‘Language Points’ in the libraries of the Flemish municipalities of Ternat, Liedekerke, Affligem and Roosdaal have undergone a facelift and perhaps more importantly the range of books and courses on offer has been significantly extended. At such a ‘Taalpunt’ of ‘Language Point’, non-native speakers of Dutch can borrow books and courses to learn the language of Belgium’s majority community. Here too you can enjoy group practice of Dutch with the help of books.
"In a Taalpunt or Language Point in a library, non-native speakers can find books, courses and language games that can help them to learn Dutch," explains Riet Vannyvel of the municipality of Liedekerke. "There are also a lot of novels especially written for non-native speakers, all classified according to language proficiency level. Our range of books has now been expanded."
Oefening baart kunst (Practice makes perfect)
Expats can also gain practice of the Dutch language at their local library. "We get together and read a few pages in a book. By reading together, people gain insight into sentence structures and learn words. And at the same time, we promote the books they can borrow from our Language Points."
Books provide topics for conversation
After a ‘reading moment’, those present will mainly converse in Dutch, explains Vannyvel. "First, we just talk about life, over a coffee or a tea. And the books provide interesting topics for conversation, because you can't keep asking "What's your name?", "What are your hobbies?" and "Do you have children?".