Learning Flemish

Textkit Community Open Board
1

Salvete…

I’ve noticed occasional threads pop up for recommendations on what grammars or books to use for learning languages other than Latin or Greek. So, considering the sharp crowd here, I thought I’d ask if anyone has heard of any books on learning Flemish that are either exceptionally good…or close to LL or something. My family’s from Belgium and I have cousins who speak nothing but the language, and, shame of all shames, they speak no Latin! :slight_smile:

Thanks in advance,
Chris

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Maybe you could look for some Dutch materials? I think those are more commonly available than Flemish.

3

Thanks for the reply quendidil…

Here’s where my ignorance will begin to show. My Belgian relatives insist that Flemish is not Dutch, but the babelfish translator can translate most Flemish stuff I have when set to Dutch. Is it really the same or a dialect thereof? If it’s basically the same, are there any Dutch materials that anyone here would recommend?

Thanks again

4

When my Belgian cousins start speaking West-Flemish, there is no way I (speaking Dutch) can understand them. I wouldn’t call it Dutch myself. The official language in Flanders (a part of Belgium) is Dutch, but dialects are spoken. Some see Flemish not as a dialect, but as a language on its own.

5

You can’t understand them because the vocabulary is different or because the pronunciation is different even though the vocabulary is largely the same?
If someone from Brabant doesn’t speak clearly I have trouble understanding him although pretty well the same words are used.
The Netherlands and Belgium have so many dialects (not only pronunciation but also words that occur in one but not in another dialect.) that people jokingly say the tower of Babel was located there.