Learn Hardcore Dutch: Het college helpt ons beter te leren spreken. - The lecture helps us learn to speak better.

In Dutch college usually means “lecture,” “class,” or “course,” not the institution “college” as in English. Here het college refers to the course or lecture that helps students improve their speaking skills. It’s a neuter noun (hence het) and is not capitalized because it’s a common noun, not a proper name.

Why does helpt end with a -t?

Helpt is the third person singular form of the verb helpen in the present tense. Conjugation goes:
• ik help
• jij/U helpt
• hij/zij/het helpt
Since het college is “it” (third person singular), we add -t to help.

Why is ons used here instead of we or onze?

Ons is the object pronoun meaning “us.”
• we is a subject pronoun (“we help” = wij helpen)
• onze is a possessive adjective (“our book” = onze boek)
Since helpen takes an object, you need the object pronoun ons for “help us.”

What role does te play before leren? Why isn’t there te in front of spreken?

The te marks the start of an infinitive clause, much like “to” in English. In Dutch, in a string of two infinitives you only put te before the first one:
… helpt ons beter te leren spreken
Here leren spreken = “learn to speak.” You don’t repeat te before spreken.

Why are there two verbs leren and spreken together?

Dutch has semi-auxiliary verbs like leren, which can take another infinitive.
• leren = “to learn”
• spreken = “to speak”
Together leren spreken means “to learn to speak.” The first infinitive (leren) is accompanied by te, the second is part of that infinitive clause.

Why is beter placed before te leren spreken and not somewhere else?

Beter is an adverb modifying the entire action “learn to speak.” In Dutch, adverbs that modify an infinitival clause typically go before the te + infinitive part. So we say:
helpt ons beter te leren spreken
instead of splitting the verb cluster or moving beter after the verbs.

Could we add om in this sentence, as in helpt ons om beter te leren spreken?

Yes. Dutch speakers often insert om before an infinitive clause for clarity:
Het college helpt ons om beter te leren spreken.
It doesn’t change the meaning; om is optional and can make the sentence feel slightly more explicit (“in order to”).

Why isn’t there a conjunction like dat (that) before the clause, as in English “helps us that we learn…”?

Dutch doesn’t use dat with helpen when following it with an infinitive clause. Only certain verbs take a dat-clause. Instead, helpen uses an infinitival complement introduced by te (or optionally om). So you say helpt ons beter te leren spreken, not helpt ons dat we beter leren spreken.