It's not crazy to force children to speak a certain language in the playground. I live in Spain and know several teachers at French, Norwegian, German, and English schools and the children are not allowed to speak Spanish on the playground. It helps them get a more well-rounded use/knowledge of the language their trying to learn while in school.
Its funny: the Dutch made their stamp on history in Ireland and today still there are the orange men who fight with the catholics. And appearantly dutch speaking belgians are making trouble in belgium, .. and lets not forget the afrikaners in south africa. Meanwhile the Dutch themselves are layed back and have no problems with the world.
Die Frans sprekende Belgen zijn echt arrogante malloten. Ze willen alleen Frans spreken. Engels kunnen ze wel, maar ze weigeren het te spreken!
Vorig jaar was ik in Brussel met school, zo'n Waal probeerde in 't Frans duidelijk te maken dat we verkeerd zaten. Niemand begreep er wat van, werd ie boos, ging ie schreeuwen "Speak French".
I'm a flemish boy of sixteen. I need to learn Dutch, French, English, German and Latin. Because I live in Belgium, in which there is a Frenchspeaking minority, I have to speak French, as well as Dutch, my mother language. When a french-speaking person comes to my school, in Flanders, where Dutch is the used language, they don't have to speak dutch, They have rights to speak french, and they don't even need to learn Dutch. When I go to wallonia, where they speak french, I have to speak french.
@NLstb Slechts een minderheid in Nederland kunnen nu Frans spreken en het gaat ook ten onder met het leren van Duits. In Nederland zij mensen nu meestal tweetalig: Nederlands en Steenkolenengels. Nog minder kennen het oude Grieks of Laitjn.
belgium IS a non-country anyway - check the history... it's a recipe for disaster... in my opinion it would be better split up with each part returned to it's former owner or to the neighbour which the people in each area feel closest to - have referenda on it or something... give flanders to the dutch, woolonia to the french and for gods sake give the area you named luxembourg back to the people of luxembourg and the german bits you pinched after ww2 - give that back too! Go luxembourg Go lol!
@Adri88MXBR clearly you have a greater understanding of the subject than I, but I assume you attack me for the 'ludicrous' suggestion that we 'undo' history and restore old or forgotten boarders to their original inhabitants? I agree one cannot go round the world giving things back, it would be endless, however in some cases, especially when it is so recent and evidently raw, I think it would be better, for example ireland is over 400yrs now, but i'd give it back and certainly i'd give israel up
@rugbyboy198127 i was not attacking you, i just don't agree with you i do believe Belgium has still a great potential. I am from both communities and I have relatives in both communities as well. At home we speak 3 languages although I live in the south of Belgium. I have experienced no language-based discrimination so far even if I go to dutch-speaking cities very often. Btw i am not sure being Spanish or Austrian again would be an efficient solution :P.
FASICIST - OUTRIGHT FASCISM - when will europe learn? never I fear - thank whatever gods may be for unconquerable 'british' soul - there really is something different about the people of the geographical british isles (to my mind this includes an independent Eireland) we are born with a sense of freedom which I fear europeans do not enjoy - maybe it's an island mentality or something, but I definately feel it strongly and feel it's missing in the people of the continent! Go Britain&Eireland Go!!
@barirdeeee2 i entered "a non-dutch speaking child died because they asked ith he could swim he sayd yes and he drowned " into google and all it did was correct the spelling errors
@GodwinCarpenter Look at the Netherlands. Rich, prosperous country to the north of Belgium. Go there if you want to speak Dutch. I'm just kidding: Flanders should just be annexed by the Netherlands, but I don't think they want them. Once you go French we don't want you back.
@kmahl35 there are 6 governments in belgium, it's only the federal one that hasn't bene able to form a concensus. the flemish govt is doing relatively fine, the current 9% unemployment in flanders is gradually returning to its former 4%, the economy is growing, etc. While in Wallonia the unemployment rate is 19%,same as it was before the crisis, their economy is still shrinking and would go into bankruptcy is it weren't for the 12€ billion that flanders pumps into wallonia every single year.
At school it's imperative to speak the language administered especially since we know that children who don't speak Dutch at home have a noticeable disadvantage from day one. We are talking about months even up to a year lagging behind on native Dutch-speakers at the age of 6. These kids are constantly playing catch up to the native speakers, and often get side-tracked to a more professional education even though they have the raw brainpower for something more academic.
discrimination? they just need to show they can understand dutch.. i shouldn't go to a school in France without speaking some French , same for England and English, but because "wordlwide" French should be so much more importent, so many French speaking refuse to learn dutch, luckly there are also area's where they even send their kids to flemisch school to learn dutch and have more opportunity on the job market later on, but so many still stubbornly refuse to!
I have now lived 1 year and 3 months in Belgium(Oost vlaanderen). I am from Denmark, but found the love in the form of a belgian man and decided to move to Belgium since there where bigger oppotunities there than Denmark. I find dutch a bit difficult but if you dont practice your language it will never be easy. I find the belgians very friendly and as us danish people they love good food too :D
I dont find the french speaking belgians so friendly and they will only speak french <.<
For all the dutch speaking people that agree with that burgemester. Could you please explain me how can other language speaking children ever learn dutch if they can't play with dutch speaking kids ?
@MrSharkus72 well, he didnt say they cant play with dutch speaking kids, he said they should talk dutch when doing so, in other words, how will they learn dutch if they keep speaking french and thus forming subgroups on the playground? :) not that I agree with the mayor completely, I do understand where he is coming from and I hate it when people use an argument that doesnt make any sense, like you just did :)
Splitting kids on language grounds is very damaging. One of the reasons there were generations of violence and terrorism in northern Ireland is the Catholic children and the protestant children went to separate schools, never mixed when they were young and grew up to hate each other.
English is more important than French! So why should the Flemish learn French if English is far more important than French. The majority of French speakers in the world live in AFRICA FFS! Even German is more important than French, because in Europe German is the biggest language. In Belgium Dutch is the bigger language so why even bother learning French if they could learn English?
@JOSHTRUS I think it is good to speak the languages of the nation you live in. I have met Swiss who spoke German, French and Italian. English is like a weed that takes over the whole garden but it is the language of international commerce. So learn English but be proud of your nations languages and learn them. Merci pour votre attention und sei froh.
In the same stupid reasoning, why should the people learn Dutch? Which is only spoken in Belgium and in the Netherlands (roughly 30millions of speakers...)
@Adri88MXBR Because the majority of people in Belgium are Dutch speaking! Do you want to live in a country where you can't speak to the majority of people? So Dutch is only spoken in the Netherlands and Belgium yet every year thousands of people from abroad come to live in the Netherlands and Belgium. They want to be in Nederland and Belgie, they are willing to learn Dutch, so what is the excuse for the Wallonians not speaking Dutch? You forgot to add another 20 million Afrikaans speakers!
this was just a reductio ad absurdum. I speak all of our national languages so personally I don't feel concerned about these so-called "problems" we have between Flemish and Walloon. If being trilingual was obligatory -as it is in Luxembourg- all of our problems would be solved. But anyway with the politicians that we have nowadays in Belgium (all of them... left... right... walloon... flemish... etc) we are going straight away to an impasse
You can only know if a language is beautifull if you've learnt it.. I can't say if chinese is a beautifull language because i dont understand anything of it, but if i could, i would know.. You can only say if its nice to hear, but hearing a language is not knowing how beautifull the language is.
Well, this is not a neutral report. There are Flemish border cities with Brussels which have, thx to the f*cked up Belgian system, a majority of French speaking in the city council, well these cities deny building permission for Flemish schools and Kindergarten, playgrounds etc ... perhaps this, childish or not, is a reaction from the Flemish.
I don't even know WHY the Flemish bother learning French as a second language, when the French speaking Belgians don't even bother to learn Dutch, the majority language of Belgium.
If the majority of people in Belgium speak Dutch, Dutch should be compulsory to all, not French!!
English should be the second language for the Flemish and maybe German as a third language. Yes even German is more important than French...half of the world's French speakers live in Central Western Africa FFS!!
@shinobi2119 I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but how a language sounds doesn't make it superior. Dutch is spoken by 60% of Belgium as a first language, and if you have to go to Flanders, you should atleast try to speak Dutch; most of the Flemish speak French when in Wallonia as far as I understand.
Personaly, I think Dutch (especially Flemish) is a lovely langauge, that's why I've learnt it.
