Aleta Languages
A 'gezellige' language school and consultancy desk in the very heart of Amsterdam connecting people from all walks of life.
We are committed to helping people in small groups to learn
the Dutch language. From scratch to level A1 and up to level B2. Within a vibrant community of start-ups and fast-growing companies in the beating heart of Amsterdam, we provide individual language classes and group language training tailored to your needs.
And before we forget to mention: those small groups are really small with us, namely max. 7 people, but usually smaller.
So that you and your language development will get the attention they deserve.
Aleta Languages teaches in-company as well as privately . Ask for a quote and you might be surprised at the flexible possibilities.
Diversity
We see a wonderful range of diverse nationalities breezing into our classrooms every year; from Japan to the southern United States and from Lapland in the far north to the Falkland Islands at the very tip of South America. Our school also organizes outings to interesting places, so that students get to know each other and the Netherlands better and more profoundly.
In addition, Aleta Languages is committed to empowering people from both the Netherlands and abroad who have found themselves on the margins of society in one way or another. For example, by offering free language lessons to refugees.
Language connects people.
Who is Chani?
Aleta Languages has been founded in 2019 by Chani Currie, a social worker who mainly worked in deprived neighbourhoods in Amsterdam, but also in South Africa and the Republic of Moldova. She studied Social Work and Community Services at the University of Applied Sciences (Hogeschool van Amsterdam) and has worked for the Salvation Army for years on end.
She took it on herself to guide illiterate people and non-Dutch speakers.
She has seen from up-close how people with a language deficiency got into major, multiple problems because they did not have a good command of the local language and/or were illiterate.
But she has also lived in a bilingual society fro three years, where people were often deaf to their fellow man when not addressed in their native language. Experiencing what it means to learn a new language.
Starting Adventures
Immersing herself in foreign cultures and languages, she made some interesting discoveries, e.g. that ‘Kayelitsha’ is Xhosa for ‘New House’. Walking the streets of Soweto where Nelson Mandela and Hector Peterson have walked, riding a train that connects East and West, drinking tea from a ‘самовар’ (samovar) on that same train and learning a language that connects a Latin to a Slavic world.
After all these adventures she dedicated herself to studying the art of translation, the Dutch language and also acquired a CELTA certificate issued by Cambridge university, qualifying her to teach languages to learners of foreign languages.
Landing here
In the present, all this translates into a great empathy towards each individual student and exceptional flexibility; everyone who takes lessons with us can count on a tailor-made program. Where students at other language schools sometimes do not get the attention they need, are forced to work with methods that do not work well for them or do not really benefit from the lessons because the groups are too big or they cannot come at the times indicated, Aleta Languages takes a different approach. We have immersed ourselves in various methods, a choice is made in consultation with you from these methods and where necessary we make adjustments during the process, so that we are sure that your process is educational, relevant and fun!
Together we will look at your availability,
choose a suitable day and time and come to an official agreement. Even after this has happened, you can still adjust the time, day or week from time to time. Very useful if you have got a life in which you need to balance more than just work and language classes.
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