About Taaltutor
Online learning has come along with leaps and bounds. Taaltutor has known the benefits of learning the Dutch language online since 2013. Because of the small groups or one-on-one setting, it provides many advantages: personalized attention, flexible lesson times and location, focus on conversation, no stress due to the absence of travel time, no travel costs and hence, less of a burden on the environment.
A solid foundation for years to come
How did Taaltutor come about?
Taaltutor was founded by Sandra Wormgoor in 2010. After Sandra had gained experience teaching English and Dutch as a second language (NT2) in secondary vocational education (since 1999), she started working as an independent language teacher in 2010. She wanted to teach on a more personal level, on location and online. And this has been achieved along with a pool of six to eight other freelance language teachers. With great pleasure!
From vocational schools to the first online student
Until 2015, Sandra gave language lessons at vocational schools and to companies. But two years prior to this, she received her first enquiry from a Belgian woman who wanted to brush up on her English. Online, that was her request. From that moment on, Sandra has been offering online language courses in Dutch and English as second languages.
Taaltutor’s students come from very diverse backgrounds. We have tutored people of many different ages (16+), nationalities and professions, including those in engineering, IT, health care, management and administration. Increasingly, Sandra also works together with freelance tutors who have Dutch and English as their native language plus at least one other foreign language. See where our tutors live and work.
A personal and safe learning environment
Sandra graduated in 1995 with an MA in American Studies from Utrecht University. She was introduced to the field of education through a voluntary job as a language teacher in a refugee center. Sandra decided this was what she wanted to do and worked for ten years at an IT Academy as an English teacher. In 2010 it was time to broaden the horizon and she started Taaltutor. The name is a reference to her two languages: Dutch (‘taal’ means language) and English (‘tutor’). One of the main reasons for becoming an independent teacher was her belief that many people benefit from a personal and safe learning environment in which students can and dare to speak more easily in the target language. This is what she and her colleagues aim for in all their language lessons.
Our services
We offer the following tailored Dutch lessons:
- online exam training for the civic integration exam and State exams (B1 level);
- online and offline one-on-one lesson or one-on-two;
- in-company language training in a small group;
- training “Teaching online language lessons for independent language teachers”;
- employment-related language workshops in small groups, level A2, in a small group.
Our prices
We charge a market rate. Our prices include teaching preparation, lesson times, and post-lesson questions. Taaltutor is registered as a language institute in the national register CRKBO.
Would you like to know more about courses or rates? Or would you like to request a quote? Fill in our contact form and we will contact you as soon as possible.
Our Language Tutors
In 2016, Sandra decided to start working with other freelance language teachers because of the increase of lesson requests. Gradually, a network of independent (international) language teachers emerged with years of experience in both language education and the business world. Here, the language tutors introduce themselves to you.
What does the word tutor mean?
The name Taaltutor originates from a colleague of Sandra’s in secondary vocational education. Michael Kreijns came up with a booklet in 2006 with the resounding title ‘Tutoren’. This word was not yet established in the Dutch language at the time. The two languages that Taaltutor offered from 2010 were Dutch and English. That’s why Sandra came up with a name with a Dutch word ‘taal’ and an English word ‘tutor’. A tutor in Oxford means “a mentor who teaches a small group of students”. One of the pillars on which Taaltutor still thrives: small-scale education, with attention for the student.
Environmentally friendly language education
Teaching from home, no need to board a train or car, no parking costs, no travel time, in many ways taking and teaching online classes is a blessing for people and the environment. Often people asked Sandra (pre corona times): “Isn’t it impersonal?” The answer is simple: Not if the group is very small or if it concerns private lessons. Fortunately, during the pandemic, many people have discovered how nice it can be to communicate with others online.
Besides the fact that we can choose to teach without or with very limited travel time (for students who live in our own village or city), the electricity we use during the lessons is generated on the roof of some language tutors via solar panels of their house. This form of education is pretty sustainable and hence our ecological footprint is less than when we keep traveling to courses.
