg, L. Zijlmans, Kunt u mij helpen? Help 1, een cursus Nederlands voor anderstaligen. NCB, Utrecht ( available for hire at Reception ) + Optional hulpboek Engels ( available at Vesalius College, ask the Instructor) 2) Course handouts available on Pointcarré. 3) Background reading : Flanders News. (www.flandersnews.be) 4) Audio MP3 ‘s made by the instructor with all the texts of the handbook ( on Canvas) EXTRA READING If you are interested in politics and history, you can find some extra information in the following books. They can be found in the VUB or ULB library or in the National Belgian Library ( the “ Albertina library” www.kbr.be, near the central station) If the book can be found in this library, the library code is also provided. ( ALB) 1. Geert Van Istendael, Le labyrinthe belge, traduit du néerlandais par Monique Nagielkopf et Marnix Vincent, préface Jaques de Decker, Bordeaux, Le castor astral, 2004, 277 p. ( bib. ULB) 2. Els Witte, Jan Craeybeckx, Alain Meynen, Political history of Belgium from 1830 onwards, Brussel, VUB University Press, Antwerpen, Standaard, 2000, 297 p. ( bib ALB : A2000 5. 730) 3. Benno Barnard, Martine Van Berlo, Geert Van Istendael, How can one not be interested in Belgian history? War, language and consensus in Belgium since 1830. Gent, Academia Press, Dub- lin, Trinity College, 2005, 151p. ( bib ALB A 2006 4.492 + Bib. VUB) 4. Els Witte, Language and politics : The Belgian case study in a historical perspective Bruxelles, VUB University Press, 1999, 239 p. ( bib ULB + bib. VUB) 5. Richard Hill, The Art of being Belgian, Brussels, Belgium and Beyond, Europublications, Brussels, 2005, 208 p. (bib. ALB A 2007 5.551) 6. Harry Pearson, A Tall Man in a Low Land, some time among the Belgians, Abacus, London, 2002, 245 p. ( ask the instructor) 7. Els Witte, Hugo Baetens Beardsmore, The interdisciplinary study of urban bilingualism in Brussels, Clevedon, Avon, England, 1987, 241 p. ( bib ULB) 8. Arend Lijphart, Conflict and coexistence in Belgium: the dynamics of a culturally divided society, Berkeley, Institute of International Studies, University of California, 1981, 171 p.( bib ULB) USEFUL WEBSITES 1. Flanders News = http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english 2. Interglot Dictionary = www.interglot.com 3. A good wikipedia article on the history of the Dutch language :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His- tory_of_Dutch 4. Some more information about the history of the Netherlands :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His- tory_of_the_Netherlands 5. On beginning Dutch, some explanations can be found on http://www.forbeginners.info/dutch/ 6. To practice verbs, go to:http://www.verbos.eu/Dutch/ Course Assessment The students will be evaluated on the basis of their performance as follows: Quizzes 25% Announced quizzes Oral Dutch pro- 15% Announced and prepared dialogues and skits (5%) duced in class Participation in the Language Dep. Show and Tell. (10%) Class participation 5% Active contribution to the class: answering questions in Dutch, readings, correct pronunciation and participation in exercices.