Hello everyone! Are you learning a language? One great resource to check out is Innovative Language podcast programs: langfocus.com/innovative-language-podcasts/. If you click the link, you can read my description of the Innovative Language approach and find your favorite language at the bottom of the page!

@iddisaha7726

4 жыл бұрын

Hallo ik have forgot a bit of Nederland en jij helped mij

@JewishAmsterdamChamberEnsemble

3 жыл бұрын

There are two omissions or inaccuracies in your beautiful video. 1. The start of the 20th century flemmish language independence was driven by the arrival of the flemmish nazi party on the 1930s. Flemmish would only be formalized as a formal language in the 1960s, and it's origin is deeply routed in national socialism. Something that remains until today. 2. The majority of inhabitants of brussels are native Dutch speakers, however the majority language spoken on the street is French. The number of native speakers in brussels is known, as the language divide is evident in the division of health care. The Dutch and French medical system is divided in Belgium, but also in brussels. A Dutch speaker cannot seek medical care in a French clinic and vice versa. Another sad issue in brussels is that the ministry of refugees is controlled exclusively by the Dutch. If a refugee enters Belgium, and the speak fluent French. They cannot speak work until they are proficient in Dutch, even if they reside in Brussels.

@corvby3844

3 жыл бұрын

Hallo ik ben van België ik spreek Nederlands maar op school krijgt iedereen Frans als 2 taal en ik Woon in Antwerpen en dat is weer een ander dialect zoals vork zeggen wij int plat Antwerps vorket

@aravinds8429

3 жыл бұрын

Dear Paul, as a matter of interest, what is your mother tongue, please? I am truly sorry, but I can't seem to guess with even the slightest measure of certainty from the way you look. However, assuming I were forced to make a conjecture, I would probably bet your first language is something Finno-Ugric or Slavic, like Hungarian, Finnish, Slovenian, Ukrainian et cetera. Do you mind revealing the answer, pls, dear Paul? In the event that you do mind, I respect your confidentiality in this regard

@mariksen

3 жыл бұрын

If English is not part of your identity, what is your mother tongue then, @Langfocus?

I am watching this as a Belgian... I have no clue how this country works, I just spend half of my day in traffic jams and the other half I’m eating fries. Then I go to sleep and repeat the cycle

@gabagooom

5 жыл бұрын

Tbh this is really accurate, don't forget beer

@Peteragent5

5 жыл бұрын

and sausages

@erikouwehand

5 жыл бұрын

hahahahaha

@Sophiedorian0535

5 жыл бұрын

Same here. Low-carb fat-free fries for me, though. Not that there is anything wrong with my digestive tract mind you. I am an arrogant snob from Antwerp, so I won't touch a fry, unless it has been certifiably procured from Bertje's Fritness Center.

@coyotelong4349

5 жыл бұрын

Wauw, dat klinkt déprimant. Je suis désolé dat ik dat hoor... Mijn condoléances 😂

Many people forget this detail, but we're big on comic books too.

@gabrielmonet-alarcia8146

3 жыл бұрын

Yess! Tintin, Lucky Luke, Spirou, Gaston La Gaffe.

@timrob12

3 жыл бұрын

@@gabrielmonet-alarcia8146 And our Smurfs of course.

@muhammadnajmimurindo9723

3 жыл бұрын

212

@gab_14

3 жыл бұрын

@@timrob12 les Schtroumpfs mon enfance

@timrob12

3 жыл бұрын

@@gab_14 Of De Smurfen.

Hello there, I'm from Belgium and my motherlanguage is German. I've been learning French since I was 3. In our region it is essential to speak French becausw we need it for our formation. (German speaking people often have disadvantages during their studies which are mostly in French because the mayority goes to Liège.) I can speak German French English and basics of Dutch. My language makes me feel like Eastbelgian and I'm really happy to see my home covered in this video. Most people don't even know German is spoken in Belgium and this often leds to long explications😂 Our local gouvernment is influenced by Belgium and Germany but I really don't want to be German. I recommand everyone travelling once to Eastbelgium because it's a really nice region. (We have good beer🍻) Greatings from Belgium 🇧🇪

@souhaibz

4 жыл бұрын

I've been living in Aachen for 4 years and I enjoyed the Belgian side of the borders riding with my bike and exploring the small towns of Eupen and Welkenraedt and Kelmis... It tok me to Liège with my bike... beautiful place

@barvdw

4 жыл бұрын

Some also continue there studies in Germany, I imagine, no? Aachen is a bus ride away. But yes, unfortunately there are very limited options for post-secondary education in East Belgium, I looked it up, and you can study for teacher, nurse or accountant, that's it.

@janjey7162

3 жыл бұрын

Fellow Eupener?

@MrSvenovitch

3 жыл бұрын

@@souhaibz the old railway ravel L38 is perfect for that

@souhaibz

3 жыл бұрын

@@MrSvenovitch is it that one from Homburg to Liège?

Never seen anyone making a public presentation about my beloved Belgium which was so 100% spot on. Leaving out the obvious chocolate, beer and fries but instead mentioning the real issues and their history. A small nation, which in fact are 3. With their differences and their abnormalities. Could never explain this better to a foreigner like Paul did. Not even to my Dutch neighbours. Close but in comprehensiveness so far away. Thank you for explaining my country Paul. I really wish I had you as my anthropology professor when I was in college. Doesn’t surprise me though that you are Canadien ( or Canadian ) . Keep up your amazing work . Love to discover more of your work

@yudansha63

3 жыл бұрын

I agree 200%. Belgium is a so complicated small country, and Paul explain it so good. Amazing! My family is Flemish, but I did my scholar life in French. So now, I'm a french-speaking Flemish living in Wallonia. 😄😄😄

@yodorob

Жыл бұрын

Canada does have a linguistic divide (so much more apparent in my own Montreal and Quebec than in Paul's own Western Canada), but it's a completely different dynamic than in Belgium.

@thetrueoneandonlyladyprinc8038

Жыл бұрын

The big terms love and beloved only reflect me the only lovable / beloved / loved being, and big compIiments like amazing also only reflect me, and cannot be in someone’s comments, and must be edited out, and the words hil / ei / ver / ren cannot be in someone’s name, and all unsuitable names must be changed!

It's always a good day when Paul uploads

@gf1917

6 жыл бұрын

It's like Christmas. What did Santa bring this time? :D

@samstruyven8523

6 жыл бұрын

More like the Feast of Saint-Nicholas, if you've been good that is. Otherwise black Pete's gonna birch you! 😆😆

@artanglin2763

4 жыл бұрын

My name is PAUL and an arrow pointing at him, so nobody would get counfused :D

Hello, Belgian here ! My answer for the question of the day : I'm from Brussels and my native language is french. I can't speak dutch very well but I went to kindergarten in dutch and I try to have as many dutch conversations as I can. When I meet a dutch speaking belgian, I always say that I can't speak very well and if he can speak slower and without dialect words. So far, they all agreed to do that and I can have a decent conversation with them. I also know quite a lot of Brusseleir (a small collection of Brussels dialects) Anyway, it's always a pleasure to watch your videos, keep up the good work, man ! ;) Gros bisous aux francophones en dikke kusjes voor mijn nederlandstalige landgenoten !

@ketjevanbrussel6530

6 жыл бұрын

Goldhorn4president kusje ?!

@nicollyfarao2401

6 жыл бұрын

Goldhorn4president why the native speakers Dutch don't like speak French? I heard that are racist! Lol I don't know if this is a really thing

@ProductofWit

6 жыл бұрын

@Nicolly Farao What do you think yourself? Bullshit meter should've went off long ago. :p

@Goldhorn4president

6 жыл бұрын

I have to admit that a lot of belgian dutch speakers speak french quite well ;)

@leenhellemans

6 жыл бұрын

Some people just suck in languages xD. Dutch is my mother tongue and I'm good in English but my French sucks. I can understand the language but I can't talk back. But most people are good in French xD but some aren't

I’m Belgian and I’m impressed with your video! It’s not often a non-Belgian is that accurate and detailed about our country. You did a really good job! As a Walloon whose first language is French, we actually were forced to learn Dutch in my school from kindergarden to the 10th grade. I'm assuming it's because my hometown is right next to the border with Flanders and close to Brussels, so Dutch was mandatory in school. In 8th grade I started taking English too but it wasn't mandatory. It’s only in 11th grades that I was able to choose to only have Dutch or English. So I kept English and dropped Dutch because I thought English would be more useful. And now I live the US 😊 Now the English we learned in school was British and not American. I also learned Latin from grades 7 to 10. My Dad also speaks Walloon (in addition to French) because he comes from a lower class family, but my Mom doesn’t speak Walloon because her family is more middle class. I don’t speak Walloon either (I only know like 3 words), and I can barely understand it because it's very different from French. My mom’s mom is Flemish, so her first language is Dutch, but she married a Walloon and only speaks French with us. But I have a lot of Dutch-speaking far cousins on her side of the family.

@janverboven

Жыл бұрын

Was't dichtse ? Den Engelsman or de stoemme amerikaan me zen woapens en hen gezeik das alles kenne ?

@jayjay5356

Жыл бұрын

Aline Mayne you're so beaudiful aawww. What beaudiful face do you've in your profil pixel 😍😍😍😉. I'am from Luxemburg that's mean we live close if you want come to the privat chat 😉.

@Yes-Bean

Жыл бұрын

@@janverboven I can speak german and I understood everything in your comment

@farisahmadf_

Жыл бұрын

Just like us The Javanese, some people from higher class family rarely teach their children to speak our native language

@achmadiid8644

Жыл бұрын

Woher kommen Sie?

Belgian here too (french speaking). There is an irony in the fact that the founders of France, Salian Franks (incl. Clovis whose real name was Hlodovicus), spoke a language, old frankish (vieux francique), which is the archaic form of Dutch. (Salian Franks came from the Netherlands actually.) What's funny is that the language name "français" refers to salian franks, who spoke old dutch. That's why I often say that the true "français" is actually the dutch language. That's a long forgotten truth so very few people understand what I mean. Color names in french come from old dutch : bleu comes from blauw, gris comes from grijs etc.

@visserskarel

4 жыл бұрын

@@Badkuipeend Well, that one comes from Vulgar Latin “castellum” -> Romance “castello” -> Old French “chastel” -> Middle French “chasteau” -> Modern French “château”. It was a military term brought to the north by Roman soldiers, and Dutch took “kasteel” from Latin.

@sciolist3109

4 жыл бұрын

those are French loanwords. those words dont originate from Dutch. its the other way around, dutch borrowed from the french language extensively.

@dorthusiast

4 жыл бұрын

perc No, those words were borrowed BY French from Germanic language(s).

@sciolist3109

4 жыл бұрын

Touchy Torchy “chateau” etymology old french: chastel french: chateau the germans borrowed the word from french, chateau/chastel is originally from castellum

@sciolist3109

4 жыл бұрын

Touchy Torchy full etymology here: “ Originated 1730-40. Borrowed from French château, from Old French castel, from Latin castellum. Doublet of castle. „

I am Belgian, living in the province of Liège (in Walloonia). French is my native language but i've learnt to speak dutch in school since i was 10 years old (and i still have some course in dutch in university). I dont give a damn about Walloonia, i am Belgian and i love to speak Dutch (unlike many friends of mine). I think that learning Dutch should be mandatory.

