Anne Marijn Koppen (1985, Hengelo, the Netherlands) has been working as a Dutch teacher in Berlin since 2012. At 15, she first experienced learning a foreign language from scratch; for a year, she stayed near Nagoya, Japan and learned Japanese – not from a book, but by diving in headfirst.
After graduating from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam (major: language as a tool), Anne Marijn lived in Paris, in several places in Japan, and in Berlin. She worked as a yoga teacher, a Dutch teacher, and led art- and social projects for teenagers. In Berlin, she founded Klare Taal Niederländisch Unterricht in 2014. Klare Taal means clear, straightforward language; straight talk.
Anne Marijn: “My goal is to provide every student with a class that fits them. That’s why I create or gather all of the material we use in classes myself. I add texts, videos, and podcasts tailored to the student’s interests. This tailoring, creating, and curating makes my job diverse and positively challenging – I just love it because doing so keeps me learning as well.
It’s important to me that my students are having fun while learning; I want to create a safe space where students are challenged to investigate actively, critically, and creatively and thereby consolidate what they are learning. I know from experience that, with this method, my students are able to express themselves confidently.”
Susan, Student: “Definitely recommended! I got offered a job in the Netherlands unexpectedly, and I had two weeks to learn basic Dutch. Previously, I had only had language instruction in school and I was curious to see what private lessons would be like. What I learned at the Klare Taal five-day crash course completely exceeded my expectations. Anne Marijn knows how to motivate her students. Her learning materials are funny, well-structured, and lovingly designed. Anne Marijn is very flexible when it comes to planning class times and managed to fill me with enthusiasm for the Dutch language!” For more reviews, see ‘reviews’ and Google+.
Anne Marijn received funding from the Goethe Institute Amsterdam and the Erasmus Young Entrepreneurs Programme. Besides Dutch, she’s fluent in German, English and Japanese.