About Leerstation Haarlem

Leerstation Haarlem is an independent small school for private Dutch lessons for adults and private tuition for children and adolescents.

Who am I?

My name is Mariëlle Kleinbussink. When I was 18 years old, I went to Brazil as an exchange student. I didn’t speak one word of Portuguese yet and I ended up living in a village where no one spoke English. So I know very well how it feels to be surrounded by people you don’t understand (at all!). Within a few months I spoke the language and until today people in Brazil sometimes mistake me for a native (despite my physical inability to pronounce the “rolling r”).

The way I learned Portuguese was completely different from the way I studied other languages: English, German, French, Latin, Greek and Spanish I all learned in school.
Although my main career after graduation was in tourism management, for many years I also have been a teacher, in different settings and locations: teaching Portuguese to Dutch people at a community centre, teaching English to Brazilians in South America and teaching Dutch to students of all kinds of nationalities. I was able to use my own different experiences in learning other languages into an efficient way of helping others mastering linguistic skills.

I have always loved doing this. In 2019 I finally was able to realize what had been playing around my head for quite some time: to start my own school. At Leerstation Haarlem, instead of teaching a class room full of people using exactly the same textbook, I adapt the lessons to your individual knowledge and needs. And the private sessions or very small groups ensure a lot of both personal attention as well as conversation practise time.

After more than 3 years at Stationsplein Leerstation Haarlem relocated to Spaarndamseweg 120-A13 in March 2023.