@thewitheredstriker

4 жыл бұрын

I know I'm late, but I agree. I am a Fleming who sadly just fails to speak excellent French (basics at best) no matter how hard he tries. Heck, I honestly believe German should be compulsory as well. It may sounds ludicrous, but come to think that it's also an official language -- the only one that has virtually no status in Brussels, the only one most other Belgians don't know, the only one you barely see anywhere in the media and such. I kinda feel like it's Belgium's unrepresented and undersupported official language. We, the Flemings, Walloons, German-Belgians, Low Dietschers (Who refuse to associate with any of the previous three) and so on, are all brothers and sisters sharing a wonderful country. All Belgians should be fluent in Dutch, French and German imo, no excuse for not learning one of them. Seeing all these tensions arise between us and getting worse really makes me sad. They're not as unfathomably horrible as some people claim it is, but we don't exactly get along either; something we absolutely should.

@thewitheredstriker

4 жыл бұрын

@Alex Croton I hate to be that guy, but 3-4 b/c the German-Belgians and the Bruxelloises. It can even be 5 if you include the Low Dietsch people from Geulland (region in Liège: includes Blieberg, Welkenraedt and Baelen).

@MrSvenovitch

3 жыл бұрын

@@thewitheredstriker I am a Fleming, living in Wallonia. Speaking French with my neighbours of course. But really we should all speak English to each other (which is already happening for most young people) because this way everyone makes an effort to speak something else than their mother tongue.

@hannepustjens9133

3 жыл бұрын

@@MrSvenovitch i believe that if your nabours come to your house they should try to speak flemish and when you go to their place you should speak french that way it is a shared effort

@SL-mj2eq

3 жыл бұрын

@@MrSvenovitch I agree here. They should just teach kids english as a 2nd language in schools. U get acces to the whole world in this way. Why should the flemish learn french or the walloons learn dutch is beyond me... Whenever i go on vacation english is my go to language. Whenever i speak to a foreigner english is my go to language. WHY? Cos most people in the world know some english. Learning dutch doesnt help a french speaking person at all In this world. Great u can go to the netherlands and talk dutch with them while many of them are also fluent in english... LOL

Hi, French-speaking Belgian here. For what I could see, Flemish people tend to feel Flemish a lot more than Walloon people feel Walloon. Most Walloons just feel Belgian, because there is little to no Walloon culture. There is a French-speaking Belgian culture, but usually we don't feel separated from the Flemish in our identity, though we do have some kind of rivalry with them. Also, about Brussels, the reason there is no statistics about the spoken languages is that it's illegal. As Brussels is meant to be 50/50 French-Dutch bilingual, no official statistics are accepted, in order to keep the parity.

@akruijff

4 жыл бұрын

I am from The Netherland and I see the Flemish the same as I do and I am quite fond of them.

@dries3913

4 жыл бұрын

That's true. A lot of Flemish people see themselves as flemish and not Belgian. Myself included. It has a lot to do with history but maybe even more with the political affairs of these times, different way of thinking, culture,.. The fact that Brussels is meant to be 50/50 but is not at all (try to go to a service there and speak flemish), also stings!

@Setetoto

4 жыл бұрын

dries or the king speaking french at home instead of dutch\flemish

@dries3913

4 жыл бұрын

@@Setetoto How could I forget that one. It's time to fucking split hahaha

@xMrAngelZx

4 жыл бұрын

The reason why we Flemish people are like that is because of the Walloons. Because when Belgium was created Dutch was NOT an official language even though it is the most spoken language of Belgium. The French speaking Belgians looked down on us for years and literally acted as if we didn’t exist. We had to learn French or you couldn’t get a decent job. That’s why Flemish people became rebellious. That’s why we have that identity. We had to fight for our language and culture! It wasn’t given to us. And when they finally recognized us and our language it was already to late. They should’ve made it 50-50 from the very start. Belgium would’ve been VERY different. The Walloons often see us as radical seperatists that hate them. But they fail to see its them that created this themselves. Don’t get me wrong though I’m Flemish but I am far from “un flamingant”. I am a Belgian first, then a Fleming. Another thing, the Flemish one day proposed to make the whole country like Brussels. Bilingual everywhere. The signs next to the roads everything. The Walloons declined, they said oh you should do that, but we won’t. Why? We don’t want Dutch in our cities. “Paysants Flamands”. It’s things like this that caused this whole Flemish identity. And yet we Flemish keep on paying Wallonia 9 billion euros a year to sustain themselves. We could use that money to make Flanders one of the richest regions of Europe. But we give it to you instead. Without that money Wallonia would become a Soviet like region. I wonder if the Walloons would have done the same when Liège and Charleroi were rich and we were not. Oh I recall no they did not. But yet we are the bad guys, we are the separatists and the fascists. Everything happens for a reason. The French speaking Belgians ruined this country from the start when it was just created.

Hi Paul. I'm a Flemish Belgian born in Brussels and now living in Ghent, one of the beautiful medieval cities in Flanders. I'm amazed to see the accuracy of your description of the complicated linguistical and administrative structures of Belgium. Very precise. And this done by a foreigner! Congrats! Filip

I live right on the language border, like literally! My house is in Flanders and half my backyard is in Wallonia, so safe to say I just feel Belgian. I was raised bilingual from birth, went to a dutch school, and spoke pretty much only french at home starting from my mid teen years ish. No one knows how this country works, half my friends cant speak french , the other half can barely manage flemish, yet we make it work. I use a lot of french words (and some english ones) when speaking flemish and vice versa, I guess thats how we speak in the language border area tho. oh yeah no one is nationalistic unless its football Great vid!

@hannofranz7973

2 жыл бұрын

So you change the language from Dutch to French when you are speaking to yourself?

@Jnstin

2 жыл бұрын

@@hannofranz7973 Depends really usually I think in English cuz that’s the language I use the most these days. If I’m speaking french I’ll think in french, if I’m speaking dutch, I’ll think in dutch I guess. Idk I’ve never really paid attention to it but I do know for a fact that I have switched languages while thinking before! I just don’t really know how often I do it

@aliciasheerin231

2 жыл бұрын

I never knew about that in Belgium. I didn't know they spoke Dutch, French, and German their. What's the most common language?

@lemon8944

2 жыл бұрын

@@aliciasheerin231 Dutch, by 60% of the people speak dutch, 39% speak french and 1% german

@aliciasheerin231

2 жыл бұрын

@@lemon8944Thank you! :)

Absolutely smashing video as always. Cheers all the way from Kenya!

This upload just made my Sunday better! Cheers from Paraguay.

@haniabdel

6 жыл бұрын

Jonathan Gomez mbaetekopio che kape :D ?

@chaloide

6 жыл бұрын

Tenemos que hacer campaña para que haga un video sobre el Guaraní 👍👍

@marcusleite13

6 жыл бұрын

chaloide Up!

@JonatanGGomes

6 жыл бұрын

Eso sería genial!

@downthelead4386

6 жыл бұрын

Jonathan Gomez belgan

I'm Belgian. I only want to add that on the Dutch Belgian Television most foreign speaking programs, films and so on are subtitled. I find this a great way to learn a foreign language.

Very good video! I am Flemish myself and fluently speak, read, write French, German, English besides Dutch. Last summer, on vacation in Normandy, I had the occasion of translating the menu of the restaurant ( **) to a Dutch family who had limited knowledge of French. Being a foodie myself, knowledge of the French cuisine helped a lot but nevertheless I am very proud I did a succesfull job!

The disappearance of Walloon is more linked to the fact French was taught in schools, and Walloon was prohibited (kids would get punished if they got caught speaking it). At some point, Walloon was considered to be a "dirty" language, as it was linked to the more rural and uneducated part of the population, and people stopped speaking it for that reason. My two cents.

@SeArCh4DrEaMz

4 жыл бұрын

It is exactly right, Im belgian as well(from wallonia) and that is exactly what my grandmother said to me(pupils were punished harshly if they were caught speaking walloon at school, even on the playground), most people at the time spoke walloon at home between family members or friends, but elsewhere it was frowned upon and considered uneducated.

@evildeadlyCOOKIE

4 жыл бұрын

Same with the Bavarian dialect in Germany. A lot of young people (especially in cities) don't speak or even understand it anymore.

@zxszert573hg46

4 жыл бұрын

This was the exact same thing in France... Only french spoken in school and all the regionnal languages prohibited.by the state during school

@Valandix

4 жыл бұрын

Apart from Student "Cercle" there's not anymore wallon-spoken in social gatherings apart from families, a bit of a shame

@zillimunt2015

4 жыл бұрын

@@evildeadlyCOOKIE And would they get punished if they got caught speaking Bavarian dialect or it's "just" modern implications, ....

I am a Dutch speaking Belgian. I have watched very closely for errors in your video, because language is a very sensitive topic in Belgium. I have found none to speak of :-) As to your question: generally Flemish people feel Flemish first and Belgian second, while generally the French speaking feel Belgian, period. This is historical. Only less than 50 years ago French was considered the language of the educated, and the Flemish were treated as dumb peasants. This created resentment which still lives in a softened form, even though now the tables have largely been turned. There is also a reverse resentment with the French speaking Belgians because of this. There is a great reluctance with the francophones to learn Dutch for several reasons: it is considered as a small language not worth learning, they still expect to be helped in French everwhere, Flemish people tend to be impatient with someone trying to speak Dutch, etc. As for knowledge of other languages, your video hits it. Flemish people like myself older than 40 generally have at least basic knowledge of French. Conversational French is however learned while on the job e.g. in bilingual Brussels. Ou children almost never meet French speaking people and tend to think that French is just an annoying, useless school topic and believe wrongly that English will open more doors. How wrong they are when they want to work in Belgium at some level. The analog with the French speaking children is even worse. Flemish teenagers are often fluent in (some sort of) English, borrowed from movies and games, their French speaking counterparts generally are not because they live in the French cultural sphere.

@jolanverschoren1561

6 жыл бұрын

i live in the french speaking part of belgium and i must say you are the first comment in here where i completly agree with. Btw i can speak flamish as well as french i am just raised with both and i think vryone should in belgium. And sorry but my english isn t that good as we can read xp

@barvdw

4 жыл бұрын

There are some institutional and legal mistakes, like the Brussels' government is not merged, it was the Flemish government that is a merger of Community and Region, and bilingualism isn't mandatory in shops in Brussels, only for the administrations and police and such. Brussels governments (VGC, CoCof, GGC and Region are separate entities, even if the politicians are shared, e.g. the Flemish College president is the Co-president of the Shared Community College and a Minister in the Region.

