• In the language itself: Drèents, Drents
• ISO 639-3 standard: drt

• Classification: Indo-European → Germanic → Northwest Germanic → West Germanic → North Sea Germanic → Altsächsisch → Middle-Modern Low German → Low German → West Low German → Westphalic → Drents.
  For more information, see dren1238 at Glottolog
• Script: Latin

The 19th century marked the start of the Drents language standardisation. In the publications of the Drents Volksalmanak (English: Drents Folk Almanac), Drents word lists were published starting from 1839 ¹⁾. In 1906, a Drents dictionary was published by Mr. Bergsma, with lemmas from a to giebe, but there never came a sequel to this dictionary (except for some article publications) due to a lack of interest ²⁾.

The first person to publish on a Drents orthography was Dr. G. Overdiep. In February of 1935, he proposed some simple rules for writing Drents in the monthly magazine Drente, in which he attempted to stay as close to Dutch rules as possible, merely proposing the addition of one single character to the Dutch alphabet. He was joined in his efforts by J. Naarding, who wrote on the matter in the June edition of Drente that same year. Naarding agreed with the proposal to stay close to Dutch spelling, but emphasised clarity should not be impacted. He argued for a straightforward, transparent writing system, and for limiting the use of diacritics to express specific sounds³⁾.

In 1949, in the first issue of the relaunched Driemaandelijkse Bladen voor Taal- en Volksleven in het Oosten van Nederland (English: Tri-monthly magazines for Language and Folk life in the East of the Netherlands), Dr. H. Bezoen and J. Naarding revisited the statement from 1935, and implored Drents writers to meet in the middle in order to reach a form of standardised writing. Writers were granted ample freedom in this respect, on the condition that clarity is of the utmost importance.

In the same period, a few associations were founded which played a role in the language standardisation. These include Het Drents Genootschap (English: The Drents Association) to promote Drents culture, founded in 1947 (first started as study circle in World War II, and recognised by the province of Drenthe as Culturele Raad voor Drenthe (English: Cultural Council for Drenthe) in 1957), and the Drentse Schrieverskring (Drents Writers' Circle), founded in 1953⁴⁾. These two associations initiated the group Drentse spellingkemissie (English: Drents Spelling committee), with five people: Ali Brals-Luinge, Marga Kool, Geert Kocks, Peter van der Velde, and Harrie Slot. The committee's goal was to create a detailed orthography for writers who were already familiar with the Dutch one. They decided that all Drents dialects should be represented in written language; the pluriformity of the language should remain within the unified spelling. This is why the committee decided to use the same sign for one specific vowel sound (ao) throughout the whole province. Other than that, the orthography accommodated regional variation⁵⁾.

The Drents Spelling committee created the first spelling guide in 1983, the Drentse spelling. Een handleiding voor de schrijfwijze van de streektaal (English: Drents Spelling: A Guide for the Spelling of the Regional Language). A few years later, this spelling was officially recognised by the Provincial Council of Drenthe (provincial government) in April, 1987 ⁶⁾⁷⁾. This spelling book Drentse Spelling: een handleiding voor de schrijfwijze van de streektaal⁸⁾ was renewed and republished in 2000 and in 2005. Moreover, this spelling is used by the government and NGO's in Drenthe.

In addition to contributing to the publication of the spelling guide, Geert Kocks (one of the members of the Drents spelling committee) gathered information about Drents from 600 speakers, over the course of 20 years ⁹⁾. This information, combined with existing material on the language, formed the foundations of the Woordenboek van Drentse Dialecten (English: The dictionary of Drents dialects). The dictionary contains information about the Drents lexicon, written in the official Drents spelling and including geographical variance, and provides translations in Dutch. The first part (lemmas A-L) was published in 1996, the second part (lemmas M-Z) in 1997. The dictionary was renewed and republished in 2000¹⁰⁾. In 2009, this Drents Dictionary was made available online.

