Hi, I'm Maayke
Dutch speaking confidence coach. Based in Noordwijk, passionate about language, people, and the moment someone realises they can do this after all.
I work with internationals who know Dutch but hesitate to speak it in daily life. Not because they lack the words, but because something else gets in the way.
I help internationals to get the confidence to speak Dutch in their daily life.
My story
I started Your Dutch Way to help internationals confidently speak Dutch.
I understand that it can be disheartening when you have invested a lot of time and effort into learning Dutch, yet still struggle to speak it confidently in public.
I was nineteen and wanted to work the front desk of a hotel in Grasse, in the south of France. My supervisor had other ideas. She put me in the kitchen first.
I understood French. I could follow conversations. But speaking was a different story. So she started me at the breakfast shift. The same short questions, every morning, table after table, until they stopped feeling like questions and started feeling like conversation. Week by week she moved me forward. Kitchen, restaurant, back office, reception.
By the end of that internship, I was exactly where I had wanted to be. Nobody there knew how silent I had been not long before.
I think about that kitchen when I work with a client. What do you already have, and where is your safe place to start using it?
From office manager to the woman beside you
For years I worked as an office manager. Stable, organised and competent.
But on the way, as life happens, I keptgrowing. And personal coaching brought me back to what matters to me: being the person who truly sees someone and walks alongside them. I trained as a taalmaatje, added NLP to my practice, and founded Your Dutch Way in 2023.
Language and people. That is where I come alive.
I am not a Dutch teacher.
I sit beside you, online, one on one, and work with what is actually in the way.
I keep you accountable and give you strategies to start and stay in a Dutch conversation even when it gets uncomfortable.
Speaking a language in a new country is never just about language. It is a personal journey. That is why I work with NLP: not just to understand where you are stuck, but to find what will actually move you forward.
My family
Sport is woven into our family life. I head into the dunes weekly for an outdoor workout and train korfbal. My husband Martijn runs trails and mountain bikes through the same dunes. Our son Leon keeps goal on the football pitch, rides his stunt scooter, and occasionally keeps up with Martijn on the bike trails.
We are an active family. But you will also find me at the beach with a book, doing nothing useful, except enjoying the moment.
My values
Belonging over fitting in. Not a version of yourself that sounds more Dutch, but you, being you.
Depth over speed. Real confidence is built in small, consistent moments of showing up.
Real connection. I am not a course or an online video. I am the person beside you.
Courage in the small moments. The school gate. The phone call. The colleague who switches to English. The situations you're in.
Family first. I built this business to mean something, and my family is at the centre of that.
Personal details
After Leon leaves for school, I make a bakkie koffie and sit with it. Just me and the day ahead. A roze koek on the side is my guilty pleasure, not an everyday thing, which is exactly what makes it good.
I live in Noordwijk, five minutes from the dunes and the sea. This place makes me feel at home.
I am interested in Human Design and NLP. Both are great tools for understanding how different people think, feel and communicate.
I believe that when you choose to live in the Netherlands, speaking the language helps you feel settled. It builds a bridge to real connections, in the everyday moments that make a place yours.
