Welcome to Kylievandam.com!
I’m an Australian Dutchy calling NL home since 2010 and this website supports a career of two very different halves.
By trade I’m a Musical English Language Teacher, which means I teach little Dutchies English via songs written for purpose. I film the songs, post them on You Tube and here, then give lessons from the website. This public access means kids can take home what we learn at school and teach it to mum and dad, or my personal favourite, sing it in the car, on repeat, all the way to France (for those who don’t know, that’s about 2 days of driving!!)
Students might be as young as four and as old as 12. If their birthday is on Monday and their first day of school on a Tuesday, they’ll have ‘music’ with Miss Kylie.
The method works by drawing children’s attention to the differences and similarities of the strange new shapes their jaws, lips and tongues make when speaking English. And of course, to the new sounds. They become conscious of those differences and after lots of practice, develop enough control to make them themselves. That new knowledge is facilitated by rhythm and melody. Consonants become a drum and melody carries the new word-shapes. Bringing that all together with new physical actions, storytelling based on their own lives and the collective experience of the classroom, creates a visceral and entirely natural way of learning a new language. So far, they love it!
Unfortunately, Omicron took up residence in March 2022 and I’ve been a Long Covid ‘host’ ever since…hence the drastic reduction of musical content. I don’t know when I’ll return to teaching and the joy of song writing, or in what capacity, but I’m still full of passionate intention. ‘Watch this space’, as they say…although the clue is in the name with this illness.
However, I’m extremely relieved, and thankful, to be one of the lucky ones: the deep-reaching effects of Long Covid seem to be lifting. With whatever returning energy this condition allows me, I’ve been able to pursue my other passion: promotion of green, peopled urban space.
I do this through promoting the ‘new town’ of Houten, a municipality of 50,000 inhabitants slightly south of Utrecht, central NL. Thanks to its simple but quietly daring design, Houten shows that it is entirely possible, in fact, preferable, to live a modern life surrounded by greenery and without the car at its centre. It’s just a normal post-war expansion. But it’s not…
To see that content, go to None-Musical Stuff in the top menu.
So, if you fancy singing a song about a mozzie-bite on your bottom (I mean, who wouldn’t?!?) or riding along on a warm summer’s day in Houten (again…), this is the site for you!
Thanks for being here and feel free to make contact via the contact form.
Kylie