Drents is a variety of the larger Low Saxon language family (also: West-Low German; in Dutch: Nedersaksisch), with a language area that spans across the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark (see Figure 1). In the Netherlands, a substantial north-eastern part is traditionally referred to as the Low Saxon area. The Drents language area mainly lies in the Dutch province of Drenthe* (see Figure 2)¹¹⁾.

^{* After World War II, the spelling of 'Drenthe' instead of 'Drente' became more popular as the name for the province, and 'Drenthe' is the current official spelling12) However, the 'h' is not used in words such as the adjective or the language 'Drents', nor the word 'Drent' (or 'Drentenaar') to refer to someone from the province.}

_{Figure 1. Map to the left¹³⁾: the Low Saxon language area in the East/North-East of Netherlands, West/North-West of Germany and the South of Denmark
Figure 2. Map to the right¹⁴⁾: the Low Saxon language area in the East of Netherlands, showing the Drents (Drèents, number 2) language area, mainly in the province of Drenthe. Note that the map shows the Low Saxon variety of Gronings in the north of the province of Drenthe. This is the case, as there is discussion about the Low Saxon varieties in this area, whether they can be classified as Drents or Gronings. This cartographer decided the latter. Stellingwerfs, another Low Saxon variety, is also spoken in the province of Drenthe, and the language area can be found near the border with the province of Fryslân (on the map written as Frieslaand).}

Drents is subdivided into various varieties, mostly along geographical lines. Whereas Glottolog defines only two categories, namely Northern and Southern Drents¹⁵⁾, both the official dictionary of the dialects of Drents ¹⁶⁾ and the organisation Huus van de Taol ¹⁷⁾ identify seven varieties of Drents (see Figure 3):

• Noordenvelds / Noord Drents (Noordenveld variety)
• Veenkoloniaals (peat district Veenkolonien variety)
• Midden-Drents (Middle Drents)
• Zuidoost Zand-Drents (South-East Sand Drents)
• Zuidoost Veen-Drents (South-East Peat Drents)
• Zuidwest Noord-Drents (South-West North Drents)
• Zuidwest Zuid-Drents (South-West South Drents)

Note that these varieties are part of the Low Saxon language continuum, and there is discussion whether Veenkoloniaals and Noordenvelds can be considered to be part of Drents or Gronings¹⁸⁾.

^{Figure 3: Map above19): the languages areas in the North of the Netherlands. Part of the Low Saxon language area is shown on the map, in green. In the province of Drenthe, four varieties are shown: Noord-Drents (Noordenvelds) in the North, Veenkoloniaals in North-northeast, Midden-Drents in the middle, and Zuid-Drents (which would cover the four Southern varieties: Zuidoost Zand-Drents, Zuidoost Veen-Drents, Zuidwest Noord-Drents, and Zuidwest Zuid-Drents) in the South.}

There is a limited number of studies regarding the speaker numbers of Low Saxon and Drents in the Netherlands, and estimations vary greatly.

At the start of the 21st century, the Dutch government estimated Low Saxon to have around 1.8 million speakers ²⁰⁾. A national study by Schmeets and Cornips from 2019 ²¹⁾ showed that around 4.8% of people in the Netherlands speak Low Saxon (for a rough indication: if combined with Dutch population data of 2019²²⁾, this would be around 830,000 speakers in the Netherlands). Another study from 2021, by Buurke ²³⁾, had a estimation with around 350,000 speakers of Low Saxon between the ages of 6 and 69 in the Netherlands.

The national study by Schmeets and Cornips from 2019 ²⁴⁾ showed that within the province of Drenthe, 31.3% speaks Low Saxon (with Drenths as the main variety; for a rough indication: if combined with the Drents population data of 2019 ²⁵⁾, this would be around 155,000 speakers in Drenthe).

