So
Belgium is not a good place to go to if you want to learn French. The
worst French is spoken in East Flanders and the best in Ypres.
There is a great likeness between Flemish and Dutch, which were
originally one language, and a book printed in Flemish is almost
exactly the same as a Dutch book. But there are many different ways of
pronouncing Flemish. The accent of Ghent is so different from that of
Bruges that the people of these towns do not always understand each
other, and in neither do they speak with the accent which is used in
Antwerp. Thus, in little Belgium there are not only three different
languages, but various ways of speaking Flemish, the original language
of the country. So French is not only the official language, but the
most useful for travellers to know.
Though French is the official language, there are laws which have been
made to allow the use of Flemish in the law courts, and Belgian
officers must be able to command the soldiers in Flemish. In the
_Moniteur_ (a paper like the _London Gazette_) Royal Proclamations,
and things of that sort, are published in both Flemish and French.
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