Sometimes people tell me, “I don’t think I can learn #Dutch… my memory isn’t big enough!” 😊 It makes me smile, because learning a language isn’t like upgrading from 128 GB to 526 GB.

Dutch, with all its playful vowel combinations, can look dazzling 🤒 — even intimidating. But here’s the truth I always share: 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲. 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻; 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱.

When we let go of the pressure to “store” everything, something magical happens:

✨ #Words begin to come back naturally, like friendly faces you’ve met before. 🍀

✨ #Grammar starts to settle in, the way our bodies adjust to a new country. 🌇

✨ And those #smallwins — catching a word in a café, laughing at a joke you actually understood, reading a sign without translating — become sparks that keep you going. 🥂

📊 So instead of taxing your brain, give yourself permission to enjoy the ride. 𝑳𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔, 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔, 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 (𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈!). 🪷 🎼

Every little success, no matter how tiny, is a reason to celebrate. They’re the stepping stones that turn a language from something #foreign into something that #feelslikehome.

💬 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙖𝙜𝙚-𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙛𝙪𝙡, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨?

#TheDutchDoor #LanguageLearningIsFun #DutchLanguage #SmallWins #GrowthMindset #LearnWithJoy #Curiosity #CelebrateProgress #PersonalDevelopment