The language of Belgium

Kamikaze   Mon Dec 24, 2007 9:02 pm GMT
Belgium has three official languages - Dutch, French and German.

1. In Belgium, if a Dutch speaker(Flemish) and French speaker(Walloon) meet in the street, which language would they communicate in?
Is it Dutch, French or English?

2. From what I've heard, Flemish(Dutch speakers) speak both English and French quite well while Walloons(French speakers) only speak French.
Is that true? If so, why is that?
Are Walloons not smart or diligent enough to learn foreign languages?

3. If you are a Dutch speaker(Flemish) in Belgium, which foreign language is more popular and more important to learn at school?
English or French??

4. If you are a French speaker(Walloon) in Belgium, which foreign language is more popular and more important to learn at school?
English or Dutch??
Guest   Tue Dec 25, 2007 1:06 am GMT
1. impossible situation in Belgium...
as for Brussels, French speakers in Brussels do not normally consider themselves ''Walloon'', and most of them are bilingual (and speak English) since for any nice job in Brussels you do need to be bilingual (plus English)

2. Walloon follow in the French footsteps: they consider French the most important language in the world, they see no use in learning another language (be it English or Dutch)...everything on tv is dubbed into French, unlike on Flemish tv stations which use subtitles but keep the original voices...

3. English

4. English
Colette von Hessen   Tue Dec 25, 2007 1:14 am GMT
I had a dear friend in Belgium named Christophe-Pierre, who obviously lived in Wallonia. When I visited him in Liege he took me to his English class. So the young people learn English. This was 11 years ago. The French (and other francophone peoples) are getting much better about learning English, though I really admire their dedication to preserving their own sacred heritage and culture.
Guest   Tue Dec 25, 2007 5:02 am GMT
Is it true Wallonians speak English better than Flemish, and Flemish speak English better than French?
Guest   Tue Dec 25, 2007 10:11 am GMT
Dear Colette von .. If Spanish and Italian sound harsh what about your disgusting germanic language, I mean German it's the harshest language I have ever heard! You should wash your ears.
Guest   Tue Dec 25, 2007 10:13 am GMT
@ guest: you seem to be the one who is disgusting.
JLK   Tue Dec 25, 2007 4:21 pm GMT
Guest: Spanish and Italian, Italian less so, are spoken at a much louder and faster pace than German. I live in a Hispanic community and it seems to me like they're shouting at each other most of the time. Italians tend to be a bit more refined and their language can be quite beautiful at times.
Guest   Tue Dec 25, 2007 4:55 pm GMT
Italian is generally considered one of the nicest languages in the world, so shut up. You're a bunch of germanic barbarians.
JLK   Tue Dec 25, 2007 5:13 pm GMT
Barbarians? Germanic Europe is far more modern and advanced than Latin Europe. Germans don't gurgle and spit wine, eat frogs, waste two hours in the middle of the day taking a nap, run in front of bulls, create mafia brotherhoods,etc...:-)
Guest   Tue Dec 25, 2007 5:25 pm GMT
JLK some more american clichés, please???
JLK   Tue Dec 25, 2007 5:37 pm GMT
You have no humor, guest. Laugh a little...Clichés are funny, even at my expense.
Colette von Hessen   Tue Dec 25, 2007 5:43 pm GMT
JLK,

I read your post the other day about all of your reasons for not being wild about Spanish and mine are identical. Now this is starting to get weird, because I also live in a predominantly Hispanic community in NYC. I'm a graduate student and can't afford to live elsewhere for the moment. The people are extremely friendly, unlike some of the ones on this board. Still, though, I share your sentiments. I find Italian less so than Spanish, but I still don't care for it much either. To me, they are both fast and loud, with Italian being louder and Spanish being faster, but both fast and loud. The only thing "harsh" about German is the ch sound. So many people equate Hitler's speeches with the way all Germans speak (and Hitler wasn't even a German, remember). German and Swedish are two of the most musical languages I have ever heard. They can get very sing-songy. I also find Irish accents of English to be musical as well.

Colette
JLK   Tue Dec 25, 2007 6:41 pm GMT
It's good to see a like mind. I'm an college student in Florida, so you can replace Hispanic community with Hispanic state.:-) Similarly, I have nothing against them. Generally speaking, they are a friendly and humble people, I just don't care for the language or culture at all.

Germanic languages are wonderful, probably my favorite. I share the frustration you have about German's world wide perception. It is not a harsh language. Most people who criticize it, have never heard it spoken as it is today in Germany. Rather, their sources are WWII movies, that purposely uglify the language and culture. Swedish is marvelously sing-song and majestic. Norwegian sounds similar, but is a tad flatter due to the Danish influence. The Danish phonology has been greatly influenced by German, so it is not a pitch accent language like it's two sisters, but it has a unique and fascinating sound. I doubt I could ever pronounce it properly, but it is incredible. If you learn one, you can understand the others perfectly after a little exposure. For practical purposes, Norwegian is the best one to learn because it is a cross between Swedish and Danish, so you can understand the other two better, but the language isn't that standardized yet. There's two official forms, Bokmal, which in written form is almost identical to Danish and Nyorsk which is based on some western Norwegian dialects. If you learn one, learn Bokmal.
Guest   Tue Dec 25, 2007 7:06 pm GMT
German languages are probably the ugliest among indo-european languages: weird pronunciation and simple grammar (except German and Icelandic). I don't like them at all. The worst is American English!
JLK   Tue Dec 25, 2007 7:15 pm GMT
<<German languages are probably the ugliest among indo-european languages: weird pronunciation and simple grammar (except German and Icelandic). I don't like them at all. The worst is American English!>>


How is simple grammar undesirable? And weird pronunciation? German is one of the most phonetic languages in the world.