Learn Frisian as a Foreign Language

Are you intrigued by the Frisian language, and would you like to be able to speak the language properly? Then this might be the excellent course for you. From September 2020 onwards, we offer a fully self-taught, online programme in Frisian as a foreign language, that brings your language skills from A0 to B2 in fourteen weeks!

Frisian as a foreign language allows you to learn Frisian at an advanced level. In its most basic form, it is a complete self-study programme that enables autonomous learners to develop proficiency in Frisian, as well as to gain the cultural knowledge required to live in Friesland and to understand public discourse.

The course focuses on West(erlauwer) Frisian, as spoken in the Dutch province of Friesland. Command of Dutch or knowledge of the Netherlands is useful, but not necessary if you would like to take the course. In its more complete form, tutoring and feedback are offered, and the course is built up as follows:

week 1-3: developing the CEFR A1 level in understanding and speaking, learning the cultural basics to get by in Friesland
week 4-7: developing the CEFR A2 in the oral and written domains, developing a broader cultural knowledge.
week 8-11: developing a CEFR B1 level in the receptive skills, and working on the productive skills, as well as getting to know student culture.
week 12-14: developing a CEFR B2 level in the receptive and a B1 level in the productive skills.

For academic learners without previous knowledge of Frisian, but with a sound working command of English and a basic knowledge of grammatical description, the complete course offers a working load of roughly 840 hours.

An advanced version of the course offers feedback and tutoring by teaching assistants. After completing this course, students can continue the development of their skills by taking the courses ‘Fryske taalfeardichheid 1’ and ‘Fryske taalfeardichheid 2’, that aim at C1/C2 levels.

As a student at the University of Groningen, you can sign up through Progress – using the course code LHF061B10. More information about the course can be found in the online education catalogue Ocasys.

If you are not a student at the University of Groningen, but interested in this course, you can contact Anna Pot: a.pot@rug.nl