Language buddies Anna and Najib: “Not everything can be learned from a book”

Najib Khalil and Anna Weil are language buddies. They met at a ‘speed dating event’ organized by Vrijwilligers Centrale Amsterdam, Toptaal, the OBA, and Stichting Leren Helpt!. Jumbo sponsored the food. Najib’s Dutch teacher praised him as her favorite student, so Anna put him at the top of her top three. A match! Now they meet somewhere every Monday to talk. Najib is also taking a Dutch course at Toptaal. “But,” says Anna, “not everything can be learned from a book, and here we take the time to understand each other.”

Back to schoolSometimes Dutch can be frustrating. Anna sent a message saying she wanted to meet ‘around three o’clock.’ “Around?” thought Najib, “the table, that’s round.” In Aleppo, Najib was a famous tailor with a factory and his own shop. He lived in a beautiful house and could send his children to a good school. He himself dropped out of school at thirteen. “Not for me,” he says, “I prefer working with my hands, and besides, it was a bad school.” But now he has to. Go back to school and rebuild his life.

“It’s not easy,” Najib says, “my children are doing well. They start with a clean slate. I don’t. I think about my work, my family here, and my family and friends in Syria. I am half here and half in Syria.” Anna keeps him motivated. Very patiently and clearly she explains. When Najib is feeling down, she laughs: “It will be okay, Najib, it will be okay.”

Syrian hospitality“I really like Najib,” says Anna. “It’s interesting to talk to him and nice to see how he is progressing. I am learning a lot myself. Patience, of course, but also what it means to be a refugee. You read and hear all kinds of things about it, but I didn’t know any refugees. It’s also nice to come into contact with a different culture. Syrian hospitality, for example. The first time I went to Najib’s house,” Anna says, “they had prepared all sorts of delicious food for me. The following Monday, I arrived after lunchtime, thinking they wouldn’t have to make an effort. But even then, the table was full.”

“That’s how it goes in Syria,” says Najib. “When you visit, there is food. Refusing is not polite. It’s better not to visit too many friends in one day.”

It gave Anna an idea. At a private event in her tearoom on Ceintuurbaan, she turned it into a Syrian evening. Najib and his wife Iman provided the food. A pilot to see if a catering business is something for Najib to start. “Who knows,” says Najib. He is not yet certain about the future. But his Dutch is definitely improving, partly thanks to Anna’s help.

Interview and photo: Karine de Wit

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