Don't forget the German-speaking Belgians! We have three official languages.As they explained it to me, there are Dutch-speaking culturally Flemish Belgian citizens and French-speaking culturally French Belgian citizens.
Oh gosh! Maybe they were trying to simplify it for poor little me.Don't forget the German-speaking Belgians! We have three official languages.
correct. If you want trouble, call a Flemish person Dutch and you'll see what happens!Oh gosh! Maybe they were trying to simplify it for poor little me.
The Belgians I know are of many different cultural backgrounds -- French, Flemish, Vietnamese, German, Italian, Morroccan. They do not consider themselves French or Vietnamese or Italian. They are Belgian. Just like Dutch-speaking Flemish Belgians are Belgians, not "Dutch". Am I right?
I think Flanders is one of the regions in the world with the biggest variety of dialects. This is changing because of general globalisation and people moving around, but it used to be possible to recognize if a person was from one village or the one right next to it, just by vocabulary. All villages are right next to each other here, no solitary places. So that's pretty interesting. But as I said, it's fading away.That´s pretty cool, the Low Countries must be amongst the most multilingual countries in the developed world. You´re definitely better than the British, unless we count Scottish, Irish and Welsh English as separate languages!
correct. If you want trouble, call a Flemish person Dutch and you'll see what happens!
lol, how could they invent mussels?It was founded in 1830, and claims to have invented beer, chocolate, french fries, mussels...actually, I´m quite fond of Belgium, it seems (from the outside) like a very sensible country.
You haven't heard of Jean Claude van Damme? The Mussels from Brussels?lol, how could they invent mussels?![]()
I take it no one wants to talk about the actual paper?![]()
I don´t feel up to going through it at the moment - what do you make of it? I am asking about about the specific claims, rather than your general perception of Maes.