Article 'The Dutch language school without borders'
08 april 2019
LanguageOne was interviewed for an article in Discover Benelux. The theme of this inflight & business magazine was Top Dutch Education, Building a Bright Future! The article can be downloaded here. You can view the complete issue here.
The Dutch language school without borders
When moving abroad, there are 1,001 things for you to think about. For example, how will you continue your children’s education in their mother tongue? At its language hubs all around the world, LanguageOne improves your children’s Dutch in a fun and constructive way.
The importance of mastering your mother tongue cannot be overestimated. Not only does it make it easier to study other subjects such as mathematics and science, but it also gives you a major advantage while learning foreign languages: a skill most vital when living abroad. “Nonetheless, the biggest benefit to our students is that they can return home again more confidently ,” says Deidre Jakobs, managing director at LanguageOne. “Most families only move abroad for an assignment of a few years. On return, they want their kids to easily be able to re-enter Dutch education. But after a few months without Dutch classes, they will already lag behind the Dutch schools’ expectations. Continuing their Dutch classes abroad is therefore paramount.”
[caption id="attachment_9440" align="alignleft" width="170"] Deidre Jakobs, algemeen directeur[/caption]
LanguageOne was founded 35 years ago when Shell wanted to provide quality mother tongue education to the families of its employees abroad. Over the years, LanguageOne became a Dutch Language and Culture school in nine different cities in Asia, the Middle-East and Australia. “In most of those places, our students come to us once a week for a session of three hours after day-school. Yet, in some international schools, there are so many Dutch children, that the school asks us to offer Dutch on a daily basis during school hours.” And even if you do not live near a LanguageOne school, you can still enrol to their long-distance programme. With a weekly, private Skype lesson and some self-study, students develop their Dutch language skills in a flexible and contemporary manner.” For families who are about to leave back home, LanguageOne even offers boost programmes to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.
Letting your children study an extra language on top of going to school all week might seem intense, yet, LanguageOne gives it their all to make the classes as interactive and fun as possible. “Although the majority of our programme focuses on the language, we also discuss Dutch and Flemish culture. We even celebrate King’s Day in class. For most of our students, the time they spend with us is a weekly trip to their home country. They talk, play, and learn with other Dutch and Flemish children, after which they return to their tropical reality.”
LanguageOne in facts
LanguageOne has schools in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Muscat, Perth, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Suzhou, and operates a distance learning school. All LanguageOne schools are accredited for the Dutch language programmes by the Dutch Ministry of Education. Current market demand led to LanguageOne offering English to repat children wanting to maintain a (high) level of English upon return to the Dutch school system.
www.discoverbenelux.com
LanguageOne pursues continued growth by joining KMM Group
22 januari 2019
PRESS RELEASE
Voorburg, 22 January 2019
LanguageOne has been acquired by the KMM Group, which also includes the IVIO-Wereldschool. As a result, LanguageOne – the largest provider of Dutch Language and Culture classes – is now part of an organisation with vast knowledge of the educational sector and the financial clout to continue to expand its market position in the Netherlands and internationally.
Educational innovation and growth
For LanguageOne, acquisition by a strong party like the KMM Group is a vital step in order to guarantee continuity and realise further educational development and growth. Jaap Mos, who co-owned LanguageOne until recently, says: “In the last five years alone, LanguageOne has taken over five schools in Asia and the Middle East, established a school for distance learning and developed a new curriculum that was digitised at the end of 2018. It feels good to turn over the reins of the organisation to the KMM Group under these favourable circumstances.”
Unique opportunity
LanguageOne's successful educational formula will, of course, remain the same. Ensuring stability for the students, teaching staff and employees will remain a top priority after the acquisition as well. The existing management of LanguageOne will remain in place. Deidre Jakobs, managing director of LanguageOne: “I am proud of the efforts our people have made to get us to where we are today. Joining the KMM Group is a unique opportunity. It will allow us, among other things, to respond even more effectively to the need for different forms of education, so that we can provide our students with a solid foundation in an increasingly digitised and global world. The KMM Group's experience in the field of education inspires great confidence in this next step.”
Worldwide operations
LanguageOne, which operates worldwide through ten schools of its own, is deploying a newly-developed curriculum inspired by the International Baccalaureate® (IB) concept. Its ambition is to serve even more Dutch-speaking young people and Dutch and international schools in both the Netherlands and abroad. LanguageOne's mix of class room, blended and online learning is catching on. Providing education in major cities such as Shanghai and Dubai is a particularly interesting addition to the KMM Group's activities in the educational sector.
About LanguageOne
For 35 years, LanguageOne has offered high-quality native-language instruction in Dutch Language and Culture to young people living outside of the Netherlands or Belgium. LanguageOne stems from Rijnlands Education Worldwide (REW), as a result of a need by Shell to provide Dutch education for the children of Shell employees living abroad. In 2012, REW continued its operations under the name LanguageOne. In recent years, the company has grown into an international player with ten schools in Asia, the Middle East, Australia and Europe.
About the KMM Group
The Kennis, Media & Marketing Group is a rapidly growing and innovative group of businesses with over 600 employees, divided across four strong brands: IVIO, Metafoor, Karmac and Prosu. The KMM Group was established in 1998. It originally began with four companies and has now grown to include a total of 22 businesses. www.kmmgroep.nl
// End of press release
For more information please contact:
LanguageOne B.V.
Deidre Jakobs (Managing Director)
Parkweg 20A, 2071 AJ Voorburg
Tel: +31 (0)70 260 13 86 / +31 (0)61 485 23 16
deidre.jakobs@languageone.org
Kennis, Marketing & Media Groep B.V. / KMM Group
Richard Beers (Operational Director)
Pascallaan 68, 8218 NJ Lelystad
Tel: +31 (0)32 028 69 69 / +31 (0)65 123 75 97
richard.beers@kmmgroep.nl
www.kmmgroep.nl
Graduates of 2018, congratulations!
02 november 2018
We congratulate 46 LanguageOne students who have passed one of the Dutch language exams. What an achievement! Students in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Singapore, Muscat, Doha and Shanghai have successfully completed the Dutch language and culture classes in the 2017-2018 school year at LanguageOne.
LanguageOne teachers assist Dutch-speaking children who grow up outside of the Netherlands or Flanders in preparing for the following exams: IB Dutch A Literature SSST, IB Dutch B SL / HL, CNaVT, IGCSE and ATAR*. Each diploma serves as a recognition that the student masters the Dutch language at a level that is required at a college or university in the Netherlands and Belgium.
More information? Contact us via info@languageone.org
*International Baccalaureate Dutch A Literature School Supported Self Taught
International Baccalaureate Dutch B Standard Level/Higher Level
Certificaat Nederlands als Vreemde Taal
Australian Tertiary Admission Rank
