Sunday, December 19, 2010

I'm thrilled to tell you I have no idea what you're saying

Belgium is a country cut in two - the northern more or less half is the Flemish speaking part, called Flandres in French. The southern half is the French speaking part, called Wallonie. In the French part, it is mandatory to take multiple years of both English and Flemish. On many of the products sold in supoermarkets, things are written French and Flemish (and often English or other languages as well). It's an odd language, sort of a combination of German and English. But I absolutely love hearing it. I revel in a language that I am not expected to comprehend. It's normal that I have no idea what someone is saying when they speaking Flemish. I don't have to worry about trying to understand, focusing all my attention on listening to the words as sometimes happens in French or Spanish. Neither do I have to think about trying to translate it, or help the speaker, as sometimes happens with English. I don't want to, don't need to, don't feel expected to understand, and I love.