Dutch vs Flemish (Belgian Dutch) – Introduction
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Transcript:
Studio Studeo is a video course, which deals with the differences between the Dutch spoken in the Netherlands and the Dutch spoken in Belgium (in other words Flemish). The course is made by Tom Raes from Belgium and me, Bart de Pau, from the Netherlands.
The good news for any Dutch learner is that the differences are just very small. You will absolutely not have any problem if you learnt Dutch in one country, to use it in the other. The difference is mainly the accent (you will hear it) and some specific words. You can compare it with the difference between UK and US English.
How did we set up this course? We have 10 episodes. Each episode is a conversation between Tom and me. And we talk about the differences in the language, but we also cover some general differences between the Netherlands and Belgium (or more specifically: Flanders – which is the Dutch speaking part of Belgium).
The conversation is in Dutch, but we speak very slowly, so that even students who are just above beginner level, will be able to understand.
In the video, you will see the Dutch text of the conversation. And in youtube, you can add the English subtitles – by pushing the CC button. So you can see the sentences in both languages at once, and that may be a great help in studying the language.
The transcripts of the conversations in Dutch and the English translation, you can find on learndutch.org
Attention: this course is NOT about dialects. Because learning dialects would be almost impossible for a foreigner. There are hundreds of dialects. People from one region in Belgium have difficulties to understand people from other regions within Belgium and the same for the Netherlands. So this course is about the official language, as for example is used on television.
Oh yeah, just to give a hint to understand the humor in the videos. The Dutch traditionally make fun of the intellectual capacities of the Belgians.
And the Belgians make fun of the Dutch for being greedy.
Have fun with the course !
FAQs
The Dutch language spoken in the Netherlands has more of an English influence, whilst the language in the Flander region, the Flemish speaking region of Belgium, has a stronger French manifestation. Dutch people also often mention that the Flemish dialect sounds softer.
What is the difference between Flemish and Belgian? ›
I would say, all Flemish people are Belgian, but not all Belgian people are Flemish. Flemish is a cultural heritage, and Belgian is a nationality. There are the Flemish, who speak Dutch and used to belong to the Netherlands a long, long time ago.
Can people who speak Flemish understand Dutch? ›
In fact, it might be the exact same language as Dutch. These two languages are mutually intelligible, so a Dutch speaker and a Flemish speaker can understand each other just fine. The differences are so close, they are comparable to American English versus British English.
Is Belgium Dutch the same as the Netherlands Dutch? ›
Dutch is mainly spoken in Flanders (Vlaanderen), the Dutch speaking part of Belgium. The 'Belgian Dutch' is called Flemish (Vlaams). The good news is that the grammar in both countries is exactly the same and in general vocabulary is comparable.
Why do Belgians call Dutch Flemish? ›
"Flemish" was historically a geographical term, as all inhabitants of the medieval County of Flanders in modern-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands were referred to as "Flemings", irrespective of their ethnicity or language.
Can you understand German if you speak Dutch? ›
For example, the shared historic roots mean that many words in both languages are very similar, either in their spelling or pronunciation or both. This means that while it can be hard to understand one another, speakers often still can catch the topic of a conversation by picking up a few words.
Does anyone still speak Flemish? ›
Flemish is a West Germanic language most closely related to Dutch and generally regarded as the Belgian variant of Dutch. Flemish is spoken by approximately 5.5 million people in Belgium and by a few thousand people in France. Flemish is spoken by about 55% of the population of Belgium.
Is Brussels more French or Flemish? ›
Dutch (Flemish) is spoken in the Flemish communities, while French is spoken in Wallonia. In Brussels the most common language is French.
Is Afrikaans closer to Dutch or Flemish? ›
When we look at the full pronunciation distances, we find that Afrikaans is most closely related to Standard Dutch. Standard Dutch is also significantly closer to Afrikaans than Standard Frisian (t=5.096, n=125, p<0.001) and Standard German (t=10.861, n=125, p<0.001).
What is the closest language to English? ›
Closest Major Language: Dutch
Like Frisian and English, Dutch is another West Germanic language that developed from Proto-Germanic. Because of this, Dutch possesses many words and phrases similar to English and has a similar grammatical structure.
However, saying that Dutch is mix between German, English and French is quite wrong (disclaimer: I am not Dutch). English, Dutch and German are all classified as western germanic languages, meaning they probably derived from a single ancestor language some time ago.
Why did Belgium leave the Netherlands? ›
The revolution was due to a combination of factors, the main one being the difference of religion (Catholic in today's Belgium, Protestant in today's Netherlands) and the general lack of autonomy given to the south. Most of the institutions were based in the North and public burdens were unevenly distributed.
What came first Belgium or the Netherlands? ›
In this history it is often so used, for clarity, because Belgium for a long time was part of the Netherlands. Belgium did not have a separate existence as Belgium until 1830. For the sake of clarity, again, the term “Belgium” has often been used before that - meaning the land which is now Belgium.
What language is spoken in Holland? ›
The predominant language of the Netherlands is Dutch, spoken and written by almost all people in the Netherlands. Dutch is also spoken and official in Aruba, Bonaire, Belgium, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten and Suriname.
Can Afrikaans understand Dutch? ›
There is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages, particularly in written form. Research suggests that mutual intelligibility between Dutch and Afrikaans is better than between Dutch and Frisian or between Danish and Swedish.
