• Campus , Education
  • 05/04/2022
  • Nederlands

Flyering against the anglicization of education

Today, flyers were handed out on campus near Atlas against the anglicization of education. Representatives from the foundation ‘Taalverdediging’ (Language Defense) were present to hand out flyers with slogans such as ‘education in Dutch is better', 'fewer American and English books, so less cultural colonization' and 'less issues regarding affordable student rooms if we use Dutch as the language of instruction'.

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photo Flyer | Taalverdediging

TU/e security was aware, but declined to comment further. The university spokesperson refrained from commenting as well, and referred to the organization behind the flyer, which responds later in this article.

A short translation of the statements of the flyer: 

'The reinforcement of Dutch as the language of instruction in universities means:

  • Being outnumbered for a study program will be a thing of the past for most programs
  • Easier learning in your own language
  • Smaller groups with more attention for each student
  • No longer being bothered by lecturers with a poor level of English, therefore a more accurate transfer of knowledge
  • The available governmental funds for education no longer have to be shared with 80.000 foreign students
  • The Dutch scientific knowledge from the past won't be lost anymore
  • Less American and British books, so less cultural colonization
  • Dutch expertise, very important if you want to work in the Netherlands or in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium
  • Less of a shortage of affordable student rooms
  • Few foreign competitors on the (side-)job market

And it's more fun too! Check for more explaination the website www.taalverdediging.nl'

The foundation Taalverdediging describes itself on its website as follows: 'Within the borders of our language region, our language faces stiff competition from English in particular. French also competes regionally with Dutch. Taalverdediging believes that our language is a cultural asset that is worth is to defend and it defends Dutch within our borders so that our heritage lives on. This includes, among other things, the use of Dutch in public life, including radio and television, education, business and the use of our language by politicians. The foundation has a following of hundreds of benefactors spread throughout the entire language area. We consider the entire language area as a field that we need to be active in, but we are also a Dutch foundation, which means that we focus are activities on the Netherlands.'

Chairman of Taalverdediging Jan Heitmeier says that he has flyered with seven people. "We handed out about 700. We started inside Atlas, but then were requested to move outside by security, after which we continued there." The letter from Theo Salet of the department of Built Environment was the reason to distribute flyers in Eindhoven. "That letter stated that the use of Dutch was discouraged, which is harmful. The Dutch vocabulary and language are deteriorating as a result and we think that is very shameful. They're committing linguistic genocide and that is a crime against humanity." The foundation has been around since 1999 and has about 700 followers, Heitmeier says. He still wants to correct the assumption that the foundation is racist, according to him that is not the case. "It's not about race, it's about language. Our foundation is religiously and politically neutral and we are represented by all kinds of colors among our supporters."

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