Thats an opinion not a fact, and they dont want to learn other languages because they are arrogant and think they,re language is important, because its spoken in Afrika, lol.
No, French is important because it is something of great value. Not all languages are equal. French is better, more sophisticated, more beautiful, more elegante, than 90% of the world's languages. French is second to no language, not even English.
French is a beautiful language, no discussion about that. French speaking in Belgium though deny to speak Dutch, an official language in Belgium, while they want us, the Flemish to speak French. So, tell me, where is that correct?
It's not fair, I grant you that. But that's just life, the better, more dominant language wins. When English speakers go to China, they force the Chinese to speak English. Same thing. So when French speakers move to Dutch communities. They want them to speak French. It's not fair, but that's just how it is.
Well, life ain't fair either then... for the fact, us Flemish, a majority in Belgium, will decide on our own and make the rules on our own then, without the francophones. Right? Let's see if you still agree on that.
And really it's got nothing to do with 'dominant language'. It's all about what a constitution says, what the rules are... rules the francophones in Belgium NEVER stick too.
More beautiful, more sophisticate, more elegante, Also opinions not fact. You dont get to tell what people think is beatifull ect. As far as my opinion i think there are far more beatifull languages, Norwegian, Swedish, Frisian, English ect. but this is my opinion, also not facts.
Also those arent reasons why a language is more important.
@shinobi2119 I'm agree with you, I'm from Japan so my native language is Japanese. here, we must learn English, because it's the international language and one of the most speaking in the world,
I learnt French because I love the language it's pretty for my ears and I love French movies and songs, so it's more easy to learn a language if we are interesting about the country and the culture.
even if, people from the south are not attract about dutch, they should learn it.
Many, many Japanese people are interested in French language and culture. Japanese, Chinese, and Korean are the 3 most advanced language/cultures in Asia. Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai..... are the worst, most horrible, most primitive languages in Asia. You are making a good decision studying French.
@FryNorth You shoul knew that French is not only speak in Africa, you can find 54 countries or terrirories with French speaking people, French it's speak also in Luxemburg, Switzerland, Andorra, Canada, Monaco, and even in the North of Italy in the region of (Aosta valley) French is an official language.
in France everybody speak French as their native language, in Germany it's German, but in Belgium you have many official languages, so everybody must learn an other language.
Correct, even German is in Europe, especially, and since most of us discussing this matter, live in Europe, more important than French.
Flemish people always saw it as a must to know French, since half our country (even not half in population) speaks it. The Walloons though never cared learning Dutch. They simply refuse to speak Dutch. Yet, they always complain about everything...
@odessa146 this isn't the balkans... there neverhas and never will never be any organised language-related violence in belgium. i know my people, we're completely insane but not really in a violent way.
Classic left wing shit. If you try to protect your language or culture, you are a racist bigot. Same shit is going on here in the US with hispanics. We should tell the world Yes we are fucking racist NOW GO HOME!!!!!!
@garybsg The situation here is different though, they are already home... it are both native people, they just speak a different language. Kinda like Canada with Quebec. I just hope the Flemish part will join the Netherlands... then we will not just have the biggest harbor of Europe, but the 2 biggest harbors of Europe. €.€
@swissirish1 Walen denken dat Frans een superieure taal is, voor hen is Nederlands een taal voor boeren, geen haar op hun hoofd dat eraan denkt het ooit te leren. Persoonlijk woon ik in een Vlaamse faciliteitengemeente en het stikt hier van de Franstaligen die zelf na tientallen jaren geen twee woorden Vlaams kunnen, ze lachen je in je gezicht uit als je insinueert dat ze Nederlands zouden moeten leren.
@Todegra Wij hebben ook taalkundige problemen in de Verenigde Staten. Dezer dagen, zijn er mensen die alleen het Engels willen gesproken. Ik denk dat je zou het Engels in de Verenigde Staten moeten spreken. Maar er zijn twintig miljoen Spaanstaligen in Amerika, en tegenwoordig als kunt ge het Spaans spreekt, dan zijt ge een beroep zeker gegarandeerd. Het is een beetje meer gecompliceerd, maar dat is de nuchtere waarheid. De Walen zouden het Nederlands leren zoals de Vlaamse het Frans leren
@swissirish1 it's not perfect but pretty close :-) I didn't know that about the Spanish-speaking in the States, imangine then that when you go to a hospital, the doctor there only speaks Spanish, as well as your mayor and most of your neighbors...You're a stranger in your own town.
@Todegra Well, I guarantee if you plan on becoming a doctor an you can only speak Spanish, then you're not going nowhere unless you speak English. But yeah, states like Arizona and Texas are largely Spanish-speaking. Where I live, most people speak English but there are a ton of hispanics, and they generally live in a certain neighborhood, where all the signs are bilingual.
@rover620sdi Dank je! Ik ben niet nog volledig vloeiend noch vrij van grammaticale fouten, maar ik ben bijna daar. Spoedig zal ik wel perfect zijn! Als ik naar België/Vlaanderen kunnen komen...;)
ok....raging out and trying to physically harm someone for speaking another language is just stupid. i can understand the act of trying to maintain one's culture, but doing so by oppressing others just strikes entirely too close to intolerance for me. these Flemish guys need to mellow the hell out.
@drewhadou that was not just because they spoke French, it was a meeting of the mayor and the community in a town in Flanders, so it should -by law- be in Dutch. I agree that violence is not appropriate, but the protesters were violently removed because they protested peacefully
hold up Dutch is very easy to learn,as a matter of fact,I'll even make a video of speaking Dutch and French and show Belgium that they shouldn't have to hate each other
@ekalb2185 we don't hate eachother, and making a video of you speaking dutch and french won't magically solve all our problems (which transcend the petty language issues)
the bickering about languages is the 'uitlaatklep' (the exhaust valve) as we say here in flanders, this is about MUCH more than that
i appreciate what you are trying to do, but your comment comes across as extremely naive
I agree, everyone should be able to play at that playground, it is ridiculous things like this that demean the Flemish cause. But, while I don't agree with it, I do understand it. What I find most funny about all this is that Francophones have been treating the Flemish in a similar (and worse) manner since the creation of Belgium, yet no one ever made a big deal out of that, and now some Flemish hot heads are provoked into adopting the same vile attitude all of a sudden we are called racist.
What you see in this video is an exception, not the norm. At least for now, because if the Francophones continue to treat us the way they do, always ignoring the valid issues the Flemish bring up, looking down on us and our language while continueing to live off Flemish hand-outs, and revising our history through which we had to fight so hard to preserve our own culture and our own language on our own land, then this will become more commonplace.
I love learning new languages and I can't believe the Walloons (as Europeans) don't agree that learning new languages can be very educating. Walloons believeing they are higher classed than the Flemish is stupid. I can't believe there are still people like that in our world, thinking they own everything. Dutch is a difficult language to learn and I believe the more difficult the language the more impressive it is for a non-native speaker to speak it. The Walloons should get over themselves.
@Alixblood I live in flanders and speak almost fluently french, it's very depressing to see and hear that when we go to walloon we HAVE to speak french because they don't understand dutch. You'd think they'd to the same when they come to flanders...
BTW France 24 is based in France and we all know how that republic handled their languages minorities (Corsque, Bretagne, French-Flanders, Aquitanie,...).
Stop listening to FDF propaganda, you're welcome to e-mail me, let's talk belgium politics.
The French speakers in Brussels refuse to give the rights to the flemish that they themselfs demand in towns as Liedekerke or Merchtem (displayed here). Bilingual right in the south (Eghien, Flobecq ) are violate by the same people that act as occupiers in flemiish areas.
@davidnhvtme wow, and you can tell that how? in what langauge am i typing right now? flemish? there is a difference between being willing to speak someone else's language and having your own language transplanted by someone else's... i respect every other language out there, the problem is that very few francophones return the favour... this is the result
and outside of northeastern europe (mostly flanders, netherlands & scandinavia), most europeans are not very multilingual, to be honest
@SqoundreL I think you mean northwestern Europe, but I agree with you... I don't hate the French language nor Francophone culture, but that a lot of them have extremely snotty attitudes is not exactly the world's best kept secret. Worst of all is that few of them know anything of the history of Belgium and its treatment of the Flemish, and that they have the nerve to call us fascists for standing up for our language and culture. We can not risk history repeating itself.
@meronmotors Same as in Brussels then, a bilingual city where everything is written in dual Fr/Du. But how is that comparable to French-speakers moving to Flemish towns, refusing to speak the local language while looking down on the local populace, to finally try to attach to those towns to the Francophone voting blocks.
