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How can I get A1 and A2 Dutch learning courses and complete my listening, writing, and reading exams?

Evidence-based answer · Last updated · How it’s made

The short answer

There isn't a single official "A1/A2 Dutch course" you must take — self-study books, structured courses (in-person or online), and self-tests are all viable routes to prepare for the reading, writing, and listening components of A1/A2 exams, and the evidence suggests online Dutch courses can work just as well as face-to-face ones. The clearest Dutch-specific evidence comes from a comparison of online versus classroom adult learners of Dutch as a second language, plus dedicated Dutch self-study and self-testing materials; broader second-language research on reading and listening skill development fills in the rest.

Asked as someone learning Dutch. Findings drawn from Dutch-specific research are framed for Dutch learners and may not hold for other languages; where the evidence is general second-language research, the report says so.

Dedicated Dutch A1/A2 self-study materials exist

There are published resources built specifically for reaching Dutch A1 and A2, including a guided A1 mastery book with grammar, vocabulary, all four skills, and a full mock exam with answer key, and a 300-question multiple-choice self-test book pegged to the A2 level with self-assessment and answers.1,3

Online Dutch courses match classroom courses on exam scores

In a study comparing adult learners taking an A2-level Dutch course either fully online or fully face-to-face, the two groups ended up with statistically similar scores on the reading, listening, writing, and speaking parts of the final exam — no format was clearly better on any single skill.2

Online learners did better on ongoing coursework, not just the final exam

The same study found online learners scored significantly higher than classroom learners on continuous assessment (the graded work done throughout the course, as opposed to the one-off final exam), possibly because online learners got more individual attention from teachers than students in larger in-person classes.2

In plain terms

Continuous assessment means grades collected from assignments, quizzes, and tasks completed throughout the course, rather than from a single final test.

Reading speed and comprehension both rise with level

General research on second-language reading found that reading speed and comprehension score both increase steadily as learners move from beginner (A1) to intermediate (B1/B2) levels, with beginners showing more variation between individuals than more advanced learners.6

Listening improves through both language and strategy training

Broader second-language listening research found that learners who use 'metacognitive' strategies — actively planning, monitoring, and evaluating how they listen rather than passively hearing — tend to comprehend better, and that this kind of strategy use increases as proficiency grows.7

In plain terms

Metacognitive strategies mean consciously managing your own listening process: deciding what to focus on before listening, checking your understanding while listening, and reviewing what went wrong afterward, rather than just letting the audio play.

Example

For a Tuesday-evening listening exercise, this could mean previewing the question before playing the audio, pausing partway to check what you understood, and afterward figuring out which specific word or phrase tripped you up rather than just replaying the whole clip again.

CEFR levels (A1/A2) are the shared benchmark behind these exams

A1 and A2 are levels from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), a widely used six-level scale (A1 through C2) describing what a learner can do in a language; Dutch course materials and exams, like those for many other languages, are built and scored against this same framework.4,5

In plain terms

CEFR stands for a European standard used to describe and compare language ability across different languages and countries, so an A2 Dutch exam and an A2 exam in another language are meant to represent a comparable level of real-world ability.

What to do with this

  • To prepare for A1 and A2 Dutch, combine a structured resource with deliberate practice on each exam skill.
  • A dedicated A1 self-study guide with a built-in mock exam, or an A2-level self-test book, can give you a clear map of what's expected and let you check your own level before sitting a real exam.
  • If you have the choice between an online or in-person Dutch course, the evidence suggests you don't need to worry that online will shortchange you on reading, listening, writing, or speaking — the outcomes were statistically comparable, and online formats may even give you more individualized feedback on ongoing coursework.
  • For the reading exam specifically, build up reading speed alongside comprehension rather than just accuracy, since research on second-language readers shows the two grow together as proficiency rises — practice with graded, level-appropriate texts rather than jumping to material that's too advanced.
  • For listening, don't just play recordings repeatedly; use a strategy-driven approach — decide in advance what you're listening for, monitor your understanding as you go, and reflect afterward on which specific part broke down, since active management of the listening process is linked to better comprehension.
  • For writing, dictation and structured writing exercises tied to the CEFR-level content (family, numbers, daily routines, etc., as used in the beginner materials referenced) can build the vocabulary and sentence patterns exam graders expect at A1/A2.

Now pick something to do it with

Each of these opens an overview of the apps, courses and immersion material worth a look for that — filtered to exactly what the advice above points you at:

Structured coursesResource selectionListening practiceReading practiceDictationWriting practice
Or see the full resource list

Worth knowing

  • Most of the detailed evidence here on listening and reading skill-building comes from general second-language-acquisition research (including studies of English, Turkish, and German as foreign languages), not from Dutch specifically, so those findings should be read as broadly applicable patterns rather than facts proven for Dutch learners in particular.
  • Only two sources deal directly with Dutch as a learned language: one on online-versus-classroom outcomes for A2 Dutch and two on self-study/self-test materials for A1/A2 Dutch; there is no source here directly testing which specific study method produces the best exam scores for Dutch reading, writing, or listening.
  • The online-vs-classroom study also had a small sample (39 adult learners total), so its findings, while encouraging, are exploratory rather than definitive.

Want a deeper literature dive?

There’s enough published research here to go wider than the usual pass. Available on the Pro plan.

See plans

  1. [1]Anthony Smales. Your First Steps in Dutch. Independently Published 2025. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZQnG0QEACAAJ&dq=Dutch+as+second+language+A1+A2+CEFR+assessment&hl=&source=gbs_api
  2. [2]Liesbeth De Paepe. Student performance in online and face-to-face second language courses: Dutch L2 in adult education. Journal of Educational Sciences 2018. doi.org/10.35923/jes.2018.1.06
  3. [3]Ineke Paupert. 300 Tests De Neerlandais. Assimil France 2023. http://books.google.com/books?id=BR15zwEACAAJ&dq=Dutch+as+second+language+A1+A2+CEFR+assessment&hl=&source=gbs_api
  4. [4]J. Charles Alderson. Foreword to the Special Issue “The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) for English Language Assessment in China” of Language Testing in Asia. Language Testing in Asia 2017. doi.org/10.1186/s40468-017-0049-9
  5. [5]Neus Figueras, Brian North, Sauli Takala, Piet Van Avermaet, Norman D. Verhelst. Relating language examinations to the common European framework of reference for languages: learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR): a manual. Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) 2009. https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/4270320/file/4270333
  6. [6]Maluch, Jessica T., Sachse, Karoline A.. Reading in Developing L2 Learners: The Interrelated Factors of Speed, Comprehension and Efficiency across Proficiency Levels. TESL-EJ 2020. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1257221
  7. [7]M. El-Dali. L2 Listening Comprehension: Is it a Language Problem or Listening Problem?. English Linguistics Research 2017. doi.org/10.5430/elr.v6n1p14