The main characters in this course are Anna and Alex. Anna and Alex are two Italian students going to Belgium on an Erasmus Programme.

They are welcomed in their university town by Ward and Charlotte. Ward and Alex have met in England where they took an English language course together.

Anna and Alex have registered for a buddy of the university. These buddies, Ellen and Steven, will show them their way around the university and the city.

Anna and Alex will take you through this Dutch course. They will take you along on their dates and contacts with fellow students and lots of other people. You will find their adventures in the story (the first introduction to every unit), guided by several pictures.

In the story you will find links to several language exercises, to a pop-up glossary, to grammar items and exercises, to culture and everyday life files and to a personal notebook. To this introduction unit, for example, you will find a pop up glossary with examples of instruction languages in Dutch (used in the exercises) translated to English.

On average, you should expect to spend between 60 and 75 hours doing online activities to complete the whole course in order to achieve the learning objectives, which correspond to level A1 of the European Framework of Reference for Language. But remember that e-learning is a flexible tool: the amount of time, as well as its distribution, is up to you. The more time you devote to the course and the more regularly you attend it, the better you will learn Italian. Take your time, take enough time.

We hope you will enjoy this course and you’ll arrive in Belgium with enough luggage to get you through your first days.

We wish you all the best.