Assessment test for Inburgering courses

by **sesen** » January 22nd, 2010, 4:57 pm

Hi all
I'm just about to take the first baby step into the world of Inburgering and have a quick question. I'm now living in the Netherlands and have been told I must take an Inburgering course - which I think is fine. I have an appointment to take a 3 hour exam, the results of which will determine which course I will be attending.

This great website has alot of information on the exam that is taken on the completion of the course but I'm curious as to what form my initial exam will take - is it the same, or easier? Will I be on the back foot because as a New Zealander it was not necessary for me to know Dutch before I applied for residency?
Can anyone who has done this test shed some light on it please?
Cheers guys

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by **Bieneke** » January 25th, 2010, 11:24 pm

Hi Sesen,

I don't think you should worry about the exam. As you said it is not an official exam, but just an assessment of your level to make sure you will start on the level that suits you best. Compared to people who had to do an exam prior to moving to the Netherlands, you may be slightly behind, but only slightly as the Basisexamen Inburgering (the exam people take abroad) only requires a very basic level of Dutch.

Good luck with the baby steps!

by **adappel** » January 26th, 2010, 9:15 am

Dit examen is een intake.
Het is een gesprek.
Alleen jijzelf beslist over de cursus die je wilt volgen.
We wonen hier niet in een dictatuur...
Dus je maakt de test. Men geeft advies.
Misschien is dat advies niet zo goed.
Meer is het niet...
Nou ja, het duurt wel drie uur ...
Beetje lang voor wat ze van je moeten weten.
Succes.

by **wendym74** » January 26th, 2010, 9:23 am

Hi,

At the end of last year I was also required to take an 'in-take' exam for assessing the type of inburgeringcursus that they thought I should be put into. Based on my experience and those shared by other inburgeraars that I know, this depends heavily on the gemeente and stadsdeel that you live in. I happen to live in Amsterdam Noord in an area where there are a lot of immigrants needing to go through the inburgering process. The organisation handling this process was called "Taalwijzer". I found that I was not treated very nicely and that the client managers had varying levels of knowledge about the rules and process. I seemed to know more about what my options were than they did and was made to feel as though I had to do exactly what they recommended, which is NOT true. My advice is to carefully consider what they are asking you to agree to before agreeing to anything because you have options (and they might not make these known to you).

The actual exam they made me take was a very basic language test to assess if you know the basics, like the days of the week, numbers, etc. It becomes progressively more difficult, if you are able to continue with the exam, but if you can't, then you just stop and they assess your level of knowledge based on what you were able to complete. Also, they give you a sort of IQ exam! You have a brief conversation with a person who assesses your language level, which is a different person than the client manager at Taalwijzer. Within a few weeks you get a full print-out evaluation of your tests and a written recommendation.

Not sure if this helps or is relevant to your situation, but happy to provide additional details of my personal experience if you think it helps. Don't worry about the test though...just make sure to be well informed about your options and obligations before agreeing to any inburgering course.

Met vriendelijke groeten,

Wendy

by **adappel** » January 26th, 2010, 9:43 am

Wendy is correct. This is the experience in many cities.
And you really better trust your own psychological test or insight than theirs...

by **sesen** » January 28th, 2010, 3:37 pm

Hartelijk bedankt :-D

I had my test yesterday and it was nothing at all like what was suggested in the letter I had received - the 3 hour exam that had me in a mild panic!
I was lucky to have a one on one interview with a very nice calm man who spoke clearly, simply and if I was really stuck, explained in english. I'd learned quite a few dutch words but only at the stage of arranging them into very basic sentences but that was ok.

Just a few spoken questions regarding name, birthdate, where I live, why I'm here etc.
Then a quick "IQ" test of numbers and word puzzels. Even a clutz like me managed that.
Next came a handful of written questions asking for the earlier personal questions and a few more such as your hobbies, favourite festival days. Quick and in simple language.
Then I was given a card divided into 2 sections. Top section was a page from someones appointment book, bottom section a short postcard. He asked questions about what was written.
The last section I found the hardest. Listening to a cassette tape with another sheet of paper in front of me showing various images (bus, book etc) in rows. The voiced asked you to point out the objects. My hearing isn't the best anymore and even in my own language that would have been difficult, so I only got a couple right there.
That was all and I was out in just over an hour.

He's recommending I do the quicker 6 month course thats available here in Tilburg. The other courses are 12 months or 18 months, which seems an absurd length of time but perhaps are more tailored to suit other people's circumstances. I'm available and in the position to do the more intensive option so am happy to go along with his recommendation, besides I'm not sure we'll even still be here in 18 months time.
So thanks everyone for you replies, they really did help :-D

by **Bieneke** » January 28th, 2010, 11:58 pm

Bedankt, Sesen, for sharing that with us!

I am glad to hear that it was not all that hard. The next time someone is worried about the intake, we can refer to your post (and Wendy's).

Veel succes met de cursus. :-D

by **maruska** » February 2nd, 2010, 8:41 pm

Groetjes iedereen,

Ik heb hetzelfde in-take test gedaan.
Dat gebeurd paar dagen geleden.
Ik ben helemaal niet tevreden met de uitslag.
Taalwijzer kunt me alleen cursus bij Taalwerk aanraden.
Omdat het beste voor me NT2(I) is.
De cursus bij Universiteit is alleen voor mensen wie NT2(II) moeten doen.
Ik beter een cursus bij UVA onafhankelijk zal doen.
En daarna vrag ik IB Group voor geld terug.
Gisteren heb ik een test gedaan bij UVA
en ik zit in "Intermediate" niveau.
Er was heel druk bij UVA
Dus het is niet zeker als ik de plaats heb.
Maar ik heb hehoord dat uva is de beste plaats voor nederlande taal te leren
Ik zal wachten enkele maanden, maar ik wil graag alleen uva.

Maria

by **wendym74** » February 3rd, 2010, 8:53 am

Hallo,

Ik heb de cursussen bij UvA gevolgen en ik vond de docenten en programma uitstekend. Ik heb ook een onafhankelijk inburgering traject gedaan omdat Taalwijzer heeft voor me een taalcursus in een buurtcentrum gekozen. Ik was niet tevreden met zo een keus. Ik heb gevraagd om bij de UvA te blijven studeren, maar Taalwijzer heeft dat geweigerd. Dat vond ik erg dom! Dus ik heb mijn inburgering traject onafhankelijk van Taalwijzer gedaan. Gisteren heb ik geleerd dat ik voor mijn NT2-II examens geslaagd ben...dus ga maar door met UvA en veel succes!!!

Wendy

maruska wrote:Groetjes iedereen,

Ik heb hetzelfde in-take test gedaan.
Dat gebeurd paar dagen geleden.
Ik ben helemaal niet tevreden met de uitslag.
Taalwijzer kunt me alleen cursus bij Taalwerk aanraden.
Omdat het beste voor me NT2(I) is.
De cursus bij Universiteit is alleen voor mensen wie NT2(II) moeten doen.
Ik beter een cursus bij UVA onafhankelijk zal doen.
En daarna vrag ik IB Group voor geld terug.
Gisteren heb ik een test gedaan bij UVA
en ik zit in "Intermediate" niveau.
Er was heel druk bij UVA
Dus het is niet zeker als ik de plaats heb.
Maar ik heb hehoord dat uva is de beste plaats voor nederlande taal te leren
Ik zal wachten enkele maanden, maar ik wil graag alleen uva.

Maria