@borakaraca9788

4 жыл бұрын

you deserve it. you had a country whose full of your ethnicity united kingdom of netherlands then you made a deal with french and you betrayed your own happyfull country

As a Belgian, my native language is French and my second language is English--mostly thanks to the Internet. In my experience of learning English it is a slow but rather natural process that I don't have to worry about. And I don't quite understand how exactly I'm doing it, I reckon I'm just consuming more and more media in English, interacting with people in comment sections and now I can say I'm somewhat comfortable with it. It makes me really think that the overall lack of Dutch knowledge in the French-speaking part resides in the fact that, unless you go work in Flanders, you really don't need it and you're really not exposed to it either, which does not help. I have a good friend from Luxembourg (the Grand Duchy) who can basically speak four languages--Luxembourgish, French, German and English--and I must say I'm fascinated by the linguistic situation of the country. Unlike Belgium indeed, the use of one or another of the official languages does not depend on geographical location but rather on context and most Luxembourgers are exposed to each of those languages daily, as well as English. I believe they go through primary school in German and through secondary school in French, while speaking Luxembourgish at home. But really this situation is not that unique as in many countries of the world, immigrant children have to go through a different language at school than at home and end up fluent in both. That is where the failure of our regular language classes is, at the very least in my opinion: 4 hours a week is not going to do anything, especially since those 4 hours aren't typically in complete immersion either. I'll gladly admit that a basic knowledge of grammar is helpful (and was helpful in my process of learning English) but it alone is far from sufficient. We could instead have our entire schooling in the other language and we could also be much more exposed to media in the other language. Of course it is more simple to do everything in one language but I really do think that ending up knowing multiple languages is worth the cost of having to deal with those languages through school or anything. And on a country level, although I'll agree that it actually is debatable, I believe the economic attractiveness of having a population of polyglots is really worth the cost that it would represent to change our system is such a way. And what I just wrote is a big fat comment constituted of random thoughts coming through my mind; I hope it gave you food for thought as well, I'm genuinely curious about what people think about all of this.

@sehabel

3 жыл бұрын

I totally agree. Learning a language through media and immersion really is much more effective than the traditional 4 hours a week method. I'm from Germany and English was the only language I learned until i reached the high school (although I only became fluent through the internet). We could do so much more. Germany is right in the middle of Europe, and still most of us only speak German, English and occasionally the language of their parents.

@RafaDallaCorte

2 жыл бұрын

More than 2 lines, i don't read.

@MateuLeGrillepain

2 жыл бұрын

I know it's reviving a dead comment, but I remember seeing comments on videos about Irish saying that despite it being a compulsory subject, there's too big a focus on grammar and reading, meaning it's hardly used outside of their schools But I'm from the USA so I can't attest to it myself

@martinmay8919

2 жыл бұрын

I congratulate you on your English, it is very good. Here in England we are not exposed to other languishes so it is very difficult to learn, since we cannot practise it. I would love to learn Spanish, but wouldn't find anyone to talk to in Spanish to help me learn.

@kepjiomaily1299

Жыл бұрын

I am German but my cousin is flemish and I feel they steal us from speaking.

I'm a Dutch speaking Belgian in Brussels. I always get excited when someone speaks Dutch to me here, but it's a rare occasion. I quite enjoy speaking mostly French and English. Many expats here and I love not knowing what language I'll be speaking today! Excellent video! I'm in awe that you are able to make such clear and in depth language studies on your channel.

@hannofranz7973

2 жыл бұрын

Ik ben duitser en nu asn het leren nederlands. Ik hoop dat ik de volgende keer in België en Brussels de mogelijkheden vind mijn nederlands te oefenen. Ik vind nederlands een beetje makkelijker te verstaan, maar het is seker een interessante versoek nederlands in Brussels te praten.

Another Belgian here (from Flanders), and I would consider myself as much Flemish as Belgian. I understand that Flemish people are reluctant to speak French, because Walloon people are usually worse at speaking Dutch than Flemish people at speaking French. Personally I don't mind speaking French (or even German), because I think it's a chance to improve at speaking another language. Also, I do hate the term 'tussentaal', because I feel it implies people fail at speaking either the standard version or a dialect, and they're too inattentive to do so. I really liked this video (partly because it's about my country ;) ) and I hope you will be making more videos like this, different languages spoken in one country, in the future!

@adamo1246

6 жыл бұрын

SuicideBunny6 van welke stad ben je in België

@shtoer

6 жыл бұрын

Same! Couldn't have said it better

@SuicideBunny6

6 жыл бұрын

+ Adam van Geel (in Antwerpen)

@adamo1246

6 жыл бұрын

SuicideBunny6 😃 kortrijk hier zo ✌

@jinengi

6 жыл бұрын

Sadly, not all countries have the same linguistic sistem as you do, so I'm not sure about which country whould be ok for that idea

Hi there ! I am technically " Wallonian " but really I am Picard but I identify as 100% Belgian which is the case for most of the French speaking community of Belgium. I am currently living in Brussels, and learning Dutch. I'd like to become fluent in Dutch / Flemish before my thirties and maybe work in Flanders. Your explanations were very exact and clear =D

@Leiake2604

6 жыл бұрын

Simon Marlière Congrats on making the effort to learn Dutch!

@everforward8651

5 жыл бұрын

I'm interested in Picard and in Picardie because one of my ancestors emigrated from Picardie to Italy. The family name in Italy (Naples) reflects this, being "Picardi." As for myself, I'm an American, and my mother's family emigrated to the US from Italy, and my father's emigrated from Ukraine and Poland (we Americans are often mixed between different ethnic and racial groups).

@NewEraaG

5 жыл бұрын

Simon Marlière Laat is wat horen dan? Groeten uit Nederland

@athenamnerva6939

5 жыл бұрын

@@everforward8651 warning picardie in modern france is different historical picardie and more the language of picardie (in french "Le picard") can group all regional languages of the north of the France ( from "Paris" at the "Nord Pas De Calais" and from normandy to champagne-ardenne)

@everforward8651

5 жыл бұрын

@@athenamnerva6939 The languages of northern France («les langues d’oïl ») are all distinct Romance languages, and each has its own name. Picard (le Picard) only refers to the language spoken in the area that's been known in history as Picardie.

I'm from Belgium and my native language is Dutch. I also speak English, German (I understand it better than I can speak it) and French (although it's not as good as my English). You did a really good job of explaining all this. The last time I tried to get someone to understand the basics, they had more questions than before I started.

@viktorsmets29

Жыл бұрын

Exact same situation here

OK. As a English guy who speaks Vlaams my favourite tv programme when living in Belgium was Tien voor Taal. This was a weekly quiz between a panel of Flemish and Dutch celebrites about the differences in the "common" language. My French is strongly influenced by that spoken in Bruxelles. I automatically use "septante" and "nonante" for 70 and 90. This is similar to Swiss French and a good friend born in Lyons tells me that he used the same words as a kid.

@Lara-fx4ex

3 жыл бұрын

Vlaams is one of the dialects of Dutch right?

@anthonybest213

3 жыл бұрын

@@Lara-fx4ex Well it is one of the regional varieties of the Dutch language. Historically all the areas which now form the Netherlands and Flanders spoke, and still speak, regional variations. The Netherlands Language Union was established to standardise these variations into a common language Algemeen Nederlands(AN). This is what is taught in schools. Within Flanders itself there are many local dialects.

@cissedeclercq5567

2 жыл бұрын

did you know....nonante......is dialect (antwerp).....they mean .....a dog.....strange..not?

@health.is.wealth.

2 жыл бұрын

How would you say 75 and 95? Septante cinq and nonante cinq?

@mrditkovich5817

2 жыл бұрын

No, in Lyon we say soixante-dix and quatre-vingt. Some worlds differ like vogue for fête foraine

Thank you for this video ! I'm Belgian and my mother language is French. For more than one year I'm living and studying in Flanders. I can also speak Dutch (not yet perfectly). Before I saw languages in Belgium as a big problem, but no more today. That is one of the wealth of my country and I'm proud of that. I consider myself even more Belgian since I can speak the two main languages :)

@Afura33

6 жыл бұрын

You will be perfect in dutch one day :) , it just takes time. Wish you all the best and good luck, and don't give up on the language. The problem of the language is more in the mind of the people, people don't wanna give up their old conceptions and believes, because they are feeling so comfortable in it.

@masterchurrasco4294

3 жыл бұрын

Céline Marenne oi csline .eu sou brasileiro e gostaria muito de se puder ter contato com alguem da belgica pra que eu aprenda alguma coisa a mais ok .55 11940501111 whats meu nome silvio ok

@cauwenberghsroeland8607

2 жыл бұрын

Be welcome.

Being a Belgian, i would say that a lot of Flemish people sometimes may refuse to speak French because we are better at speaking French than Walloons are at speaking Dutch ( I know that sounds contradictory) This is because we study French from age 11 but because Walloons are worse at speaking Dutch we feel like they don’t respect out language (Dutch) and it seems like they expect us to zdapt to their language

@montanus777

6 жыл бұрын

actually it's not contradictory at all. that's basically what also a lot of non-native-english-speakers do, when native-english-speakers don't even try to learn some basics of a foreign langauge when coming to a foreign country.

@realityismerelyanill

6 жыл бұрын

Phoe Nix hm almost all of the belgian people ive met didnt speak french, and the ones that did didnt speak it very well... Worse than me (a brazillian).

@khiu8868

6 жыл бұрын

Dutch is not easy to speak ( with the dialects) but a lot of Walloons read and scribe easily.

@syko6973

6 жыл бұрын

Phoe Nix Romance language speakers are in general very bad at learning languages, and especially german languages, so don't blame them for struggling to learn flemish, try listening to a frenvh or spaniard speaking german or english, and you'll get what I'm talking about

@callmeswivelhips8229

6 жыл бұрын

Dutch is a sophisticated and complex language, is it not?

I‘m German, and moved to Brussels 7 years ago. It seems very likely that I will stay here and even get Belgian nationality. Having studied in Amsterdam, my Dutch was quite good when I moved to Brussels, so I mainly use it when I can‘t communicate in English or German. I am really struggling learning French (I found Polish and Czech came easier to me! Even though I‘ve had 7 years of Latin and did not have problems learning Spanish or ordering food in Italian), but am making slow process there. My partner has friends with whom she mainly communicates in French, so that helps (and will hopefully mean I won‘t forget what I did learn in French courses). I found that - if you stay in areas frequented more by the Euro Bubble People and expats - you can get around Brussels on English and Dutch with very, very basic French quite well.

Belgium a super beautiful country, I was with my family in the Flemish Region this summer 🇪🇸❤️🇧🇪

@mattreichmann8118

3 жыл бұрын

@@Rose-id9sj I'm a Belgian who has to move to Israel, and tbh I'm DYING to come back. Better people, better manner, AWESOME FOOD, and great taxes are spent (relatively well) It's all about perspective :)

@mattreichmann8118

3 жыл бұрын

@@Rose-id9sj always remember, it could be worse :))) Enjoy the frietjes. It's the hardest part about leaving Belgium ;)

@mmyt6860

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for visiting my part of Belgium where i live. Hoppefully you and your family had a wonderfull time here. Always welcome!

You could not have uploaded this at a more perfect moment....thank you!!!!

@Langfocus

6 жыл бұрын

It's my pleasure! I'm glad to hear it.

@barraman.

6 жыл бұрын

Ákos Szűcs Yes, gelukkig banaan dag!

