Columbia University Dutch: Elementary to Paleography in New York

Columbia University in New York City offers one of the few Dutch language programs at an American Ivy League university. Through its Department of Germanic Languages, Columbia provides Dutch instruction from elementary to advanced levels.

What Columbia Dutch Offers

The Dutch program at https://germanic.columbia.edu offers Elementary Dutch I and II, covering the fundamentals of speaking, reading, and writing. More unusually, Columbia offers an intensive, tuition-free summer Dutch course for graduate students who need reading knowledge for research — a rare and valuable opportunity.

Columbia also provides Dutch for Reading Knowledge and a course in Dutch Paleography, teaching students to read historical Dutch manuscripts. These are niche but valuable skills for historians, art historians, and researchers working with Dutch primary sources. Courses are available both in-person and online.

Good Fit For

Columbia students and graduate researchers who need Dutch for academic work. The reading knowledge and paleography options are hard to find anywhere else in North America. The tuition-free summer intensive for graduate students is an exceptional opportunity for those who qualify.

Limitations

The program is small — typically one or two courses per semester — and primarily serves enrolled Columbia students. Non-students may be able to enroll through Columbia's School of Professional Studies, but at full tuition rates. The program does not offer the breadth of levels (through C1) that larger European university language centers provide. If you are not already at Columbia, there are more accessible Dutch programs elsewhere.