Belgium’s language divide: Many young Walloons do not speak Dutch
The language divide in Belgium has recently resurfaced again in political debate, as interim president of the Christian Democrats CD&V party Sammy Mahdi has criticised the fact that learning Dutch in Francophone schools is not compulsory.
The debate was revived once again when the leader of the Francophone liberal MR party Georges-Louis Bouchez said that the fact that he does not speak Dutch “is the fault of the Walloon school system.” And Bouchez is not alone in that regard: very few young people in Wallonia have a good command of Dutch by the time they leave secondary school, reports L’Avenir.
“We live in a country where we have to try to understand each other. It is often a question of respect too. It goes both ways,” Mahdi said on RTL recently, adding that he also feels like the knowledge of French in Flanders is deteriorating.
However, having basic knowledge of both languages is really important “if we really want to shape this country,” he said. “We can talk about re-federalisation, about how much money the state can give to the regions… But everything starts with respect for learning the other’s language.”
“And I really think that it is a lack of respect that, on the Francophone side, the politicians do not decide to make the Dutch language compulsory in French schools,” Mahdi added. In Flanders, pupils are taught French from their fifth year of primary school, when they are aged 10.
https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgiu...utch-is-normal