good luck Heather, it's just a big collectio of dialects. If you want to speak Dutch, you willhav eto move to Holland. Even my native Dutch friends, from the Hague, could not understand a Flemish dialect, writen or spoken. It's a real mess bieng an expat over there. A big Good Luck, and good luck with the birth of your baby!

americanmamainbe said:
Hello, my name is Heather. I am fresh off the plane, I just arrived last week. We live in the Dutch speaking part of the country, and like you, I need to learn the language before I can communicate with anyone but my husband and the occasional English speaker I encounter. Oh, I am also seven and a half months pregnant with my first child, so that adds a whole slew of extra problems and concerns I am am trying to cope with.

I wish I could tell you it will all be alright, but I need to convince myself of that first! All I can say is that you are not alone!

 

YOu are so right about that dishwashing thing. I have seen parties RUINED b/c somebody got very insulted b/C they thought somebody did not do their part in the clean up or the setting out the food. ridiculous. There is a hugh village mentality in belgium, which is realy just a big collection of villages. It's best for hte Belgians to be with other Belgians, b/c they all understand this small mindedness. My potential father in law spoke a little english, very little, and his daughter in law would correct him, which he hated. He always hated it and told his son, my fiance. Then when I tried to speak Dutch, HE corrected me! couldnt believe it. I do not mind being corrected, but from that source who was so sensitive to it.....anyway. I have broken up with my Belgian, he ended up cheating on me with a local girl...in the end it all turns out better. But I did learn a great deal about a very nothing country....The north hates the south, but they do not want to separate, but continue to complain about about eachother. Crazy....

starlightning2006 said:
hey Gabrielle my name is erica and i am going through a little bit what you are. whenever i go over to my inlaws and they ask us like if we want to eat there we always have to do the dishes cause my husbands sister commands us to and i get **** off cause you don't ask guest to do that. if you ever want to talk i am always on msn and my name on there is starlightning2006@hotmail.com. and really what will help me out is i am going to learn dutch with the free classes you might try and see about learning dutch then if you get **** you can defend yourself if your in laws are talking about you that is one reason why i am doing this also. i live in merelbeke but i don't know where you are at i am going to look up where in belgium. i get mad being here at times when my in laws just want to talk dutch not english cause they know i don't know dutch yet. well talk to you later.

 

Listen Girl,

I spent a lot of time in that very town you are in, that very nothing town...my boyfriend was embarrased to speak english to me while in the bakery because it was too "high class" to be able to speak english in public.  I just cannot believe that in Holland English is so wide spread.  Mastrrick (sp) I have a friend living there, just over the border, and everybody speaks English.  Plus the problem is that in all those villages, St Nicklas, Temse, they all speak a different dialect. Impossible to learn unless you are a language natural.  I was always out of the conversation at any party.  Then if they could speak english, they wud try to , but they struggled with it so much, I could see I was taking their fun away from their party.  It was AWFUL.  I never understood anything, just smiled so much my mouth hurt.  I guess you are having a terrible time now with hte terrible weather, well, get used to it, cause it is not hte good weather capital of hte world by any means.  My Belgian ended up cheating on me big time with a local and I ended it.  I am happier not being in Belgium, back to america and Target!!!! Of course the cheating thing was terrible, and all his fault. I do believe he used the language barrier to his advantage.  Do not think it is just you thinking all these negative thoughts about Belgium and its provincial nature. they basically are jealous of Americans and what we have in our country, when they are basically very socialist minded, and do not have access to the type of, and variety of goods, we have been raised with.  I mean, come on, you have to put money down in order to get a grocery cart to use in the store!!??  Archaic as ****.

Of course I do have a  few good memories, but would never trade USA for Belgium and I am very well traveled... GOOD LUCK to you, Brave..