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international

10.000 Dutch students move to Flanders

Jasmijn Van Raemdonck,
8 juni 2017 - 10:33

Much lip service has been paid to the increasing numbers of international students at the UvA while Dutch students slip abroad seemingly unnoticed — even if just to Belgium. Almost 10.000 applied to Flemish universities last year, double the amount in 2008, according to the Flemish ministry of education. What’s it like to study as a Dutchman in Flanders? Folia speaks to three to find out.

One thing that kept coming up was that it is not easy to make a connection with the more reserved Belgian students. Beside the reticence, the Dutch students commented on the Belgian respect for authority — not only for the police, but also for professors and doctors. They were also surprised by the difficulty of the courses, often having to adjust to an increased course load.

 

Most of the Dutch students we spoke to like the Belgian mentality. Joes Minis likes their “I don’t care-attitude”. He likes how everyone does what he wants without judging others. Polder thinks Belgians are friendlier than Dutchmen and Goof van Straaten, a Dutch student at the University of Antwerp, loves the soft Flemish accent.

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