wonderful_be2Quick question, I have been living in Flanders for about six months now and my Dutch is getting better every day, but since I do not know any French I am always so nervous when I go to Brussels to visit friends, I often wonder if I should stick to Dutch or just try my luck with English so I can understand the people around me better, and while I am on the subject of the linguistic landscape I was wondering why German is actually an official language in Belgium?
Accepted answer
the_pro_guide2Belgium has 4 linguistic areas like dutch, french, german and the bilingual brussels-capital region, it is because of the east cantons near germany after WWI via the treaty of versailles so there are about 1% of people there! i find that when i get official papers from the federal gov they often use DeepL translation instead of a real person translating it
geography_geek_ukA bit like trying to navigate a maze without a map lol. Just stick to English if you get stuck.
been_there_done_thatI see it quite differently from the way people talk about it... for me it seems like nationalism is the main reason certain dialects get turned into full languages! It is more about identity than just communication...
cocoa_lover_ukI had a lovely time in the east cantons last year, it was so interesting to see how different the vibe is there, I think the cohesion of a country depends more on shared values and tolerance than just everyone speaking the same language!