In 2018, the study Staat van het Drents en bekendheid Huus van de Taol (State of Drents and popularity the of the Huus van de Taol) ²⁶⁾, initiated by the Provincial Executive of Drenthe, was conducted to monitor the state of Drents. The main purpose was to gain insight into the daily use of Drents within the province of Drenthe, and to study inhabitants’ language attitudes. With 1,172 participants of the Drents Panel, the study can be considered to be a representative sample of the Drents population of 20 years and older.

Regarding the use of Drents in Drenthe, the study results²⁷⁾ showed that 77% of the respondents could understand Drents very easily/ well (for a rough indication: if combined with the Drents population data of 2018 ²⁸⁾, this would be around 379,000 people), and that 1% of the respondents could not understand Drents at all. Moreover, 42% of the respondents indicated that they could speak the language very easily/ well (for a rough indication: if combined with the Drents population data of 2018 ²⁹⁾, this would be around 207,000 people), and 24% of the respondents could not speak Drents at all (see Table 1). Though there is no significant difference between the younger and older generations when asked about understanding Drents, fewer young respondents have Drents speaking skills compared to the older respondents. Of the respondents who are able to speak Drents, 51% does so daily, 13% weekly, 5% monthly, and 31% rarely or never uses Drents. Among the younger respondents who can speak the language, the percentage who rarely or never use Drents is higher, with 47%. Drents is used especially with family, but also with close neighbours and friends. In the supermarket, at work or at school, Dutch is the dominant language.

^{Table 1: The respondents' answers regarding Drents language skills, according to the 2018 study Staat van het Drents en bekendheid Huus van de Taol 30)}

The same study on the state of Drents ³¹⁾ also examined language attitudes. Of the respondents, 77% agreed or completely agreed that Drents is an important part of the culture of Drenthe, 59% agreed or completely agreed being proud of the Drents language, and 60% agreed or completely agreed that multilingualism is beneficial for children's general linguistic development. Respondents were almost equally divided when asked whether it would be better for Drents speaking parents to raise their children in Dutch (35% agreed or completely agreed, 31% was neutral, and 33% disagreed or completely disagreed). Regarding education, 42% of the respondents agreed or completely agreed that pupils should receive Drents classes at primary school, 28% agreed or completely agreed that Drents should be allowed in class as a language used among pupils, and 10% agreed or completely agreed that Drents should be used as language of instruction if the school has many Drents speaking pupils (see Table 2). Though the majority of the respondents had a neutral or negative response to most statements to include Drents in education, these results were more positive in comparison to a study conducted in 2007³²⁾.

^{Table 2. The respondents' answers regarding statements about the Drents language, according to the 2018 study Staat van het Drents en bekendheid Huus van de Taol 33)}

Especially in the second half of the twentieth century, interest in researching and codifying the Drents language grew. This resulted in the efforts towards Drents language standardisation with a Drents spelling guide, official recognition of this spelling by the Drents Provincial Council, and a Drents dictionary, as well as studies towards Low Saxon and Drents (e.g. ^{34) 35) 36)}).

In 1974, the national Primary Education Act was amended, and since then, it is allowed that 'in regions where there is a regional language in living use next to Dutch, some knowledge of this regional language may be included during lessons on reading and Dutch' ³⁷⁾, and in 1981, a new act on education allowed for 'a regional language in living use' to be used as language of instruction, next to Dutch ³⁸⁾.

In 1987, the Ministry of Culture, Recreation and Social Work and the provincial government of Drenthe funded the establishment of Centrum veur taol en letterkunde Drentse Taol (abbreviated to: Drentse Taol; English: Centre for language and linguistics of the Drents Language). The aim of this organisation was to promote, develop, and support cultural activities regarding the Drents language ³⁹⁾. Regarding education, Drentse Taol covered pre-school education, primary education, secondary education, higher education, and adult education. In 2007, Drentse Taol merged into the new organisation Huus van de Taol (English: House of the Language)⁴⁰⁾, which continues to promote the education of Drents and creates Drents teaching materials. It does so at the levels of pre-school education, primary education, secondary education, higher education, and adult education ⁴¹⁾.

