She is a fan of mud walking 'wadlopen' and she also loves to write; Nirupa from India has some versatile interests! Besides these hobbies she also has a busy job as a chemical engineer. Currently she is a part of a team focused on making the charging of electric vehicles more accessible. She herself is also fully charged in the Netherlands... ;-) Nirupa lives with her husband and four year old son in Delft and she is thoroughly enjoying her Dutch life. Nirupa: “One of the things I love most about the Netherlands is the work-life balance. In my free time, I enjoy traveling and writing. Some of my short stories, poems, and articles have been published by various online platforms and in books in India.” Are you curious about Nirupa's writings? Then check out her Instagram page, nirupa_writes.
Nirupa can understand and write in Dutch very well. She finds speaking Dutch still tricky but is slowly climbing up the learning curve everyday, mainly because she likes to read local newspapers and children's books. Any children's book recommendations for those trying to learn Dutch? Nirupa: "I like 'Liefie, ik ben thuis!' by Jarvis and 'Kleine Ijsbeer' by Hans de Beer." She thinks it would be awesome to one day be able to write stories in Dutch herself. Of course, she must be fluent in Dutch to be able to do this, but Nirupa certainly does not sit still. For example, she recently took a Dutch immersion course for intermediates at the Language Institute TaalTaal in Scheveningen. Nirupa: "It was an intensive two-week course with a small group of four students, each day we were taught by a different teacher. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. The course gave us plenty of time to practice our speaking skills, so we weren't only doing exercises in the textbook; hearing the teachers share their own stories made the classes even more engaging."
For many people learning Dutch, TaalTaal is the place to be. The lessons are practical, useful and also challenging in a fun way. Because of the small groups, there is plenty of room for personal attention and development. Nirupa herself really loves languages and she enjoys typical Dutch expressions such as 'helaas pindakaas' ('that's too bad') and 'april doet wat hij wil'. Nirupa: "I find this last saying funny and especially since it reminds me of my 4-year-old ("he also does what he wants!”)." In The Netherlands, Nirupa gets a lot of new inspiration for her poems and stories: "The endless views of sand and sea are incredibly peaceful and breathtaking—at least, this is what I saw while mud walking. This is something you can’t do in many other parts of the world! Life in the Netherlands—both personally and professionally—has had a huge impact on me, shaping who I am today, and I’m incredibly grateful for the journey. It's been challenging and also very rewarding."
Aren't you afraid of getting dirty, just like Nirupa? Then choose Dutch Immersion at TaalTaal! Don't worry, they're not going to go mud walking, but a walk in Scheveningen is sometimes definitely part of the course. The new TaalTaal course season starts again for all languages in the week of April 14th: www.taaltaal.nl/en and online intakes are available all the time www.taaltaal.nl/en/intake but if you prefer a very 'gezellig' open day, there is one on April 5th between 13:00 and 16:00 hrs.