When asked about my experience at Dialogue-Talen-Brussels, the first thing I shall cite is the spectacular progress enabled by the Dialogue method. I arrived ten days ago with no ability to speak and only a passing knowledge of a few words and grammatical structures. To my delight, Dialogue delivered fully on what they promised: now I can read, listen to and comprehend Dutch conversation, and -- most importantly -- express my own thoughts all at an intermediate level or above. As a result of the immersion method, last night I even dreamed in Dutch.

Though the lessons fill whole mornings and afternoons, the commitment, personality, and widespread knowledge of the instructors ensure that they are never dull. With nonstop energy and a variety of tools and approaches, Dialogue instructors stimulate spontaneous learning throughout the day. Most importantly, however, the schedule and pace are completely individualized; indeed, my experience was beyond any "customer service" I had imagined possible in a language-learning context. for example, after my first day, I realized that I had overestimated my own optimal learning pace and signed up for one or two too many hours per day. To my surprise and delight, my teachers adapted immediately and completely, proposing a solution that spread my lessons over one extra day. Their philosophy was maximum flexibility in order to cultivate optimal learning rather than enforce a one-size-fits-all structure.

As a closing aside, I am thoroughly convinced that it was an advantage for me as a beginner in Dutch to learn the language here in Belgium. Beyond the pleasure of Belgian cuisine and hospitality, I find Belgian instructors speak more clearly and slowly as a matter of culture and habit than the instructors I have taken lessons from in the Nord-Nederlands. Indeed, I would most strongly recommend Dialogue-Brussels to any Netherlands-dwelling language learners.

[apologies - I have no functional capital "f" on the keyboard -- grrr!]

Susan Avril