Since 1993, attainment targets (Dutch: kerndoelen) for primary and the lower years of secondary education have been established for the mandatory curriculum subjects on a national level. Low Saxon has not been mentioned explicitly. Therefore, in 2019, the organisation IJsselacademie (a knowledge institute for regional history and Low Saxon language and culture) initiated the development of five attainment targets for Low Saxon in primary education ⁴²⁾. The five attainment targets for Low Saxon are based on sixteen attainment targets and five basic skills from the official attainment targets for e.g. Dutch, Frisian, English, and world orientation, and cover language attitudes, processing information, speaking skills & vocabulary, writing skills, and history ⁴³⁾.

In 1998, the Netherlands recognised Low Saxon, and thus Drents as well, as a regional or minority language under part II of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ⁴⁴⁾, and in 2018, the Dutch government and several provincial governments signed the Covenant on the Recognition by The Netherlands of the Low Saxon Regional Language. Though the Covenant does not state concrete undertakings for Drents in education, it was the direct cause for the establishment of the Low Saxon department of the educational teacher association Levende Talen (English: Living Languages)⁴⁵⁾.

The current legislation allows schools to teach and/or use Drents, with certain requirements in place (see Legislation of language education). There are a few organisations and initiatives which promote Drents in education (e.g. Huus van de Taol, Levende Talen Nedersaksisch, or the educational project Bevordering Drents en Duits in het onderwijs (English: The promotion of Drents and German in education). Nevertheless, Drents does not have a structural place in education in Drenthe (e.g. ^46)47)48)).

Change maye come for the presence of Drents in education, as new official and national attainment targets are in development and are expected to be adopted in August 2026 ⁴⁹⁾. Drafts of these new attainment targets published in 2025 include sub-targets for Dutch lessons in primary as well as secondary education such as: 'to provide space for the various languages and language varieties of pupils'⁵⁰⁾⁵¹⁾. These attainment targets establish more opportunities to include home languages and multilingualism, though Low Saxon is not mentioned explicitly. For comparison, attainment targets for Frisian in primary education have been in place since 1993, and for secondary education since 2006. Nevertheless, in light of the new attainment targets, the Onderwijsraad (Council for Education) published the advisory report 'Talige diversiteit benutten' (English: Make use of linguistic diversity), on how to use home languages in the classroom ⁵²⁾. The three main recommendations are: 1) for schools to draft a policy that makes use of linguistic diversity; 2) to invest in support, training, and further professional development; and 3) to highlight legal opportunities for linguistic diversity in education. In reaction to this advisory report, four Low Saxon organisations published the Handreiking Streektaalonderwijs met lesbrief (English: Guidelines for regional language education with lesson plan), including example lessons for Drents in primary education (see Language learning materials and projects).

The Netherlands has signed and ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages by the Council of Europe, which came into force in 1998. As such, the Netherlands has recognised Low Saxon, and thus Drents as well, under Part II, Article 7⁵³⁾.
This article facilitates the promotion of Low Saxon across different layers of society, including education, e.g.:

• 7.c) the need for resolute action to promote Drents in order to safeguard it;
• 7.d) the facilitation and/or encouragement of the use of Drents, in speech and writing, in public and private life;
• 7.f) the provision of appropriate forms and means for the teaching and study of Drents at all appropriate stages;
• 7.g) the provision of facilities enabling non-speakers of Drents living in the area where it is used to learn it if they so desire;
• 7.h) the promotion of study and research on Drents at universities or equivalent institutions.

Though the Netherlands has signed and ratified the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities by the Council of Europe in 2005, Low Saxon people are not recognised as a national minority.

The Covenant on the Recognition by The Netherlands of the Low Saxon Regional Language(English version) was signed by the Minister of Interior and by the governmental representatives of the provinces of Drenthe, Fryslân, Gelderland, Groningen, Overijssel, and of the municipalities of West- and Ooststellingwerf in October 2018. The province of Flevoland and governmental representatives of the municipalities of Urk and Bunschoten joined at a later moment, and governmental representatives signed the covenant in September 2024 ⁵⁴⁾.

