“This is the perfect environment to learn a language”

Deniz Köksal likes to make an active start to his days. Every morning during his five-day Dutch training at Regina Coeli, he could be found in the gym. For him, it was the perfect way to start a long day of class.

Deniz is Head of Fashion & Management at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI), part of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. He is working on a new curriculum in which sustainability, inclusivity, and digitisation are central. He is originally from Turkey. He worked as a lecturer at Reutlingen University near Stuttgart and then as a consultant in the fashion industry with a focus on sustainability.

“I want to be able to respond with more empathy”

As someone who works with Dutch-speaking colleagues on a daily basis, Deniz not only wanted to learn the Dutch language, but also to better understand the culture. “I want to be able to respond with more empathy,” he says. Moreover, his four-year-old daughter plays an important role in his motivation. She is growing up in the Netherlands, speaks good Dutch, and Deniz also wants to keep up his level for her.

The Dutch training at Regina Coeli is his first training. Nevertheless, after a few days, he already speaks Dutch almost flawlessly. "I learned Dutch by talking to my daughter and reading books to her. In addition, I do a lot of copy/paste. If I've heard a sentence a few times, I'll try it myself. Such a sentence is, for example: ‘That's handy.’ The Dutch often say these kinds of phrases. For example, my daughter also says ‘ Can I just… ’But now that I've had an explanation during training, I really understand what it means."

“I can now also understand more complex texts, not just the context.”

At the start of his training at Regina Coeli, Deniz had one goal in mind: to become more confident in Dutch. During his time at Regina Coeli, Deniz worked specifically on his professional vocabulary. “I went through the training plan I'm working on with my teachers. I can now also understand more complex texts, not just the context.” This progress has significantly increased his self-confidence.

Deniz is full of praise for his teachers at Regina Coeli. “My teachers were great. I found the motivation and a way to continue learning on my own. Now I have the key to do that. I had a very good time here. This is the perfect environment to learn a language.”

"People in Amsterdam like it when I speak Dutch"

His efforts are bearing fruit, not only professionally, but also in his daily life in Amsterdam. "People in Amsterdam like it when I speak Dutch. No, they don't switch to English with me,” he says proudly.

Deniz looks back with satisfaction on his time at Regina Coeli, where he not only deepened his language knowledge, but also found a lasting motivation to continue learning. “My time at Regina Coeli has helped me better understand my team at AMFI, especially in the cultural field. It makes it quicker for me to respond to emails and easier for me to read documents. I also notice that my team feels better when they can discuss sensitive topics in their native language, which makes our conversations much more enjoyable. In addition, I find it really nice to have informal conversations with both management and my team in the workplace - I really enjoy that."