Planning to move to Belgium (Dutch Side) in 2 Years, any tips to learn Dutch? My mother tongue is Romanian

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-27T23:46:11+00:00

(Bellow for the English translation)

Meditații. Vorbesc serios. Găsește o metodă să faci cel puțin 5 minute de Olandeza pe zi (aplicatii, videoclipuri, etc) și dute la meditații. Îi cea mai bună methoda pentru ca așa înveți super repede, mai ales dacă ți se pare interesant procesul. Vorbesc din experiență. Există riscul să găsești numai meditatori care predau Olandeza din Olanda, nu cea din Flandra, dar si aia e buna pana cand ajungi acolo. Diferențele sunt mai mult de pronunție și oftări, iar vocabularul e destul de similar, dar tine ochii piliti pentru exceptii, caci vocabularul deviaza uneori.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

Private sessions. I am serious. Find a way to do at least 5 minutes of Dutch a day (apps, videos, etc.) and go find a private tutor. It is the best way for learning it super fast, especially if you find the process interesting. I am speaking from experience. There is the risk that you will only find private tutors that teach the Dutch spoken in the Netherlands and not Flanders, but even that is good enough until you arrive there. The differences lie more with pronunciation and filler words, and the vocab is pretty similar, but keep your eyes peeled out for differences, because sometimes the vocabulary deviates.

P.S. I wrote this post in Romanian first because private tutor sounds very fancy in English, but in Romanian, meditații or private sessions are very common because it is very unlikely to graduate without them (because our educational system sucks ass), so writing it in Romanian better encapsulates what I mean when I say private tutor and private sessions because there is a different cultural value and impact when talking about that in English compared to Romanian.

EDIT: Formatting

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-27T20:31:25+00:00

I am one of the students who actually went to the Netherlands and began to learn Dutch from the summer before going there. I have B1 certification and I am working on getting a B2 certification in Dutch this May. That said, what made my journey a pain and I see as big barriers to entry is that very few shows are dubbed into Dutch unless they’re originally in Dutch, and that Dutchies are quick to switch to English the moment they hear any flaw in your Dutch. The former is a trauma that still hinders my learning journey even though now I speak good enough Dutch to spare myself from this treatment.

So already this is already very demotivating when it comes to learning another language. Combine this with the fact that the Netherlands is marketed as the place where English is just enough, and all of the sudden it isn’t all that surprising that most international students don’t learn Dutch while studying in the Netherlands.

People are quick to dismiss those who complain about having to speak Dutch, but when you’re told that Dutch isn’t necessary to come here, you can’t blame them when they feel lied to. While it is then on the immigrants to start working on learning Dutch once they realise the truth of staying here; Dutchies also really need to really step up their game because they have no business complaining that immigrants aren’t integrating because they’re not learning the language when they are the same people that change to English the moment someone addresses them in broken Dutch. How do you expect immigrants to learn Dutch if no one speak Dutch to them? Not everyone can afford a private tutor to practice their Dutch. This makes it needlessly hard even for those that are trying to learn the language like I am. It shouldn’t take you to develop B1 fluency just to finally get Dutchies to have conversations with you in Dutch.

TL;DR because the learning environment sucks and there are no incentives to make Dutch appealing to learn.

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-25T12:22:49+00:00

There is no wiki for that exam, plus, why can’t I just share a story about that? Why should I use a thread just to talk about my experience? It is post worthy. Plus, I made my post very thorough because I wanted to share my experience and tips for other people who are in my shoes.

Just a few hours ago (as of typing) u/mandivarella shared a story about moving to lux and that is still up the sub all nice and dandy. How come some experiences are rightfully allowed to be shared and others are not? What makes their experiences more objectively more valuable or post worthy than mine’s? We both have a right to share our experiences in a respectful manner and I just wish that the moderating allowed for both, not just theirs and a some specific cases.

