Go to our Summer English Course 2025: Amsterdam, Den Haag and Amstelveen
Summer is the perfect time to immerse yourself in a transformative language learning experience. With our Summer Course English, you will discover a unique opportunity to follow an intensive English immersion course while enjoying summer. Our summer course offers include Private English Speed Courses in Business English, Teen English, General English and Test Preparation.
Summer is the perfect time to dive into English. A Summer English Course offers a unique chance to learn English intensively while exploring the vibrant streets, beautiful museums, and rich history of Amsterdam or The Hague. Our classes are held in the most beautiful historic spots of these cities. Plus we see clients in Amstelveen and online. Find the best location for you with these links for Intensive Summer English Courses in–
Amsterdam: Museum Quarter or by Central Station
Close to Den Haag Central Station
In Amstelveen (with free easy parking!)
The summer course uses the same proven methods as our Intensive Business English Course and General Intensive English Course. These private courses are customized, ranging from 10 to 30 hours per week, and can be taken anywhere. Check out the course pages for more information.
At The English Center, you can follow Private, Customized Intensive English Courses ranging from 10 to 30 hours per week over a period of one, two, three weeks or more with a choice of locations.
With our flexible approach, you can choose a course that fits your schedule and budget. Plus, you’ll have time to explore Amsterdam or The Hague, where almost everyone speaks English, giving you plenty of opportunities to practice while enjoying the summer. Best of all, you can start quickly!
A note about the locations: Our popular course locations in Amsterdam include Van Eeghenlaan 27, in the Museum Quarter and right by the Vondelpark, and Binnenkant 24, just minutes from Amsterdam Central Station.Plus we also see clients in Amstelveen (Chirurgijn 51), Den Haag (Raamweg 4) and Live Online.
Please note all meetings are by appointment only! You can contact us here.
Find more information about our locations in Amsterdam, The Hague, and Amstelveen.
In today’s globalized business world, English is the undisputed language leader. From Amsterdam to Paris to Munich, business people must speak English in order to communicate with colleagues and partners from around the world.
In many international companies, English is the official company language, so employees must use English all day– English for meetings, English for sales, written English emails and reports, English presentations and speeches, English customer service… the list is endless. And even if your company has not yet chosen English as the company language, workers are still expected to perform well in English.
Expectations re: your performance of business English tasks will start in the job interview process and continue through every activity, spoken and written. Colleagues, bosses and clients will notice your:
..and while perfection is not required, your English proficiency can be a great asset in your professional profile. CEFR level B1 across speaking and writing skills is generally the minimum, while higher level jobs will require higher level skills. Many workers need to perform at advanced levels of English proficiency (C1-C2).
These Private Customized Business English Courses focus on practical scenarios, such as presentations, negotiations, and business correspondence. Taught by experienced native-speaker trainers, these English lessons are tailored to meet your level, career needs and interests, ensuring rapid progress and increased confidence in your professional English abilities.
Note! Are you a resident of Amsterdam who needs to make a career change and is getting support from the UVW? The English Center works with the Gemeente Amsterdam program known as Switch. With Switch, your private course in Business English Job Interview training might be paid for. Read more about Switch here.
Does your teen need academic lessons to boost their English level in preparation for the next school year? Let us support them with focused, positive attention on exactly the academic skills they need. These teen English lessons are private 1:1 courses, always taught by a native-speaker teacher. English lessons help teens achieve both short- and long-term academic goals.
Don’t let English become a source of anxiety for your teen. Personalized teen English tutoring with a talented native-speaker teacher helps kids with:
If you would like to improve your overall English proficiency, The English Center’s Private General English Intensive Courses are a good choice. Designed for learners of all levels these courses offer a comprehensive approach to language acquisition. Through engaging activities and interactive discussions, you’ll develop your grammar, vocabulary, speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. The one-on-one setting enables personalized attention and fast progress, making these courses ideal for those seeking a focused and results-oriented learning experience.
You can choose an intensive English course ranging from 10 to 30 hours per week over a period of one, two, three weeks – or more. With this model, you can choose a course that fits your schedule as well as your budget AND allows time to explore Amsterdam, where almost everyone speaks English. And best of all, you can start quickly!
