Jewels

I know, I know - this is a stupid question, but I will be in Belgium for a week in the summer and don't know if they speak flemmish, danish, etc...<BR><BR>Also how prevalent is english in major centres such as Brugge and Brussels?

[email protected]

French. But it's Belgian French.

Liz

Belgium has 2 languages, Flemish and French. I have been told that people in the Brussels/Brugge area prefer English over French, and that seems to be true, I found it the easiest area of Europe for an English-speaker.

Rex

Not sure why you said "danish" - - perhaps you meant "Dutch" (the national language of Holland, also known as the Netherlands) - - but for all practical purposes, Flemish IS Dutch.<BR><BR>and in their own native language(s), the names are<BR><BR>Vlaams (for Flemish)<BR><BR>and<BR><BR>Nederlands (for Dutch)<BR><BR>But I agree with just about everything stated above, regarding French (also known as Walloon, from the name for the French-speaking part of Belgium - - Wallonie) and English usage in and around Brussels (Bruxelles), Brugge (Bruges) - - and to a lesser extent, Ghent (Gent or Gand).<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Jewels

thank you so much for your quick replies!<BR>I was willing to bet that I would get slammed for this question, so I appreciate it.

Myriam

We, in Flanders, which is the northern part and which includes Brugge, speak Flemish which is about the same as Dutch. <BR>In Brussels it is about 50/50 between Flemish and French.<BR>English is spoken almost everywhere in Flanders and in Brussels. <BR>South of Brussels (Wallonie) people speak French and, apart from the major cities, the knowledge of English is not as common as in Flanders.

mpprh

Hi<BR><BR>My sort of question, this.<BR><BR>As an English speaker, I lived in Belgium on the Flemish/French language border for 5 years ! <BR><BR>Belgium has 3 official languages : <BR>Flemish (Vlaamse, a purer form of Dutch, close to Afrikaans in South Africa), French (Walloon) and German (around 4% in the east).<BR><BR>Near the border with Luxemburg, people also speak Luxemburgoise.<BR> <BR>The language borders are complex with protected French speaking villages inside the Flemish border etc.<BR><BR>You always know where you are because the street signs follow the local Language. <BR><BR>This is easy when it is Brussels/Bruxelles, Wavre/Waver, Wiper/Ypres etc.<BR><BR>But you can still have problems (Lille=Rijsel), (Mons = Bergen), (Notre-Dames de Bois = Jesus-Eik) etc <BR><BR>As a rule of thumb ............<BR><BR>Most Flemish areas speak good English (they watch BBC from England on the 98% penetration cable TV !)<BR><BR>Few Walloon areas speak English.<BR><BR>Brussels and Antwerp (Anvers) are multilingual. Most people speak at least French, Flemish, German and English. <BR><BR>It's a fascinating country to visit.<BR><BR>Peter<BR>

Sjoerd

Flemish is not a language: in Northern Belgium they speak Dutch. Even a Ministry in Belgium is called "Ministerie van het Nederlandse taalgebied" (Ministry of the Dutch language area). It is pure nonsense to say that Flemish is a "purer form of Dutch". it is a dialect of Dutch just like Twents, Gronings, or Zeeuws. <BR>Other official languages in Belgium are French and German. A Belgian passport has all three languages (Dutch, French, German) on it's cover.

BTilke

German is also one of the Belgian languages, although it's spoken mostly in parts of the Ardennes and in eastern towns like Eupen (which was a German city at one time). Although Brussels is supposed to be 50/50 French/Flemish, in reality it's more French. And in the last three years living in Brussels, I've never encountered anyone who would rather I spoke English than French--unless they were fellow anglophone expats. My commune is technically a Flemish one, but the officials I have to deal with are primarily French speakers. Ditto for the utility workers, the postal workers, the salespeople, the bank clerks, etc. Also, some former Flemish co-workers used to complain that they could go to popular restaurants in Brussels and the waiter would not understand them (or pretended not to understand) when they spoke in Flemish.<BR>Although most people in Brugge will understand English, it never hurts to learn the Flemish for please, thank you, etc.

Myriam

Sorry Sjoerd, in Flanders we speak Flemish!! Even if we talk ABN we will use other words than you do. Sometimes indeed even purer. What about the Flemish "verdieping" vs. the Dutch "etage", "appelsiensap" vs. "jus d'orange", etc. <BR>Haven't you heard about Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, het Vlaamse Gewest, het Vlaams Parlement?<BR>I'm proud to be Flemish and to speak Flemish and I hope Flanders can keep it that way.

Sjoerd

Yes, Myriam, just like people in Groningen speak Gronings. Flemish is a dialect, not a language. The standard language taught at schools in Northern Belgium is Dutch.

mpprh

Hi<BR><BR>thanks Myriam !<BR><BR>Peter<BR>

Andre

There's nothing like a little dose of Dutch imperialism to make you smile...<BR><BR>Sjoerd, the Dutch can't tell mean jokes about the Belgians all the time and then expect to be loved by them <BR><BR>De groeten<BR>Andre

topper!

ttt!!!

Myriam

Hey, I have nothing against the Dutch! On the contrary. I live at 5 km from the D/B border and we're really good neighbours, my son studies in Vlissingen (NL) ... sometimes he speaks Dutch (eek). But we ARE Flemish!

elvira

A few years ago I was in Arnheim (Nederlands) and there was a TV show in which contestants from Flemish-speaking Belgium and the Netherlands played some sort of word game which showed up the differences between the two versions of the same language. I couldn't follow it particularly, but the contestants were sure having a hoot. At the time I thought that a similar game show with Americans and British would be good for a few laughs.<BR><BR>I made the faux pas (hey what's that in Flemish?) of speaking French to a woman in Brugge who informed me that "we don't speak French here, we speak FLEMISH".<BR><BR>

simply the answer

Flemish and French

I am not

I hope you didn't commit that grievous sin of asking her about the location of "regular food", Elvira!<BR><BR>

Art

Afrikaans is a corrupt form of Dutch which was brought there by the Dutch who were the first settlers of South Africa.

elvira

Never fear, I am not...I've never eaten regular food in my life that I know of.<BR><BR>This whole Flemish thing makes me curious. Canadian French is considered "old French" as in it didn't evolve into the current "modern" French spoken in France - even the accent and pronunciation is considered "old". Does the Flemish spoken in South Africa fit sort of in that same category - "old" Flemish that didn't evolve into "modern" Flemish? Is Flemish spoken in the Dutch West Indies? Where else?<BR><BR>I actually found Flemish to be closer to English than German - words looked familiar, and the accent was more "American" sounding than German.