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Dutch or French in Belgium?

 Language Learning Forum : Immersion, Schools & Certificates Post Reply
14 messages over 2 pages: 1 2 
Johntm
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Speaks: English*
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 Message 9 of 14
16 February 2010 at 10:55pm | IP Logged 
elvisrules wrote:
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.
I've heard the native French speakers aren't too friendly with foreigners speaking French without a perfect accent, but this may just be in France.
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elvisrules
Tetraglot
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Speaks: French, English*, Dutch, Flemish
Studies: Lowland Scots, Japanese, German

 
 Message 10 of 14
16 February 2010 at 11:24pm | IP Logged 
Well Brussels is full of foreigners, and French is the lingua franca. I doubt you'll find someone who'll be unfriendly about your French, unless your communication skills are all but non-existant.
Try not to sound noticeably American though, Americans aren't very popular in Europe these days.
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Johntm
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Speaks: English*
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 Message 11 of 14
17 February 2010 at 5:06am | IP Logged 
elvisrules wrote:
Well Brussels is full of foreigners, and French is the lingua franca. I doubt you'll find someone who'll be unfriendly about your French, unless your communication skills are all but non-existant.
Try not to sound noticeably American though, Americans aren't very popular in Europe these days.
Yeah, it's not a secret that we aren't very popular in Europe. Anyway, it's good to hear that they should be forgiving, because French isn't a language I really plan to learn very in-depth so I probably won't spend much time trying to perfect the accent (I'd try to get a little accent, though).
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FuroraCeltica
Triglot
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 Message 12 of 14
17 February 2010 at 4:45pm | IP Logged 
My experience is that French is more useful to learn if you are living in Brussels or Walloonia. Dutch-speaking Belgians tend to speak excellent French anyway, though the reverse is not so true (French-speaking Belgians in my experience cannot speak Dutch).
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elvisrules
Tetraglot
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BelgiumRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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286 posts - 390 votes 
Speaks: French, English*, Dutch, Flemish
Studies: Lowland Scots, Japanese, German

 
 Message 13 of 14
17 February 2010 at 6:33pm | IP Logged 
It also depends what generation of Flemings you talk to.

This is my estimation:

Flemish Belgians:
60s+ speak Flemish dialect and good French
40s-50s speak Flemish dialect, colloquial Flemish, good French, and reasonable English
30s speak colloquial Flemish, standard Dutch, good English, and reasonable French
teenagers-20s speak colloquial Flemish, standard Dutch, good English and poor French
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Monoglot
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 Message 14 of 14
10 March 2010 at 4:48am | IP Logged 
When I was in Brussels, everyone was speaking French.


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