The Hague International Centre published an interview with Ruud Hisgen, managing director of Direct Dutch Institute, on April 20, 2026. The conversation centred on a timely question: what is the benefit of learning Dutch through poetry in the age of AI?

Where the idea came from

Direct Dutch Institute's previous anniversary book was published in 1998, for their twelve-and-a-half-year anniversary. That book collected student experiences about learning Dutch. For the 40th anniversary, they wanted something different.

"We have had a thriving reading club for non-native speakers for about fifteen years," Hisgen explains. "And by reading Dutch literature, non-native speakers learn a great deal of vocabulary and idiom, as well as much about Dutch culture."

The twist: instead of Dutch people introducing their literature to internationals, internationals would introduce their favourite poems to Dutch readers. "Let's turn things around, we thought. We will ask the students to introduce others to their favourite poem from their native country. In this way, both the Dutch and people from other cultures learn a lot about a culture they do not know."

How the translations were made

The assignment was clear: choose a beautiful and characteristic poem and translate it into Dutch. The instruction was equally clear: do not use AI or Google Translate.

Each translation was reviewed by editors who asked the translator questions if there were ambiguities. "This led to discussions that ultimately resulted in a translation that both the translator and the editors were satisfied with," Hisgen says. "Sometimes it was a lot of work, but it was very rewarding for both parties."

The process itself was the point: human engagement with language, wrestling with meaning, discovering another way of looking at the world.

Why it matters in 2026

In an era where any text can be machine-translated in seconds, Dicht Nederlands met mij makes the case that translation is not just about converting words. It is about carrying emotion, culture, and context across a bridge. A machine can give you the dictionary definition. It cannot tell you what a poem means to the person who chose it.

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