Try not to rip everything out of context and actually inform yourself on what the real problems are, that would help a lot.
And FYI, there are language laws in this country, first created by the Francophones to protect them from rising Flemish influence, and yet they are the ones breaking those same laws. And don't forget that every Flemish kind is required to learn French, English and often German from a young age, that is not the case in Wallonia/Brussels.
@SqoundreL I think the only one who read out of context is you. Everything here is written in spanish when it is an english speaking country, I dont agree with it. They have made it as comfortable as possible for the forigners to stick to only there customs and reject ours. Its fine to have customs but when you come to a country, you are expected to learn the language and for the most part follow there societies rules. That is not what happends here.
@SqoundreL I do not support the french refusing to learn or speak the language you assumed I was pro french when I am not. I support the flemish. I hope they can prevent the big towns falling to the french speakers and idealists. I have support for the same things as you, try informing yourself before asumming what someones views are, or ask if you care. that would help alot.
The problem of all these discussions below, about French speaking Belgians who wouldn't adapt while living in Flanders is biased if you consider the 6 communes à facilités around Brussels as a normal part of Flanders: They are suburbs of Brussels and the majority is French speaking for more than 60 years, not the other way round. They would have joined the bilingual region of Brussels long ago if democratic referendum had been held. 90% of the pbs are here! (70000 inhab, 50 km2 only)
What the fuck are you talking about? Those communes a facilités are Flemish communities where Walloons could reside outisde of Brussels where houseprices are significantly higher.
We lended you a hand and in return you try to take it from us. A real nice gesture. The fact these communities LOOK like Brussels suburbs is because the Walloons drove the Flemish away!
Well, 1 century ago, it was an area with a Dutch dialect, 1 century ago...But these 6 communes à facilités created in 1962were never a generous gift to the French speaking people, since they had from the beginning more than 30% French speaking people, and probably already a French speaking majority in 1962 but the Flemmish boycotted the new linguistic census to keep them outside the bilingual Brussels region. And we are speaking of 50 sq km, it's really tiny and would solve a lot!
You don't even live in Belgium or Brussels so don't even try to comment on the issue!
Walloons invaded a Flemish region and imposed their language onto us and basically took it from us ... why should we allow that to happen a second time?
It doesn't matter the majority is French speaking. In all of Belgium, the Ducth speaking are a heavy majority yet we have to share power (50/50) with the Walloons.
Yes , I don't live in Belgium, and I am not even Belgian. But I am well informed, so what? "It doesn't matter the majority is French speaking": Here you show your respect to democracy, you fascist! And oh, I am so sorry you have to "share" power with 42% of the population of your country, that's so unfair, they should get into some bantustan! BTW, I was speaking about integrating them into a BILINGUAL region: problems with the concept?
@wollin20 if you don't live here then you only know what is being presented to you through the francophone and/or international media... no more. this is about much more than language.
@keuteltjes I have never claimed I have to decide for the people living there, but I feel the nationalist Flemish have a clear plan to decide the future of these communes à facité, independantly of what the people living there want, am I wrong? They just keep saying: It's Flemish, just like Serbians with Kosovo...Well, my point is that they are in Greater Brussels, so they should be bilingual. I am sure it is what the people want, but noone never dared to ask them.
You are really promoting the Flemish culture with your words, no doubt people all over the world will be enthusiastic with your deep and humanist thought. Well, Flanders deserve more than you.
WTF are you talking about? Flanders has the right to protect itself from the Walloon oppression.
Well informed my ass ... I live in Brussels ... I've seen over the years how things changed. I'm in a better position to judge Belgian Politics than you, cause most of the sources out their are biased towards the Walloon party because they complain a lot and take on the role as victim. Flanders is always pictured as separatist, facists, neo-nazis, ... all because our fellow Belgians
I agree with you. Forcing languages upon inhabitants is completely ridiculous. I also live near the language border. I am no supporter of any kind of border because as a cameraman i travel a lot. i see all the sides. I haven't seen language problems worsen, but i have seen more extreme reactions to futilities. It seems that everyone is pro separation these days, which is again, completely unnecessary and i would even say that it will only further weaken our position internationally.
Brussels on the other always was a Flemish city, only became francophone due to the fact it becoming the capital of the EU (lots of those people knowing only French and English) + peopel from poor Wallonia coming to live in Brussels and only wanting to speak French. That's one, the other fact is, the suburbs of Brussels are mostly in Flanders, by Belgian constitution it's Flanders, which has Dutch as an official language. So, 'not the other way round' hey ? I think you are biased.
@dideleda 1/2 Brussels was never a Flemish city, historically. Nor was it a French speaking city. It had a low German dialect, far much closer to what is Dutch than French. And it became francophone far before the EU (1995) or even the EEC (1958) existed, basically 4 generations ago it became the majority language...Just to keep close to the facts. Now Dutch (May I remind you Flemish is no official language, it is Dutch) is almost a foreign language in Brussels.
this is unbelievable. Belgium is supposed to be a Bilingual country. forbidding children to speak French on the play ground? an official speaks tries speaking French and is hounded after the first word?
I am an American and have visited Quebec, Switzerland and France. Tell me please how can this behavior POSSIBLY be justified? It is hard to imagine a european country being this bigoted.
It's because only 19% the French speaking Belgiums can speak Dutch and some even refuse to take Dutch at school even though Dutch is the biggest language of Belgium (60%)
So drastic actions calls for drastic measures. If the French speaking Belgiums don't want to speak or learn Dutch at school why should the Dutch bend over backwards for the French speakers? At the moment 57% of Dutch Belguims speak French but only 19% of French speakers speak Dutch! It works both ways!
You have no idea what the situation is ... so please don't even try to judge us!
Walloons don't speak Dutch, they despise our language and refuse to learn, even those that live in Flanders. Almost every mayor in Brussels is Anti-Flemish, they are literally trying to throw us out even though the French-speaking already have a vast majority and to make it worse, they want to take what does not belong to them. They want to add Flemish communities to Brussels
Basically this means that the Flemish would lose all possible controle over their community as they have little to no power in Brussels.
You could compare it to Chinatown in the US, being taken over by the Chinese gouvernment. On top of that they would try to expand that region to the size of an entire state. So basically steal a state away from the US.
I don't know about you but I'm not loving that idea. But even so the Walloons keep trying which resulted into an Flemish
hostility towards the French language. The Walloons hold verything in hand. we really don't care what they do as long as they keep their hands off of our communities and stop trying to impose their language in our own homes!
If it weren't for us they had already went bankrupt! We've made sacrifices to keep this country together and haven't even received a sign of gratitude in return. All they do is despise us and curse every move we make to protect our culture and language.
@davidnhvtme I go to school in Brussels and we're a Flemish school so we aren't allowed to talk any other language there, this was also the case in my elementary school; it's kind of normal that on a Flemish school you only speak Flemish but almost every school here wants you to learn both languages. Everybody says that languages are really important: at school I learn German, Latin, French and Flemish and I also speak Spanish.
@davidnhvtme The only reason why they're so many language problems in Belgium is because not everybody wants to learn it and wants to make the effort to learn both languages: French AND Flemish.
@ClaudiaTiella you are so wrong ! In Flanders almost everybody learns to speak French, in Wallonia almost nobody does, because the think French is a superior langauge and Dutch is the language for rural people, I live in a bi-lingual area and I heard this theory a lot from Wallons.
@Todegra Believe me when you go more to the North you'll see that the French they learn there isn't good at all. I know probably more Flemish people can talk French than French people Flemish. But I don't understand why I'm wrong: I just said that not everybody makes the effort to learn both languages and I think that's the same as you're saying.
@ClaudiaTiella ok, we seem to agree, there are efforts on both sides but not enough. The main reason to my opinion why there are so many problems is the attitude from the French, mainly their lack of respect for the Flemish language and culture, don't get me wrong, I work a lot in Wallonia and most of the people are very nice, but those who come to live in Flanders refuse to speak Dutch so, in the long run and when there are a lot of them, the Flemish become strangers tot heir own community.
Claudia it is French and Dutch, not Flemish. Flemish is an accent, like Walloon. Not a language. No wonder, the Walloons do not want to learn Flemish.
euhm, francophones, yes, they simply don't want to learn Dutch, while the majority of the Flemish know French. So, your post doesn't make sense, my dear.
