There is a particular kind of tiredness that comes from having done everything right and still not being able to speak.
You signed up. You went every week. You did the homework, passed the tests, moved up a level. And then you stood in the corridor with a colleague and said almost nothing, again.
The conclusion most people draw at that point is that they need another course. I understand it, and I think it is the wrong conclusion, and the reason is not that courses are bad.
A course is built to cover something. Speaking is built by accumulating something. And professional Dutch is built out of situations rather than out of chapters.
A course has a syllabus, a level to reach, and a group. All three of those are reasonable, and all three quietly work against speaking.
Count the minutes sometime. In ninety minutes with twelve people, how much of that time are you personally producing Dutch out loud, under a bit of pressure, with someone reacting to what you said? Often it is two or three minutes. The rest is listening, reading, and doing exercises, which is valuable and which trains the thing you can already do.
You can complete a course perfectly and still barely have spoken. And you get good at what you practise.
This is the same mechanism I described in why you understand Dutch but cannot speak it. The course is not failing you. It is succeeding at something other than the thing you came for.
When more grammar genuinely is the answer
Sometimes it is, and I want to be honest about that rather than sell you the opposite of a course.
There is a rough test. If you cannot build the sentence even on paper, with all the time in the world and nobody watching, then something in the foundation is missing and no amount of speaking practice will paper over it. If you can write it perfectly well and it simply will not come out loud in the moment, then more grammar will not touch the problem.
Most people who arrive at my door are firmly in the second group. Some are in the first, and then we fix that first.
When I asked Rodrigo why he had signed up, his answer was short and it has stayed with me:
“The previous courses were bad. I think I learned a bit of grammar, but what matters to me is that I can speak better. Grammar is okay, but speaking is the most important.”
Rodrigo, A2 to B1, software developer
Three years of courses, and then something else
“There is so much you could do with learning a language, but here I had focus, clear steps, and real results.”
Bahar had tried different courses over three years. None of them gave her the feeling that she was actually getting somewhere, and at some point learning Dutch quietly stopped being a priority. That is what usually happens: not a dramatic decision to give up, just a slow drift.
“This training gave me exactly what I needed.”
Bahar, B1 to B2
Two months in, the writing came easily, the speaking got smoother without getting perfect, and podcasts and news started making sense. But the change that mattered was not on that list. She became proactive: choosing Dutch over English in shops, at the doctor, with colleagues, whenever she could. She is now working towards teaching at university in Dutch.
What to do instead, or alongside
- Keep the structure if it is helping. This is not a choice between a course and speaking. Add the missing half rather than throwing away the half you have.
- Count your own speaking minutes. Per week, how long are you actually producing Dutch out loud? If the honest answer is under an hour, that is your bottleneck, not your vocabulary.
- Practise where being wrong is free. The corridor is expensive, and so is the meeting and the interview. You need somewhere a broken sentence costs nothing at all.
- Choose Dutch in one small situation a day. The bakery, the receptionist, one message to a colleague. Small and daily beats big and occasional, every time.
Where the speaking minutes come from
The free Spreekwafel app is exactly this and nothing else: ten minutes a day, out loud, around real work situations, with feedback. No syllabus to get through.
Spreekwafel Circle adds people, which an app cannot: professionals at your own level who hear you every week and respond, a weekly speaking assignment, and a monthly masterclass. The group starts on 1 October 2026.
And if you are not sure whether your gap is foundation or speaking, ask me. That is a five minute conversation, and knowing which one it is saves you a year.
Questions people ask about this
Why does another Dutch course not make me speak?
Because a course is usually built to cover a syllabus, and speaking is not something you cover, it is something you accumulate. In a group of twelve, the amount of time you personally spend producing Dutch out loud is small, and that is the only thing that builds speaking.
Are Dutch courses a waste of time then?
No, and I would not say that. A course gives you structure, grammar and a foundation, and for some people the foundation really is what is missing. The problem starts when you finish one course, still cannot speak, and conclude that the answer is another course.
How do I know whether I need more grammar or more speaking?
Rough test: if you cannot build the sentence even on paper with all the time in the world, you need foundation. If you can write it fine but it will not come out loud in the moment, you need speaking. Most people who come to me are firmly in the second group.
How long before I notice a difference?
Faster than most people expect, because the Dutch is usually already there and only the access is missing. What changes first is not vocabulary but willingness: you stop postponing the conversation.
Can I do this alongside a course?
Yes, and that combination often works well. Keep the structure you have and add the part it does not give you, which is time speaking out loud with someone who responds.
Written by Jacky van der Starre, who teaches professionals to speak the Dutch they already understand.