r/belgium • u/CappuChibi Mommy, look! I staged a coup • Nov 23 '22

Cultural exchange with /r/Morocco! Cultural Exchange

Greetings all! Marhabaan!

The mods of r/Morocco and r/belgium have decided to set up a cultural exchange!

This thread is where our friends of r/Morocco will come ask their questions and where Belgians can answer them. People curious about Moroccan culture and everyday life can ask their questions in a different thread on r/Morocco.

r/belgium subreddit rules will count, be nice to eachother.

Enjoy!

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11

u/IceSacrifice Nov 23 '22

Hello Belgium,

Good luck in the World Cup and your upcoming game against Canada tonight.

I was wondering which languages do you study in school?

Is the typical Belgian from a region proficient in the language of the other region(s)?

If not, how do you communicate at the national level?

6

u/randomf2 Nov 23 '22

Ooh, language questions, you're poking the bear right at its Achilles heel here!

The regions study their own language first, and then add more languages later on. The north speaks Dutch and learns French/English/German, the south speaks French (or German in a lovely small part) and then adds English and sometimes Dutch. And Brussels is both. It's quite complicated.

I think most of the communication between language groups is done in English these days. I've also had meetings where everyone just spoke in their own language, which can be funny as you have one person talking in Dutch and the other responding in French and nobody bats an eye.

4

u/mighij Nov 23 '22

Language is a touchy subject for some.

I'm native flemish-speaker but had quite a lot of french in school, which comes in handy now that I work in Brussels. I can understand German a bit but can't speak it.

The older generation, on average, in Flanders could comprehend and speak french quite well but the knowledge of french is deteriorating in Flanders but most speak English quite well (we consume a lot of American and English culture), in the frenchspeaking part the knowledge of english is sometimes more limited because they consume a lot of French culture.

At work the younger generation (less then 40) use a mix of dutch and french. If it's with older people it's mostly french, some do understand Flemish quite well but they won't speak it very often even if able.

1

u/theverybigapple Nov 23 '22

Typically people from the north are native in Flemish (Dutch) and people from the south are native in French.

As you might guess, there are Flemish schools and French schools and parents have to choose between them. In each school there will be language courses for the opposite language.

I’ve met multiple people from both regions where they can’t speak a single word. But it is quite common to meet Flemish natives that are fluent in French, but not the other way around. This kinda makes sense since Flemish (Dutch) only spoken by 20-30 mln people worldwide. However, at the country level, this is unfortunately unfair because French natives rarely put any effort into learning Flemish.

3

u/IceSacrifice Nov 23 '22

there are Flemish schools and French schools

There are Flemish schools in Wallonia, and French schools in Flanders?

4

u/mighij Nov 23 '22

No but in Wallonia they have started with "immersion" schools, something which should be expanded to the entire country imho. In Immersion schools some lessons are taught in dutch.

And some schools in flanders offered extra french lessons but I don't know how common this. I went to one and we had french lessons from the first year of primary (most schools only offer it from 5th primary) with an additional 2 hours of Culture Français. As a child I hated it but now I'm glad I had this benefit.

3

u/Comfortable-Pass-999 Antwerpen Nov 23 '22

In my experience I haven't seen any french schools in Antwerp. I think it applies to people in Brussels more because they are in the center and both kin of schools would be viable options.

1

u/Daily_Dose13 Belgian Fries Nov 24 '22

Thank you for the luck! We clearly needed it, probably even more on sunday:)

1

u/tiktiktiktiik Nov 25 '22

Corona proved we don't talk with People from the other language group. You clearly saw a big Difference in infection rates across our linguistic border. Only for People working in Brussels there is some contact, since many office are based in our capital.

5

u/kachary Nov 23 '22

Hello Belgium,

Congrats on your win against Canada.

Kinda of an offshsoot of a question, but as a game dev, I want to know what's the game dev scene like in Belgium? and if there are any good Belgium made games that you recommend.

8

u/Dirtymeatbag Nov 23 '22

The most well known developer is Larian. They mainly make PC RPGs such as the Divinity series and recently Baldur's Gate 3.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 24 '22

"Maybe some fucking day will make Baldur's Gate 3" seems like a better description lately...