@dideleda I'm sorry, dear; but I know Flemish who don't speak French and I also know French speaking people who speak Dutch as well. I know there are much more Flemish people speaking French too, but believe me: they're also a lot of French who do want to make the effort to learn Flemish. Like I said: I go to school in Brussels, which is full of francophones (only a quarter is Flemish), but they are in a Flemish school.
I'm French and My grandfather was Flemish.I understand the nationalist Flemish movement very well,they're not totally wrong.But,typical "racism"against French-speakers,as I've seen very often,is simply pitiful.Wallons and french are not arabs or africans.
Intolerance ? did I insult you and your country ? Who is intolerant ? They study more your language in Wallony than you think. Education is a will you will never win like that : I call that fascism. At this level you are a true european !
Well, I don't know if you noticed, but your a true frenchman right now. Europe wants to be a whole entity (unité) and from the beginning the French refused to coorporate, because of their 'identity', but wanted the benefits very much (the last point is about the gouvernment).
Btw: fascism is a term only used by creapy socialists, who built the European Union with their benevolence. So, why are you so Europe-hating? Fact: some people hate the Fench only because of this attitude that's yours too.
There's no french identity. France is multicultural fom Brittany via normandy( I'm normand) to Alsace or réunion in the indian ocean or new coledonia and tahiti in the pacific. So long for the french identity ! We are a country of immigrants, from poland, spain, italy portugal etc ... there s no french identity. It is a citizenship. A language is not a barrier but a link. Forget your stereotypes , we will be fine. France is a second largest contributor to the EU'budget after Germany.
i can name hundreds of examples of francophone intolerance, now and in the past, yet from some reason those don't count.. keep yourself ignorant, keep fooling yourself, you are only strengthening our resolve to go for independence.. and if we were intolerant we would go much farther than just words, like for example the basques and their ETA... the only linguistically related bombing in belgium was conducted by francophones who blew up a monument to remember the role of flemish soldiers in WW1.
Usually I din't answer to insults. But ETA is in Spain !! Chek your facts ! Don't rely to the past always ! I know, europe is an " has been" continent. What's your pieces of evidence ? did they really bombed a monument ? Give facts ! You are brainwashed my dear. I pay taxes for a little island in the indian ocean called Mayotte in the Comore, I'm proud of it ! Where's your proudness to be belgian ? Nowhere, that's the problem.
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anne29030 3 weeks ago
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anne29030 3 weeks ago
Europeans work together against muslims , they are the biggest problem.
MultiMetaldemon 4 weeks ago
It's not crazy to force children to speak a certain language in the playground. I live in Spain and know several teachers at French, Norwegian, German, and English schools and the children are not allowed to speak Spanish on the playground. It helps them get a more well-rounded use/knowledge of the language their trying to learn while in school.
bermyWHAT 4 months ago
Why don't they use English for all council meetings seeing as most Belgians are highly proficient in the language anyway?
pulsengine 4 months ago
The lazy wallons have opressed the Dutch for years now its payback.
TheAdrianvg 6 months ago
belgium sounds like a horrible place to live.............or visit...
sergioapuzzo 6 months ago
@sergioapuzzo they have delicious french fries :D
bermyWHAT 4 months ago
they have delicious french fries :D
bermyWHAT 4 months ago
Its funny: the Dutch made their stamp on history in Ireland and today still there are the orange men who fight with the catholics. And appearantly dutch speaking belgians are making trouble in belgium, .. and lets not forget the afrikaners in south africa. Meanwhile the Dutch themselves are layed back and have no problems with the world.
CCDevlin 6 months ago
@CCDevlin holland has a lot of problems too
bermyWHAT 4 months ago
Die Frans sprekende Belgen zijn echt arrogante malloten. Ze willen alleen Frans spreken. Engels kunnen ze wel, maar ze weigeren het te spreken!
Vorig jaar was ik in Brussel met school, zo'n Waal probeerde in 't Frans duidelijk te maken dat we verkeerd zaten. Niemand begreep er wat van, werd ie boos, ging ie schreeuwen "Speak French".
Jonge, krijg de pest met je Frans.
animalpolice 6 months ago
@LillyBleh not for long we wont
stealth1692 6 months ago
Quebec has a right for French Flanders for Flemish ,
mark52 7 months ago
I'm a flemish boy of sixteen. I need to learn Dutch, French, English, German and Latin. Because I live in Belgium, in which there is a Frenchspeaking minority, I have to speak French, as well as Dutch, my mother language. When a french-speaking person comes to my school, in Flanders, where Dutch is the used language, they don't have to speak dutch, They have rights to speak french, and they don't even need to learn Dutch. When I go to wallonia, where they speak french, I have to speak french.
drikke16 7 months ago
@drikke16 ja maar in nederland moeten wij ook die talen leren, latijn en grieks als je het hoogste niveau voorbereidend onderweis (vwo)
NLstb 6 months ago
@NLstb Slechts een minderheid in Nederland kunnen nu Frans spreken en het gaat ook ten onder met het leren van Duits. In Nederland zij mensen nu meestal tweetalig: Nederlands en Steenkolenengels. Nog minder kennen het oude Grieks of Laitjn.
nakedmambo 6 months ago
Moroccan isn't a language. -_-
MehndiKeRang 8 months ago
Ban both French and Dutch, and start speaking Arab
fansdesofia 8 months ago
@fansdesofia NEVER.
animalpolice 6 months ago
belgium IS a non-country anyway - check the history... it's a recipe for disaster... in my opinion it would be better split up with each part returned to it's former owner or to the neighbour which the people in each area feel closest to - have referenda on it or something... give flanders to the dutch, woolonia to the french and for gods sake give the area you named luxembourg back to the people of luxembourg and the german bits you pinched after ww2 - give that back too! Go luxembourg Go lol!
rugbyboy198127 8 months ago
@rugbyboy198127 in that case let's give Tongeren Hasselt Sint-Truiden Maastricht and so on back to the Prince-Bishopric of Liège...
Adri88MXBR 8 months ago
@Adri88MXBR clearly you have a greater understanding of the subject than I, but I assume you attack me for the 'ludicrous' suggestion that we 'undo' history and restore old or forgotten boarders to their original inhabitants? I agree one cannot go round the world giving things back, it would be endless, however in some cases, especially when it is so recent and evidently raw, I think it would be better, for example ireland is over 400yrs now, but i'd give it back and certainly i'd give israel up
rugbyboy198127 8 months ago
@rugbyboy198127 i was not attacking you, i just don't agree with you i do believe Belgium has still a great potential. I am from both communities and I have relatives in both communities as well. At home we speak 3 languages although I live in the south of Belgium. I have experienced no language-based discrimination so far even if I go to dutch-speaking cities very often. Btw i am not sure being Spanish or Austrian again would be an efficient solution :P.
Adri88MXBR 8 months ago
FASICIST - OUTRIGHT FASCISM - when will europe learn? never I fear - thank whatever gods may be for unconquerable 'british' soul - there really is something different about the people of the geographical british isles (to my mind this includes an independent Eireland) we are born with a sense of freedom which I fear europeans do not enjoy - maybe it's an island mentality or something, but I definately feel it strongly and feel it's missing in the people of the continent! Go Britain&Eireland Go!!
rugbyboy198127 8 months ago
How did they call that in South Africa? Hmmm... Apar... Apartm... Aparthe... something?
vetdino 8 months ago
a non-dutch speaking child died because they asked ith he could swim he sayd yes and he drowned
barirdeeee2 10 months ago
@barirdeeee2 ...... facts?
BelgianMusic 10 months ago
@BelgianMusic google......????
barirdeeee2 10 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@barirdeeee2 i entered "a non-dutch speaking child died because they asked ith he could swim he sayd yes and he drowned " into google and all it did was correct the spelling errors
BelgianMusic 10 months ago
Look at France, massive country right next to Belgium, go there if you want to speak French.
GodwinCarpenter 10 months ago 14
@GodwinCarpenter go to the netherlands :O?
btw i loooove both languages !
nabiho93 9 months ago
@GodwinCarpenter Look at the Netherlands. Rich, prosperous country to the north of Belgium. Go there if you want to speak Dutch. I'm just kidding: Flanders should just be annexed by the Netherlands, but I don't think they want them. Once you go French we don't want you back.
XlPH0S 9 months ago
@GodwinCarpenter france is 20% muslim and it's obviously going to hell
trembledupon 7 months ago
@trembledupon Yes but then so is the rest of Europe.