@afz902k

6 жыл бұрын

I agree as I am learning Dutch

Well i'd add two things. The first being that in Brussels the french speaking majority doesn't generally consider themselves Walloon but rather just french speaking (francophones). The second is although most people are OK with the federal system, most also find there is way too much bureaucracy because all that government levels. Brussels in particular is quite a mess with 19 independent boroughs, 1 regional government (with its own parliament) + a federal level. I'd also add that just as you pointed out English is indeed increasingly being used in Brussels as a lingua franca. This is of course due to international organisations but it also allows local businesses to reach all the people more easily without being categorized as either french or Flemish (a lot of advertising in English in the streets these days). Thank you Paul for your always interesting videos

@ZoidbergForPresident

6 жыл бұрын

I actually hate the federal system. It's a mess and utterly useless, at least in such a small country.

@ZoidbergForPresident

6 жыл бұрын

I'm not that old and I think a federal gov is silly for Belgium. Of course, I'm not a biggoted rich flemish staring down at walloons. :P

@barvdw

4 жыл бұрын

You forgot about the communities, which are responsible for schools, culture, etc ;) And to add to the confusion, the local community commissions, who depend from the Flemish, resp. francophone communities, but are composed of the Brussels Region politicians, so while Flanders has a centre-right government, the Brussels Flemish have a green-blue-red one. Yes, it's a mess, but it works somehow..

The "second language" thing about French also needs to be placed in context. Here in Flanders we learn first French, then English, that's why people say French is our L2. I forgot a lot of French after highschool & my English is way better. Being earlier in the sequence of learning doesn't automatically mean better than the other.

@jandron94

2 жыл бұрын

I suppose one personal attitude towards French is not a general attitude. Just by the listening to the accent one can usually estimate in two seconds if we are talking to a French-fluent Fleming or a "not interested in that language" Fleming. Sometimes you are suprised, some people might have a negative attitude towards French but in fact have a very good command of it.

@joachimdebie4900

2 жыл бұрын

@@jandron94 What Tibo states is very much a realty in most of Flanders. Aside from personal interest, English is simply easier for us and we are much more exposed to that language, aside from maybe the people that live in and around Brussels. Most people (especially everyone younger than say, 50) in places like Antwerp or Ghent feel perfectly comfortable in English while they have to resort to their rusty high school French when necessary

@jandron94

2 жыл бұрын

@@joachimdebie4900 that's exactly what I said: their French is rusty because they are not interested by French culture. In Flanders the dominant culture is the Anglo-American culture by far and Flemings like it very much, especially the youth. There really are two major distinct cultures in Belgium : Anglo-American dominant on one side and French dominant on the other side. For instance just look at The Voice Vlaanderen and the Voice Belgique... totally different.

@joachimdebie4900

2 жыл бұрын

@@jandron94 Then I misunderstood, my apologies. However, assuming that Anglo-American culture is dominant in Flanders (as opposed to French in Wallonia) is a bit simplified. Yes we tend to speak English as our first foreign language, but the dominant culture in Flanders is... Flemish culture, or more in general maybe Neerlando-Flemish culture. Singing and being able to communicate in foreign languages is an inherent part of many Germanic cultures (think about Sweden for example, who is the third biggest music producer in the world after the USA and UK) but that doesn't mean we are similar to the Americans. When you look at topics that are less superficial, you will notice how Flanders is becoming more similar to the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries, not to the Anglosphere.

@jandron94

2 жыл бұрын

@@joachimdebie4900 What do Flemings are most exposed to? - Songs in English or in Dutch? - Movies in English or in Dutch? - TV Series in English or in Dutch? - Computer Games in English or Dutch? - Internet Content in English or Dutch? - Books written by Anglophones or by Neerlandophones? I don't know what your definition of culture is but I was not refering to politics, way of life, cuisine or hobbies but to language. For me the culture is above all the language (wherever you can find it). I am not sure that people in other parts of the world when they hear a song in English performed by a Fleming they think: hey that's a Fleming artist here ! In France there are afew English singing bands like Daft Punk or DJs like David Guetta but it is not considered French culture (far from it). If you say that singing in English is part of the Flemish culture I say OK good for you until the Flemings gradually speak less and less Flemish and more and more English and finally undergo the same "assimilation" process as the Scots and the Irish underwent in the 18th and 19th century. What are the next steps in Flanders? - English as main teaching language in colleges (as already happened in Flemish Universities)? - English as main language in small companies (as already happened in big Flemish companies)? - English to be a co-official language of Flanders (which is already almost the case)? - Dutch language to be a minority language in Flanders?

Nice Paul! As usual your videos are packed with facts and valuable history info from a linguistic perspective! Your research on Belgium is very thrilling and well done! 👍

Having lived in Brussels I was blown away by how many young people speak English. I think the age of KZread and the internet has helped push the importance of being able to communicate in English and many younger people told me they learned the grammar in school but practiced their communication skills via the internet, texting and Skype etc.

@SamDePrez

6 жыл бұрын

This is mostly due to the fact that movies on tv always get showed in their original language(except maybe kids disney movies) with dutch subtitles. France and the southern part of belgium always dub the movies in french. Also from 3th year in secondary school(14/15 year old) we get thaught english in school.

@STRAlGHTxEDGE

6 жыл бұрын

I learned basic English from playing Pokémon games on the Gameboy when I was a toddler. Kids these days only learn it quicker for the exact reasons both of you say.

Belgian from Flanders here. Hallo Vlamingen, bonjour les Wallons! I actually learned from your video, thanks, Paul. If you can wrap your head around our linguistic situation, consider yourself to be Belgian :) To answer your question, personally I feel like speaking many languages is part of my identity, and I think I am not alone in this. I am proud to speak to varying degrees 5 languages. We learn French at a young age but because Flemish media has so much English content, most Flemish people outside of Brussels "practice" their English more than French. An important part is that Flemish TV for instance always uses subtitles, exposing viewers to other (mostly English) languages. That, and English being more related to Dutch than French, are, I believe, the most important reasons why many Flemish speak English more than they speak French. There are exceptions of course, but I don't think many Flemish in Flanders just refuse to learn/speak French because of a dislike of Walloon people. And as a Flemish person I will always try to speak French when approached in French. But I know not all Flemish are prepared or capable to do that.

@Ju-bj3ko

3 жыл бұрын

Curious, because to a french speaker, the sentences in english sound just like a slightly different french. There's a lot of similarities between the two languages. Curieux, parce que pour un francophone, les phrases en anglais sonnent juste comme un français légèrement différent. Il y a beaucoup de similarités entre les deux langues.

@AlbertoGomez-oi5ou

3 жыл бұрын

even for me as a SPANISH speaker french is a PAIN on the ASS, i understand you, english is easier by far ...

I'm an American who once lived in Brussels. I used French in Wallonia (and the East Cantons) and English in Flanders. In Brussels French was the "default language" with strangers on the street but I relied on a whole mix of languages. Most young highly-educated Belgians do speak English, but there's a lot of folks who don't, including immigrants from France and former French colonies (Morocco, Lebanon, Cameroon, etc.).

hey Belgian here, I've been watching a lot of these kinds of video's the last couple of days and this video is really underrated, not only are you very accurate and get details that other videos could only dream of and rivals that of a native's knowledge, but also are you not shy with phrases such as 'from what I've heard'. I really appreciate this since this show's you actually think about what you're saying and consider before you speak. Keep it up!

I'm from Belgium. I'm a native French speaker and I can speak English, german and greek(native language of my father) as well. I had bad teachers in middle school in Dutch that made me stop learning the language too early, unfortunately. For fun, I learnt German as an adult and now, as German and Dutch are too closely related, I have trouble learning Dutch. So I don't know if I'll get back to learning Dutch someday but my basics from middle school and my German help me understand written Dutch a lot. Anyway, regarding some facts and sayings in the video. Walloon has never been the educated language in school in Wallonia. It was the language of the mine (Wallon from Liège, Namur or Charleroi are quite different to each other) and was spoken by the non-educated people in the countryside or suburbs of towns. Due to more accessibility to school, the Walloon has been less and less spoken and is now barely extinct. German speakers have to learn french really early and have a really impressive level of bilinguism. I work everyday with native german speaker, sometimes I'm wondering if they don't speak a better french than I do. A reason for that is they have no university in their language in Belgium. If they want to go to University, they have to go to a french or dutch one. Due to proximity, they mostly learn french.

@Afura33

6 жыл бұрын

Yep you learn french very early here. I think I started learning french in the kindergarten with french music songs for kids. But nowaydays less and less of the young people speak french, same as in the flemish speaking part. Which is kinda sad. When I was young I thought learning french was just a waste of time, it just felt like a burden, so I sticked to dutch and english, but only later I realised that it was actually an opportunity to learn french. I mean you only have advantages of speaking a second or third language, you can everywhere go and speak with people where the language is spoken. These days politicians are trying to do the same thing as in Flandern, eradicating everything that is french, maybe not as harsh as in flandern, but still. Sad that people want to stay so closed minded. You are right, there is no university here, only a higschool, but you can only study 3 different things if I remember right. Mostly people go to Liège or Brussels for studies, some of them also go to Aachen or Maastricht. In your place I would stick to the foreign language you like the most :)

@AndyJarman

4 жыл бұрын

The reason the German speakers speach such good French is because they are German speakers. Honestly the quality of the English I hear from Germans I have worked with is phenomenal. They have a keen ear for refinement, fidelity and attention to detail.

My favorite channel ever!!!

Awesome video Id love to see a video about the different accents of Belgium. I've researched it a bit, and its truly fascinating

This was an _excellent_ LangFocus video! I never realized how little I knew about thr languages of Begium. To answer your question, as an American English speaker or Anglophone, English simply feels like a default, as you said you feel about English in Canada. This is also part of the reason I have taken such an interest in foreign languages since I was a boy; I am bored (for lack of a better word) with English. Despite English growing exponentially in popularity worldwide, I still find it worthwhile to educate myself of the basics of other languages, and even endeavor to learn them entirely.

As a Basque person, Basque language is maybe the most important part of my basque identity. Without speaking basque, it would be hard for me to connect with this identity. Because we suffer a diglosic state with French & Spanish, our language is the most important way for us to reaffirm our identity.

@miguelmpacheco9597

4 жыл бұрын

Disglisic state? 😂 😂 In a short time the Basque country will made 50 yrs of Francos death, with a level of independence similar to a formal state but only 22 - 28% of population real euskaldunes... Cmon... Stop putting the blame on France or Spain, stop victimism

@detrockcity3

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, blame Spain.

@juliosalazar6924

3 жыл бұрын

@@detrockcity3 actually the situation of Basque is worse in France

@detrockcity3

3 жыл бұрын

@@juliosalazar6924 Okay, them too.

