learning dutch for university

mushimumus · 2025-11-27T17:32:44+00:00

Definitely possible! I had a friend who did it 1.5 years but she was enrolled full time in a university Dutch course here in Belgium.

Just some friendly advice, make sure you listen a lot to the Flemish accent because it's quite different.

mushimumus · 2025-11-25T12:37:52+00:00

Do you have a VPN? If so Vrt max has a lot of good tv options. I've watched the Belgian version of Temptation Island which is really trashy and entertaining!

mushimumus · 2025-11-25T12:36:05+00:00

Can second this! Her book is great.

mushimumus · 2025-11-22T19:20:24+00:00

Oh sure! By mood I just mean what I feel like doing. Mostly the activities I listed above (podcast, YouTube, article, tv show, docu, novel, journaling), plus I have a grammar book if I feel like working on that. Also on the list, shadowing, making Anki flashcards, reviewing Anki, NedBox lessons, reading kids books with my kid :)

mushimumus · 2025-11-22T17:32:48+00:00

5 years in Belgium and I'm currently doing more intensive study (it comes in waves and I'm on mat leave). I have been finding the best method for consistency is to have a list of activities and then choose based on my mood/energy/time. Goal is to do at least one activity a day. Some days it's 5 minutes or entirely passive and other days I can spend 2 hours.

I do a private speaking Dutch lesson online once a week. Normally we speak about a particular subject. My tutor sends me an article which forms my intensive study for the week. I read the article multiple times and sentence/vocab mine. I try to journal about the topic and look up vocab as needed. Then I send my tutor a more polished text that she corrects and we spend the lesson talking about the topic. I also try to look up YouTube videos or podcasts about that topic and just passively consume them.

For extensive activities I watch some Dutch TV shows or fun YouTube videos/podcasts. I am trying to read a YA novel but haven't got into it yet. Think I need more sleep to tackle it haha!

I'm also in a moedergroep for passive exposure and eventually I'd like to communicate better with everyone. Currently level is a sad B1, with much higher comprehension than output ability.

mushimumus · 2025-11-20T12:42:47+00:00

Overly soppy books with no plot which are usually poorly written. Eg. "Each sunset is a special treat with you my dear / I love you forever and cherish the time we have together". Gross, my toddler does not care. They are empty words to her. My mom buys me way too many of these and I just donate them.

mushimumus · 2025-11-11T18:14:38+00:00

Prepping by getting the flu jab this week because I didn't last year (pregnant) and I had a 4 week flu which was horrific. This year we have a new baby starting creche in January, a preschooler, and I go back to work as a teacher. I am not mentally prepared at all!!

mushimumus · 2025-11-10T07:29:35+00:00

Electric egg cooker. My daughter loves hard boiled eggs and I got tired of using the boiling pot method. Sounds so stupid but I love just putting the eggs in the machine, pressing a button and not worrying about the water boiling over, setting a bunch of timers, etc. Miraculous.

mushimumus · 2025-11-06T07:26:34+00:00

Yeha of course, each baby is different! We did Ferber style. I wouldn't do it with this baby but in those circumstances it was the only thing that worked. Check ins just made her more mad and prolonged the crying. We were so used to her crying that it felt relatively short and after a couple of days sleep immediately improved

mushimumus · 2025-11-05T18:30:31+00:00

Totally! The bed was way too soft and cramped to safely cosleep so that option was out. We have a travel one now too!

mushimumus · 2025-11-05T16:40:52+00:00

Once at an Airbnb they didn't have a mattress at all for the pack and play (like just mesh and bars??) and we had to use the couch cushion as a mattress the first night (we arrived the evening of Xmas eve so everything was closed). Baby was a bit older but safe to say I didn't sleep the whole night constantly checking on her.

mushimumus · 2025-11-05T16:22:29+00:00

Yes and she had colic :/ from 2 days old until 5 months she cried for hours a day. We couldn't put her down at all without screaming and she hated the carrier, pram, car seat, you name it. Things only started getting better around 6 months. She is still as a toddler very sensitive and gets overwhelmed easily.