With the Covenant, the Dutch government 'recognises the Low Saxon regional language as an intrinsic, integral and independent part of the language system of the Netherlands,' and all parties 'will make every effort within their power and will cooperate to preserve the Low Saxon language in the Netherlands and to promote its use, without passing new legislation' ⁵⁵⁾. Possibilities for education are mentioned with reference to the national primary and secondary education acts: 'in places where a regional language is a living language, teaching may already take place in that language in primary schools; Low Saxon may be offered at secondary schools in addition to the compulsory material, subjects and programmes, in the hours over and above the core curriculum.'⁵⁶⁾

In the Nethelands, legislation regarding education is made at national level. Most children in the Netherlands start school aged 4, in the first year of primary education. The compulsory school age is between 5 and 16 years. If pupils do not have a diploma yet for havo (senior general secondary education), vwo (pre-university education), or mbo (secondary vocational education) when they are 16, they have to continue education until they have attained such a diploma or until they become 18 years old⁵⁷⁾.

On the whole, it is allowed, but not mandatory for schools to teach Drents as subject outside of the curriculum, and/or to use Drents as a language of instruction in addition to Dutch.

• Pre-school education (0-4 years)

In pre-school education, the Wet Kinderopvang (English: Childcare Act) states that 'a regional language which is in living use' (Dutch: 'een streektaal in levend gebruik') can be also be used as the medium of instruction, besides Dutch ⁵⁸⁾. This allows for the use of Drents.

As of January 2025, there is a legal requirement for employees working in pre-school education to have a Dutch language certificate at B2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference ⁵⁹⁾. Employees who use another language full time, are exempt from a Dutch language certificate, but are required to have a certificate at B2 level for the respective language of instruction.

• Primary education (4-12 years)

In primary education, the Wet op het primair onderwijs (English: Primary Education Act) states that, when 'a regional language which is in living use', this language can be also be used as the medium of instruction, besides Dutch ⁶⁰⁾. This allows for the use of Drents, as underlined by the Covenant on the Recognition by The Netherlands of the Low Saxon Regional Language.

• Secondary education (12-16/18 years)

The Wet op het voortgezet onderwijs (English: Secondary Education Act) allows teachers and pupiles to deviate from Dutch as the language of instruction when the subject is about that language, or when it is necessary to do so for pupils because of their linguistic background ⁶¹⁾.

• Vocational education (≥ 16 years)

There are no national attainment targets in place for vocational education, and it is allowed for vocational schools to teach Drents, as a subject. The Wet Educatie en Beroepsonderwijs (English: Education and Vocational Education Act) states that Dutch should be the language used for education and examinations (Art. 7.1.1.). Exceptions for this are made, for example when another language is taught. As such, it is allowed for vocational schools to use Drents in teaching the language as a subject.

• Higher education (≥ 17 years)

The Wet op het hoger onderwijs en wetenschappelijk onderzoek (Eng: Higher Education and Scientific Research Act) states that institutes for higher education as well as university hospitals have academic freedom (Art. 1.6.). The same Act states that Dutch should be the language used for education and examinations (Art 7.2), but exceptions are made, for example when another language is taught. As such, it is allowed for higher education institutes to use Drents in teaching the language as a subject.

Educational initiatives and teaching materials are mostly initiated by NGOs. It is allowed, but not mandatory for schools to teach and/or use Drents. Therefore, the implementation of programmes and the use of teaching materials are done at the initiative of schools and teachers.

