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14 October 2014
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Flemish, Vlaams
Flemish is a West Germanic language most closely related to Dutch and generally regarded as the Belgian variant of Dutch.
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.
The first written example is a late 11th century love poem, written in old-Dutch or more specifically South-West Flemish:
Hebban olla vogala nestas hagunnan All the birds have begun their nestsHinase hic enda thu except me and youUuat unbidan uue nu? what are we waiting for?
Although linguists prefer the term 'Netherlandic', Dutch and Flemish remain common terms because they have political and cultural meaning. This is especially true of local spoken dialects, which form a gradual chain through Dutch-Flemish territory. Also, Flemish speech has many loan words from French.
Key Phrases
Ja. Yes.
Nee. No.
Welkom! Welcome!
Aangename kennismaking. Pleased to meet you.
Hallo. Hello.
Tot ziens. Goodbye.
Dank u. Thank you.
Mijn naam is ... My name is ...
Spreekt u Engels? Do you speak English?
Het spijt me, ik spreek geen Vlaams. I'm sorry, I don't speak Flemish.
Ik heb hulp nodig. I need help.
Waar is het toilet, alstublieft? Where is the toilet, please?
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