In 2005 two language teachers founded this language school. At the time, they called it “Context Nederlands.” Why that name? Two reasons: first, they aimed to teach language in-context. They were no longer satisfied with force-feeding generic vocabulary and grammar to their students; they wanted to engage them through practical language which they could use in their daily lives. And second, they thought Dutch was all their school was ever going to offer.
They were wrong about the second part. One year later, they had to change the name of their school to “OpenContext,” reflecting an extended offer of languages including English and French.
OpenContext quickly chalked up a victory when it was picked up by BGDA/ORBEM (currently Actiris) for their budding language voucher program. The influx of new students — as well as the requirements imposed by BGDA/ORBEM — turned OpenContext into something it had not been before: a well-oiled machine. The school devoted time and resources to refining its internal procedures and elaborating quality criteria.
Since 2005 OpenContext has also partnered with several other organizations that offer job-oriented training programs. Here, OpenContext’s role has been to teach contextualized language classes to trainees in the following professions: electrician, administrative assistant, kitchen hand, waiter, sports coach, event assistant, accounting assistant, computer repair technician, network administrator, web developer, web application developer, webmaster, help desk agent, commercial assistant, import-export assistant, multimedia vendor, game developer, salesperson, nurse, receptionist, shop clerk, domestic assistant.
In the meantime Actiris has continued to renew its partnership with OpenContext. Since 2016 OpenContext has provided one-on-one classes to beneficiaries of language vouchers Matching and since 2020 also group classes to beneficiaries of language vouchers Transition vers l’emploi.
In March 2022, OpenContext took up residence at the Grand Hospice, a classified monument with two interior gardens in the beating heart of Brussels.