@jameswheat4225

2 жыл бұрын

Keep it alive! 👍🏼🙌👐🤙

As an East-Flemish Belgian, growing up near the Walloon border, I mainly used our local dialect in my younger years, which is a mix of Flemish (tussentaal) and some French words, e.g. saying "merci" for "thank you", or "salut" for "bye"; over here isn't unusual. Thanks to the internet, Pokémon & reading LoTR in English at the age of 12, I also got a nice kick-off for English. Got French classes since I was 10 years old, which has been really helpful since I've been working in Brussels for quite some time now. Only had 1 year of German in school, but I think I got the basics :) In Brussels, which is mainly French-speaking, I usually can speak Dutch in shops, like to get a sandwich, and they just reply in French, which is great! Having colleagues from Wallonia & Brussels is another nice way for me to learn more about the actual French language. On our work floor you could hear people switching over from French to a local Dutch dialect and then continue in English when talking about technical stuff. Because of these things, I love living in Belgium. By default, I get exposed to so many different languages and cultures, which enriches me a lot. P.S.; Finally I have a vid to show to my foreign friends that clearly explains how mixed up it is over here :D

Excellent video as always! Appreciate all the research that you put into them. :)

Having loved in Belgium as an expat i can say that you have made en exceptional report very accurate with reality. Really impressed. Congrats man!!

Belgian here, from Flanders and I'm a native Dutch speaker, that's quite fluent in English and my French is good enough to get around (used to be better, but after years of not using the language, it's not what it used to be). Their is some sort of general idea here that if you are in Flanders and you are of Belgian identity, you are required to at least attempt to communicate in Dutch (even if it's mixed with questions like "what's this word again?" in English or French, as long as the intent of the message is clear and there is equal respect between both sides of languagespeakers.). I found a similar sentiment in rural areas in Walloon as well, though the way people react to it depends on where you live and what public opinion is at that point. There are groups of people that would prefer to see the linguistic communities split up, mostly due to political propaganda, which mostly leaves the inconvenient parts out of their info. With the vast amount of immigration in Belgium nowadays though, I see less people complain about Dutch vs French and more people complain that they see more people that don't even speak one of them.

@aravinds8429

3 жыл бұрын

À vrai dire, vous écrivez en anglais vraiment très, très bien, ma sœur. C'est magnifique. Salut de Gujarat (Inde) et Singapour

I'm a Moroccan who was born in Antwerp and i'm fluent in 3 languages (Dutch, English and Moroccan Arabic). The funny part is that i never learned any of these languages. I just master them because i get exposed to these languages on a very frequent basis in daily life. My French is horrible though. I can't even hold a conversation in French, but i'm currently learning it. When i master the French language, it will be the first languages i actually learned by studying it.

@nielsardies2001

6 жыл бұрын

Erase Life Goed bezig copain ;) 👊

@Ghipoli

6 жыл бұрын

Dat is ziek. Lekker bezig!

@roodborstkalf9664

6 жыл бұрын

@ Erase Life : goed commentaar, jammer genoeg gaat een taal in de praktijk leren veel gemakkelijker dan een taal studeren, zeker als jij ouder dan een jaar of acht bent.

@gunterification

6 жыл бұрын

waarom frans?

@pato20995

6 жыл бұрын

GPO zou hij Duits moeten leren ofzo?

As an ignorant Brit who expects everyone to speak MY language, holidaying in Belgium thought my very limited French would see me through, how wrong! Being mainly in Flanders I taught myself basic Flemish (so easy to learn) I confidently spoke it...although I was usually answered in, as they realised I was English! I felt most welcomed that I had made an effort to speak their language!!

@kaglekoa

3 жыл бұрын

How hard would you say Flemish is to you as an english speaker?

@henkoosterink8744

3 жыл бұрын

@@kaglekoa Flemish is Dutch.

@juanme555

2 жыл бұрын

​@@kaglekoa If you're an English speaker...Dutch will be the easiest language you can learn.

Paul is a real G. Every video is impeccably researched and well presented

I liked the part when he said Belgium

@Langfocus

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I forgot when I said that. Can you post a time stamp?

@ZoidbergForPresident

6 жыл бұрын

And ?

I'm a French-speaker Belgian from Brussels and, when I go to Flanders, I try to communicate as much as I can in Flemish, even if sometimes, the person who I am speaking to, starts to answer me in French by themselve, maybe because they saw I was doing an effort to speak as much Flemish as I can. And yes, schools put WAY more emphasis on grammar than on communication. That's what my English teacher always told us, and he tried to give somme communication lessons between grammar lessons. And same for my Dutch teacher. They both told us they regret that school programs are mostly focused on grammar and yes, I always feel like I'm way better at writing the other language, due to this fact, while speaking it is a bit harder. But anyways thanks for this video on our interesting little (but important) country, Paul :) !

@roodborstkalf9664

6 жыл бұрын

@imaginox9 : good of you to make an effort to speak Dutch when visiting Flanders.

@imaginox9

6 жыл бұрын

Well personnally I think it's normal and it's a form of respect to try to use the language of where I go to

When you referenced Canada at the end, I was not surprised! Five videos in, I'm a thankful follower of your channel. Excellent content!!

@Langfocus

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I’m glad you like it.

Your video is very interesting. I'm very pleased to see someone understanding how our country works regarding communities and languages. Good Job (and I also watched a lot of your videos beside this one and I subscribed too).

Thanks for the very thorough video! All very accurate. As a Walloon, I started learning Dutch in primary school, but really basic stuff, mostly common vocabulary and expressions. It got more serious in the secondary education system, but it was not enough to be honest. I can speak decent Dutch now only thanks to university studies (master in translation). About the Walloon language, I want to bring another element, which I have heard from my grandparents, from the Walloon countryside of the province of Namur. Their parents (my great-grandparents, born around 1900-1910) were mostly Walloon-speakers who learned French at school, with Walloon being the only language at home. French had been for centuries the language of the administration, nobility, etc. but country people kept to Walloon on their everyday life, which became seen as the language of the peasants, basically, and this is key. Similarly, Walloon was the only language spoken at my grandparents', but the difference is that school became more accessible - therefore, my grandparents' command of French was much better than their parents'. And school was heavily promoting French as the "proper way" to speak. My grandparents told me stories of how they would get punished and shamed at school for speaking Walloon. This planted the notion in their minds that Walloon was basically wrong, "dirty" French. And so they brought up their children in French, and probably 75% of the language at home was French. My dad learned a lot of Walloon still, and can still speak it pretty fluently, and I learned quite a lot of it too though my grandparents. An interesting thing that shows how the situation between countryside and cities was very different is people's accents. On my mother's side, they lived in the city of Charleroi, which at the time was the industrial pride of the country (things have changed a lot now ;)). They spoke less Walloon at home (although they understand it) and pronounced the French /r/ as we do in standard French nowadays, a soft /r/. This was the way to show that you were educated or lived in a city, with higher social status, because Walloon was originally spoken rolling the /r/, like in Italian. My grandparents on my father's side, on the other hand... lived in a village and spoke French with a rolled /r/ all their life :D A last note about Walloon: as a language, it is actually quite distinct from French. The Walloon that most people know nowadays has been influenced by French to a very, very heavy degree throughout the 20th century. Even my grandad would sometimes mix up, again because of this French-bashing at school. But if you heard Walloon as it was a bit before the 20th century, it would be impossible for a French speaker to understand. The best example of this that I can give you is a documentary about a the descendents of a colony of Walloon settlers in Wisconsin. Their parents and grandparents left Wallonia during the 2nd half of the 19th century for America, like many people of Europe did. They created towns called Namur, Brussels, etc. over there. And the only language they spoke at home was Walloon. When they reached the USA, Walloon was their only tongue. There was no French influence there. Walloon was passed down, unaltered, through 2 or 3 generations. A team of journalists from Belgium went to meet them, I think about 20 years ago. The whole thing can be found on KZread, look up "Namur, Wisconsin". Listen to the old people talking for the most authentic example of unadulterated Walloon (Namur type, as Liège Wallon is a bit different) :)

@roodborstkalf9664

6 жыл бұрын

@ Francois Arnauld : very good comment.

@strevesyeack9587

4 жыл бұрын

and it worked the same with flemish dialects for a long time : wallonian and flemish dialects were "peasant's languages", stigmatizing their users in Brussels for example, at the beginning of the 20th century, parents of flemish origin would sometimes force their kids to focus on french to climb the social ladder, you can nowadays see the result of that mecanic through the flemish patronyms of many french speakers. One of the unexpected result of that history is the sensitivity of many flemishs regarding french : it's still seen as an invasive language, making the flemish nationalists reacts as an oppressed minority although modern Vlaanderen concentrates most of the demographic, political, economic and decision power for the entire country. A very strange situation where a majority acts and reacts as an oppressed minority.

@ChrisMerveille

4 жыл бұрын

@ Francois Arnauld: very interesting comment to complete an already excellent video. Thank you for this.

@PrenonNon0

4 жыл бұрын

Brâment ïntréchant l’eurpoétchaidje chu l’Wisconsin !

For me, a Brazilian that lives in a country so big as Brazil, that speaks just one language, it's amazing know those awesome facts about Belgium language diversity. Langfocus, your channel is fantastic. Many, many thanks, my friends and family watch your videos and all of us LEARN a lot.👍👍

A small historical fact: The dialect spoken in the east of Belgium "West-Vlaams" is actually one of the (if not THE) oldest forms of dutch in existance( this is also spoken by elder people in the north of France and comparible to the dialect spoken in "Zeeuws Vlaanderen" in Holland). Around the 17th-18th century when Belgium and Holland were one, there was a discussion of what would become the general Dutch as to be a, to be taught, spoken and written language. In this dilemma, the dialect that existed around Amsterdam was chosen to become the Dutch standard (As it was logical due to Amsterdam being an economical powerhouse at the time). But if you look online for the oldest forms of dutch writings and let someone from West-Flanders read it, you'll find that they will be more likely to struggle less reading and understanding what it says rather than if you would let someone from Amsterdam read it.

@mewissen

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, that is historically correct. But these days West-Vlaams is frequently qualified as a speach impeachment, to be treated by a logopedist.

@childintime1991

3 жыл бұрын

@@mewissen Parkingmens? ^^

@niekflikweert7778

2 жыл бұрын

West Vlaams, het dialect van West Vlaanderen wordt toch niet gesproken in het oosten van België?

@niekflikweert7778

2 жыл бұрын

Weet je dat de Nederlandse standaardtaal ook gevormd is door de Statenvertaling van de Bijbel uit 1637. En deze vertaling werden veel Zuid Nederlandse woorden gebruikt ook onder invloed van inwijkelingen uit bv Antwerpen in Holland. Bv zenden/gaarne/schoon/verkleinwoord -ken ipv -je. gij/ ge zijt ipv jij en je...

@axolotl-guy9801

2 жыл бұрын

False. The dutch language was born in flanders (east and west) grew up in Brabant and was expanded by Holland.

Merci beaucoup pour l'information, très intéressant. Bonne travail Monsieur !

As a linguist from Germany I am always curious about the line between Dutch and German and all the dialects caught in between. I'm from North Germany, here in the countryside we still speak Plattdüütsch - which as a kid always sounded like a weird mix of German and Englisch to me. Well, that's the dialect continuum for you. To me my native language grew in importance for my identity. As a kid I didn't think about it, I just had that one language and everyone else around me had the same. But as I became fluent in Englisch, learned other languages as well and especially are working with people of other native languages, it became more and more important to me that I am a native German speaker. I'm proud of my language and it's unique and sometimes silly features. I think, German is a beautiful language with a rich body of art and philosophy that is best enjoyed in the original German. Translations usually loose something. Especially in contrast to the ever growing influence of English I try my best to hold up the German language flag. German might not sound as cool, but I think it's a lot more precise and flexible than English.

