Yes, good points. I remember a few years ago, on Belgium National Day, hearing the King make his speech in all three languages. (Not at the same time of course.)

Wow! Thanks for everyones feedback. This has eased my concerns, that I would be walking around a city with having no clue.
We are actually sitting down today (having a couple Belgium Beers) finalizing our itin...as we are off in 6 days!!
Again, thanks for everyones posts!

Is there any Flemish/Dutch native speaker who can explain the difference between the two? I can only tell that the Belgian pronounciation is thinner/cleaner (less accent)

The Flemish sounds a bit softer compared to the Dutch that is spoken in the west and north of The Netherlands. They speak Dutch with a so-called hard G. The Dutch spoken in the south of The Netherlands is closer to flemish actually. But the main difference is in the use of certain words and expressions.

To usbeauty: until the 60s French used to be spoken by the bourgeoisie, both in Flanders and in Wallonia. That's why, over 30 years ago, many people spoke French in Knokke. Only the rich people could afford to spend their holidays there, or even buy a second house. Slow but sure the Flemish man-in-the-street claimed the right to speak his own language in his part of our small country. And even nowadays that seems to be not so obvious in Brussels, and also in Knokke as Tulips pointed out.
It's true that the issue is political!

To DAX: what Tulips said! Flemish is softer than Dutch but most of all the vocabulary is quite different. It always amazes me that the Dutch (and not the Flemish) use a lot of French words for which there's a perfect Dutch translation!

The English for the smaller city is Bruges. That's how the city describes itself, it's how its government describes it and it's how we've been describing it for at least the last 500 years.

"Brugge" is Flemish (which is the English for the language spoken in Flanders). You're speaking English.

And I've seen virtually no menus in Bruges - and very few in Brussels - that aren't in all four local languages (English and German are both near-universal).

FlannerUK, menus in four languages in Brussels? Where on earth are you eating? Most of the restaurants we eat at offer menus in French only (no matter what they're supposed to do) or French and Flemish or French and English (if we happen to be closer to the Grand'Place or over near an anglophone expat area). I can't ever remember seeing a menu in four languages in Brussels.

Miriam, do you know if the same change from French to Flemish occurred in Bruges in the 60s? My parents travelled there in the 30s, and many of the place names were in French, but they aren't today - they're in Flemish.

RebeccaM: I don't know for Brugge, but it certainly was the case in Antwerpen and in Gent.
From 1830 onwards (when Belgium became independent) until the second half of the 19th century French has always been the only official language in Belgium. In the late 19th century Flemish has been recognized as a second official language but ever since there has been a linguistic struggle here, that in fact reached its 'climax' only in 1970. It is then that the Flemish, French and German communities have been established, each with their own governments etc. We even have an official linguistic border!
Crazy, if you know how small our country is!

Well, I do recall menus in four languages at Chez Leon in Brussels, but that might be the exception, due to its famous location and ability to cater to tourists.

Can anyone explain what GeoffHamer was mentioning in his post - that is the move to call Flemish (or 'vlaams') 'nederlands', as though it were Dutch like in the netherlands? For many years it was Flemish, but there seems to be an embarrassment around that name? This is a great thread.

Miriam, Thanks! It is fascinating. One man at the tourist office in Bruges was almost indignant about the fact that French is no longer used for the place names. I didn't know when that changed.

usbeauty: Nederlands (Dutch) is the official name of the language we speak in Flanders. No worries, though, we do speak Flemish!
Here's what I found on the subject:
The notion Flemish is often used but it's not officially recognized as one of the languages spoken in Belgium. These are French, Dutch and German.
Flemish differentiates more or less from the standard Dutch that is spoken in the Netherlands. Although Flemish may sound dialectic in the Netherlands, it is considered cultivated colloquial language in Flanders.

Thanks as always Myriam!
I am leaving to Brussels on August 14th, and with this thread I feel like I'm getting into the swing of things.

I can add some aspects about the Dutch language in Belgium, from a Dutch point of view. I don't know if the situation regarding to the French and German languages is similar.

Officially there is only one Dutch language, spoken in The Netherlands as well as Flanders (and Brussels). Decisions about adding new words, changing of spelling etc. (the official spelling of the Dutch language is often subject of discussions) are taken in a joint committee. Within this language there are some words that are more frequently used in Flanders, or in the Netherlands. As a result Flemish and Dutch schools are using the same dictionaries, for example. Most bigger literature prizes are evenso for the whole of the Dutch language area.