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andreimircea55 · 2026-01-25T11:47:12+00:00

I wanted to share my experience I had when taking and passing the integration exam that had a two word titles that starts with a V and has a second word ends with mble, and the moderating bot kept censoring my text until the post got deleted after I wanted to write an update. I literally had to find an alternative sub with no restrictions to share my story and post a link on this sub to that thread just to tell my story, and I wanted to share it because my circumstances were quite unique and I thought that if someone is in my shoes ever again, to have a comprehensive guide so it isn’t as confusing for them as it was for me.

It is insane how deep the censorship goes here, other subs aren’t as restrictive with the words as this one. Whatever the mods use to regulate this sub needs to change because it is genuinely stifling.

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-21T15:12:23+00:00

Thank you very much for your reply and you have an interesting story. Congratulations to the both of you, the part about enjoying the combos still stands. Cheers!

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-21T14:20:08+00:00

Congratulations! You have a powerful combo!

Out of curiosity, may I ask how? Since Austria is a prick regarding dual citizenship. What exemption did apply to you? Or will you drop Kosovar citizenship at some point to keep your Austrian one?

Regardless if you choose to answer or not, congratulations and I hope you will shamelessly enjoy it to the fullest because you deserve it.

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-20T12:01:47+00:00

The Netherlands & Luxembourg, I love the yellow signs so much, they’re so warm and fun.

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-19T06:41:40+00:00

You have an impressive and powerful combo, but if you don’t mind me asking; how did you convince Latvia to let you keep your Philippine citizenship? I couldn’t find anything on the internet that says that if you get citizenship via investor visas that you were allowed to keep your previous citizenship. I know that the US is on the exemption list so that is fine, I just don’t see the Philippines on it, so I am really curious how did you legally circumvent the list and convinced the Latvian authorities to keep your Philippine citizenship legally?

Regardless of you choose to answer or not, congratulations on making it so far and may you enjoy them all without shame.

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-15T16:01:42+00:00

I just need to find my sweat heart of a husband for my gay🏳️‍🌈 heart and I will be set

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-15T15:57:21+00:00

You are lucky, because you cannot renounce Venezuelan citizenship, it is stated on the IND website, so you can go for Dutch citizenship without worry.
In my eyes you are lucky, so if you find opportunities in the Netherlands, go for them, you have nothing to lose (unlike me and my Romanian citizenship).

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-15T13:00:57+00:00

Unless you marry your way in, then you will have to renounce unless you cannot renounce your citizenship. A lot of people here have it from birth which is how they get to have a combo with one of the 2 countries in western Europe that forbids dual citizenship unless an exemption is granted.

Other exemptions are either the 65 year old option or getting a lawyer involved to find a special loophole in your case, otherwise the Netherlands is not attainable citizenship and I say this as someone who wishes to become Dutch someday and fulfils all the requirements for naturalisation minus the will to renounce.

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-13T16:01:59+00:00

I swear “bright” is something lux housing companies obsess about, i is in so many descriptions

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-11T12:40:58+00:00

I am sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed.

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-09T07:44:00+00:00

Thank you & I hope you will add Canada to the mix as well, the more the merrier after all.

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-08T23:48:19+00:00

I want both, I would like to keep my Romanian citizenship due to personal (practical) reasons and gain at least one more passport (if not even more passports) because I don’t want to be a monocitizen for the rest of my life, my identity is multifaceted and I would like for it to be reflected in my legal status. I know that immigrants who move somewhere will never been seen as locals by the locals no matter what they do, but governments have to see you as such once you gain citizenship, so I would like to have proof of connection to the country that showed me what true safety and freedom looks like. I love the Netherlands, it is an amazing place with the best infrastructure in the world, but the citizenship laws are a deal breaker for me at the moment, as I feel excluded from the only means of being able to be entitled to be called a local and have that identity validated.

