RE: Greetings from Europe
April 28, 2013 at 2:32 pm
(This post was last modified: April 28, 2013 at 2:39 pm by L.A.F..)
(April 28, 2013 at 12:26 am)DeistPaladin Wrote: Welcome.
What is the native language spoken in Belgium? Is there a Belgian language or is it Dutch? I know historically it was called a part of the Netherlands controlled by the Hapsburg empire, then given to the Netherlands after the Congress of Vienna and shortly afterwords declared its independence, being a separate country ever since. Is there a relation to Holland or is it a distinct language and culture?
Belgium has three official languages: Dutch (the Belgian version of Dutch is often called 'Flemish'), French and German.
It has been an independent country since 1830 and has no relations (whether political or cultural) with the Netherlands.
Next, Dutch differs between the Netherlands and Belgium. We use others words to express the same and we have a slightly different pronunciation. You can compare it with UK English versus US English.
(April 28, 2013 at 3:37 am)pocaracas Wrote: Don't most Belgians speak French...or rather their very own version of French...where they say "octante" instead of "qatre-vingt"?
Most Belgians speak Dutch (ca. 60%), yet most of them can also speak French.
Furthermore, the Walloons (French-speaking people in Belgium) use indeed a slightly different version of French; Walloons say e.g. "nonante", French say "quatre-vingt dix".