There are various organisations that support Drents in education, including:

• Huus van de Taol: The main Drents language promotion organisation established in 2007. It has developed educational projects and teaching materials for pre-school education, primary education, secondary education, vocational education, and higher education. Huus van de Taol has established a pool of volunteers to support schools and is the main provider of Drents courses for adult education.
• Levende Talen Nedersaksisch: The Low Saxon department of the educational teacher association, established in 2019. It aims to be a platform for teachers who teach Low Saxon, or wish to do so, and provides information on e.g. general and legal opportunities, as well as teaching materials. It has gathered and developed teaching materials in several Low Saxon varieties covering various eductaional levels such as primary education, secondary education and higher education.
• NHL Stenden Hogeschool Emmen: The department for primary teacher training (Dutch: pabo) at this university of applied sciences offers Drents courses as part of the curriculum, in cooperation with Huus van de Taol. As a set course assignment, students are tasked to create Drents teaching materials ⁶²⁾.

Regarding Drents, the provincial government of Drenthe has delegated the organisation Huus van de Taol to provide institutional support ⁶³⁾.

The provincial government of Drenthe financially supports the activities of Huus van de Taol under the category 'Heritage.' In the budget of 2025, the Huus van de Taol received €494,113 for their activities to stimulate the Drents language through education, publications and public activities⁶⁴⁾.

As Drents is not a compulsory part of education, the Dutch Inspectorate does not include Drents in their reporting ⁶⁵⁾.

Huus van de Taol has published several books for pre-school education, including:

• Het Rollegie, part of the project ‘Klaor veur de start’ (English: Ready, set, go).
• Kedogies, a poetry collection.
• Kobus Knien op pad met Ad de Kat, a short story.
• Kabouter Prugelie en de prins die zeuik is, a short story.
• Het Hollebomenbos, fairytales.

• Wiesneus, a magazine in Low Saxon varieties (e.g. Drents, Gronings, and Stellingwerfs), including stories, songs, poems, and puzzles. Wiesneus has been published every year since 2019. Teachers are supported with instructions and activity ideas to use the magazine in class.
• Speulenderwies/Wiesneus website, a collection of thematic class activities, divided per class or age group (for children from 1-12 year old). Per theme, activities such as stories (including audio), songs, assignments, games, and puzzles are provided. The website also provides instructions for teachers and/or parents.
• Levende Talen Nedersaksisch, a database where teaching materials for Low Saxon are collected. Drents materials are available with activities such as a debate, theatre, singing, writing, games, and a quiz.
• Bevordering Drents en Duits in het onderwijs, a project to promote both Drents as well as the neighbouring language German in education in Drenthe. The project created a platform with multilingual CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) activities, Digi+, which was later incorporated in Digitaol.
• Digitaol, a platform for years 3-4-5 (ages 6-9 year) with multilingual CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) activities for Low Saxon, including activities for Drents.
• Handreiking Streektaalonderwijs met lesbrief (Guidelines for regional language education with lesson plan). Low Saxon organisations Centrum Groninger Taal & Cultuur, Erfgoedcentrum Achterhoek en Liemers/Veluws, Huus van de Taol, and Stellingwarver Schrieversronte have published guidelines for regional language education in light of the new attainment targets and the advisory report from the Council on Education (See History of language education). With the guidelines, the four orgranisations aim to support teachers with background information and and practical tips to make Low Saxon, other regional languages, and home languages ​​visible in education. An example lesson has been created for years 1-2-3, years 4-5-6, and years 7-8, for Drents, as well as Gronings, Stellingwerfs, Veluws, and Achterhoeks.

Though workshops and guest lectures are provided by Huus van de Taol, there are no known Drents teaching materials specifically for secondary education.

Though workshops and guest lectures are provided by Huus van de Taol, there are no known Drents teaching materials specifically for vocational education.

The Huus an de Taol provides several types of Drents courses for adults, for which various materials are used ⁶⁶⁾, including:

• a Drents course book
• Drentse spelling, Drents spelling book
• Drents Zakwoordenboekje, Drents pocket dictionary

Drents is not a compulsory part of education nor does it have have a structural place in education(e.g. ^67)68)69)). Teachers are allowed to teach Drents and use it as language of instruction at pre-school, primary, and, to a certain extent, secondary education (see the previous section on Educational acts). The Huus van de Taol is the main provider for educational activities.

