Onze Taal, Our Language, is a higly popular magazine about language and languages in the broadest sense and it was Marta who was approached to contribute a column about her experiences with learning Dutch as a foreign language at Sheffield.
In her column ‘New in Dutch’, Marta explains that her adventure with Dutch started two years ago, when she moved from Poland to Sheffield to study languages and cultures. Back then, her knowledge of the Low Countries didn’t stretch much beyond a few historical events and the fact that Dutch and Flemish people were attached to their bicycles.
I wanted to learn a more niche language and on the Polish job market, Dutch is one of the most frequently asked and best paid languages.
Marta Siwakowska
Onze Taal, May 2020
She picked Dutch and two years on Dutch has become more to Marta than just a language with economic advantages: "Over the past two years, I have developed such a great interest in the culture of the Low Countries! Reading Dutch classics such as Max Havelaar, watching Dutch television and discovering the rich history of the Netherlands and Belgium have only strengthened that passion."
Marta will spend part of her Year Abroad next year in the Netherlands, where she will be studying one semester at the University of Groningen.
