New MOOC on the horizon helping people improve Dutch online

Following the success of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) “English Pronunciation in a Global World”, which has taught more than 100,000 learners worldwide to speak better English, a similar MOOC for learning Dutch is under development. Laura Rupp, Associate Professor of English Linguistics, and the VU-NT2 team are partnering to contribute to the Dutch pronunciation variants of international speakers who are living, studying, and working in the Netherlands. 

VU researcher Laura Rupp developed the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) “English Pronunciation in a Global World”, which has taught more than 100,000 learners worldwide how to understand the wide variety of accents in English and to speak more understandably themselves. The VU-NT2 team has started developing the MOOC “Pronunciation of Dutch in a Diverse Society”, in collaboration with Laura Rupp, Associate Professor of English Linguistics.

The new MOOC aims to contribute to the understanding and acceptance of Dutch pronunciation variants of international speakers who live, study, and work in Dutch-speaking parts of the world. By better understanding each other’s Dutch variants, people will become more equal speaking partners and will understand each other better. This also gives non-native speakers more opportunities to speak Dutch and increases the likelihood of being answered in Dutch rather than, for example, English. 

The new MOOC is being financed by the ‘studievoorschotmiddelen’. The Pronunciation of Dutch MOOC will be festively launched on the ‘Dag van de Moedertaal’ on 21 February 2025. 

• Watch the valorisation video 

In the video, Laura Rupp talks about seeking outside expertise, identifying stakeholders, and personal perseverance in her valorisation story.