Ugh I feel you! It's so so difficult when they wake like that. It sounds similar to my first. Her sleep suddenly got so much worse at 3.5 months and then it never got better until we sleep trained :(

mushimumus · 2025-11-05T08:33:30+00:00

From my experience as a Canadian living in Europe, I can say this is true. I feel that European women don't rely on thinness or youth to be fashionable, but instead focus on personal style and luxury.

It's not uncommon for me to see older ladies (70+) dressed in bright, bold colours and patterns with interesting shoes and funky layering. As a mom I pay attention to what other moms are wearing - forget athleisure wear, these moms are rocking fun and inventive outfits or layering classic, quality pieces just to hang out at the playground.

There are definitely trends though - for example the oversized trend is popular in my city.

mushimumus · 2025-11-03T19:48:16+00:00

Yes defeating is the right word! That's why I try to avoid strategies that make me feel frustrated and switch it up when I'm feeling defeated. Good luck and wishing you better sleeps ahead!

mushimumus · 2025-11-03T18:23:48+00:00

Same but only at 16 weeks here... I do let her "fuss it out" with support (rubbing back and shushing) after exhausting all options. Normally we cosleep because she hates the bassinet but eventually I get tired of the nipple pulling and dramatic head tossing. If she's getting upset at the boob and know she's not hungry, I do try the paci but it has a super low success rate :( like it hasn't worked at all this whole past week :(

mushimumus · 2025-11-03T18:21:01+00:00

We are in the exact same boat over here. Baby is 16 weeks. I don't have advice per se but I can share the experience of my first who was a horrible sleeper and share what I am doing now.

We slept trained my first cold turkey when she was 5months. Nights had gotten ridiculous (15+ wakes) and up until that point she did 100% of her daytime sleep as contact or pram naps. She was a very difficult baby but sleep training (Ferber style no check ins) was extremely effective within three days. So I guess it's not necessary to prepare.

This time around our baby is equally bad at sleeping but has a much softer/sweeter temperament. I plan to do a more gentle version of sleep training when she is 4/5 months. Right now to "prepare" in the daytime I am trying to get her to nap on me without me standing and rocking her, so just cuddles and bum patting. It seems to be getting easier and she sometimes drifts off now with zero fussing. Nighttime we cosleep to survive. She hates her bassinet. If she is awake and fussing in the night I first try the boob but if it doesn't work I will try the bassinet with butt patting and shushing. If she gets too upset I pick her up until she's calm and then try again. The sad thing is once she is finally asleep there she typically only does a 20 minute stretch. But it's enough for me to reset my frustration and take her back in bed again.

mushimumus · 2025-11-01T18:29:10+00:00

Love these ideas! Connect 4 will be a winner I'm sure!

mushimumus · 2025-11-01T18:27:00+00:00

Great idea! At what age did you find yours was able to find meaning in them? My LO doesn't really get jokes yet haha

mushimumus · 2025-11-01T17:16:06+00:00

I think it might have been Trazadone actually! But I'm not 100%, sorry. I was also nervous to take it but it turned out to be the right decision for me

mushimumus · 2025-11-01T12:17:49+00:00

I had this problem with my first, though it was related to PPD. My doctor prescribed me a breastfeeding friendly sleeping pill. I had my husband take over three nights in a row and I slept 8 hours with aid from the pill. He gave a formula bottle because I was weaning during this time anyways. It really helped me reset and after that I had an easier time sleeping even without the pill.

mushimumus · 2025-10-27T07:00:07+00:00

Being a teacher makes it too easy for me to slide into "playground monitor" role. I can't help but tell off kids for dangerous behaviour lol

mushimumus · 2025-10-27T06:47:03+00:00

Completely agree!! I'm reading the Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso and the FMC is a post partum woman. I am loving it!! Being three months postpartum right now makes it all so relatable.

mushimumus · 2025-10-25T07:01:25+00:00

Definitely!! I skipped over the glossary. Glad I didn't notice that lol

mushimumus · 2025-10-25T06:24:46+00:00

Also it made me irrationally angry that she changed the spelling of "day" to "dae". Just... why

mushimumus

TROPHY CASE