How do people in Belgium communicate with each other?

Many Belgians speak all three official languages but conversations are typically held in a language that fits everybody in the group. Because the knowledge of Dutch of French-speaking Belgians is often lacking, French is the lingua franca being used on such occasions.

Do the Dutch and Belgians speak the same language?

Dutch is an official language in Belgium, but it’s not spoken throughout the whole country. Dutch is mainly spoken in Flanders (Vlaanderen), the Dutch speaking part of Belgium. The good news is that the grammar in both countries is exactly the same and in general vocabulary is comparable.

Do Belgians and Dutch hate each other?

However, just because the two countries enjoy a healthy relationship nowadays doesn’t mean history is forgotten. So, with a humorous nod to the tumultuous past, the Dutch and Belgian (still) love to hate each other.

Does Belgium speak Flemish?

Official languages of Belgium: Dutch, French, and German. Brussels is a bilingual area where both Dutch and French have an official status….

Flemish
Native to	Belgium, Netherlands, France
Region	Flanders, Zeelandic Flanders, French Flanders
Ethnicity	Flemings
Native speakers	6.5 million (2016)

Is Flemish an official language of Belgium?

Dutch is the official language in Belgium. French-speakers often pejoratively call the Dutch language used by Flemings Flemish but it is Dutch nevertheless. The Flemish tend to use it to refer to the various dialects of Dutch spoken in Flanders.

Why did Belgians start speaking French?

The capital city of Brussels originally shifted to speaking predominantly French for the same reasons the newly independent Belgium did: because it was considered the most prestigious language in Belgium at one time, both for getting access to higher education and well-paying jobs.

How is Flemish different from Dutch?

The most obvious difference when talking with or listening to speakers of Dutch and Flemish is the pronunciation. While Flemish tends towards French pronunciations, Dutch in the Netherlands has more of an English feel. For example, the word nationaal is pronounced nasional in Flanders and natzional in the Netherlands.

Can Belgians speak both French and Dutch?

Both, 60\% of Belgians speak Dutch, 39\% speaks French, 1\% speaks German (some people don’t know that). It really just depends on where in Belgium you are, in Flanders or in Wallonia.

Do Belgians speak French?

In Belgium you can speak any language you want. For contacts with the authorities three official languages can be used: Dutch, French and German. These languages are not spoken everywhere, because Belgium is subdivided into federated states. Each federated state has its own official language.

Why do people in Belgium speak French instead of Dutch?

The southern part of Belgium – Waloonia – is historically, culturally affiliated with France. They are in some way French, that’s why they speak French. In the northern part of Belgium – Flanders – the same applies, but with the Netherlands, so they speak Dutch.

Do Flemish immigrants speak Dutch?

Most Flemish immigrants at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century told their family and friends they spoke Flemish [ Vlaams ]. It is also what they told census enumerators. However, more recent Flemish-Americans, myself included, probably will tell you that they speak Dutch [ Nederlands ].

Is Belgium a bilingual country?

Brussels, the capital, is officially bilingual: all signs are in both Dutch and French. But we’re not there yet. Belgium is not a bilingual, but a trilingual country.

What happened to the Dutch language in Flanders in 1898?

The vision of the Gent and Antwerp integrationists gained the upper hand however. Slowly the rights of the Dutch language in Flanders were restored. In 1898, the so-called equality law put Dutch on equal footing with French for parliamentary debates and the promulgation of the law.