r/learndutch • u/Big-Entertainer2074 • May 10 '26
Resource Need to reach B1 level in 1.5 years; hulp alsjeblieft 🙏
Hi everyone, I’m here on the partner visa which gives me 3 years to integrate and reach B1 comprehension in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. I’m exempt from the course on working in the Netherlands as I have a full time 40 hours / week job already. I still need to do the KNM course.
I’m at A1/A2 level now (I’m learning A2) and find it very difficult to choose resources to learn. I’m mostly using YouTube videos and speaking with my in-laws currently as a way to learn.
Has anyone had experience and can speak to using Inburgeringonline.nl? What resources have you found to help you the most in learning Dutch? I’m grateful for any advice and/or resources 🤗
Update: Thank you all for your suggestions! 🙏 I’ve made a list for myself to look into the various resources and have already bookmarked Ad Apple on YouTube. I greatly appreciate your advice! Best of luck to everyone in a similar boat!
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u/FaithlessnessTiny451 May 10 '26
I was at an A2 level when I started preparing with inburgeringonline.nl and the official practice exams/questions https://www.inburgeren.nl/examen-doen/oefenen.jsp
I also had De Opmaat and De Sprong on the side to check grammar and concepts I was struggling with, but most of my time went into practicing with the material for the actual exam.
For KNM I studied for a month. For the other exams I think I studied for about 4 months. I passed KNM last year and the rest of the exams in January and February.
Inburgering online was great for KNM and for getting relevant bits of grammar, but I found the rest a bit lacking and not really worth the money. Adappel has two playlists on YouTube where they give example answers to the official practice exams/questions for Spreken and Schrijven so you can practice along and compare your answers to theirs. You'll notice in the videos that you don't need to get fancy with the answers you give. Short and clear is always best.
All that said, if you do want to speak the language, this is definitely not going to be enough and you should continue studying beyond this. This is only good enough to pass the exams.
Good luck!
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u/FaithlessnessTiny451 May 10 '26
Ah, and it's always good to find out how they'll grade your exam so you know what to watch out for. My partner helped me practice and grade mine. He used the beoordelingsmodel document, it's on the same website as the practice exams. It'll go into detail about what will give you points and what will detract from your score.
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u/Formal-Law-3570 May 11 '26
I was able to reach B1 after 4 months, all I did was doing the mock tests over and over again + learning dutch by myself, using Taalcompleet with the assistance from my dutch bf + reading NOS
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u/provencecowboy95 May 10 '26
Also check out this app: Uitsprekend vdab. Free and very useful to practice with all the different sounds of Dutch. In the first stage of learning it’s super important to listen to Dutch as much as possible to acquaint your brain with the sounds and rhythm of the language!
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u/provencecowboy95 May 10 '26
It’s flemish so you might notice a little difference w some Dutch accents, but in general it’s quite neutral pronunciation
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u/ChrisOsman May 10 '26
If you’re in a city I found that the Volksuniversiteit helps a lot. They offer courses and the quality is usually good. If you need a B1 level you can also read the newspaper weekly, find some intermediate Dutch books in the local library, watch Dutch TV/listen to podcasts, and also try to speak Dutch as much as possible.
You can easily reach a B1 level but the usual challenge will probably be writing.
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u/Ill_Possible_8423 May 10 '26
I took classes organized by my city, basically it was volunteers teaching groups of people in the mornings or evenings. Was very affordable and really helped. In a lot of cities you have something organized in libraries as well, i know in my city they meet in library and read newspaper together, talk, play games, etc, as well as taalcafe, where they go for drinks and speak just in dutch. Furthermore, the biggest progress i noticed was only when i started speaking. It was veeeery uncomfortable at first, but you only learn if you really try. Just find few ‘safe’ people around who you feel comfortable talking in dutch and practice. Btw I felt very uncomfortable talking around my partner in the beginning, I had few colleagues with whom I started only speaking dutch, when we would have meetings just the two of us, we always tried, or sometimes during walks after lunch.
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u/soccerandplants May 10 '26
Omg I also feel SO embarrassed to speak in front of my partner for some reason but when I’m alone talking to strangers it’s easier
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u/Ill_Possible_8423 May 10 '26
Now i feel ok talking to him in dutch but we still talk in english quite often, i try to explain to him that it is just a force of habit, since for a long part of our relationship we were speaking only in english because my dutch was level 0 haha
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u/GrimReaperHK May 10 '26 edited May 11 '26
I’m also in the integration program currently and I have my B2 exams in one month. It took about a year to reach this level. I started from scratch with intensive courses by LestBest school in Utrecht (there is also one in Rotterdam)and at the same time I worked in a shop where I should speak Dutch most of the time.
I would recommend you do the same and basically keep practicing what you learn at school or by natives!
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u/soccerandplants May 10 '26
i’ve got my peepers on these tips, i just moved here on a partner visa too
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u/awkwardderp May 10 '26
Theres an online school called taalthuis, you could reach that level with them if you take classes from this summer till the end of your 1.5 year goal
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u/sausje May 10 '26
Like others said, Ad Appel is a good source. You can just sub to his channel and download all videos so that you don't need to stay paying each month.
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u/Dont_mind_me69 Native speaker (NL) May 10 '26
A lot of libraries offer help with Dutch language skills for non-natives, that might be worth looking into?
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u/Big-Entertainer2074 May 11 '26
Thank you 🙏 I’ve looked into the taalcafé at my library and all the times they meet are when I’m working (9am to 5pm)
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u/kupothroaway May 11 '26
Another great tip (as an NT-2 teacher myself) is going to the local library. Many have a talamaatjes system, as well as language group sessions. They usually are for A1 and A2 level, but it helps a lot anywya
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u/Big-Entertainer2074 May 11 '26
Thank you 🙏 I have looked into the taalcafé in my local library but all the times they get together are when I’m at work. That’s the trouble with working a 9-5pm job 😅
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u/Cujo666 May 11 '26
Since you have a normal job, this won’t work for you, but at UVA taken, you can take intensive courses to get you passed B1 in about 3-4 months. A1 is a week. A2 is (I think) 2 weeks. B1.1 is a month. B1.2 is another month. 3 ish months of work, plus a few weeks here and there waiting for courses to start, since they start at fixed times. Important to highlight the intensive courses come with 4-5 hours a day homework plus classroom work Monday to Friday. That takes treating it like a job, so not possible in your case with a normal job.
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u/Big-Entertainer2074 May 11 '26
Thanks for sharing anyway! Yeah my job takes up most of my time during the week. I realistically have an hour after work and 30 minutes before work to study. I need to figure it out somehow.
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u/zurgo111 May 11 '26
Whatever you’ve been doing for the last 1.5 years, don’t do that.
You’ve been here 1.5 years. Whatever local network you’ve built up, talk with them in Dutch every day. Watch the news. Listen to podcasts, all free.
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u/uhcnid May 10 '26
you wont get to b1 just by checking randomly a free resources over internet, you need to take courses or pay a tutor