Huus van de Taol has developed a book called Het Rollegie for children at pre-school age, which is used by a few pre-school centres(e.g. ⁷⁰⁾⁷¹⁾). Pedagogical employees are supposed to use this book accompanied with a hand puppet. This hand puppet is used to mark certain language use: when the hand puppet is awake, the teachers speak Drents, and when the puppet is asleep, the teachers speak Dutch.

Since 2021, some locations also use Wiesneus ⁷²⁾. In 2022, a collaboration was started between Huus vam de Taol and one of the umbrella organisations for pre-school centres and primary schools in Drenthe to increase the use of Drents⁷³⁾. In March 2023, several volunteers of Huus van de Taol visited pre-school centres to read to the children ⁷⁴⁾.

In annual reports, the Huus van de Taol has reported on various challenges, e.g.:

• There is interest for Drents, but there is no structural place for the language in pre-school education locations ⁷⁵⁾⁷⁶⁾.
• Though Drents language use is allowed in pre-school education, pre-school educational staff may face negative reactions nonetheless. In 2016, for example, a pre-school inspector forbade pedagogical employees to use Drents. At the time, Huus van de Taol unsuccessfully addressed this issue with the GGD, the organisation in charge of pre-school centres inspection ⁷⁷⁾.

In 2022, one of the umbrella organisations for schools (with 11 centres providing pre-school and primary education in Drenthe) expressed the wish to offer Drents lessons from year 3 (age: 6-7 years) to year 8 (age: 11-12 years)⁷⁸⁾⁷⁹⁾.

There are various projects and activities for primary education, including:

• Meertmaond streektaolmaond

Every year, March is celebrated as meertmaond streektaolmaond (English: March month, regional language month). Various activities are organised, including activities for primary education. The Huus van de Taol organises reading events for the Veurleesproject (English: Reading aloud project), and publishes a new edition of the magazine Wiesneus.

• Wiesneus

Every March, a new Drents edition of Wiesneus is published and handed out at primary schools by volunteers. This magazine has e.g. stories, songs, poems, and puzzles. Teachers are supported with instructions and activity ideas to use the magazine in class, and with an associate website which includes online activities, sorted per age group and per theme. The Wiesneus magazine is sent to all primary schools in Drenthe and reaches around 55,000-59,000 children ⁸⁰⁾⁸¹⁾.

• Veurleesproject

In March, volunteers visit schools to read aloud and to hand out the Wiesneus magazines to pupils. These volunteers read to around 20,000-25,000 children⁸²⁾⁸³⁾.

• Bevordering Drents en Duits in het onderwijs

The educational project Bevordering Drents en Duits in het onderwijs (English: The promotion of Drents and German in education) ran from 2015-2023 (later called Versterking Drents en Duits in het onderwijs; English: The reinforcement of Drents and German in education). The project used CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) as a methodology to promote both Drents as well as the neighouring language German in education in Drenthe. It created a platform with multilingual activities, Digi+, for teachers, as well as a lesson plan for a multilingual day in class. Digi+ was incorporated into Digitaol afterwards.

• Leskist ‘Speulenderwies’

Huus van de Taol can provide schools with a Leskist ‘Speulenderwies’ (English: A playful lessons' box), which schools can borrow for a month. The box includes e.g. a memory game, a quiz, a game about Drenthe, folk tales, and cards with the four seasons in Drents. The number of requests for the Leskist has declined, most likely due to the online availablity of materials on the Wiesneus website⁸⁴⁾.

For primary education, there are challenges, e.g.:

• Though the supply of teaching materials is steadily increasing, more materials are needed ⁸⁵⁾
• Educational activities often rely on volunteers. This can lead to extra challenges. For example, during the Covid-pandemic, schools had to close and limit access for visitors when they were open. As such, almost all school visits from Huus van de Taol were cancelled⁸⁶⁾.

