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Dutch or French in Belgium? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Immersion, Schools & Certificates |  | |
| Johntm Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5425 days ago 616 posts - 725 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 14 15 February 2010 at 8:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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Okay, so after doing some research yesterday, I learned the college that I want to go to offers a study abroad program in Belgium, among other places that I don't want to go to or can't (because of what I want to major in). I would assume that one could get by on English, but I just wouldn't feel comfortable unless I could speak to the people in their language.
Anyway, I was wondering what is the language used most frequently in Brussels? Wikipedia said it was French, but I would like some answers from the Belgian members of this forum (I know a few of you are out there) or anyone who has been there for an extended period. I wouldn't mind learning some Dutch, but I really don't care for French, I think it sounds terrible. I don't plan on starting learning either one now, but before I go (3-4 years) I would like to get decent in whatever language would be best. Edit: Damn, just realized I posted this in the wrong forum. Or at least not the one I meant to post it in. Edited by Johntm on 15 February 2010 at 9:45pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5456 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 2 of 14 15 February 2010 at 8:38pm | IP Logged | ||
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It all depends on where in Belgium you go:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium#Languages 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| SamD Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6662 days ago 823 posts - 987 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 3 of 14 15 February 2010 at 8:43pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm not Belgian, but I've been to Brussels. Both French and Flemish are official in Brussels, and it seems like there is more French around than Flemish.
However, you'll still hear plenty of Flemish and see plenty of signs written in Flemish. I went to Belgium with four years of high school French and a bachelor's degree in French and could manage really well. However, I felt like I was really missing out because I didn't know Flemish. If you learn Dutch as it is spoken in the Netherlands, you will be able to communicate with Belgian speakers of Flemish. There are some dialectal differences. Perhaps one way to look at it is to consider the language of your program abroad. Who will your fellow students be, and which language will they speak? Even though more people in Brussels speak French, you may find yourself among more Flemish speakers. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Frenchpro Triglot Newbie United States francetravelandfood. Joined 5405 days ago 29 posts - 38 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Korean | Message 4 of 14 15 February 2010 at 8:53pm | IP Logged | ||
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I not from Belgium, I am from one of its neighboring country, France, and travelled to Brussels quite a bit, since I have cousins who live there. The most spoken language in Brussels is FRENCH.
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| elvisrules Tetraglot Senior Member BelgiumRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5472 days ago 286 posts - 390 votes Speaks: French, English*, Dutch, Flemish Studies: Lowland Scots, Japanese, German | Message 5 of 14 15 February 2010 at 9:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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oops, double post Edited by elvisrules on 15 February 2010 at 9:24pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| elvisrules Tetraglot Senior Member BelgiumRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5472 days ago 286 posts - 390 votes Speaks: French, English*, Dutch, Flemish Studies: Lowland Scots, Japanese, German | Message 6 of 14 15 February 2010 at 9:24pm | IP Logged | ||
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lol you can't have read too much about Belgium... It's around 60% Dutch/Flemish speaking, 39% French speaking and less than 1% German speaking.
Brussels is the only truly multilingual region in the country with French and Dutch both being official there. From international university rankings, Belgium's best universities are: -Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, -Universiteit Gent, -Vrije Universiteit Brussel, -Université Catholique de Louvain. The first three are Dutch speaking, the last one French. If you go to either Leuven or Ghent, the young Flemish all speak English so you'll have no problem on that front. The VUB is a Dutch-language university in a mostly French speaking area and will have Dutch and French speakers I imagine. Louvain university is in the French speaking area where people will speak less good English. If I were you though, I wouldn't go to Brussels: it's full of foreigners and consequently isn't a great language learning environment, certainly not for Dutch. Don't worry about communication though, you can fall back to basic English to matter where you are in Belgium, and you shouldn't have problem expressing your needs. So if you want to learn Dutch, I would go for Leuven or Ghent, if French, then Louvain. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Johntm Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5425 days ago 616 posts - 725 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 7 of 14 15 February 2010 at 9:43pm | IP Logged | ||
And I'm not planning on attending a Belgian university, but the American one I'm going to offers Brussels as an option to study abroad. This isn't about learning Dutch or anything, either, as I want to major in business or get an MBA or maybe a degree in economics, but I could go to Belgium and study the economics of Belgium and its history for a semester (it might've been less time). But if I am going abroad, I'd like to be able to talk with people in their language. Edited by Johntm on 15 February 2010 at 9:47pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| elvisrules Tetraglot Senior Member BelgiumRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5472 days ago 286 posts - 390 votes Speaks: French, English*, Dutch, Flemish Studies: Lowland Scots, Japanese, German | Message 8 of 14 15 February 2010 at 11:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, if you just want to flirt with a language, not learn it to an active level, then go with French. Flemish speakers, being generally good at English, won't give any room for error if you try speaking Dutch to them and will generally switch quickly to English (not meaning to be rude, but just for easiness). With only basic French however, few people should switch language when speaking to you unless you are really struggling badly.
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