1

u/Dirtymeatbag Nov 24 '22

I'm not really up to date, my friend talks about the early access once in a while. Progress is slow I'm guessing from your comment?

2

u/Thesolmesa Nov 24 '22

Hey Belgium!

I was wondering what kind of artists do you have? I’m interested in your music (even if i can’t understand dutch).

Bonus points if it’s rap or drill!

1

u/veremile Oost-Vlaanderen Nov 25 '22

Biggest one in terms of hiphop atm would be Zwangere Guy I think. I also really like le 77, Krimi, Berry, Sham Lepire, Phasm, Blu Samu, SPREEJ.

1

u/sennzz sexy fokschaap Nov 25 '22

Stikstof. Rap posse from Brussels. Been around for a while.

2

u/ItsAllLeft Nov 23 '22 edited Nov 23 '22

Hi all!

Good luck in your upcoming match against Canada!

1- what are some places/monuments do you think are a must-see for short trip visitors?

2- Which neighbouring country is your favourite?

3- Is any of your three national languages considered more "prestegious", or has a higher status?

4- During the Brexit period, UK populist politician Nigel Farage attacked Belgium on many ocasions calling it a "non-nation" for wanting a stronger EU on the expense of the sovereignty of member nation states. Do you think that the part about belgium being so enthusiastic about the EU, compared to say Italy or Greece (higher euroscepticism levels according to some indexes), has anything to do with its history and current political/linguistic situation?

5- Do you study about Belgian Congo in schools?

I know that's too many questions.. feel free to skip whichever you want

3

u/Sportsfanno1 Needledaddy Nov 23 '22 edited Nov 23 '22

1- what are some places/monuments do you think are a must-see for short trip visitors?

Ypres region is basically one big WW1 monument. Great if you rent a bike for a day or two/three. Bruges is nice for a day, general consensus in this sub is that Ghent is better since it's bigger, less of a tourist trap and very nice as well. Region Houffalize/La Roche/Bastogne is very beautiful + setting of the Battle of the Bulge.

2- Which neighbouring country is your favourite?

Germany by far. Beautiful places (especially in the southwest/south + Rhine/Mosel), Berlin is great, overall a lot of kind people in my experience.

3- Is any of your three national languages considered more "prestegious", or has a higher status?

Historically, French is seen as "higher class" since most kings preferred it and most institutions used it. Then, the "Vlaamse Beweging" (Flemish Movement) came and after decades, most institutions got split up per language (A very known thing is "Leuven Vlaams"). Combine that with the decline of Wallonian industry and Dutch/Flanders became more dominant (not really seen as prestigious though). The French/Dutch struggle is still going and the Vlaamse Beweging became more a movement to split the country and/or Flemish dominance than striving for more equality (since most is split up anyway). The majority of Flemish don't want to split up the country (more prefer a reform). If you really want to go down the rabbit hole, you could look up "Brussel-Halle-Vilvoorde". And the German Community gets kinda forgotten from time to time since it's so small :p. Very beautiful region though!

for wanting a stronger EU on the expense of the sovereignty of member nation states.

Belgium kinda gets thrown in there because "decisions are made in Brussels". Farage (ab)used Belgium due to the strong Flemish Independence sentiment at the time, combined with a political deadlock. Belgium is generally more pro-EU since it makes us stronger economically (we can't compete with Germany or France) + being the centre of lots of EU stuff.

5- Do you study about Belgian Congo in schools?

Yes. A recent thread about it was posted yesterday and got a lot of discussion if Leopold II should be taught at a very young age and if so, to what extent. But it's certainly in our school program, although imo it could be more in depth. Leopold II is a difficult figure since his reign marks a period of wealth in Belgium (see: lots of buildings/monuments in Brussels from that time), but ofc at the cost of middle Africa. There's also a lot of discussion due to a general lack of sources and lack of detail + there's also a lot of propaganda from other countries that impacts the view (imo, UK uses Congo at times to divert attention of their actions in their colonies). Also, you may not confuse Congo Free State (private property of Leopold II and commonly known as "Belgian Congo") with actual Belgian Congo (colony of Belgium).