For C1 and C2 learners who already possess a solid foundation in English and wish to take their language skills to the next level, The English Center offers Private Advanced English Intensive Courses. These courses dive deeper into complex grammatical structures, idiomatic expressions, and advanced vocabulary. By engaging in thought-provoking discussions and stimulating activities, you’ll refine your language abilities and gain the fluency needed to confidently navigate academic or professional environments.
Many of our clients are already at a C1 or C2 level, but they understand that language learning is a lifetime journey and one can never speak a language too well! Advanced learners often wish to focus on just one or a few aspects of English, such as English pronunciation or English presentations skills. With an advanced private English course, you can go deep with everything from the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and The Economist, to poetry and great literature.
If you have an upcoming English language proficiency exam, The English Center’s Private Test Preparation Courses will equip you with the necessary tools for success. Whether you’re preparing for the IELTS, TOEFL, or a Cambridge Exam, an experienced native-speaker English tutor will guide you through the exam format, diagnose weaknesses, work with you in targeted practice, and offer invaluable test-taking strategies. Through intensive test preparation and personalized guidance, you’ll gain the skills and knowledge needed to achieve your desired score.
As with all our intensive English courses, you can choose an intensive English Test Preparation course ranging from 10 to 30 hours per week over a period of one, two, three weeks – or more. And best of all, you can start quickly!
Would you like to start with a free test? Try the English Center Level Test
Or The English Center’s Business English Test of Idiom, also free and without obligation.
Read more about test preparation here.
Embarking on a summer English course with The English Center in Amsterdam is an exciting opportunity to combine language learning with exploring our enchanting city. From private business English intensive courses to test preparation courses, our range of programs caters to learners of all levels and goals. With our client-centric approach, you’ll benefit from personalized attention, experienced native-speaker instructors in a friendly, supportive learning environment.
Are you ready to take your English skills to the next level this summer? Our tailored courses are designed to meet your specific needs and help you achieve your goals. Whether it's for business, academics, or personal growth, we have the perfect course for you. Don't miss this opportunity to improve your English and enjoy the vibrant cities of Amsterdam and The Hague.
Take the leap this summer! Invest in YOU and your language skills. Visit our website to learn more and start your summertime English language learning journey today. Or call +31 (0)20 823 0569. We are happy to speak with you!
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Find your Business English Voice with a 1, 2 or 3 week Spoken Business English Course such as our Business English Conversation Course for a deep-dive in business communication. Or check out our Intensive Business English Course in the Heart of Amsterdam, right by Central Station or in the Museum Plein neighborhood, right by the Vondelpark. Or ask us about Live Online courses! Weekly spoken English lessons and in-company training are also available
We meet clients in Amstelveen, Den Haag, Live Online and at corporate locations. Read more about In Company English Training and request a proposal.
Our courses with native-speaking trainers are specially designed for business people who want to quickly enhance their spoken English language proficiency in a highly interactive 1:1 learning experience, designed to improve spoken English fluency and confidence.
Whether you're aiming to improve your presentation skills, negotiate with confidence, have better meetings, greater diplomacy, or to speak more fluently, this course will build your skills, confidence and pleasure in speaking English.
✅ Broaden your business vocabulary.
✅ Increase fluency and boost your speaking confidence.
✅ Develop diplomatic language skills.
✅ Enhance your presentation and public speaking abilities.
✅ Gain a competitive edge in the global business landscape.
Our experienced English Center trainers are 100% native-English speakers from the UK, US and Australia. They possess a wealth of knowledge as well as teaching credentials and communication skills and social-intelligence. They are dedicated to guiding you towards fluency and proficiency in a supportive and engaging environment.
Call us. We are happy to speak with you in English or Dutch. +31(0)20 823 0569
As I write this post, Valentine’s Day is almost here, and in honour of this most romantic of all holidays, we want to share a story first published 428 years ago. You know the title of the story already – it's Shakespeare’s The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
What, you say? I don't know that title. Well, that very wordy title is exactly what it was called when it was first penned, but some clever editor shortened it to simply "Romeo and Juliet," a play that stands alone as the most iconic love story of all English language love stories. And despite its shortened title, all the joy and pain of true, young love is contained within this story, and no other poem or play is more associated with romantic love than is this tragic tale of two “star-crossed” lovers.
Vocabulary tip: The term "star-crossed" is used when a relationship appears doomed to fail. The meaning derives from astrology, whose adherents believe that the stars control human destiny.
Spoiler alert 🙁 the young lovers die in the end.
