Only an excuse...??

[Felix Atagong]

This is not a funny one. In Belgium we have 2 'large' communities, a Dutch one (Flanders) and a French one (Wallonia). Due to federalist laws the official language in W is French and in F it is Dutch (the system is more complicated like that, there is also a Brussels region and a German region, but lets keep it simple).

One day a train running from Flanders to Wallonia takes the wrong track, literally, and is heading towards another train that is running, on the same track, from Wallonia to Flanders. Somewhere in the middle lies the 'language border' that legally decides what language to speak at what end.

The controller in Flanders sees what will happen in 5 minutes and phones the guy in Wallonia in order to stop the train(s). The guy from Flanders says in Dutch that 2 trains are heading towards each other. The guy from Wallonia answers in French that he doesn't understand this.

Several people die.

 

[Glaswegian]

Felix

That is really shocking.

Can I ask - where does "Flemish" figure in Belgium? Is it a language or a dialect? I'm aware of Flanders and Wallonia but had no idea that they had different languages.

 

[Felix Atagong]

Officially there is not such a thing as Flemish, the official language in Flanders is Dutch, the same language as in Holland, it is written exactly the same, pronounced exactly the same, it is the same. You will not find a Flemish dictionary opposed to a Dutch one, nor a Flemish grammar.

Now for reality: of course there are differences between the Dutch Dutch and the Flemish Dutch.
Geographical differences: just like in England the sound of the language changes from location to location, in Flanders for instance we pronounce the r as RRR (like the Scots do), in Holland the r is far more soft (like in English).
Political, Cultural, Social differences: there are official and/or regional words that exist in one country and not in the other or that have another official 'name' in the other country. And some 'dialect' words have of course been introduced in the 'official' language as well.

There was, about 30, 40 years ago, a kind of language-war to abolish the regional words from the South (Flanders) in favour for the words of the North (Holland). The biggest Dutch dictionary put the words that only existed in Flanders as South-Dutch, while it defined the words from Holland as Dutch, not as North-Dutch (although Flemish people never used those or had a Flemish synonym for that word).

But nowadays most scholars seem to accept that there is a Flemish and a Dutch 'variation' of the Dutch language, but it is still the same language!

You put me on a very long train by asking that question!

 

[Oorang]

I can't even imagine trying to operate without a Car. How do you get to the station from your house? How do you get FROM the station where you stop to where your going?

 

[Glaswegian]

You put me on a very long train by asking that question!

Sorry Felix - but thanks for the info - very interesting.

The destruction (or preservation) of regional languages/dialects seems to be "hot" again. I think the devolved assemblies in Scotland and Wales have brought these issues to the fore. The BBC are currently running a series devoted to regional dialects - can't remember the name though.

 

[Glaswegian]

I can't even imagine trying to operate without a Car. How do you get to the station from your house? How do you get FROM the station where you stop to where your going?

It's a very sophisticated system of transportation that I appreciate many of our American friends may not be familiar with. It goes something like this: lift your right foot about 2 inches from the ground. Now force your brain to send a signal to the leg to stretch out and then lower the foot to ground level again. This will have the effect of leaving the right foot and leg slightly ahead of the rest of the body. Now try and repeat this for the left foot. After a while you may find that you have moved several feet from your starting position.

I beleive in many countries this system is known as "walking".

Hope this helps.

 

[Oorang]

*grins*
*raises finger in international salute*

("But how do you turn on the headlights??")

Seriously though, doesn't that take FOREVER? At one point I tried to work out a way to get to work on the bus just to save ga$ (forget about trains we don't have them), but it took like an hour and 1/2 one way.
It was like a 2 mile (3K ish) walk to bus stop. A half hour ride to down town. A 10 minute walk to another station to pick up an express bus. And another wait whilst you got to where you were going. Then it dropped me off about 10 minute walk from work.
Now it would take even longer because I live 30 miles away from work (about 48 k).

 

[Glaswegian]

*grins*

*raises finger in international salute*
quote]
I accept your salutes in the spirit given.

I'm only five minutes walk from my local station, the train takes 20 minutes to reach the city centre and then I've got a 10 minute walk to the office. I suppose, like everything else, it's just what you're used to. Last time I was in the US (a few years ago now) I seem to remember driving for miles without seeing any signs of civilisation - and that was only in New Jersey! So, if you have to drive to even reach your neighbour, then driving anywhere and everywhere becomes second nature.