GodwinCarpenter 7 months ago
@GodwinCarpenter Not really
trembledupon 7 months ago
@trembledupon Yes, really. Just look at the birth rates, Europe is gone.
GodwinCarpenter 7 months ago
@GodwinCarpenter No, I mean that france has more muslims than the rest of europe but yes I think I'm gonna have to kill some baby muslims soon
trembledupon 7 months ago
It's funny because I live in Brussels and this crisis is not over ... there are no government in Belgium ...
kmahl35 11 months ago
@kmahl35 there are 6 governments in belgium, it's only the federal one that hasn't bene able to form a concensus. the flemish govt is doing relatively fine, the current 9% unemployment in flanders is gradually returning to its former 4%, the economy is growing, etc. While in Wallonia the unemployment rate is 19%,same as it was before the crisis, their economy is still shrinking and would go into bankruptcy is it weren't for the 12€ billion that flanders pumps into wallonia every single year.
SqoundreL 11 months ago
@SqoundreL I know that but if you look at Belgium and not the 6 govt, you see that belgium is in deep shit...
And NVA just doesn't want to form any governement with the ps ...
well the politician in belgium is a true shame ...
kmahl35 11 months ago
As if you can stop children from speaking the language most comfortable to them.
howrisky 11 months ago
@howrisky
At school it's imperative to speak the language administered especially since we know that children who don't speak Dutch at home have a noticeable disadvantage from day one. We are talking about months even up to a year lagging behind on native Dutch-speakers at the age of 6. These kids are constantly playing catch up to the native speakers, and often get side-tracked to a more professional education even though they have the raw brainpower for something more academic.
dnbwhynot 11 months ago
discrimination? they just need to show they can understand dutch.. i shouldn't go to a school in France without speaking some French , same for England and English, but because "wordlwide" French should be so much more importent, so many French speaking refuse to learn dutch, luckly there are also area's where they even send their kids to flemisch school to learn dutch and have more opportunity on the job market later on, but so many still stubbornly refuse to!
Romanvampire 11 months ago
I have now lived 1 year and 3 months in Belgium(Oost vlaanderen). I am from Denmark, but found the love in the form of a belgian man and decided to move to Belgium since there where bigger oppotunities there than Denmark. I find dutch a bit difficult but if you dont practice your language it will never be easy. I find the belgians very friendly and as us danish people they love good food too :D
I dont find the french speaking belgians so friendly and they will only speak french <.<
bellalajka 11 months ago 2
Very good action, must be wide european, because arab muslims treat other people as second class... no tolerance in muslim countries.
cassibessa 1 year ago
Very good action, must be wide european
cassibessa 1 year ago
I agree with this decision. IF you want to speak foreign languages then bugger off to where they speak those languages.
BenjiGalore 1 year ago
For all the dutch speaking people that agree with that burgemester. Could you please explain me how can other language speaking children ever learn dutch if they can't play with dutch speaking kids ?
MrSharkus72 1 year ago
@MrSharkus72 well, he didnt say they cant play with dutch speaking kids, he said they should talk dutch when doing so, in other words, how will they learn dutch if they keep speaking french and thus forming subgroups on the playground? :) not that I agree with the mayor completely, I do understand where he is coming from and I hate it when people use an argument that doesnt make any sense, like you just did :)
tweetdezweet 11 months ago
@MrSharkus72 Perhaps by using the dutch learning service program that is bound to the playground in question?
Oh wait but they wont do that because the flemish culture is disgusting in their eyes and the flemish are only good to work for them.
MrMuttn 11 months ago
Splitting kids on language grounds is very damaging. One of the reasons there were generations of violence and terrorism in northern Ireland is the Catholic children and the protestant children went to separate schools, never mixed when they were young and grew up to hate each other.
chrisdahms 1 year ago
@chrisdahms Yeah thats good for safety.
If there is a car and a french kid is crossing the road and a dutch kindergarten teacher tries to warn him then it sure wont be damaging.
Maybe all kindergarten teachers should learn Dutch,French,German,English and arabic just so we can mix together.
Besides do you know how many flemish people die each year in the hospital of Brussels because they cant speak dutch?
Thought so. So shut up about subjects you dont know.
MrMuttn 1 year ago
gewoon nederlands blijven lullen en wie geeft er nou om wat ze in belgie praten BOEIE
krullenbolrijen 1 year ago
Opstandig Nederlanders, verzet tegen de vijand.
Castaril 1 year ago
Ironicly a month later Brussel a kindergarten who, i suppose to speak both languages denied acces to flemish children.
Wasnt frontpage news for some reason tho >:(
MrMuttn 1 year ago 2
@MrMuttn that figures...
voddenman 1 year ago
English is more important than French! So why should the Flemish learn French if English is far more important than French. The majority of French speakers in the world live in AFRICA FFS! Even German is more important than French, because in Europe German is the biggest language. In Belgium Dutch is the bigger language so why even bother learning French if they could learn English?
JOSHTRUS 1 year ago
@JOSHTRUS I think it is good to speak the languages of the nation you live in. I have met Swiss who spoke German, French and Italian. English is like a weed that takes over the whole garden but it is the language of international commerce. So learn English but be proud of your nations languages and learn them. Merci pour votre attention und sei froh.
JoachimderZweite 1 year ago
@JOSHTRUS
In the same stupid reasoning, why should the people learn Dutch? Which is only spoken in Belgium and in the Netherlands (roughly 30millions of speakers...)
Adri88MXBR 1 year ago
@Adri88MXBR Because the majority of people in Belgium are Dutch speaking! Do you want to live in a country where you can't speak to the majority of people? So Dutch is only spoken in the Netherlands and Belgium yet every year thousands of people from abroad come to live in the Netherlands and Belgium. They want to be in Nederland and Belgie, they are willing to learn Dutch, so what is the excuse for the Wallonians not speaking Dutch? You forgot to add another 20 million Afrikaans speakers!
JOSHTRUS 1 year ago
@JOSHTRUS
this was just a reductio ad absurdum. I speak all of our national languages so personally I don't feel concerned about these so-called "problems" we have between Flemish and Walloon. If being trilingual was obligatory -as it is in Luxembourg- all of our problems would be solved. But anyway with the politicians that we have nowadays in Belgium (all of them... left... right... walloon... flemish... etc) we are going straight away to an impasse
Adri88MXBR 1 year ago
You can only know if a language is beautifull if you've learnt it.. I can't say if chinese is a beautifull language because i dont understand anything of it, but if i could, i would know.. You can only say if its nice to hear, but hearing a language is not knowing how beautifull the language is.
bordkrijt 1 year ago
Well, this is not a neutral report. There are Flemish border cities with Brussels which have, thx to the f*cked up Belgian system, a majority of French speaking in the city council, well these cities deny building permission for Flemish schools and Kindergarten, playgrounds etc ... perhaps this, childish or not, is a reaction from the Flemish.
dideleda 1 year ago
I don't even know WHY the Flemish bother learning French as a second language, when the French speaking Belgians don't even bother to learn Dutch, the majority language of Belgium.
If the majority of people in Belgium speak Dutch, Dutch should be compulsory to all, not French!!
English should be the second language for the Flemish and maybe German as a third language. Yes even German is more important than French...half of the world's French speakers live in Central Western Africa FFS!!
JOSHTRUS 1 year ago
@JOSHTRUS
French don't bother learning Dutch because French is more beautiful.
shinobi2119 1 year ago
@shinobi2119 I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but how a language sounds doesn't make it superior. Dutch is spoken by 60% of Belgium as a first language, and if you have to go to Flanders, you should atleast try to speak Dutch; most of the Flemish speak French when in Wallonia as far as I understand.
Personaly, I think Dutch (especially Flemish) is a lovely langauge, that's why I've learnt it.
swissirish1 1 year ago
@shinobi2119
Thats an opinion not a fact, and they dont want to learn other languages because they are arrogant and think they,re language is important, because its spoken in Afrika, lol.
FryNorth 1 year ago
@FryNorth
No, French is important because it is something of great value. Not all languages are equal. French is better, more sophisticated, more beautiful, more elegante, than 90% of the world's languages. French is second to no language, not even English.
shinobi2119 1 year ago
@shinobi2119
French is a beautiful language, no discussion about that. French speaking in Belgium though deny to speak Dutch, an official language in Belgium, while they want us, the Flemish to speak French. So, tell me, where is that correct?
dideleda 1 year ago
@dideleda
It's not fair, I grant you that. But that's just life, the better, more dominant language wins. When English speakers go to China, they force the Chinese to speak English. Same thing. So when French speakers move to Dutch communities. They want them to speak French. It's not fair, but that's just how it is.
shinobi2119 1 year ago
@shinobi2119
Well, life ain't fair either then... for the fact, us Flemish, a majority in Belgium, will decide on our own and make the rules on our own then, without the francophones. Right? Let's see if you still agree on that.
