Nieuws · 23 June 2020
NT2 writing prize won by former student and former TopTaal employee
Valeria won the NT2 writing prize in the B1-B2 category last month. Time to put her in the spotlight!
We are so proud of this lady. After many congratulations and a beautiful bouquet of flowers, we asked her remotely why she participated in this writing prize. It turns out she has a passion for writing. The jury called her a true poet. Read the full jury report here.
Interview Valeria
Why did you participate in the NT2 writing prize? I took part in the NT2 writing prize because I have always had a passion for writing. Also because I think it is a great way for us newcomers to be part of this place.
I have been writing in Italian since childhood. And when I arrived here, I looked forward to being able to write in Dutch as well. Italian and Dutch are two very different languages: in one we use very long and complicated sentences, in the other words are stopped much more often by periods. The middle ground is what I am looking for!
What do you think of the theme? What is yet to come. I really liked the theme of this year's writing prize (What is yet to come...) and it helped me enormously to start writing. It was difficult to "lighten" my writing style: so I asked my Dutch friends to read it and give an opinion. Willemijn, my former TopTaal teacher, encouraged me tremendously.
Why did you work at TopTaal? Since I arrived in the Netherlands, I have visited creative reading and writing clubs; moreover, I always look for jobs where I can use living language, but also where I can stay in touch with people from other countries, like me. Working at TopTaal was a stimulus for that; it opened the doors of Amsterdam for me through the language.
What do you want to achieve? I would like to write books in Italian and Dutch that are translated in both countries: this is what I strive for!
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Curious about Valeria's winning text? Watch the video below in which her text is read aloud.
[video width="480" height="848" mp4="https://www.toptaal.nl/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Valeria-Caldoni.mp4"][/video]