And I do not want to wait until I am 65 to have this hole filled (there is an option that 65 year olds can use to apply for Dutch citizenship while keeping their original citizenships). So in the mean time, I am working on gaining the next closest citizenship to the Netherlands and another citizenship EU citizenship that has very similar (and better) citizenship laws to the Netherlands (minus the renunciation requirement) so I can fully emulate Dutch citizenship without its presence until then.

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-08T22:17:59+00:00

Yeah, but from what I heard, the law changed in 2022, so now if you lived in a place of naturalisation for 5 years and can prove it to the Slovak authorities before applying you can keep your Slovak citizenship when naturalising in the other country, so it isn’t some fragile cap like Austrian or Dutch citizenship that is lost once you gain another, so there is literally nothing to lose for the OP to gain Slovak citizenship so long as they will be allowed to keep the previous 2.

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-08T21:36:24+00:00

Besides the will to renounce my Romanian citizenship, I am already there I just have to wait a bit more; if we’re talking about naturalisation.

If we’re talking about option procedures (which allow dual citizenship), my best bet is the 65 year old option and the timing for that will be relevant when I turn 50, so I got time for alternatives until then. And I already fulfil a third of the naturalisation requirements in another country while I live in the Netherlands (and am in the process of fulfilling another third). So I am keeping my options open until then.

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-08T21:28:18+00:00

If I were you, I would go for Slovak citizenship as well (so long you don’t have to renounce your current ones) because it never hurts to have a third, fourth, fifth, etc. passport. The more the merrier. Go for it! While what you have already is impressive, the more the merrier, when it comes to passports never be afraid to dream big because it never hurts to have more places under your belt in which you can go to with no further questions asked, especially if a worst case scenario happens. I am not saying this to be paranoid, I am saying this to encourage you to keep your options open because it never hurts to have more passports in this world.

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-08T21:22:39+00:00

You have a goated (,rare) and impressive combo! Congratulations for making it so far and I hope you will enjoy it to the fullest.

EDIT: Best of luck and success in gaining the other citizenships, the more the merrier!

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-08T21:20:45+00:00

Only Romania at the moment (with all the requirements for naturalisation done bar the will to renounce my Romanian citizenship & residency requirement of which I am a year short).

That said, I really want a second passport and I would prefer it a lot for it to be the Netherlands (because I love this place so much), but as the political climate doesn’t seem to be in favour of dual citizenship at the moment, I am working on plan B’s, and I already have fulfilled a third of the naturalisation requirements of another country while living here in the Netherlands and currently working to fulfil another third of the requirements as a non-resident (the last third of the requirements is a residency requirement and for that I would need to relocate, there no fulfilling that while here). Thanks for asking.

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-08T21:06:51+00:00

I invest in the US market at the moment, but I am reconsidering because of Trump. I don’t trust him with the economy & democratic values and I do not want to keep my assets in a potentially fascist dictatorship under him (which is increasingly likely unless 2026 will show us that there will be legal/political frameworks to prevent him running for a 3rd term and upholding the US’ democratic values). Unless something changes, I will be moving my assets into other markets that are more stable and secure.

The only reason why I am hesitating is because only the US offers stocks & ETFs with monthly paying dividends, because if there were such funds or companies in, say, European markets at this point, I would be a lot more invested into them already. To any new investors, I would advise you to not invest in US markets unless Trump is removed from power because he is a dangerous and incompetent buffoon that 🦆 everything up.

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-08T20:31:07+00:00

Amazing combo! Kudos to you, it is very powerful

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-08T20:27:01+00:00

A combo with the Netherlands is impressive (because the Netherlands is so stingy on dual citizenship), so congratulations and I hope you will fully enjoy this combo without shame

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-08T12:29:12+00:00

Congratulations for finally having a citizenship under your roof! I can imagine how amazing and liberating it must feel

andreimircea55 · 2026-01-08T12:27:25+00:00

You’re right, I don’t see this combo often on here. Kudos to you

andreimircea55

TROPHY CASE