And really it's got nothing to do with 'dominant language'. It's all about what a constitution says, what the rules are... rules the francophones in Belgium NEVER stick too.
dideleda 1 year ago
@shinobi2119
More beautiful, more sophisticate, more elegante, Also opinions not fact. You dont get to tell what people think is beatifull ect. As far as my opinion i think there are far more beatifull languages, Norwegian, Swedish, Frisian, English ect. but this is my opinion, also not facts.
Also those arent reasons why a language is more important.
FryNorth 1 year ago
@shinobi2119 I'm agree with you, I'm from Japan so my native language is Japanese. here, we must learn English, because it's the international language and one of the most speaking in the world,
I learnt French because I love the language it's pretty for my ears and I love French movies and songs, so it's more easy to learn a language if we are interesting about the country and the culture.
even if, people from the south are not attract about dutch, they should learn it.
tachibanakosuke 1 year ago
@tachibanakosuke
Many, many Japanese people are interested in French language and culture. Japanese, Chinese, and Korean are the 3 most advanced language/cultures in Asia. Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai..... are the worst, most horrible, most primitive languages in Asia. You are making a good decision studying French.
shinobi2119 1 year ago
@FryNorth You shoul knew that French is not only speak in Africa, you can find 54 countries or terrirories with French speaking people, French it's speak also in Luxemburg, Switzerland, Andorra, Canada, Monaco, and even in the North of Italy in the region of (Aosta valley) French is an official language.
in France everybody speak French as their native language, in Germany it's German, but in Belgium you have many official languages, so everybody must learn an other language.
tachibanakosuke 1 year ago
@JOSHTRUS
Correct, even German is in Europe, especially, and since most of us discussing this matter, live in Europe, more important than French.
Flemish people always saw it as a must to know French, since half our country (even not half in population) speaks it. The Walloons though never cared learning Dutch. They simply refuse to speak Dutch. Yet, they always complain about everything...
dideleda 1 year ago
Wow. The Francisco Franco of Brussels.
ustnavan 1 year ago
@odessa146 not really...
Demarchist 1 year ago
@odessa146 this isn't the balkans... there neverhas and never will never be any organised language-related violence in belgium. i know my people, we're completely insane but not really in a violent way.
Demarchist 1 year ago
@Demarchist
I think we are a lot more civilised and much less violent as the Serbs were, so, indeed a civil war won't happen in Belgium.
dideleda 1 year ago
France 24 = leftist news
MokomaSusi 1 year ago
@odessa146 why is that so funny? civil war will never happen though.
OhReallyNoWai 1 year ago
Classic left wing shit. If you try to protect your language or culture, you are a racist bigot. Same shit is going on here in the US with hispanics. We should tell the world Yes we are fucking racist NOW GO HOME!!!!!!
garybsg 1 year ago 2
@garybsg The situation here is different though, they are already home... it are both native people, they just speak a different language. Kinda like Canada with Quebec. I just hope the Flemish part will join the Netherlands... then we will not just have the biggest harbor of Europe, but the 2 biggest harbors of Europe. €.€
OhReallyNoWai 1 year ago
@OhReallyNoWai not likely...
Demarchist 1 year ago
@OhReallyNoWai that would make sense since it's the same language and people and culture.
garybsg 1 year ago
ik blijf het een kunstmatige staat vinden, dat België
iranoutofgoodnames 1 year ago
What's a belgium?
AtGiza 1 year ago
Go Dutch. <3
invisibleradish 1 year ago
De Walen zijn lui. Dat is het nuchtere waarheid.
swissirish1 1 year ago
@swissirish1 Walen denken dat Frans een superieure taal is, voor hen is Nederlands een taal voor boeren, geen haar op hun hoofd dat eraan denkt het ooit te leren. Persoonlijk woon ik in een Vlaamse faciliteitengemeente en het stikt hier van de Franstaligen die zelf na tientallen jaren geen twee woorden Vlaams kunnen, ze lachen je in je gezicht uit als je insinueert dat ze Nederlands zouden moeten leren.
Todegra 1 year ago 2
@Todegra Wij hebben ook taalkundige problemen in de Verenigde Staten. Dezer dagen, zijn er mensen die alleen het Engels willen gesproken. Ik denk dat je zou het Engels in de Verenigde Staten moeten spreken. Maar er zijn twintig miljoen Spaanstaligen in Amerika, en tegenwoordig als kunt ge het Spaans spreekt, dan zijt ge een beroep zeker gegarandeerd. Het is een beetje meer gecompliceerd, maar dat is de nuchtere waarheid. De Walen zouden het Nederlands leren zoals de Vlaamse het Frans leren
swissirish1 1 year ago
@Todegra Ik hoop dat mijn Nederlands is niet zo slecht :)
swissirish1 1 year ago
@swissirish1 it's not perfect but pretty close :-) I didn't know that about the Spanish-speaking in the States, imangine then that when you go to a hospital, the doctor there only speaks Spanish, as well as your mayor and most of your neighbors...You're a stranger in your own town.
Todegra 1 year ago
@Todegra Well, I guarantee if you plan on becoming a doctor an you can only speak Spanish, then you're not going nowhere unless you speak English. But yeah, states like Arizona and Texas are largely Spanish-speaking. Where I live, most people speak English but there are a ton of hispanics, and they generally live in a certain neighborhood, where all the signs are bilingual.
swissirish1 1 year ago
@swissirish1 Dat is behoorlijk goed! Complimenten!
rover620sdi 1 year ago
@rover620sdi Dank je! Ik ben niet nog volledig vloeiend noch vrij van grammaticale fouten, maar ik ben bijna daar. Spoedig zal ik wel perfect zijn! Als ik naar België/Vlaanderen kunnen komen...;)
swissirish1 1 year ago
ok....raging out and trying to physically harm someone for speaking another language is just stupid. i can understand the act of trying to maintain one's culture, but doing so by oppressing others just strikes entirely too close to intolerance for me. these Flemish guys need to mellow the hell out.
drewhadou 1 year ago
@drewhadou that was not just because they spoke French, it was a meeting of the mayor and the community in a town in Flanders, so it should -by law- be in Dutch. I agree that violence is not appropriate, but the protesters were violently removed because they protested peacefully
Todegra 1 year ago
Sigh heil !!
delamotteh 1 year ago
@delamotteh
delamotteh 1 year ago
@delamotteh This is unacceptable
myProjectY 1 year ago
hold up Dutch is very easy to learn,as a matter of fact,I'll even make a video of speaking Dutch and French and show Belgium that they shouldn't have to hate each other
ekalb2185 1 year ago
@ekalb2185 we don't hate eachother, and making a video of you speaking dutch and french won't magically solve all our problems (which transcend the petty language issues)
the bickering about languages is the 'uitlaatklep' (the exhaust valve) as we say here in flanders, this is about MUCH more than that
i appreciate what you are trying to do, but your comment comes across as extremely naive
SqoundreL 1 year ago
that's messed up,everybody should be able to play on that playground
ekalb2185 1 year ago
I agree, everyone should be able to play at that playground, it is ridiculous things like this that demean the Flemish cause. But, while I don't agree with it, I do understand it. What I find most funny about all this is that Francophones have been treating the Flemish in a similar (and worse) manner since the creation of Belgium, yet no one ever made a big deal out of that, and now some Flemish hot heads are provoked into adopting the same vile attitude all of a sudden we are called racist.
SqoundreL 1 year ago 6
What you see in this video is an exception, not the norm. At least for now, because if the Francophones continue to treat us the way they do, always ignoring the valid issues the Flemish bring up, looking down on us and our language while continueing to live off Flemish hand-outs, and revising our history through which we had to fight so hard to preserve our own culture and our own language on our own land, then this will become more commonplace.
SqoundreL 1 year ago 2
I love learning new languages and I can't believe the Walloons (as Europeans) don't agree that learning new languages can be very educating. Walloons believeing they are higher classed than the Flemish is stupid. I can't believe there are still people like that in our world, thinking they own everything. Dutch is a difficult language to learn and I believe the more difficult the language the more impressive it is for a non-native speaker to speak it. The Walloons should get over themselves.
