The Huis van het Nederlands ("House of Dutch") in Brussels celebrated its 20th anniversary on Thursday.
Since 15 September 2003, the Huis van het Nederlands has been operating in Brussels as a basic service provider for Brussels residents wishing to learn Dutch. After 20 years of the organisation, 200,000 participants have already been helped to progress in learning the language.
"The quality of service improved year on year. Today, a client leaves after a visit to Het Huis with personal advice on learning opportunities, and often an enrolment in a Dutch-language adult education course," said Frans De Keyser, current chairman of Het Huis.
Language "as a way to be stronger in life" is what Het Huis van het Nederlands in Brussels is trying to achieve for non-native speakers. In doing so, it mainly looks for new methods and other forms of teaching to make someone proficient in Dutch.
Teaching Brussels Dutch
In 2005, a campaign called 'Les commerçants Bruxellois se mettent au Néerlandais' was launched, allowing Brussels merchants to learn Dutch while working in the shop. Hospitality businesses, hospitals and several Brussels municipalities followed suit.
Today, the House is the consulting provider of choice for companies and organisations working with foreign-language employees. Practice opportunities are central to the educational vision of the House. This way, more than 2,200 trainees find their way to 60 organisations in Brussels.
The anniversary celebrations started at 09:30, with pancakes outside the headquarters on Rue Philippe de Champagne in Brussels. A ceremony then followed at the Saint-Géry Halls in Brussels.
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"It has been 20 years that the people of the House have been working to teach Brusselers Dutch," said Flemish Minister for Brussels Benjamin Dalle. "This is incredibly important for the Flemish community in Brussels. The language opens a lot of doors, which is also why we continue to invest heavily in this."
Among other things, Dalle also enjoyed a 'silent-disco' to the accompaniment of Dutch-language rap lyrics by Dutch hiphop band 'De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig.'
"Dutch is above all a language to use every day and move forward in life," said Dalle. "We are convinced that every euro spent on learning Dutch is also earned back. The social fabric and neighbourhoods in Brussels all benefit from this."
