About Leon

I always tell my students that language is a bit like clothing. When you are learning a language, you choose the words that fit you. Just like the clothing you wear fits your “style”.

This means that when I teach you, I custom make your lessons. Every time I give you a lesson, your “costume or dress” will be adjusted to your demands and improved where necessary. Of course, for “working clothes” there are different rules and demands than for a “tuxedo or a party dress”.

About me

Dutch is my mother language. Rotterdam is the city where I was born and where I still have an apartment. I teach from Paris, where I live together with my girlfriend, her daughters and a Jack Russel dog.

Although I think Paris is a lovely city, for me Rotterdam is still the most beautiful city in the world. My girlfriend and her daughters like to come there also a lot. It is perfect for shopping and there are some great restaurants. When the weather is good the terraces on ‘De Oude Haven’ are ideal to have a bite or a drink.

Teaching in my mother language is really a passion for me. It is great to help people and it always is so much fun when a student passes his or her exam. It is awesome to do something I really like and at the same time do something that matters.

Qualifications and experience

I studied Dutch language and literature at the university of Leiden. There is where I lived during my university time also. I graduated in 1992 and decided to go live in Rotterdam again.

In Rotterdam I started teaching Dutch at a middle school. I did this for five years. After that I started working in IT-business for a while, but education turned out to be more my thing.

In 2003 I started working as a NT2-teacher at a small language company. In the evening I worked on a regular school. In 2005 the Netherlands introduced the ‘inburgeringswet’ (the integration law). Since then I successfully accompanied a lot of students to their exams.

I worked for a lot of different institutions, ROC’s (regional education centres) and private companies. I also worked as an independent entrepreneur under the name of ‘InBurgerKing’.

I helped a lot of people from different nationalities. People from Turkey, Morocco, Pakistan, China, etc. These people have to do the ‘inburgeringsexamen’ (exam of integration) if they want to settle in The Netherlands. Besides learning the language, they also have to learn about Dutch culture and Dutch society. But this is only for non-western immigrants.

For western immigrants there are different rules. They don’t have to learn how to integrate (inburgeren). I often taught Dutch language to Polish people, many times in the company where they worked.

I have experience with teaching from level A2 to C2. When you want to study in The Netherlands, than you first have to pass the State Exam (staatsexamen). You can do this on level B1 or B2. I did a lot of exam training for, mainly, Polish people.

Teaching style

I have an informal way of teaching; I want you to have fun during the course, in that way I will have fun too.

But I also think it is important that we work hard. The sooner you will pass your exams, or reach your desired result, the better.

I have different kinds of methods and studying material. Depending on your level and your demands we will put together a studying programme. As I mentioned before, I deliver custom made lessons.