Dutch language lessons · Outdoors
Learn Dutch
among the trees
Immersive Dutch lessons through the forests and heaths of Hilversum with Monty the Springer Spaniel as your cheerful walking companion.
Dutch language lessons · Outdoors
Immersive Dutch lessons through the forests and heaths of Hilversum with Monty the Springer Spaniel as your cheerful walking companion.
The experience
Choose a time slot and location, from the Laren heathlands to the sprawling forests of Hooge Vuursche. You'll receive all the details on where to meet and what to bring. You can bring your own dog if you like!
We warm up with conversation as we set off on the trail (probably with some very bad jokes). Fresh air and movement make language stick like Sticky the stick insect. Monty provides moral support throughout.
Real vocabulary, real situations. Asking the dog to please behave, talking about the weather and why we chose this muddy path, describing what you see (a dog misbehaving in muddy puddles). By the end you'll be surprised how much you've learned. And how vital it is to bring old towels to clean your dog as best you can.
About
I've spent years walking the forests and heathlands of the Gooi and somewhere along those paths I realised that this is the perfect classroom. No desks, no fluorescent lights, no boring textbooks, and best of all: no AI but real connection, outdoors, getting those 10,000 steps in while you're at it.
Dutch is a beautiful, expressive language (just don't ask about the word 'er'), and it's so much easier to absorb when you're relaxed, moving, and surrounded by nature. And Monty... well, he just makes everything better.
Whether you're a complete beginner who just moved to the Netherlands, or an intermediate learner wanting to get truly comfortable speaking, there's a walk here for you.
About me: I'm Evan (47), I've lived in Hilversum since the early 2000s and I love the nature surrounding Hilversum. I have an MA in English and I'm a native speaker of Dutch. As a language professional I earn a living with live subtitling. I'm married and I have two adult sons.
Come for a walkPricing
Where we walk
The Gooi region is one of the Netherlands' most beautiful areas. This is where the Utrechtse Heuvelrug begins. We have ancient heath, pine forests and sand dunes, all within easy reach of Amsterdam and Utrecht.
Meet Monty
Monty is a black and white English Springer Spaniel who has been exploring the forests and heaths of Hilversum since he was a puppy. He knows every path, puddle, and interesting smell.
He's friendly, extremely happy, and wonderfully indifferent to whether you conjugate your verbs correctly. He does, however, get very excited when you say "wandelen" (walk).
He's also great for vocabulary practice! You'll leave knowing the Dutch for "good dog", "sit", "come here", and "please stop eating that."
What walkers say
I had a walk with Evan and Monty this morning and it was great to practise Dutch this way, really natural and of course lovely surroundings. I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn in a less pressurised way and Monty is a bonus.
The hour flew by while walking, talking and looking at the beautiful forest on a Sunday morning. The talk and walk with Evan and Monty was stress free, pressure free, spontaneous and fun. The conversation was flowing at ease while I was trying to organize my thoughts to be able to express myself in Dutch. I felt that my brain was more active because I was walking meanwhile. The language just flowed naturally. It's just what I needed. A highlight was when Monty went on the mud, he is the one doing all the dirty work :) please don't tell Evan that I enjoyed seeing that a bit too much. Topmost I am also super glad I can do all of that in the company of my best friend Bubu, who happened to also quite like Monty from the first moment. I will be very happy to walk again soon :)
Walking with Monty is a great way of learning Dutch without the pressure of a classroom. Evan is very good at keeping the conversation flowing naturally while still teaching you new words and how to use them in sentences. I feel like the Dutch is flowing better and new words stick to memory as you move while practicing, and Monty helps keeping the energy up. It makes learning fun! It is also nice to see more of Hilversum and the surrounding areas, oftentimes it involves learning a bit of Dutch history as well.
Book your first session or send me a message with any questions. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Your first trial walk is free of charge.