Re: I am surprised that Belgians are not widely bilingual.
Are you also surprised that Anglos living in California, Texas, New Mexico, Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, etc, are not widely fluent in Spanish? There are currently about 60 million Hispanic Americans --a sizable constituency-- but how many US politicians can speak Spanish? Of all GOP and Democrat candidates running to win their party nomination for the next presidential election (in 2008), how many are fluent in Spanish?
Re: Are signs in Wallonia in French and Dutch or just French?
There are in French only. The problem, however, lies with the so-called Brussels' periphery and its contentious, bilingual suburbs. Most of them used to have both a Dutch and a French toponym: Grand Bigard/Grootbijgaarden; La Hulpe/Terhulpen; Crainhem/Kraainem; Rhode-Saint-Genèse/Sint-Genesius-Rhode; Louvain/Leuven; etc.
Re: Is Flanders pulling a Quebec? Periodically threatening secession in order to gain more power for the home provinces?
In a sense, yes. But the difference with Québec is that, over here, Flemings are already the majority --demographically hence politically-- at the federal/national level! That's why there hasn't been a Francophone Prime Minister for the past 40 years!! Flemings want to have it both ways: running the show in Flanders and over Belgium (including Brussels and Wallonia) as a whole....
Gus |
