Goedemiddag! Hoe gaat het met jou?

Now what does that mean?

Do you think, knowing me, that I would come to live in Belgium and not take a stab at learning Flemish?!

That's exactly what I'm doing.  The Flemish-speaking university here offers courses in Flemish.  It's called 'Nederlands' = Dutch spoken à la Flemish.  What that means is that Flemish is really Dutch with different pronunciation here and there, and some different expressions.  So, I'm getting 2 for 1!!  I go twice a week for 3 1/2 hours each time = 7 hours of Flemish per week.

We have a great teacher, Sylvia Philips.  She is young, vivacious and goes about teaching beginners like me in an interesting way.  As a teacher of linguistics, I have been impressed with how she concentrates mostly on oral comprehension, and I am amazed to be able to understand almost everything she says after 2 months of classes.

There are about 20 of us in the class.  EVERYONE of us is from a different country!!  It shows you what a cultural mix Brussels is!  It also shows you that Sylvia HAD to teach her class in Flemish right from the start: it's the only language we all have in common.  During the breaks, however, we have found that most of us speak either French or English, so we switch back and forth over a cup of coffee.  But the fun is that, as we get better in Flemish, we are speaking to each other in Flemish!!  I often think of my Dutch friends the Geleynses: I am learning their language!

Actually, I'm finding Flemish quite easy.  The grammar is easy and many words are very similar to English, and there's a guttural 'g' like German.  I'm listening to a Flemish TV channel to get the music of the language and I have found a new Flemish friend I can practise with.  By the end of the year, I should be really at home in the language.  Can't wait!

Oh ..... and what does the title of this post mean?  Guess :)!