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Dutch or Flemish? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| jaliyah Newbie United States Joined 5124 days ago 20 posts - 22 votes | Message 1 of 9 27 February 2011 at 7:48am | IP Logged | |||||
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What exactly is the difference between Dutch and Flemish?
Would one of them be easier for a native English-speaker to learn for some reason? Is the written language identical? If it's just a matter of accent, is the analogy something like Standard American English vs. BBC English (mutually intelligible) or more like Standard German and Swiss German (same writing, but not at all mutually intelligible when spoken)? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| arturs Triglot Senior Member Latvia Joined 5270 days ago 278 posts - 408 votes  Speaks: Latvian*, Russian, English | Message 2 of 9 27 February 2011 at 8:24am | IP Logged | |||||
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From what I have read, there is no big difference and the Dutch and Flemish understand each other very good. It's a matter of pronunciation and vocabulary. I would say that the differences between Dutch and Flemish are like differences between Standard French and Belgian French.
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| bushwick Tetraglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6243 days ago 407 posts - 443 votes Speaks: German, Croatian*, English, Dutch Studies: French, Japanese | Message 3 of 9 27 February 2011 at 11:10pm | IP Logged | |||||
Pretty much. Differences stem mostly from vocabulary, which more often than not is completely understood and usually looked upon quite humorously by both people. Flemish is a tad softer, ocassionally sounding more German, and has French borrowings, but aside from having to learn about the differences, understanding shouldn't pose any bigger problems (it can throw one off). Written language is the same. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| RV1428 Triglot Newbie Belgium Joined 5016 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: Flemish*, English, French Studies: German, Norwegian | Message 4 of 9 01 March 2011 at 8:35pm | IP Logged | |||||
As Flemish speaker I can completely agree with this. The standard language is the same, it originated in Flanders and was standardised in the Netherlands with strong influences from dialects from Brabant and Holland. We understand each other but some vocabulary can be confusing. Examples: English: French fries, Dutch: patat, Flemish: frieten English: newspaper, Dutch: krant, Flemish: gazet English: nail, Dutch: spijker, Flemish: nagel Edited by RV1428 on 01 March 2011 at 8:35pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| ReneeMona Diglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 5334 days ago 864 posts - 1274 votes Speaks: Dutch*, EnglishC2 Studies: French | Message 5 of 9 01 March 2011 at 10:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I agree with previous posters that the biggest difference between Standard Flemish and Standard Dutch lies in the vocabulary (and there's the accent of course). Flemish still uses "gij", which is only used to address God in the Netherlands, and the formal "u" is more common than in Dutch, which makes it sound quite formal to my ears.
At the same time, slang words like "tof" and "kei" are still used which sound very outdated and a little childish to me because I haven't heard anyone in the Netherlands use them since I was in kindergarten. There's also more French-influenced vocabulary in Flemish. For instance, when I was in Belgium recently I noticed they used the word "proper" to mean "clean" and I've been told the word "bot" is used to mean "boot". That last one might get you into trouble in the Netherlands because "bot" is also the word for "bone" so if you tell people you're wearing bones they might get a little scared of you. ;) What I find an interesting difference in the pronunciation is the way French loanwords are pronounced. Dutch retains the original French pronunciation of words like dossier and energie while Flemish has adapted them to the Flemish phonology. Considering the closer relationship between Flemish and French, I personally found this surprising. I've read somewhere that it's because when French was the prestige language of the upper classes, the Dutch would try to Frencify their Dutch while the Flemish would just speak French. Makes sense, I guess. :) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Envinyatar Diglot Senior Member Guatemala Joined 5535 days ago 147 posts - 240 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: Modern Hebrew | Message 6 of 9 01 March 2011 at 11:51pm | IP Logged | |||||
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This could help you:
Flemish vs Dutch - Differences 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| tennisfan Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5359 days ago 130 posts - 247 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish Studies: German | Message 7 of 9 13 May 2011 at 1:00am | IP Logged | |||||
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So if I learn Dutch using programs that teach Dutch as spoken in the Netherlands, will I be able to be communicate/be understood in Belgium? are the difference greater or less than British vs. American English?
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| ReneeMona Diglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 5334 days ago 864 posts - 1274 votes Speaks: Dutch*, EnglishC2 Studies: French | Message 8 of 9 13 May 2011 at 9:27am | IP Logged | |||||
Yes, I would say the difference between Netherlands Dutch and Standard Flemish is comparable to that between RP and General American English. If you learn Standard Dutch, everyone in the Netherlands and Flanders will understand you. Whether you understand them is a different story because some of the dialects are completely incomprehensible. Edited by ReneeMona on 13 May 2011 at 9:27am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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