Learning Basic Flemish
 

Hello!

I wil be travelling to Belgium (primarily the Flanders region) in a
few months and was wondering if there is a good guide to learn some
Flemish before I get there. I know Flemish is closely related to
Dutch so would a Dutch guide be all I needed? I am aware that most of
the Flemish speak English (I've been before) but would like to learn a
few basics just for the sake of being polite.

Thanks,

Heath

Re: Learning Basic Flemish
 

On 25 Jul, 15:15, [email protected] wrote:
> Hello!
>
> I wil be travelling to Belgium (primarily the Flanders region) in a
> few months and was wondering if there is a good guide to learn some
> Flemish before I get there. I know Flemish is closely related to
> Dutch so would a Dutch guide be all I needed? I am aware that most of
> the Flemish speak English (I've been before) but would like to learn a
> few basics just for the sake of being polite.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Heath

Flemish is Dutch mixed with some French giving rise to funny words and
even funnier dialects.
But Phlegmish is only spoken by Dutch people, purveyors of the ugliest
dialects this side of China.

If you manage to say something in Flemish, the reply will be in
English anyway.

Re: Learning Basic Flemish
 

On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:38:58 -0700, 'Double Shirly' Jock McShirly the
Mannie Trannie <[email protected]> wrote:


>But Phlegmish is only spoken by Dutch people, purveyors of the ugliest
>dialects this side of China.

Be useful in a gob spitting contest.

Re: Learning Basic Flemish
 

> If you manage to say something in Flemish, the reply will be in
> English anyway.

Um, yeah, I said that. Thanks for answering none of my questions...

Re: Learning Basic Flemish
 

On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:57:57 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

>
>> If you manage to say something in Flemish, the reply will be in
>> English anyway.
>
>Um, yeah, I said that. Thanks for answering none of my questions...

The answer is quite often in German.
--

Martin

Re: Learning Basic Flemish
 

On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:15:36 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

>Hello!
>
>I wil be travelling to Belgium (primarily the Flanders region) in a
>few months and was wondering if there is a good guide to learn some
>Flemish before I get there. I know Flemish is closely related to
>Dutch so would a Dutch guide be all I needed? I am aware that most of
>the Flemish speak English (I've been before) but would like to learn a
>few basics just for the sake of being polite.

And any effort made will be much appreciated by the locals.

A Dutch guide will be fine. Dutch is one of the official languages of
Belgium - "Flemish" isn't.

Like British English/American English; German German/Austrian German,
Portugese Portugese/Brazilian Portugese there are differences with
pronunciaton and sometimes with grammar between Dutch Dutch and
Belgian Dutch but learn a bit of Dutch and you'll be fine. And there
are some great accents in Belgium like "Brugs" from Brugge and
"Oostands" from Oostende.

Have fun!

Keith, Bristol, UK

Re: Learning Basic Flemish
 

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] oups.com...

> I know Flemish is closely related to
> Dutch so would a Dutch guide be all I needed?

Pretty much, yes. "Standard" Flemish is so close to "Algemeen
Nederlands" (Dutch) that if you learn Dutch reasonably well, you'll
be understood in Flemish Belgium just fine.
--
dgs

Re: Learning Basic Flemish
 

On Wed, 25 Jul 2007, hrbintliff wrote:

> I wil be travelling to Belgium (primarily the Flanders region) in a
> few months and was wondering if there is a good guide to learn some
> Flemish before I get there.

If you're willing to buy an actual book, I can recommend "Dutch for
self-study" by van Kampen and Stumpel.

--
Yves Bellefeuille
<[email protected]>

Re: Learning Basic Flemish
 

On Jul 25, 6:36 pm, Keith Anderson <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:15:36 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
> >Hello!
>
> >I wil be travelling to Belgium (primarily the Flanders region) in a
> >few months and was wondering if there is a good guide to learn some
> >Flemish before I get there. I know Flemish is closely related to
> >Dutch so would a Dutch guide be all I needed? I am aware that most of
> >the Flemish speak English (I've been before) but would like to learn a
> >few basics just for the sake of being polite.
>
> And any effort made will be much appreciated by the locals.
>
> A Dutch guide will be fine. Dutch is one of the official languages of
> Belgium - "Flemish" isn't.
>
> Like British English/American English; German German/Austrian German,
> Portugese Portugese/Brazilian Portugese there are differences with
> pronunciaton and sometimes with grammar between Dutch Dutch and
> Belgian Dutch but learn a bit of Dutch and you'll be fine. And there
> are some great accents in Belgium like "Brugs" from Brugge and
> "Oostands" from Oostende.
>
> Have fun!
>
> Keith, Bristol, UK

Thanks for the help! That's all I needed to know...

