Dutch in Poland: WA Students of Dutch Activity SurveyHow many people in Poland study Dutch? What are their motivations? What sort of employer is looking for Dutch-speaking personnel and why? These were some of the questions that the Dutch Language Union wanted to have answered. Two MA students and one BA student from the Department of Dutch and South African Studies tried to find answers to these questions.
The Dutch Language Union (in Dutch: Nederlands Taalunie, NTU) is a joint Flemish-Dutch government institute with responsibility for preserving and promoting the Dutch language. The NTU wanted to know more about the position of Dutch outside the Netherlands and Belgium, so it decided to carry out two pilot studies, in Italy and Poland. The Department of Dutch and South-African Studies in Poznań was selected to perform the surveys in Poland. Coordinated by senior lector Ruben van Luijk, MA1 students Patrycja Zawłocka and Bartłomiej Serek and 3BA student Kinga Schmidt designed and sent out surveys to students, teachers and alumni of Dutch all over Poland. They also approached companies in Poland which employ Dutch-speakers. Together, the team wrote a detailed analysis of their findings that was integrated into the official report of the NTU that was published in June 2019. [http://taalunieversum.org/sites/tuv/files/downloads/Veldanalyse%20Polen%20opgemaakt_def.pdf - Dutch language only].
It was no coincidence that the NTU set up this project now. Currently, there is much discussion in the Netherlands about the position of the Dutch language. The Dutch language students in Poland frequently come up in this discussion and are often referred to in the media. While interest in studying the Dutch language on an academic level has declined in the Netherlands, Polish students are queuing up for Dutch studies. Currently, there are approximately as much Polish students studying Dutch in Poland as there are Dutch students doing the same in the Netherlands. In terms of student numbers, the AMU Department of Dutch and South African Studies is the second largest in Poland.