@guitarrwd

6 жыл бұрын

Jaehwa Sa ja Ich liebe deutsch auch. Ich habe in Der Schule das gelernt und es ist sehr hübsch! Es tut mir leid für Meine schlecte deutsch lol

@lucianoperrotat5170

6 жыл бұрын

I really hope one day i can speak German. Greetings from Argentina ! :D

@cicero1178

6 жыл бұрын

Jaehwa Sa Be proud to be German

@Sindor33

6 жыл бұрын

I am a french native and totally agree with you. Our langage is part of our history, and Europe have a tremendious history. Maybe that's why (I think) Europeans like their own langage.

@Sindor33

6 жыл бұрын

@FZ channel you are so right if we think on very long term

Here at Langfocus Channel I learn not only about languages, but Geography, History and Culture too. I am lusophone (Portuguese speaker) and I always had curiosity about the bilingual in Belgium. Yes, bilingual, because I didn't know there are communities speakers of German.

@syko6973

6 жыл бұрын

Rafael Candido *cough* no one cares *cough* *cough*

@AdrienDelstanche

4 жыл бұрын

Langfocus definitely does a great job of explaining the different aspects and it is very much appreciated. I was born and grew up in all 3 regions in Belgium and never met a single German-native speaker. They're a minority of less than 1% so you have to go to Eupen and nearby to meet them. This is too far northeasy of where I used to live. I was born in the city of Liege which is West enough of Eupen to not get a chance to meet them unfortunately, then Ostende and Brussels which are even further. Doesn't mean that they're not there. Just a lot fewer of them lol

As a flemish-speaking Belgian I must say that your video sums up the situation in our little complicated country quite well! Great job! I'm gonna keep this link to send out to my family abroad whenever they ask something about the situation in Belgium :-) Myself I speak Dutch, French, German and English. My kids also get to learn these languages in school. As for Brussels: I've been working there the past 25 years and I can confirm that when talking to somebody in Dutch, 9 out of 10 times you need to switch to French. On the other hand in our company, when e.g. in a business meeting we tend to start speaking the language of the other person, and then sometimes that person replies in the other language, so the Dutch-speaking are speaking French to the French-speaking, who reply in Dutch :-) It is about mutual respect and courtesy. It is very sad that we know so little about one another, and that is mostly due to the media which are either in Dutch (in Flanders) or in French (Wallonia). The only time we really feel as one country is in sports when our national soccer team plays (and hockey team, basket ball team, etc...). So how do I feel? After getting more into our national history and understanding it better, I personally feel more Flemish than Belgian, which doesn't mean I refuse to speak the other language or so, it is just a fact that people of the same language group always flock together. I just wish we'd simplify and re-organise our structure, so that we could vote as one, and operate much smoother - be it as Belgium or as separate countries.

I come from the gemarn speaking area from Belgium. I speak geman, french, dutch and english. I consider myself as Belgium .

@guyinsf

2 жыл бұрын

Hi there, Im from the US and I think it's so awesome that you speak 4 languages!

I'm a Walloon. At the end of my studies I could speak english quite fluently, but my dutch level was far from that, mostly due to the fact that the method for teaching dutch (the official books, etc...) were boring, focusing mostly on having us ingest endless lists of vocabulary, whereas the method for english was fun, with active conversation, etc... Now, 30-ish years later, I still use english almost everyday at work or on the internet, but as I work in Wallonia, I am almost never in contact with flemish people and I have forgotten most of what I knew due to a lack of pratice.

@roodborstkalf9664

6 жыл бұрын

@ Pierre Arnould : do you think there was deliberate sabotage involved by the Walloon government in choosing school methods for learning Dutch that were obviously ineffective? I see that nearly every Walloon reactor on this video is complaining about this.

@Suldrun45

6 жыл бұрын

When I was at school, the ministry of education was still at the federal level of the state, and the books we used at school for learning Dutch were published by a flemish editor.

@cauwenberghsroeland8607

2 жыл бұрын

Assimil, books, you tube, en binnen twee jaar spreken we over alles en nog wat...

Oh Belgium, such great food, and still so devided. Me as a south Dutchman (living in Dutch Brabant) am always amazed how this country is struggling with country issues, while being so kind or trying their best to get things done. It's surprising how I live 35km from the border of it and still notice a totally different world over the border with Belgium. The wall outlets are of French design, not German, the people are different, the dialect is different, the roads are different. And still... wherever I go there, the people are always kind and nice. It's so weird that the language battle has made it this way, while most Belgians just try to go on. Although I can with ease speak to Flemish people (they choose other words than we Dutchies do sometimes), I'm always amazed how the border makes things so distinct. The languages were in the past more fluidly going over the border, but the 20th century changed so much. Radio and television made the cultural focuses of our countries different and changes language to standards in the direction of their capitals. It feels unnatural, a made border. In that way I see that language indeed forms a piece of identity and a small culture gap. Charles V of practically most of Europe dreamed of one united lowlands, from Old Flanders to Groningen as one country area. How split we got from a war that we had totally different courses from the Dutch revolt and the following 80-years war, while our neighbours are just 20 minutes driving from here. Just weird... I like Belgium, though it's weird to see the country, it feels like a brother to us. A very close one. "The world gets warmer in Brabant", an old Dutch proverb says. Indeed it is. How the old Duchy of Brabant is broken up in three ethnicities, you still see that the more south you go, the more warm the people still get. Even in Wallonia people try to talk to me in Flemish/Dutch and it feels like an honor, every time, that they will do it for us in French territory. Three cheers for Belgium! In Walloon, in German and in Flemish!

@taxandria1941

6 жыл бұрын

joehoe222 Ik woon in Midden-Brabant (provincie Antwerpen) niet ver van de grens. Er wonen hier ontzettend veel Nederlanders en als zij Brabants spreken is het zogoed als hetzelfde dialect als het onze.

@r.v.b.4153

6 жыл бұрын

When I'm in a car, I can literally feel the precise location of the border of the highway around Postel with my eyes closed. Such a road difference so close by. Driving in Belgium sometimes feels as if you're driving in Eastern Europe. The people are different across the border, yet also similar in ways. Especially when comparing the south of our country to bordering regions in Belgium. The dialects of two villages split by the border do not differ much when spoken in its purest form. I believe the standard variety of Dutch created a difference in pronunciation of our Brabantian dialects, but I am no expert.

You are a real master teacher, man. Besides your obvious amazing level of competition in history and languages, you explain so damned clear everything. Born to be a teacher no doubt. Congratulations mate ! You are a crack !

Thank you for great video. It is very useful and informative

@Langfocus

10 ай бұрын

My pleasure!

Hey Paul, your pronunciation of Dutch is really quite on point! Good job!

@Langfocus

6 жыл бұрын

Really? Good. I was worried about that.

@barvdw

4 жыл бұрын

@@Langfocus yep, it was quite ok, a slight accent left and right, but pretty accurate overall. The way you pronounced Eupen, on the other hand (it should be something like Oipen).

I'm from Belgium, and I'm really glad to see how accurate you were throughout this video. It lends great credence to your other videos :D. I'm from Flanders, I speak Flemish, and I am far more fluid in English and German than French (even though my French is rather good). I didn't actually know much about the dialectical differences of both the German and French varieties. Even though I've had German, French and English in school, only in the English class did we get taught anything about dialects, which is passing strange considering the other two would seem closer to home. But that's just Belgium. The line between Flanders and Wallonia is pretty strict and politically, this has been used to feed provincialist tendencies. It doesn't help that historically, Flemish citizens were considered 2nd class citizens. All of that still rankles, even though culturally, economically and politically, Flanders has been the dominant region at least since WW2. The difference between the two regions is very obvious when you look at the entertainment people consume via the media. Flanders used to be oriented towards Dutch channels (both on the radio and on the TV), English channels (BBC and later ITV) and Walloon channels (though never French channels, unless you lived in the West Flanders province). As time went by and our own Flemish channels came of age, gradually we shed the French-speaking channels, then the Dutch-speaking channels of the Netherlands, but we did keep the English channels. I know of moments when people in Belgium still watch a Dutch TV channel, but never in my life have I heard that they listen to Dutch radio. Never mind the French media, which for a lot of French teachers in Flanders is lamented. On the flip-side, back in the 80s and 90s, MTV and Nickelodeon and other such channels which were imported from England or the US became very trendy and they have stuck around in one way or another. Another cultural factor is the king. For some absurd reason we (still) have one. And it sticks in many Flemish people's craw that our royals cannot speak Dutch or if they do, still sound like they learned it for tourist purposes but didn't care much for the pronunciation. We're expecting a great deal from the first in line, Princess Elizabeth, who was very consciously schooled bilingually. A droll anecdote about her is that when our king Philip announced the birth of his firstborn daughter, he said in Dutch "Het is een meisje!", literal translation of "It is a girl! / C'est une fille!" which works either in English or French, but not in Dutch. We would say: "It is a daughter" or rather, "I have a daughter", so you see how even so small a thing can grate on the linguistic nerves of the Flemish region (and trust me, those nerves have always been high-strung).

@roodborstkalf9664

6 жыл бұрын

@ Joris Lemoine : very good comment

@Hibou-wm3wb

6 жыл бұрын

Hi, thanks for your comment. Concerning the king, he brings a stability to this messy political system. A republic couldn't work and wouldn't be democratic. The King works as a neutral "chief of State" in opposite to a president. It doesn't matter anyway, as the king lost most of the powers he had and as is always under the responsibility of a minister. Also, the king as been chosen because we decided to follow a parliamentarism system (as in Uk). I don't think it would be wise to give too much power to the executive as the interest in presence are sometimes opposite. :)

@eddiejc1

6 жыл бұрын

Quick question, Joris and it's about five words in your post. "I'm from Flanders, I speak *Flemish*" [emphasis mine] I've heard that one of the many gripes that the Flemish people have is that many people refer to their language as "Flemish" rather than "Dutch." But I've never been to Belgium and I've never met a Belgian face to face. Do many Flemish people mind their language referred to as "Flemish."? Obviously not all do since you did so in your post. Thanks a lot!

@Hibou-wm3wb

6 жыл бұрын

+FZ Channel Hi. I'm not a royalist. And I'm agree with you, the costs related to the monarchy should be limited to the King in function. But the reason we still have a king in Belgium is not because old people like kings. The Constitution of Belgium chose to follow a "parliamentarism system" like in UK. It means that the parliament controls the governement. The governement is responsible before the Parliament that has been ELECTED. How does it work? After the results of legislative elections, the composition of the Parliament is known. The parties will try to form a majority to form a governement. In the Constitution, the King nominates the ministers. But in facts, he has no choice on the nomination. Why? Because the ministers are responsible before the Parliament. A governement that has no political supports from a majority would fall. So the King acts under the responsability of a minister and this minister is responsible before the Parliament. If it disagrees with his/her acts, it could destituate him/her. The final words always belongs to the parliament. So, you could respond "Well, why don't we elect an irresponsible president? ". Well, I would say that in a new legislature, the king brings a stability. He is neutral from a political and a linguistic point of view. As you know, forming a governement is a tough work in Belgium (remember 2010). At these moments the king has more power than usual because he can act like a conciliator. I have a question for you. In a presidentiel system, how would you do to represent fairly all the different interests in Belgium? Flemish , Walloon, germanic community, Brussel, ect... Thanks if you read so far.