Re: Learning Basic Flemish
 

On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:37:52 -0700, "dgs" <[email protected]> wrote:

><[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected] roups.com...
>
>> I know Flemish is closely related to
>> Dutch so would a Dutch guide be all I needed?
>
>Pretty much, yes. "Standard" Flemish is so close to "Algemeen
>Nederlands" (Dutch) that if you learn Dutch reasonably well, you'll
>be understood in Flemish Belgium just fine.

How about Afrikaans?

Re: Learning Basic Flemish
 

'Double Shirly' Jock McShirly the Mannie Trannie wrote:

> On 25 Jul, 15:15, [email protected] wrote:
>
>>Hello!
>>
>>I wil be travelling to Belgium (primarily the Flanders region) in a
>>few months and was wondering if there is a good guide to learn some
>>Flemish before I get there. I know Flemish is closely related to
>>Dutch so would a Dutch guide be all I needed? I am aware that most of
>>the Flemish speak English (I've been before) but would like to learn a
>>few basics just for the sake of being polite.

I don't think they even PUBLISH a Flemish dictionary in the
U.S.! I had to make do with Dutch, which seemed to work
just fine. I tried to listen to the person I wished to
speak with, first, then address them in the language they
had been speaking. As you say, most are likely to speak
some English, but I found that, if in doubt, it was better
to address native Belgians in English, rather than French.
(Some of the Flemish citizens are a bit touchy about people
simply assuming Belgium is French-speaking.)

Re: Learning Basic Flemish
 

Yves Bellefeuille wrote:

> On Wed, 25 Jul 2007, hrbintliff wrote:
>
>
>>I wil be travelling to Belgium (primarily the Flanders region) in a
>>few months and was wondering if there is a good guide to learn some
>>Flemish before I get there.
>
>
> If you're willing to buy an actual book, I can recommend "Dutch for
> self-study" by van Kampen and Stumpel.

I had a Dutch-English phrase book published by
Dorling-Kindersly, which came with a CD to help with
pronunciation. I lost the book on a bus day trip from
Brussels to Brugges (or maybe had my pocket picked - it was
in an open outside pocket of my purse). I still have the
CD, but unfortunately, the book is out of print! Too bad,
because I found the pronunciation a bit tricky, and
Berlitz's "phonetic" spellings just don't work for me.

Re: Learning Basic Flemish
 

On 25 Jul, 21:09, irwell <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:38:58 -0700, 'Double Shirly' Jock McShirly the
>
> Mannie Trannie <[email protected]> wrote:
> >But Phlegmish is only spoken by Dutch people, purveyors of the ugliest
> >dialects this side of China.
>
> Be useful in a gob spitting contest.

I found that making them speak English helped, it attracted less
Phlegm.

Re: Learning Basic Flemish
 

On 25 Jul, 22:57, [email protected] wrote:
> > If you manage to say something in Flemish, the reply will be in
> > English anyway.
>
> Um, yeah, I said that. Thanks for answering none of my questions...

mijn liefste donderbeestje, jij mag mijn klooten kussen :)

Re: Learning Basic Flemish
 

On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:10:14 -0700, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>
>'Double Shirly' Jock McShirly the Mannie Trannie wrote:
>
>> On 25 Jul, 15:15, [email protected] wrote:
>>
>>>Hello!
>>>
>>>I wil be travelling to Belgium (primarily the Flanders region) in a
>>>few months and was wondering if there is a good guide to learn some
>>>Flemish before I get there. I know Flemish is closely related to
>>>Dutch so would a Dutch guide be all I needed? I am aware that most of
>>>the Flemish speak English (I've been before) but would like to learn a
>>>few basics just for the sake of being polite.
>
>I don't think they even PUBLISH a Flemish dictionary in the
>U.S.! I had to make do with Dutch, which seemed to work
>just fine. I tried to listen to the person I wished to
>speak with, first, then address them in the language they
>had been speaking. As you say, most are likely to speak
>some English, but I found that, if in doubt, it was better
>to address native Belgians in English, rather than French.
>(Some of the Flemish citizens are a bit touchy about people
>simply assuming Belgium is French-speaking.)

OTOH Walloons are touchy about Flemish speakers.
--

Martin