Alixblood 1 year ago 10
@Alixblood I live in flanders and speak almost fluently french, it's very depressing to see and hear that when we go to walloon we HAVE to speak french because they don't understand dutch. You'd think they'd to the same when they come to flanders...
nope... they only speak french
GillesDM1993 1 year ago
BTW France 24 is based in France and we all know how that republic handled their languages minorities (Corsque, Bretagne, French-Flanders, Aquitanie,...).
Stop listening to FDF propaganda, you're welcome to e-mail me, let's talk belgium politics.
arnout23 1 year ago 2
Wow this is some biased TV.
The French speakers in Brussels refuse to give the rights to the flemish that they themselfs demand in towns as Liedekerke or Merchtem (displayed here). Bilingual right in the south (Eghien, Flobecq ) are violate by the same people that act as occupiers in flemiish areas.
arnout23 1 year ago
The Flemish have the right to defend their language, there should be nothing divisive about that.
separatesix 1 year ago 16
The Flemish speak Dutch. It's not a seperate language - It's just southern Dutch.
Gyroglle 1 year ago 2
@separatesix BruXelle is mainly francophone so sorry little nazi.
delamotteh 1 year ago
@separatesix BruXelle is mainly francophone so sorry little nazi.
delamotteh 1 year ago
Most Europeans take multilingualism as a source of pride. Evidently that isn't the case with the Belgians!
I
davidnhvtme 2 years ago
@davidnhvtme wow, and you can tell that how? in what langauge am i typing right now? flemish? there is a difference between being willing to speak someone else's language and having your own language transplanted by someone else's... i respect every other language out there, the problem is that very few francophones return the favour... this is the result
and outside of northeastern europe (mostly flanders, netherlands & scandinavia), most europeans are not very multilingual, to be honest
SqoundreL 1 year ago 3
@SqoundreL I think you mean northwestern Europe, but I agree with you... I don't hate the French language nor Francophone culture, but that a lot of them have extremely snotty attitudes is not exactly the world's best kept secret. Worst of all is that few of them know anything of the history of Belgium and its treatment of the Flemish, and that they have the nerve to call us fascists for standing up for our language and culture. We can not risk history repeating itself.
Demarchist 1 year ago
@SqoundreL here in the usa everything is written in english and spanish under on the west coast.
meronmotors 11 months ago
@meronmotors Same as in Brussels then, a bilingual city where everything is written in dual Fr/Du. But how is that comparable to French-speakers moving to Flemish towns, refusing to speak the local language while looking down on the local populace, to finally try to attach to those towns to the Francophone voting blocks.
Try not to rip everything out of context and actually inform yourself on what the real problems are, that would help a lot.
SqoundreL 11 months ago
@SqoundreL "attach to those".. scratch the "to".
And FYI, there are language laws in this country, first created by the Francophones to protect them from rising Flemish influence, and yet they are the ones breaking those same laws. And don't forget that every Flemish kind is required to learn French, English and often German from a young age, that is not the case in Wallonia/Brussels.
SqoundreL 11 months ago 4
arf i hate typos... kind = kid...
SqoundreL 11 months ago
@SqoundreL I think the only one who read out of context is you. Everything here is written in spanish when it is an english speaking country, I dont agree with it. They have made it as comfortable as possible for the forigners to stick to only there customs and reject ours. Its fine to have customs but when you come to a country, you are expected to learn the language and for the most part follow there societies rules. That is not what happends here.
meronmotors 11 months ago
@SqoundreL I do not support the french refusing to learn or speak the language you assumed I was pro french when I am not. I support the flemish. I hope they can prevent the big towns falling to the french speakers and idealists. I have support for the same things as you, try informing yourself before asumming what someones views are, or ask if you care. that would help alot.
meronmotors 11 months ago
wow, apartheid in belgique! ;D
Why don't you guys join the Netherlands ^^ We've missed you guys, join the kingdom of the netherlands and we will be united again :(!!
;p
Kikopuz 2 years ago
Thats Dutch Territory,
adrianvangent 2 years ago
@adrianvangent wrong country, my friend...
SqoundreL 1 year ago
god bless the dutch for taking the stand that we should all take
brradsullivan 2 years ago
@brradsullivan you mean the flemish
BelgianMusic 1 year ago
FUCK WALLOON
SUCK MY FUCKING DICK
YOU GUYS ARE GAY SOCIALISTS
AAAAHHH, SUCK MY DICK.
ELIO DI RUPO,
PLEASE GET AN ORGASM WHEN YOU SEE YOUR CHERNOBYL POWER PLANT WHICH IS STICKED UP YOUR ASS EXPLODE.
gay faggot ass, FLANDERS 4 IT OWN
nick9624 2 years ago
The problem of all these discussions below, about French speaking Belgians who wouldn't adapt while living in Flanders is biased if you consider the 6 communes à facilités around Brussels as a normal part of Flanders: They are suburbs of Brussels and the majority is French speaking for more than 60 years, not the other way round. They would have joined the bilingual region of Brussels long ago if democratic referendum had been held. 90% of the pbs are here! (70000 inhab, 50 km2 only)
wollin20 2 years ago
@wollin20
What the fuck are you talking about? Those communes a facilités are Flemish communities where Walloons could reside outisde of Brussels where houseprices are significantly higher.
We lended you a hand and in return you try to take it from us. A real nice gesture. The fact these communities LOOK like Brussels suburbs is because the Walloons drove the Flemish away!
It was al always will be a Flemish community!
DiehardAntiReal 2 years ago
Well, 1 century ago, it was an area with a Dutch dialect, 1 century ago...But these 6 communes à facilités created in 1962were never a generous gift to the French speaking people, since they had from the beginning more than 30% French speaking people, and probably already a French speaking majority in 1962 but the Flemmish boycotted the new linguistic census to keep them outside the bilingual Brussels region. And we are speaking of 50 sq km, it's really tiny and would solve a lot!
wollin20 1 year ago
Comment removed
DiehardAntiReal 1 year ago
@wollin20
You don't even live in Belgium or Brussels so don't even try to comment on the issue!
Walloons invaded a Flemish region and imposed their language onto us and basically took it from us ... why should we allow that to happen a second time?
It doesn't matter the majority is French speaking. In all of Belgium, the Ducth speaking are a heavy majority yet we have to share power (50/50) with the Walloons.
DiehardAntiReal 1 year ago 2
Yes , I don't live in Belgium, and I am not even Belgian. But I am well informed, so what? "It doesn't matter the majority is French speaking": Here you show your respect to democracy, you fascist! And oh, I am so sorry you have to "share" power with 42% of the population of your country, that's so unfair, they should get into some bantustan! BTW, I was speaking about integrating them into a BILINGUAL region: problems with the concept?
wollin20 1 year ago
@wollin20 if you don't live here then you only know what is being presented to you through the francophone and/or international media... no more. this is about much more than language.
keuteltjes 1 year ago
@keuteltjes I have never claimed I have to decide for the people living there, but I feel the nationalist Flemish have a clear plan to decide the future of these communes à facité, independantly of what the people living there want, am I wrong? They just keep saying: It's Flemish, just like Serbians with Kosovo...Well, my point is that they are in Greater Brussels, so they should be bilingual. I am sure it is what the people want, but noone never dared to ask them.
wollin20 1 year ago
@wollin20
If we give in to the Walloons, they will continue to try and take other Flemish regions away from us. This must end now!
All those communities a facilité are Flemish communities. Not Walloon, Not Brussels ... FLEMISH. If they don't like they can still piss off!!!
Whenever we the Walloon defend their minority within Belgium it's because of 'protection of minorities'.
When the Flemish defend Flemish minorities all of a sudden it's an act of separatism, disrespectfull, ...
DiehardAntiReal 1 year ago 4
You are really promoting the Flemish culture with your words, no doubt people all over the world will be enthusiastic with your deep and humanist thought. Well, Flanders deserve more than you.
wollin20 1 year ago
@wollin20
WTF are you talking about? Flanders has the right to protect itself from the Walloon oppression.
