3 ms·
Belgian born, raised in Flanders, speaking Flemish (=Dutch dialect). Worked at a US company in Belgium where the lingua franca was English. Moved to the USA 8
by OptionOfT 2y ago
Belgian born, raised in Flanders, speaking Flemish (=Dutch dialect).
Worked at a US company in Belgium where the lingua franca was English.
Moved to the USA 8 years ago.
My wife (from the Netherlands, but a native Flemish speaker) and I switched to speaking English at home.
Couple of weeks ago I'm walking in our neighborhood and I met this guy with a Flemish sounding name. He was Flemish. Started to speak Flemish to me. I could not reply. Could not find words, and didn't know how to move my tongue to produce those sounds.
Now, I can speak Flemish fine with my mom and sister. I struggle with words sometimes and my word order is incorrect.
But it only works when I call them. A spontaneous need to speak Flemish just... fails.
And forgive me for writing Flemish and not Dutch. It's different enough that it requires more active listening when you don't have a trained ear for it.
- skerit 2y ago> And forgive me for writing Flemish and not Dutch. It's different enough that it requires more active listening when you don't have a trained ear for it Flemish here. The written forms are diverging a lot too, and I wish streaming platforms would take notice. It's so annoying when watching a good TV-show or movie and the subtitles are clearly Netherlands-Dutch.
- oefnak 2y agoYou should use English subs anyway if the original language is English.
- OptionOfT 2y agoThat's interesting. I switched to English subs way before moving to the US. I started getting annoyed at incorrect translations, or missing context (i.e. in the Simpsons). But I do remember the fanfare around children's movies finally being dubbed by Flemish voice actors, and not just getting the Dutch dub. Flemish was finally recognized as worthy of its own dub. Are you saying it's different vs say 10 years ago?