French is one of the three official languages of Belgium alongside Dutch and German. It is spoken natively by around 45% of the population, primarily in the southern region of Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region.
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Why is French important to Belgium?
The tension between the two regions only got more intense after Belgium gained independence in 1830 from the Netherlands. French became the official language, which highlighted existing class tensions between the nobility (who generally spoke French) and the Flemish (who were seen as lower-class).
Why do Belgian colonies speak French?
Belgium’s famous Dutch-versus-French language divide was established in the Middle Ages when Roman Emperor Charlemagne was forced to divide his kingdom between his three grandsons.The divide created fluctuating friction between Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia and it continues to this day.
Do Belgians speak French?
In Belgium you can speak any language you want. For contacts with the authorities three official languages can be used: Dutch, French and German. These languages are not spoken everywhere, because Belgium is subdivided into federated states. Each federated state has its own official language.
Why does Belgium speak 3 languages?
Historically speaking, the country has had quite a wide variety of rulers, influencing how multilingual and multicultural Belgians are today. Due to their close proximity to these three countries, they have three official languages that divide Belgium into three main regions.
How is Belgian French different?
Overall, the lexical differences between Standard French and Belgian French are minor.The use of septante for “seventy” and nonante for “ninety”, in contrast to Standard French soixante-dix (literally “sixty-ten”) and quatre-vingt-dix'(“four-twenty-ten”).
How was French introduced in Belgium?
Simply said, the divide was a result of the Walloon region in the South of modern-day Belgium being run by the Gauls during the Roman Empire while the Flanders Region in the North was being infiltrated by Gothic Germans.French immediately became the official language in Belgium which upset the Flemish Speakers.
When did Belgium start speaking French?
In 1830, the Belgians had enough of the Dutch king Willem I and his malarky, and declared themselves independent. The inhabitants of Wallonia, the region that is called ‘Wallonie’, speak French.
What language is spoken by 80 cents in Brussels?
French
French is the language spoken by 80 percent of the population in Brussels and consider it to be their first language.
Are Belgians Dutch?
The majority of Belgians, however, belong to two distinct ethnic groups or communities (Dutch: gemeenschap or French: communauté) native to the country, i.e. its historical regions: Flemings in Flanders, who speak Dutch, and Walloons in Wallonia, who speak French or Walloon.
Is Belgium French or German?
Use
| Distribution of languages of Belgium | |
|---|---|
| Dutch (Flemish) | 59.6% |
| French | 40% |
| German | 0.4% |
Does Belgium speak Flemish?
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. There are also several thousand Flemish speakers in France. Flemish uses the Latin alphabet.
Is Brussels French or Dutch?
Historically speaking, Brussels is a Dutch-speaking city. From its creation in the tenth century until the eighteenth century Brussels was almost exclusively Dutch-speaking.
Is French and France the same thing?
The answer is simply… FRANCE!The translation of the word ‘French’ in French is français (masc.)
How do you say 99 in Belgium?
Fortunately, Belgians say ‘septante‘ instead. This is easier to learn as ‘septante’ comes from ‘sept’ (‘seven’). Likewise, for the numbers between 90 and 99. Where the French would say ‘quatre-vingt-dix’ for ‘ninety’ (or literally ‘four twenty ten’), a Belgian would say ‘nonante’.
Does Belgium speak the same French as France?
Belgium and France are more than just neighbours: they share a common language – at least in Wallonia the southern part of Belgium where the natives speak French rather than Flemish or German.
What is the French part of Belgium called?
Wallonia
Wallonia, French Wallonie, formally Walloon Region, French Région Wallonne, region that constitutes the southern half of Belgium. The self-governing Walloon Region was created during the federalization of Belgium, largely along ethnolinguistic lines, in the 1980s and ’90s.
Who is Belgian but speaks French?
Belgium is divided into three regions: Flanders in the north, the Brussels-Capital Region in the middle, and Wallonia in the south. To make matters a little more confusing, the Flemish speak Dutch but do not consider themselves Dutch, and the Walloons speak French but do not consider themselves French.
What language does Belgium not speak?
German is the language which is not spoken by most of the people in Belgium.
Which language is spoken by 20% capital of Brussels?
Dutch is spoken by the rest 20 percent of the population but there are sometimes other languages such as English and German are also spoken. But, French and Dutch are the two major languages used.
What language is spoken by 80%?
UPSC Question
Currently around 80% of the population in Brussels speak French as their first language.
