Foreign language announcements on Continental European trains?

[johncrossley]

And is Dutch in any kind of danger ? 60% of Belgian citizens speak it (against 39% French speakers). This idea that Dutch would be wiped out if NMBS staff were allowed to speak French in Flanders is extrapolation beyond any reasonable level.

Dutch used to be spoken as far south as Calais. Brussels used to be Dutch speaking but French speakers kept moving into Brussels from France and Wallonia from around 1800. Dutch became stigmatised so Dutch speakers felt they had to speak French to get on in life, so Brussels became mainly French speaking. As mentioned above, French speakers increasingly settle in areas around Brussels which are officially Dutch speaking.

 

[SHD]

I haven't made the rules... but for the governments and governmental organisations, the rules are laid down in the constitution and related laws and they're the same in the whole country: they must use the language(s) of the region when addressing the general public. If they want to use additional languages, they can, but then they must use all national languages first.

It remains to be seen whether uttering “goiedag - bonjour” upon entering a carriage is an address to the general public or a conversation. (I’m not trolling).

I seem to remember that the outraged passenger took the matter to the permanent language control commission, who will probably clarify the matter.

And by the way, “bonjour” is in the Van Dale(*) - some Flemish politicians ought to open it from time to time. (I might be trolling slightly.)





(*) for the benefit of all forum members - the Van Dale is the dictionary of reference for the Dutch language.

 

[gysev]

As mentioned above, French speakers increasingly settle in areas around Brussels which are officially Dutch speaking.

And Dutch speaking Belgians increasingly settle in the French speaking Lessines/Ath and Wavre/Jodoigne regions. No language "battles" there. In fact, some local councils even publish leaflets in Dutch to help Dutch speaking people settlle in their town. In my opinion, this complaint against a SNCB guard demonstrates how narrow minded Flemish nationalists are - and I am a Dutch speaking Belgian myself.