There are incidental activities for Drents in secondary or vocational education, such as:

• Guest lectures: For secondary or vocational education, Huus van de Taol offers a few guest lectures per year ⁸⁷⁾⁸⁸⁾.
• Support for school projects / papers. Some students have contacted Huus van de Taol for information for their school projects and/ or papers⁸⁹⁾⁹⁰⁾.

The department for primary teacher training (Dutch: pabo) of NHL Stenden Hogeschool in Emmen offers Drents courses as part of the curriculum, in cooperation with Huus van de Taol. As a set course assignment, students are tasked to create Drents teaching materials⁹¹⁾⁹²⁾.

From 1953 to 2010, Low Saxon was studied at the Low Saxon Institute at the University of Groningen (Nedersaksisch Instituut)⁹³⁾. The institute covered various disciplines, including literature, lexicography, folklore, and regional history. The institute was led by professor K.H. Heeroma (1953-1972), professor H. Entjes (1974-1982), and professor H. Niebaum (1984-2010)⁹⁴⁾.

Since 2018, there has been a professor by special appointment for the Low Saxon/Groningen Language and Culture at the university of Groningen, appointed by the Centrum voor Groningse Taal en Cultuur (Centre for the Gronings Language and Culture). Professor by special appointment M. Wieling has one day a week to research the Low Saxon languages, Gronings in particular, and to work on as well as to promote research projects such as Woordwark, a digital database for the Gronings language ⁹⁵⁾.

The Huus van de Taol offers several Drents language and culture courses for adults at various locations, with groups of 11-20 people on average ⁹⁶⁾. These courses are e.g. ⁹⁷⁾:

• Broes-course (English: crash course): a first introduction - one session.
• Moi-course (English: Hello course): an introductionary course - three sessions.
• Drenthecursus (English: Drenthe course): course about Drents language, culture and context - eight sessions.
• Dieper deur Drenthecursus (English: Deeper into the Drenthe course): an advanced Drenthe course - six sessions.
• Spellingcursus (Englsih: spelling course): a course for spelling - five sessions.

In the annual report of 2023, the Huus van de Taol expressed worries that the number of teachers for these courses is declining, and the last course to train new teachers was held in 2013-2014⁹⁸⁾.

• Huus van de Taol: The main Drents language promotion organisation.
• Levende Talen Nedersaksisch: The Low Saxon department of the educational teacher association.
• NHL Stenden Hogeschool Emmen: The university of applied sciences in Emmen, which includes Drents at the department for primary teacher training (Dutch: pabo).

Dictionaries and grammars

• Woordenboek van de Drentse Dialecten: Dictionary of the Drents dialects (main language: Dutch)
• Vervoegingen warkwoorden: Information on verb inflection (main language: Dutch)

Educational resources for children

• Wiesneus: A magazine with stories, songs, poems, and puzzles. Teachers are supported with instructions and activity ideas to use the magazine in class;
• Speulenderwies/Wiesneus website: The Wiesneus website, with a collection of thematic class activities, divided per class or age group (for children from 1-12 year old). Per theme, activities such as stories (including audio), songs, assignments, games and puzzles are provided. The website also provides instructions for teachers and/or parents.
• Levende Talen Nedersaksisch: A database where teaching materials for Low Saxon are collected. Drents materials are available with activities such as a debate, theatre, singing, writing, games, and a quiz.
• Digitaol: A platform for years 3-4-5 (ages 6-9 year) with multilingual CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) activities.

Gerneral educational materials/ educational materials for adults

• Drentse spelling in vogelvlucht: A short overview of the main characteristics of Drents spelling.
• Digitaalkaat: A digital map where you can search for words and their varities within the Drents language area.
• Drentse plaotsnaomen: An overview of all Drents place names.
• Podcast Praot Drents met mij: The 'speak Drents with me' podcast series