Is French or Dutch the language spoken most in Hasselt? Is it considered impolite to speak the other of the two? I am fascinated by the etiquette of language.
Dutch of course (here's its official website: http://www.hasselt.be/) and yes, although it depends on exactly how you do it (and how obvious it is that you are not Belgian), it is considered just as impolite to speak French in a Dutch-speaking area of Belgium as it would be to insist on speaking Welsh (an official language in part of the UK) in England: and as counter-productive. Unless you have just heard them speaking French to someone else, it would be polite to ask whether someone speaks French rather than just assuming they do - and it is in any case more likely that they would speak English, which is an easier language for a Dutch-speaker (and doesn't carry the historical baggage that French does).
Edited: 12 years agoThanks so much for this. I found your reply really helpful and interesting.
To be clear: besides Dutch, the Limburgish language (German-Dutch crossover, and close to Luxembourgish) is also native to Hasselt (though without official status); don't know which is more common as a mother tongue among locals though.
Edited: 4 years agoAnyone speaking that local language in private circles will switch to Dutch when speaking to strangers. Anyway, it's mostly spoken in the north of the province of Limburg (or so I hear from colleagues). I hardly ever hear it in Hasselt.
Ans just wanted to add that qaminari's description in post #1 is spot on.
Edited: 4 years agoAnd it hasn't changed in the 8 years since question was asked.
Good point! :-) (Did not notice it in this case...)
Maybe Crazydre can explain why it was so important so reopen this thread...?
Oops, didn't notice how old this was xD