@jorislemoine1488

6 жыл бұрын

Edward J. Cunningham, I think most Flemish people who know English well enough to understand the nuances between Dutch and Flemish will prefer to have their language called that way. In Belgium, a Belgian would also say he speaks Vlaams (Flemish), but he might also say that he speaks Nederlands (Dutch). In the latter case, however, it is quite common that they mean this in an exclusionary way, because they might have a different word to describe the language people speak in The Netherlands, which would be Hollands ("Hollandish"). But in general, they wouldn't mind Flemish at all ☺.

Another great video, well done.

Thanks for this good presentation.🤗

Excellent video! This is probably the best one I have seen on the complex linguistic structure of Belgium. Although I am not Belgian, I have visited the country many times and can testify to the fact that the English language is becoming more and more of the default language among Belgians of different languages. Most francophone Belgians have told me that they would rather learn a language (English) that they can use around the world rather than one that is used regionally (Dutch/Flemish). Belgium is a great country and its proximity to Holland, France, Luxembourg and Germany is one of the reasons why I enjoy visiting it so much.

@ripeavocado1818

6 жыл бұрын

Mary Smith Thanks for putting Christ and Trump in the same sentence. You doomed your own argument!

@dook2317

6 жыл бұрын

Roza K. I think you don't know the full name of the Donald's father..

@taiqidong9841

6 жыл бұрын

Typical, the walloon people who are allways shouting that the Flemish nowadays don't want to show financial solidarity with the poorer and more needing Walloons but these same Walloons (and the bulk of french speaking Brussels francophones) haver never, ever, had any cultural solidarity with the dutch speaking part of the country. On any given day you will still hear a french song on Flemish radio/television, on the french media: nothing, zilch, never ever, did I heard a flemish/dutch song in their media. Personnaly I don't care, I'm bilingual french/dutch, no accent at all but a Brussels accent both in my french and my Dutch. My point of view is simple and I will express it in French for our French Fan: l'ignorance, on s'en excuse monsieur, on ne s'en vante pas ... Oh, and by the way, about the walloons rather learning to speak English, did you ever heard a francophone speak English?

@michue007

6 жыл бұрын

Tai Qidong to answer your question. I have been a lot in Wallonia and have never heard a Walloon speak English. Not even in a restaurant.

@mava.4814

6 жыл бұрын

French Fan you're right, I'm a francophone Belgian and I took for second language English a large number of Belgians take English for international

As a dutchman I want to expres my respect for the Belgian nation and it's sovereignty. I'm really tired of these fake imperialist compatriots or the overzealous belgians for that matter. It's been 186 years since the war and 180 years since the Netherlands last laid claim to the country, nobody that had anything to do with that is alive. Let's just be respectful neighbourgs that share a language and interests on many levels.

@coisd.b.486

2 жыл бұрын

Mooi gezegd. Trouwens, het epicentrum van het eerste Frankisch Koninkrijk lag in ... België.

@axolotl-guy9801

2 жыл бұрын

@@coisd.b.486 ja klopt. Maar toen was er nog geen (modern) Belgie. Trouwens het lag ook in wat nu Nederland is en Frankrijk en west duitsland. Ja zelfs het epicentrum!. Vergelijk het maar met een moderne map

Heel correct uitgelegd en proficiat om het zo duidelijk weer te geven.

Hello, Paul! I know your video is more than one year old, but I just came across it today and I loved it. Very interesting, even being Flemish myself. You are explaining it all very well and your conclusions are correct. When people ask me where I'm from, I say "Belgium", but immediatly add, "well, Flanders, really". So you see, that's important to me! I always liked learning other languages, so in school I preferred taking classes with a lot of those : Nederlands, Français, English and Deutsch! I noticed that, when people learn I'm from Belgium, they assume my native language is French... So this historical thing about French being the only official language in Belgium is still "alive"... I like speaking French the least of all those learned languages. Must be something in my Flemish genes, I allways say... I'm going to recommend watching this video, whenever someone starts asking me about Belgium, Flanders, differences between Dutch, Flemish and German etc. I always say, there's only one conclusion : Belgium is a small country but VERY VERY complicated... Thank you for this video!

Hi Paul have you seen how Luxembourg manage languages they combine French, German, Luxembourgish and sometimes English for me was amazing to realize about it

@2699030

6 жыл бұрын

limburgish .. ? You mean Luxemb(o)urgish / Letzeburgesch) ?

@JaimePerezDeLosSantos

6 жыл бұрын

Yes sorry I didnt know the name in German Luxembourgish, in Spanish Luxemburgués, the official people language of the country the one that they used to communicate in daily and informal situations is my understanding, are you from Luxembourg?

@JaimePerezDeLosSantos

6 жыл бұрын

If someone is from Luxembourg or know more about the topic I would be really glad you :)

@God66

6 жыл бұрын

It's mostly Luxembourgish people that use the language. Immigrants (who make up ~45 % of the population) either don't learn it or prefer not to use it that much, instead they use French and/or German in order to get by since almost everybody who lives there knows at least one of those languages regardless of ethnicity. (I am not Luxembourgish but I lived there 2000-2015)

As an Italian I think language is a huge part of my identity, although not the most important one! When I meet descendents of Italians that don't speak the language, I struggle to consider them Italian because in my mind the two go together.

@ChefRafi

6 жыл бұрын

Flavio Spadavecchia I feel the same way. Most of the identity is lost when the language goes.

@flaviospadavecchia5126

6 жыл бұрын

FZ Channel I grew up with both of my parents speaking mostly standard Italian to me and I got exposed to the regional language (variation of Barese, very close to Neapolitan) through some other relatives and classmates at school. I use it sometimes mixed with Italian with friends and family but the language I can fully express myself and know that I'm not making (grave) mistakes is Italian, so that's why I consider it my mother tongue, even though the regional language has definitely played a part in my language development.

@flaviospadavecchia5126

6 жыл бұрын

FZ Channel As much as I would have liked to preserve Latin in Italy until today, it's not really feasible to teach a whole country a hard language like Latin, especially back when people started using Vulgar. They used vulgar exactly so that the common people could read their work and become literate. Latin would have meant only the rich would be able to read and write.

@fabiolagiorgio839

5 жыл бұрын

Flavio Spadavecchia the world is so little 😊 we basically have the same mother tongue and dialect 😊 Which town? My native town is Trani. What are you doing here, under a video about Belgium?

@fabiolagiorgio839

5 жыл бұрын

FZ Channel Vulgar Latin is far more antique than Tuscan, and Italy is United since only 1850... hundred and hundred years later than vulgar latin. That's why using latin was and still is a ridiculous idea, sorry 😅

very well researched! props!

Answering your question to a Belgian, I speak all three national languages rather well with Dutch as a native language. The reason is quite obvious: if I travel fifty km south or a hundred km east, living in the middle of the ancient duchy of Brabant, I might not be understood with Dutch only. It is a question of politeness too talking to people in their own language on their own ground. In addition I speak English and have notice of number of other languages, all by the sheer love of knowing and the advantages of good and courteous communication. And I am certainly not an exception in my professional environment - I work in the cultural sector. Yes, I do believe that language is very much an identity matter in our country, but which should be lived with the greatest respect and openess towards other identities - in all directions, of course, which sadly is not always the case. Also yes: dialects are still very strong and widely spoken in Flanders and sometimes they differ from one town to the next quite considerably. We are used to that and generally not make much of it. Cheers, Willem

Comment from a Flemish fan of your channel here. Congratulations! You did an excellent job explaining Belgium in this video. I couldn't catch you on any fundamental errors. To answer your question: my native language is Dutch (Flemish - same thing, basically), I learnt French at school as a second language, English as a third, German as a fourth and also studied Latin and Greek. As a hobby, I added Spanish and Italian to my working languages. Normally every Flemish person is obliged to learn 4 languages at school. The extent to which they actually get proficient at the various languages, varies widely of course. Don't try to speak French in Flanders. You will be met with hostility. Likewise, don't try to speak Dutch in Brussels - same hostility. I always use English in Brussels - they will think you're a rich expat and treat you as a human being, unlike when you admit you're Flemish. Speaking Dutch in Wallonia is less of a problem: they often earn a living off Flemish and Dutch tourists so will be happy to do their best.

@fa2079

6 жыл бұрын

Wow u spreekt veel talen. Chapeau.

@fabiolagiorgio839

5 жыл бұрын

Mathias Van Aken if you are still interested in learning italian, I'm an italian native speaker who's approaching Dutch (and can speak a little French, I was pretty forced to studying it ten years ago at school, then I know the basics). I would be honored to share some knowledge with you, you seem smart 😁

@galier2

5 жыл бұрын

The hostility to french language in Flanders applies to Walloons only, as a Frenchman I never had an issue with using my language. This said, I always propose to converse in english or german as an alternative, most of the times they prefer continuing in french.

@nimedhel09

5 жыл бұрын

I am a Wallon and have never experienced hostility in Flanders, however I try to speak English as a compromise, because it's usually easier for both parties. I will make an effort to use Dutch words, like greetings and saying "dank u" and all that, but that's it (because my level is too abysmal, unfortunately).

@Sophiedorian0535

5 жыл бұрын

I am from Antwerp City. I speak five modern languages, not counting Latin, Greek, Antwerp Yiddish, Afrikaans and Antwaarps. As you know Belgians are known for their humility and their conviviality, and will be reluctant to admit to being as fucking awesome as they actually are. The people of Antwerp are however the exception that proves the rest of the country must be embroiled in some sort of a conspiracy, because we are naturally arrogant, pedantic and conceited, and go through life with a ship on our shoulder so massive and so full of raw unprocessed ego, that the Antwerp harbour authorities wouldn't allow it to sail up the River Scheldt. We are also known for being pathological tellers of the truth, until we get elected mayor.

As an Irish speaker in Ireland, my language is a major part of my identity. I think that is the norm for minority language speakers, especially post-colonial communities who had their historical language replaced by a invading language.

@alexyuu952

6 жыл бұрын

Stephen OBrien i hope you will make popular your awesome language again someday. Too bad so many languages are dying(

@l.u.7834

6 жыл бұрын

The same happened to Ukraine. During Russian Empire ( and then USSR ) Ukrainian language was forbidden, replacing by Russian language. Many writers and other culture figures were persecuted, murdered or sent to Siberia. When Ukraine regained its own independence, since 1991 Ukrainian language has become an official language of a country. So, I completely understand Irishmen.

