Lisabeth Woltjer is doing a Dutch minor. However, five out of the six courses are taught in English, and she even has to write her essays in English. ‘It makes assignments harder and more annoying than they should be.’
The Dutch journalism minor consists of five English-language courses and a single course in Dutch. Many of these English-language courses end with an essay, which also needs to be in English. This programme isn’t the only one not living up to the promise of Dutch-language education.
I can understand that it’s necessary to speak fluent English when you’re a student at the UG. Everyone knows that not all lectures are in Dutch and much of the literature we need for exams is in English. But writing an academic article that meets not only my lecturer’s expectations but also my own is an entirely different ball game.
Learning academic writing is an essential part of being a university student. It requires an excellent grasp of the language you’re writing in, because writing confidently and fluently is an important skill.
Translating my essays takes more time than writing them
My English speaking, reading, and writing skills are pretty good, but (manually) translating my essays takes me more time than writing them. Language skills are strongly linked to our thought process; simply put, I’m smarter in my native language.
That makes having to write in another language a frustrating exercise for me and makes the assignment harder and more annoying than it should be. It also takes me longer to write, which is an issue during exams featuring essay questions that I have to answer in English.
After asking a few of my fellow students, I found out that I’m not the only one with this problem. One of them wrote to me: ‘I’ll often be getting into the flow of writing when I suddenly can’t remember the English word for something. It messes up the whole process.’
Another student told me he’ll sometimes pick a course he’s not even that interested in just because it’s in Dutch, only for him to drop it because he doesn’t like it.
Unfortunately, I’ve realised broaching this issue is something of a taboo
Unfortunately, I’ve realised broaching this issue is something of a taboo. Some of you reading this might think students should stop being such babies and just learn proper English. But I’m certain I’m not the only one who, instead of writing an essay in English, will write it in Dutch and then use DeepL or Google Translate.
International students who can’t write in their native language obviously have the same problem. But the difference is that they explicitly chose to study in English.
It’s important that for now at least, the UG is still open to international students from all over the world. But when I deliberately sign up for a Dutch-language programme, I do so because I’m confident in my academic skills in my native language, and it’s a shame as well as unfair if I fail my classes because it’s taking me longer to write in English that isn’t perfect.
I therefore want to argue in favour of a regulation to let students who enrol in a Dutch-language write their essays in Dutch whenever they have the option to do so. In situations where they can’t, these students shouldn’t receive any demerits based on their language skills.
Lisabeth Woltjer studies at the UG and is doing a minor in journalism