Dutch that fits
real life here.
You live here, but everyone switches to English and you still feel like a tourist. These tiny lessons give you the Dutch you actually use, so daily life starts to feel a little more like home.
Learn Dutch for expats, one situation at a time.
Learn Dutch For Expats is for the international who lives in the Netherlands or Dutch-speaking Belgium, gets by in English, and still freezes at the checkout, the gemeente desk or the landlord's WhatsApp. Most Dutch courses start with grammar and work towards the day you can hold a conversation. This starts with the conversation you have to have this week.
Each lesson is one real situation: ordering coffee, replying to a message from the huisarts, the bike repair shop, the first ten minutes of a job interview, small talk at the Friday borrel. It takes about five minutes. Every phrase comes with audio, a plain-English meaning, and a note on how to say it so it sounds natural rather than translated. Where the Netherlands and Flanders differ, the lesson says so, because "pintje" in Antwerp and "biertje" in Amsterdam are the same order.
It is not a grammar course, and it does not promise fluency. Most expats do not need fluency in year one. They need the two hundred phrases that stop a normal day from feeling like a test, and the confidence to keep a conversation in Dutch when the other person is about to switch to English for you.
Where it stands: Early access. iOS app in development; Not yet listed on the App Store. You can join the early-access list, and everything below is free to read today.
| Approach | Good for | Weak spot | Time per week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Course-based apps | Grammar, vocabulary in order, a daily streak | Sentences you never say; nothing about the gemeente or your landlord | 1 to 3 hours |
| Classes and a tutor | Speaking practice, feedback, structure towards an exam | Cost, fixed hours, weeks before it touches your actual life | 2 to 5 hours plus travel |
| Situation-based lessons (Learn Dutch For Expats) | The Dutch for this week's appointments, messages and small talk | Not a path to C1; you still need reading and grammar later | 25 to 35 minutes |
Five minutes.
One useful situation.
Open the app, learn a handful of phrases for one real moment, and close it again. No 45-minute grammar slog, and no guilt when life gets busy and you miss a day.
Hear it. Say it.
Save it for later.
Every phrase comes with audio so you know how it really sounds, a plain-English meaning, and a 'say it naturally' note. Tap to listen, swipe to save the ones you'll need again.
Cafés, housing,
bikes, the gemeente.
Lessons are sorted by the situations expats actually face, with notes marked for the Netherlands or Dutch-speaking Belgium where it matters. Beginner-friendly, with simple English explanations and no grammar overload.
A look at
today's Dutch.
You just moved here.
This one's for you.
“ I kept meeting people who'd lived here for a year and still froze at the checkout. They didn't need fluency, they needed the handful of phrases that make a normal day feel normal. So we're building exactly that. ”
Be one of the first
to try Learn Dutch For Expats.
We're building it for international women who want Dutch that feels useful, friendly, and actually connected to daily life. Join the early list and help shape what we build first.