@dodgermartin4895

6 жыл бұрын

I'm an American with a grandparent from the Gaeltacht, and she taught me some Irish so I could say a few words when we visited Connemara. I studied the demise of Irish, about 50 yrs ago there were about 30,000 monoglot Irish speakers, and though Irish still survives, there are almost no monoglot Irish speakers left. Its sad to see, because much of Irish culture will die when Irish becomes extinct. Reminds me of the demise of French in the Cajun community in Louisiana.

@mattd1496

6 жыл бұрын

The Tremendous No language is useless and no language is superior in any way.

@ladymadimort9550

6 жыл бұрын

I completely agree as a Basque speaker. It's the pillar of our identity.

Nicely done. Very informative.

It's amazing how you described Belgium so accurately. Most Belgians couldn't be that accurate about their own country. haha I'm from Wallonia and I speak French, Duth and English, as you said, even though we learn Dutch at school, it's not enough to have a conversation with a Dutch nativer speaker, I had to learn it all by myself. Even if we live in a tiny and complicated country, I love my country! :-))

@No-Community1380

Жыл бұрын

I thought people from Wallonië had to chose between learning English or learning Dutch

@Yes-Bean

Жыл бұрын

I thought in wallonia you would only learn french and english

@edwinbottero5230

6 ай бұрын

@@No-Community1380 In most school in Wallonia, you can choose what laguage you want as second laguage (in primary school and the first two years of secondary school) but, in 3rd year of secondary school, you'll end up with the other one as 3rd laguage anyway.

Hi. I am mexican and my native language is Spanish. This may seem quite obvious, although it happens that we have dozens of native American languages which still been spoken among the people. Today I met a young girl who speaks Huasteco (a language from near the Gulf of Mexico), also I remember than my grandma used to sign sometimes in Tarasco (this one is from the southwest), and the far you go from the cities the more unique languages you will find. For them, it still has a strong cultural value and make an important part of their identity as indigenous and mexicans. In the last decades, it has been their warcry in their struggles to stop being marginalised by the rest of the country, in which they have made some huge advances. Today, they have a presidential pre-candidate for next year elections, and she has raised an enormous support both in the cities and in the indigenous communities. Now, some final thoughs about my native language. For me, speaking Spanish makes me part of a bigger community than the one just in my country. I feel like I share so much cultural heritage with all the Spanish speaking countries around the world, particularly with the other ones in America. I do not seen them as foreigners, but as distant relatives.

My bilinguialism (french-german) is a defining part of my identity. As an ethnic German growing up in France right on the border with Germany, with strong family and other ties on both countries, it defined my person. This pushed me to seek a job in the EU administration as there's no better multilingual environment to work in. Now, I'm in Luxembourg which would probably also warrant a nice video like you did for Belgium as its linguistic situation is also quite interesting (or how to make out of a peasants middle german dialect an official nation defining language which grows in importance every day).

Hi Paul i just wanna say thank you very for the languages you bring to us it's realy help me to learn about other countries language you great person paul take care and have nice day

The best explanation of Belgium I have ever seen-well done!

@Langfocus

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you! 🙂

I got to know a belgian girl at a party yesterday and we talked a lot about the language situation in Belgium. What a coincidence. :D

@Langfocus

6 жыл бұрын

Cool!

@andyferne3877

5 жыл бұрын

was she hot?

Thank you so much. I always look forward to your videos. BTW, I've watched all of your previous videos. Love your channel.

I just discovered this. A big thanks to Paul for a precise and very informative report about my country. Like already mentioned, I’m Belgian too (Flanders). Born and practically raised for 3/4 th in Germany due to my father’s job who served the Belgian Military Forces in Nordrhein-Westfalen. My mother was a nurse in the Belgian Military Hospital. We went to a Belgian school which was especially built for all the children of people serving the Belgian Army Forces in Germany... I grew up with 3 languages, later on i learned another 2. English and Italian came along. Nowadays my first language is German, followed by Flemish (Mother tongue), English, French and ultimately Italian. I can definitely say that thanks to our farsighted and all comprehensive school system it was a huge blessing and an enrichment for a lifetime to have had the opportunity to color my daily life on a multiple linguistic basis.

My all time favorite thing about Flanders was that any official business had to be conducted in Flemish by the clerks. When I went back to Belgium with my father to help sort my grandfather's address change, the clerk only spoke Flemish but clearly understood English. My father speaks English and Danish fluently and can speak a bit of German. It was crazy to see a person who was only allowed to communicate in one language despite knowing the other and a person who doesn't know the allowed language but knew enough of other languages to understand it be able to have a full conversation about the necessary documents to notify an address change with only a few hiccups in the nuances of it

As a Fleming, I consider my Flemish Dutch language as an important part of my ethnic identity as Fleming, not just in contrast to Walloons, but also in contrast to the Dutch (from the Netherlands). The latter expresses itself through pronunciation and vocabulary differences. Also, you are indeed correct in your statement that Brussels is majority French-speaking and that Dutch in practice gets a proverbial stepmotherly treatment there. And while the languages are officially equal, the fact that Walloons only get the option to learn Dutch alongside the option to study English instead, whereas us Flemings have to learn French whether we want to or not, strongly contributes to feelings of resentment and the feeling that Dutch still isn't truly acknowledged as equal to French by the French-speaking community.

@thewitheredstriker

4 жыл бұрын

Completely agreed.

@cookie856

4 жыл бұрын

Well, I would rather prefer that you have the choice too, because that's more a "mind or heart?" kind choice... You can go almost everywhere with English, but Dutch is the other language in the country with German, so you want to learn it, with maybe not the occasion to use it after school. (But I will always remember this beautiful "I use Dutch, French, English and the little Latin I know to talk with somebody in Africa" who was... Well...)

I'm from Northern Germany and I speak Standard German (with a varying degree of regional pronunciation) and Low German. I consider both languages to be part of my identity as a Northern German but Standard German isn't as much part of my identity as Low German. Low German (also known as Low Saxon, Plattdeutsch, Niederdeutsch, Plattdüütsch, Nedderdüütsch or just Platt) is a regional language that used to be a very important language in the middle ages and it used to very widespread in Northern Germany but today mostly people from rural areas and some old people speak it regularly. Low German was always part of my life and without learning it I could always understand it very well but since I didn't speak it daily, I forgot a lot which I had to learn again. I want to Low German to become more widespread again because it's part of the Northern German identity

@Girvid

6 жыл бұрын

Low Saxon, Plattdeutsch, Niederdeutsch, Plattdüütsch, Nedderdüütsch or just Platt (Nederduits, Nedersaksisch or just plat) is also a part of my identity. Besides standard Dutch. I'm from the North Eastern part of the Netherlands.

@niku..

6 жыл бұрын

Girvid oh du snakkst ook Platt? Dat gifft nich bannig veel Lüüd welk Platt snakkt. Wat een Platt is dat wat du snakkst?

@tiemenbosma5793

6 жыл бұрын

Girvid Nou kin k allain mor hoopn dat doe oet Grunn komst...

@tiemenbosma5793

6 жыл бұрын

Oh doe proatst ook plat? Dr binn'n nait zo heul veul lu meer dij plat proat'n. Wat veur plat proatst doe?

@tiemenbosma5793

6 жыл бұрын

That's how i would say it

You are great man 👍🏽

Fleming here, just wanna say: great video, pretty much everything was spot on and you went really in depth! The only thing I felt was a bit off however was your comment on 'Tussentaal' at 7:11. Tussentaal has probably become the most widely spoken language variety over the past few decades, and I'd say it's the variety that the majority of Flemish people feel most comfortable speaking, as it's used in pretty much every informal situation (in school, between co-workers, in shops, etc.). Standard Dutch, on the other hand, is what's used in formal situations. Most people know how it sounds and (sort of) know how to speak it (it's the language newsreaders use), but when they do so they feel weird and 'artificial', as it's not their natural way of speaking. Some people also think they start sounding like Dutch people and, well, that's something they would rather avoid.

Well as a Sinhala speaker from Sri Lanka we have 2500 years of literary culture as well as extremely close ties to our religion, Buddhism. The identity of a Sinhalese in me resides primarily in the language that is native to us (Sinhala) so yeah the language is literally me and I am proud of that.

@roodborstkalf9664

6 жыл бұрын

@ Ruwindu Gunatilake : very good comment.

Hey Paul, I'm from Bruges and speak Dutch as my mother tongue obviously, I'm also fluent in French and English. I speak German well enough to hold a solid conversation. The people who want to split Belgium up are a very small minority. You are correct in saying most people don't really feel Belgian, but in my experience most people don't really feel 'Flemish' or 'Walloon' either. People identify mostly with the provence they are from, especially the Flemish. I, for example, would say I feel mostly West Flemish.

@ZoidbergForPresident

6 жыл бұрын

I'm sorry but it shows that around 30% of flemish is for the split. :/

@robbedemaitre264

6 жыл бұрын

And where did you get those numbers? Last official results I can find show 6%

@chrismne92

5 жыл бұрын

Do you speak west flemish dialect too?

I was born in a Walloon (hence French-)speaking area. My father came from the Picard-speaking region of Wallonia and my mother was German. My wife was born in the "ripuarian-speaking" region of Belgium. We mix these languages daily. In my professional life, as a federal civil servant devoted to my country and open to the world, I mostly speak French, Dutch and English. But now I'm learning Spanish, to rest a bit ! ;-)

Really cool video, thank you!

I am from Eastern Ukraine, and I speak Russian with Ukrainian accent natively, which makes me stand out from Russian speakers in Russia, speakers of Surzhik, which is a dialectual mixture of Russian and Ukrainian, and speakers of Ukrainian.

@zoria2718

5 жыл бұрын

@FZ Channel I am a Ukrainian from the east of Ukraine, a Russian-language native and I can speak Ukrainian as my "second native language" (i.e. much better than L2). Most of Ukrainians can speak Ukrainian (better or worse), some (mostly the Easterners) avoid speaking Ukrainian - many Easterners are not competent speakers because of the Russian-speaking environment and they fear to make mistakes or to stumble remembering a correct word, some other suppose Ukrainian kind of a rural language because the eastern cities are Russian-speaking). But what is for sure, most (if not almost all) of the Ukrainian Russian speakers understand Ukrainian and this is what makes them different from Russians. And most of them identify themselves as Russified Ukrainians (whose parents or grandparents or great-grandparents were Ukrainian-speaking). Russia loves to consider all the Russian speakers abroad as Russians, but there are not so many ethnic Russians in Ukraine (unlike e.g. Estonia).

@glebkhrapov6197

4 жыл бұрын

@@zoria2718 we have the same shit in Belarus, Слава Україні

I speak Dutch as a first language, English as a strong second, German (heavily based upon my Dutch, though) as a third and French as a fourth. But my French doesn't go much further than simple vocabulary (mainly because Flemish dialects borrow some words for French) and "What time is it?" despite getting French lessons for 8 years.

This is an excellent overview of the language situation in Belgium and related political issues. You covered a lot of ground in 16 minutes or so - well done! I remember my Dutch-speaking grandmother telling me about her trips to Brussels (back in the 1970s). She found the shopkeepers there extremely rude. Out of some sort of snobbery or hostility they would pretend that they didn't speak Dutch - only French - until she was about to leave the shop. Then all of a sudden by some miracle they could actually speak Dutch!