"Two languages, and more" Languages Tip by OlafS

Languages, Brussels: 24 reviews and 15 photos

 
 

As I said, this is originally a Dutch-speaking city. A long period of severe discrimination of Dutch-speakers and favouritism of French- speakers made an end to that. When discrimination officially ended in the 1960's Brussel had become a mostly French-speaking enclave in Dutch-speaking land, with only about 10% of the population still speaking Dutch as their native language. In the decades after that the surrounding villages were Frenchified as well, due to an influx of French-speakers who refused to learn the local language and forced the authorities and the original inhabitants to adapt to them instead. Lately things are improving a little; many French-speaking parents send their children to Dutch-speaking schools for instance, because education there is generally far superior to education in many French-language schools. But Dutch-speakers still are being discriminated when it comes to getting jobs in higher positions, finding a house or getting treatment in hospital. Many French-speakers still consider Dutch "a language for peasants" or worse.
Today the city is officially bilingual. All signs are in two languages. The French names are at the top, which in the case of the sign in the picture is the most practical, but sometimes you can see a third name in local dialect on a seperate sign. It's still Dutch, but I have no idea what this one means. Something like Broken Courtyard? But what's a broken courtyard then?

Review Helpfulness: 2.5 out of 5 stars

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  • Updated Oct 24, 2006
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