Are you an actor? Do you want to improve your pronunciation so that you sound more native? Do you need to learn an American or a British accent? We offer private diction coaching and pronunciation training to help you achieve exactly the right sound for your English-speaking role.
"It's in the prologue of Romeo and Juliet that Shakespeare introduces his new phrase "star-crossed lovers"—and the "stars" (fate, luck, destiny?) do seem to conspire against these tender young lovers.
Romeo is a Montague, and Juliet a Capulet. Their families are enmeshed in a feud, but the moment they meet—when Romeo and his friends attend a party at Juliet's house in disguise—the two fall in love and quickly decide that they want to be married.
A friar secretly marries them, hoping to end the feud. Romeo and his companions almost immediately encounter Juliet's cousin Tybalt, who challenges Romeo. When Romeo refuses to fight, Romeo’s friend Mercutio accepts the challenge and is killed. Romeo then kills Tybalt and is banished. He spends that night with Juliet and then leaves for Mantua.
Juliet’s father forces her into a marriage with Count Paris. To avoid this marriage, Juliet takes a potion, given to her by the friar, which makes her appear dead. The friar will send Romeo word to be at her family tomb when she awakes. The plan goes awry, and Romeo learns instead that she is dead. In the tomb, Romeo kills himself. Juliet wakes, sees his body, and commits suicide. Their deaths appear to finally to end the feud.”
Scroll down to see 3 Romeo and Juliet videos (if you can't wait), but we recommend that you read the opening text:
"Two households, both alike in dignity
(In fair Verona, where we lay our scene),
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death-marked love
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, naught could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which, if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend..."
Free PDF from the respected “Folger’s Shakespeare Library”
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Brenda de Jong-Pauley, February, 2023, updated 2025
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Would you like more Shakespeare? Yes? Read our most popular post, “Shakespeare: Ten Favorite Quotes and a Beautiful Apology.”
Shakespeare's Language of Love: 14 Romantic Quotes
Are you looking for an intensive English course?
Would you like to improve your own English fluency quickly? Read more about our private, customised intensive speed course.
Are you looking for a great trainer? Would you like to meet an English Center teacher in a free online appointment?
Would you like to speak with a British Accent? Are you interested in pronunciation training?
The English Center of Amsterdam is your source for advanced English, pronunciation training, and business English training in the Netherlands and everywhere online with Zoom – always with a top native-speaker business English trainer. We help clients learn to speak English fluently with personalized courses online and in person – in Amsterdam, Amstelveen and Den Haag and onsite at your company.
Call +31 20 823 0569. We are happy to speak with you in English or Dutch!
Trailer: Balcony scene
Video: Shakespeare's Globe
Video: A quick, easy summary of Romeo and Juliet from SparkNotes
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Shakespeare – Ten Favorite Quotes and a Beautiful Apology
Updated May 2024
William Shakespeare is universally revered as the greatest English playwright of all time. His words have influenced authors across the globe and across time. Shakespeare's plays are full of irony and word-play that have earned him a preeminent place in history. Here are ten of our favorite quotes from the marvelous plays of the man universally known as "the bard," Mr. William Shakespeare.
(As You Like it, Act 2, Scene 7)
With these lines, Shakespeare tells us a little about how he sees the world. He believes that, like actors, we play many parts/roles and pass through seven stages of life, from “mewling” infant to “mere oblivion” (death). This quote reminds us that, in our own lives, we are mere performers playing the roles we are given. Perhaps the playwright is reminding us that we should not take our own dramas too seriously.
(Julius Caesar, Act 2, Scene 2)
This quote, originally spoken by Julius Caesar in the play by the same name, shows the stark difference between cowardice and bravery. With this line, Shakespeare tells us that a cowardly man will let the fear of death stop him from truly living. The coward dies many “small deaths.” every time he lets the shackles of fear stop him from doing something. The courageous man, on the other hand, lives his life to the fullest and dies but once, when death comes to claim him.
(The Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Scene 1)
This quote is part of a monologue by Shylock the Jewish moneylender, in which Shylock displays his humanity while defending his right to revenge. In the play, he is cheated out of collecting the debt that he is owed. He has been wronged, and as described in the old testament, he wants revenge. It does not end well and Shylock loses it all. Despite the tragic outcome, this monologue was a bold move from Shakespeare – challenging the strong anti-semitism of his time.
(Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 2)
The story behind this quote is one of my favorites. Within Hamlet, there is another play that is created by Hamlet to point out the wrongdoings of his mother, the queen. In the play within the play, the queen vows to love her husband forever, and to never remarry (which the real queen has done). When asked what she thinks of the play, this quote is the real queen’s commentary on the character (which is based on her). Important note: In Shakespeare’s time, the word “protest” meant to vow or promise. The real queen feels that the queen in the play loses her credibility by making such lavish promises.
(The Tempest, Act 4, Scene 1)
According to Shakespeare, life is fleeting, and our greatest accomplishments and fondest relationships will one day be nothing more than a memory, like something we remember from a dream. This “little life” will one day be completed by what many call the endless sleep, or death, leading us to wake from this world.
(Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1)
This quote is commonly assumed to have a double meaning. It is spoken by Hamlet to Ophelia, but truly seems to be directed at all women, and his mother in particular. If Hamlet means a nunnery – as we know it now – it points to the fact that then Ophelia can’t bear vile men who are cruel to others. On the other hand, in Elizabethan England, the word “nunnery” was slang for brothel! If the latter was Hamlet’s real meaning, he is criticizing Ophelia for being unchaste.
(Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 1)
This quote is in Latin and loosely translates as ‘Even you, Brutus?’ In the play, these are Caesar’s last words when he is killed by the conspirators. Their leader, Brutus, is a long-time friend of Caesar, who saw the danger of Caesar’s ambitions and felt he needed to be stopped. This quote lives in our memory because it symbolizes ultimate betrayal by a trusted and beloved friend.
(Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 5)
Romeo and Juliet. Their very names conjure fantasies of passionate, romantic, tragic love.
This warning is spoken to Romeo by Friar Lawrence. Romeo responds to the friar that he doesn't care if he lives or dies, so long as Juliet is his. The friar feels that a love that burns as hot as theirs is likely to be consumed by its own flame and passion. With this quote, Shakespeare is no doubt evoking both meanings of “violent” – the common meaning of rough and brutal, as well as the somewhat less common meaning of rushed, impetuous and hotheaded.
(Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3)
In Hamlet, Polonius gives this advice to his son, Laertes. Despite Shakespeare’s inclination towards irony, this line feels honest and sincere. Exquisite in its simplicity, these timeless words tells us how to live a true and authentic life.
(Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1)
This is probably Shakespeare’s most famous quote. It is part of a monologue in which Hamlet, in a state of emotional desperation, questions whether or not to end his life. According to Hamlet, to live is to have no power in what befalls you. The only way to fully claim your power is to choose death, where there is safety from life’s many torments.
Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets have certainly left a massive mark on the English language. With hundreds of words and phrases attributed to our most famous English writer, you are probably quoting William without even realizing it! But if I perchance did not quote your favorite lines here, please accept my humble apology.
And speaking of apologies 😉 to conclude this article, please enjoy Shakespeare's most famous (and beautiful) apology, from A Midsummer NIght's Dream.
(Act 5, Scene 1)
"If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
if you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends."
In this beguiling speech, Puck asks to "restore or "make amends." He also asks to be "pardoned." What vocabulary can we pull from this speech, and what insights can we gain about the act of apologizing, in Shakespeare's time.... and today!
Today, we still use some of the same words to apologize. We say, "pardon me" and I want to "make amends." We can say, "I hope I did not offend you", and we can shake hands ("give me your hand") to show that there is no ill will between us.
And that's our happy ending!
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Would you like to improve your skill as an English writer ? Or are you interested in our Business English Writing Course? We look forward to speaking with you! We are based in the Netherlands and we see clients in the heart of Amsterdam, in Den Haag, in Amstelveen, online and in-company.
1. “All the world's a stage” Watch the video here.
3. “If you prick us, do we not bleed?” Watch the video here.
4. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks” Watch the video here.
5. “We are such stuff as dreams are made on” Watch the video here.
6. “Get thee to a nunnery.” Watch the video here.
8. “These violent delights have violent ends” Watch the video here.
9. “This above all: to thine own self be true” Watch the video here (begin viewing at 0.50 min).
10. “To be or not to be, that is the question” Watch the video here.
And...A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 5, Scene 1 Watch the scene here.
June 2019
Isabelle Tomlow
PR and Communications Intern
The English Center
Updated February 2021, May 2024
If you love Shakespeare, you love English! Read this next Shakespeare blog post with more Shakespeare Quotes from Romeo & Juliet.
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