how different is French in Belgium than French in France?
i've taken a few years of french in school and been to west francophone africa so i know accents and regional language differences can be important.....but i'm wondering if it will be difficult or just different to live 6 months in belgium (waterloo area) as opposed to paris or southern france (my original choice)...anyone with experience in both countries?
Belgium - 6 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
No big differences. Just some differences in dialects between French in France and Belgium. Keep in your mind the Flemish people in the North of Belgium speak Dutch.
2 :
If you really want to learn proper French I would suggest you to go to France, it would be the same as learning English in Scotland or German in Switzerland. Sure, In Belgium you will become just as fluent in French as you would become in France, but if you choose Waterloo (which is a great place to live) you will get the Belgium accent on top of your own accent.
3 :
all the dialects are different?in Paris evan the French have difficulty in understanding each other wise choice Belgium is a lovely country as is France,and the Ardene is a Beautiful place?good luck with your studies?
4 :
I think you will find more difference between west african french and french french than you will find between belgian french an french french. I took french as a compulsory third language at age 14 (in belgium). one of the differences is the number 80, the belgians say 70+10 and the french say 20x4. We were thought the french version. My written french is really too bad too even attempt writing it now. I spent a lot of time in southern france in my teens and my little bit of belgian french got me by perfectly. Like someone else pointed out, take the differences in dialects in france itself ... compare a parisian with a marseilaise andd say no more ... You will be fine in waterloo. Believe me :-)
5 :
Belgian French is very nasalized and they use a number of words that differ from the French, especially when you are dealing with numbers. When I first moved to Bruxelles I had just come from the Caribbean after 2 years, and the only way I could communicate for the first month or 2 was by WRITING since I had such a hard time with the Belgian accent. It was a strange feeling... we were BOTH speaking the same language and we couldn't understand each other... On top of that.. French is my native language, but it's CANADIAN FRENCH.. so that just complicated matters... A LOT.! he,he,he...
6 :
as said by most of people reacting to your question, accents can be different - but that's true everywhere in the world. vocabulary and grammar are the same in france and in belgium, except for a few exceptions. there are some differences with numbers, but part time cynic is wrong: 80 is quatre-vingts in france and in belgium. however, 70 is septante in belgium and its soixante-dix in france, and 90 is quatre-vingt-dix in france while it's nonante in belgium (by the way, i think 80 is octante in swiss french ;-) )
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