So far for the theory.
In practice, in written language the differences are mostly minimal. In some cases the bigger Dutch and Belgian newspapers can use each others articles without changing one word. The same is valid for television subtitles. Outings of less official media can show a more specific Flemish use of the Dutch language.
The real differences occur mainly in the spoken language. There are historical reasons for this phenomenon.

Originally there was not one Dutch language, but there were a great number of related dialects spoken from the NW of Germany to the NW of France. When the Dutch language was finally standardized and mass media began to develop, the language spoken in the Western part of the Netherlands (Holland) was taken as a starting-point. The Flemish region was isolated from this process, as French was the official language of the newly formed Belgian state. Until far in the 20th century the Dutch standard language developed further in the Netherlands, while the Flemish people had to struggle for the right to use their own language. Remember that all education higher than primary school was in French, all better jobs required French. Even the teachers on the Flemish primary schools were themselves educated in French.

It is no surprise that the language in Flanders developed differently from that in the Netherlands, and in many cases the differences in grammar and vocabulary can be related to the strong influence of the French language during more than a century. In this aspect I strongly disagree with MiriamC.

Finally, there is not such a thing as standard Flemish. Although there are common factors, the spoken language still reflects many influences of the old local dialects. A old farmer from Belgian Limburg using his dialect can hardly communicate with his collegue in West-Vlaanderen doing the same.
This aspect is not really unique for Flanders, you can also find it in the Northern, Eastern and Southern part of the Netherlands. In these areas outside Holland the local dialects differred too much from the standard Dutch and as a result they kept being used as spoken language, next to the standard Dutch.

In modern times these differences are getting smaller, and the coded language used for chatting or SMS messages is almost universal.

So what french words are being used in Flemish and not in Nederlands? I always thought that Nederlands has already incorporated too many french words (trotoire,etage,etalage/vitrine, beton,champignon, etc). I never learned Dutch formally but my parents used to converse daily in Dutch so I may have an incorrect perception. Thanks for indulging my curiosity.

The Belgians of Wallonia are predominantly French speaking, and the Belgians of Flanders are predominantly Flemish speaking. Flemish is similar to Dutch, but different - in much the same way as Belgian French is similar to French French but different.

It's reasonably important to use the the right langauage in the right place, because Belgians do feel very strongly about which of the 2 languages should be the official language of Belgium.

English is not uncommon, but as with any country, they appreciate it if you "give it a go" in their language first - at least learn the local greeting for example. It shouldn't put you off - why travel otherwise?

DAX: most of the French words you mention are used in the Netherlands as well as in Flanders. Etage is a typical example of a French word that is used in the Netherlands only.

A few French words that are used in Flemish, and not in the official Dutch language:
- chauffage (Dutch: verwarming) = heating
- lavabo (Dutch: wastafel) = wash-stand
- frigo (Dutch: koelkast) = refrigerator
I can mention dozens more (porte-bagages, join de culasse, mazout, ambettant, ...) but I don't think this forum is the right place for such detail.

Some typical Flemish words are just slightly changed from their French examples:
- klavier (French: clavier - Dutch: toetsenbord) = keyboard
- artisanaal (French: artisanale - Dutch: ambachtelijk) = craft
Again there are many more of this kind (triëren, performantie, ...)

A useful procedure for a Dutchman when confronted with an unknown Flemish word, is to look it up in a French dictionary.
Last year on a market I saw a man selling "karakollen". Only a big pan was visible, so I wondered what those "karakollen" would be. Later, at home I learned that the man was selling cooked shellfish (French: caracolles, Dutch: alikruiken).

These examples are only about typical Flemish words. Besides this there is a typical Flemish grammar, or words can have a different meaning than in the Netherlands.

It's interesting that this thread came up. Yesterday, near the Merode metro stop, a Flemish family stopped me to ask for directions to the "Koninklijk Paleis." They spoke neither English nor French. I was able to give them directions in my limited Dutch, but it shows that not everyone in Flanders speaks English. In Brugge, probably yes, because the town is so heavily tourist oriented, but when you get into the small towns and villages, it's not guaranteed.

Nor does everyone in the Netherlands speak English. I remember a few years ago, I was stumbling around Lisse, looking for the Keukenhof (pathetic, I know) and tried asking for directions in English and my limited Dutch. Eventually, I found my way. And I have found the same thing to be true in Aarschot and Berchem.

From a famous TV sketch in the UK 'I'm doing a course, it's called 'Get By in Flemish' - it'll come in handy if I ever go to Phlegm..'

Sorry, it's hot and enervating here today.