Why do Walloons speak French?
Because of long Spanish and minor French rule, French became the sole official language. After a brief period with Dutch as the official language while the region was part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the people reinstated French after achieving independence in 1830.
What’s the difference between Flemish and Belgian?
Belgium is one of those special countries that have three official languages: Dutch, French and German. After all, Flemish is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as the “Dutch language spoken in Northern Belgium”. So, the terms ‘Flemish’ and ‘Belgian Dutch’ actually refer to the same language.
What country speaks Flemish and Walloon?
Belgium
Fleming and Walloon, members of the two predominant cultural and linguistic groups of modern Belgium. The Flemings, who constitute more than half of the Belgian population, speak Dutch (sometimes called Netherlandic), or Belgian Dutch (also called Flemish by English-speakers), and live mainly in the north and west.
Do all Flemish people speak French?
Almost all of the inhabitants of the Capital region speak French as either their primary language (50\%) or as a lingua franca (45\%). Many Flemish people also speak French as a second language.
Is Flemish widely spoken in Belgium?
Flemish is pretty close to the Dutch spoken in the Netherlands. In Brussels and the south — what’s called the Wallonia region — you’ll mostly hear French. Brussels is technically bilingual, speaking French and Flemish in an official capacity, but Flemish isn’t commonly spoken there in practice.
Why do people in Belgium speak French instead of Dutch?
The southern part of Belgium – Waloonia – is historically, culturally affiliated with France. They are in some way French, that’s why they speak French. In the northern part of Belgium – Flanders – the same applies, but with the Netherlands, so they speak Dutch.
Who are the Flemish people?
For the most part, the Flemish community lives in a northern region called Flanders, and they make up about 60 percent of the population. Technically, they speak Belgian-Dutch, which is usually referred to as Flemish. Flemish is pretty close to the Dutch spoken in the Netherlands.
Is Belgium a bilingual country?
Brussels, the capital, is officially bilingual: all signs are in both Dutch and French. But we’re not there yet. Belgium is not a bilingual, but a trilingual country.