Well informed my ass ... I live in Brussels ... I've seen over the years how things changed. I'm in a better position to judge Belgian Politics than you, cause most of the sources out their are biased towards the Walloon party because they complain a lot and take on the role as victim. Flanders is always pictured as separatist, facists, neo-nazis, ... all because our fellow Belgians
DiehardAntiReal 1 year ago 2
I agree with you. Forcing languages upon inhabitants is completely ridiculous. I also live near the language border. I am no supporter of any kind of border because as a cameraman i travel a lot. i see all the sides. I haven't seen language problems worsen, but i have seen more extreme reactions to futilities. It seems that everyone is pro separation these days, which is again, completely unnecessary and i would even say that it will only further weaken our position internationally.
kreator20 1 year ago
@wollin20
Brussels on the other always was a Flemish city, only became francophone due to the fact it becoming the capital of the EU (lots of those people knowing only French and English) + peopel from poor Wallonia coming to live in Brussels and only wanting to speak French. That's one, the other fact is, the suburbs of Brussels are mostly in Flanders, by Belgian constitution it's Flanders, which has Dutch as an official language. So, 'not the other way round' hey ? I think you are biased.
dideleda 1 year ago
@dideleda 1/2 Brussels was never a Flemish city, historically. Nor was it a French speaking city. It had a low German dialect, far much closer to what is Dutch than French. And it became francophone far before the EU (1995) or even the EEC (1958) existed, basically 4 generations ago it became the majority language...Just to keep close to the facts. Now Dutch (May I remind you Flemish is no official language, it is Dutch) is almost a foreign language in Brussels.
wollin20 1 year ago
this is unbelievable. Belgium is supposed to be a Bilingual country. forbidding children to speak French on the play ground? an official speaks tries speaking French and is hounded after the first word?
I am an American and have visited Quebec, Switzerland and France. Tell me please how can this behavior POSSIBLY be justified? It is hard to imagine a european country being this bigoted.
davidnhvtme 2 years ago
@davidnhvtme
It's because only 19% the French speaking Belgiums can speak Dutch and some even refuse to take Dutch at school even though Dutch is the biggest language of Belgium (60%)
So drastic actions calls for drastic measures. If the French speaking Belgiums don't want to speak or learn Dutch at school why should the Dutch bend over backwards for the French speakers? At the moment 57% of Dutch Belguims speak French but only 19% of French speakers speak Dutch! It works both ways!
hermangu 2 years ago
@davidnhvtme
You have no idea what the situation is ... so please don't even try to judge us!
Walloons don't speak Dutch, they despise our language and refuse to learn, even those that live in Flanders. Almost every mayor in Brussels is Anti-Flemish, they are literally trying to throw us out even though the French-speaking already have a vast majority and to make it worse, they want to take what does not belong to them. They want to add Flemish communities to Brussels
DiehardAntiReal 2 years ago
@davidnhvtme
Basically this means that the Flemish would lose all possible controle over their community as they have little to no power in Brussels.
You could compare it to Chinatown in the US, being taken over by the Chinese gouvernment. On top of that they would try to expand that region to the size of an entire state. So basically steal a state away from the US.
I don't know about you but I'm not loving that idea. But even so the Walloons keep trying which resulted into an Flemish
DiehardAntiReal 2 years ago
@davidnhvtme
hostility towards the French language. The Walloons hold verything in hand. we really don't care what they do as long as they keep their hands off of our communities and stop trying to impose their language in our own homes!
If it weren't for us they had already went bankrupt! We've made sacrifices to keep this country together and haven't even received a sign of gratitude in return. All they do is despise us and curse every move we make to protect our culture and language.
DiehardAntiReal 2 years ago 2
@davidnhvtme I go to school in Brussels and we're a Flemish school so we aren't allowed to talk any other language there, this was also the case in my elementary school; it's kind of normal that on a Flemish school you only speak Flemish but almost every school here wants you to learn both languages. Everybody says that languages are really important: at school I learn German, Latin, French and Flemish and I also speak Spanish.
ClaudiaTiella 1 year ago
@davidnhvtme The only reason why they're so many language problems in Belgium is because not everybody wants to learn it and wants to make the effort to learn both languages: French AND Flemish.
ClaudiaTiella 1 year ago
@ClaudiaTiella you are so wrong ! In Flanders almost everybody learns to speak French, in Wallonia almost nobody does, because the think French is a superior langauge and Dutch is the language for rural people, I live in a bi-lingual area and I heard this theory a lot from Wallons.
Todegra 1 year ago
@Todegra Believe me when you go more to the North you'll see that the French they learn there isn't good at all. I know probably more Flemish people can talk French than French people Flemish. But I don't understand why I'm wrong: I just said that not everybody makes the effort to learn both languages and I think that's the same as you're saying.
ClaudiaTiella 1 year ago
@ClaudiaTiella ok, we seem to agree, there are efforts on both sides but not enough. The main reason to my opinion why there are so many problems is the attitude from the French, mainly their lack of respect for the Flemish language and culture, don't get me wrong, I work a lot in Wallonia and most of the people are very nice, but those who come to live in Flanders refuse to speak Dutch so, in the long run and when there are a lot of them, the Flemish become strangers tot heir own community.
Todegra 1 year ago
@Todegra I know what you mean, but I guess there's nothing we can do about it =(
ClaudiaTiella 1 year ago
@Todegra I know what you mean, but I guess there's nothing we can do about it =(
ClaudiaTiella 1 year ago
@ClaudiaTiella
Claudia it is French and Dutch, not Flemish. Flemish is an accent, like Walloon. Not a language. No wonder, the Walloons do not want to learn Flemish.
rover620sdi 1 year ago
@ClaudiaTiella
euhm, francophones, yes, they simply don't want to learn Dutch, while the majority of the Flemish know French. So, your post doesn't make sense, my dear.
dideleda 1 year ago
@dideleda I'm sorry, dear; but I know Flemish who don't speak French and I also know French speaking people who speak Dutch as well. I know there are much more Flemish people speaking French too, but believe me: they're also a lot of French who do want to make the effort to learn Flemish. Like I said: I go to school in Brussels, which is full of francophones (only a quarter is Flemish), but they are in a Flemish school.
ClaudiaTiella 1 year ago
@ClaudiaTiella
@ClaudiaTiella
Well, I guess they're not Flemish then. I'm afraid it's too late for all those nice words, we gotta split
dideleda 1 year ago
@davidnhvtme I am American and the US is going the same way with Spanish
garybsg 1 year ago
dit is gvd pokkeidioot!! kunne ze ni gwn stoppe mt onderling ruzie te make! GOH of ist soww moeilijk!!
yazzyx3jonasbrothers 2 years ago
I'm French and My grandfather was Flemish.I understand the nationalist Flemish movement very well,they're not totally wrong.But,typical "racism"against French-speakers,as I've seen very often,is simply pitiful.Wallons and french are not arabs or africans.
glumjnir 2 years ago 2
Intolerance ? did I insult you and your country ? Who is intolerant ? They study more your language in Wallony than you think. Education is a will you will never win like that : I call that fascism. At this level you are a true european !
delamotteh 2 years ago
Well, I don't know if you noticed, but your a true frenchman right now. Europe wants to be a whole entity (unité) and from the beginning the French refused to coorporate, because of their 'identity', but wanted the benefits very much (the last point is about the gouvernment).
Btw: fascism is a term only used by creapy socialists, who built the European Union with their benevolence. So, why are you so Europe-hating? Fact: some people hate the Fench only because of this attitude that's yours too.
bertvanlepel 2 years ago 2
There's no french identity. France is multicultural fom Brittany via normandy( I'm normand) to Alsace or réunion in the indian ocean or new coledonia and tahiti in the pacific. So long for the french identity ! We are a country of immigrants, from poland, spain, italy portugal etc ... there s no french identity. It is a citizenship. A language is not a barrier but a link. Forget your stereotypes , we will be fine. France is a second largest contributor to the EU'budget after Germany.
delamotteh 2 years ago
i can name hundreds of examples of francophone intolerance, now and in the past, yet from some reason those don't count.. keep yourself ignorant, keep fooling yourself, you are only strengthening our resolve to go for independence.. and if we were intolerant we would go much farther than just words, like for example the basques and their ETA... the only linguistically related bombing in belgium was conducted by francophones who blew up a monument to remember the role of flemish soldiers in WW1.
ReptilianDeathRay 2 years ago
Usually I din't answer to insults. But ETA is in Spain !! Chek your facts ! Don't rely to the past always ! I know, europe is an " has been" continent. What's your pieces of evidence ? did they really bombed a monument ? Give facts ! You are brainwashed my dear. I pay taxes for a little island in the indian ocean called Mayotte in the Comore, I'm proud of it ! Where's your proudness to be belgian ? Nowhere, that's the problem.
delamotteh 2 years ago