We are very split here in Belgium.
In the North everything is in Dutch, including road signs.
In Brussels everything is in two languages
In Wallonia everything is in French.
So you might end up in situations where the town you go to is Rijsel and it’s suddenly Lille on the signs next to the highway, and yeah you kinda have to know this is the same city.
Postive sides: culture is tied to language, so the culture is also very different. Going to the other part of the country than you live in actually feels like going to another country while having the convenience of being in your own country. Or something.
But in my daily life, it’s not noticeable at all, since everything is in Dutch and that’s my mothertongue
by learning the language.
feels normal
By making the minority language obligatory for everyone to learn.
Men det är helt ok.
For Switzerland:
Either we learn one of the other languages or we communicate in English.
Since most things are always written in 3 or 4 languages and you overhear one of the other languages regularly and also read/watch news from all parts of the country, maybe even visit from time to time or work there, or have friends or family who are from another region, it feels very natural. It’s just part of our identity as a country and part of what makes our country up.
Finland has a Swedish speaking minority on coastal areas. Most of Swedish speakers are bilingual and manage with Finnish too. At my work it is normal that Swedish speaking co workers talk to each other in Swedish and I have no idea what they are saying. I don’t really think much of it, although with my limited Swedish skills I try to listen and learn.
But sometimes people don’t understand each other, or use English. Like here in Finland there are rural Swedish speaking areas and the people there don’t necessarily speak Finnish, and many Finnish speakers don’t know Swedish. In these cases people then stick to areas where they can use their mother tongue.
When I was a kid I lived in a 50/50 Swedish/Finnish speaking town. My friend was Swedish speaking and spoke barely any Finnish and I didn’t know any Swedish so we interacted with some crappy English by 9-year old kids. But we were friends for years until I moved away.
Generally there’s not much fuss about it in here. But some people are annoyed about Åland, an autonomous archipelago territory of Finland. Whereas Finnish and Swedish are the official languas of Finland, Finnish is not an official language of Åland islands. Some Finnish speakers feel this is unfair. I personally don’t mind it but rather see Åland as like a mini-nation within Finland. Think of Faroe islands of Denmark.
Outside Åland, majority Swedish speaking areas are small towns and rural areas on the coast. I’ve heard an anecdote that the most Swedish speaking municipality in the world is in the west coast of Finland.
Fun fact: the [Swedish entry for Eurovision this year](https://youtu.be/WK3HOMhAeQY?si=5a_3MvNRWpnZGWg5) is actually a Swedish speaking band from Finland. They are from the rural Swedish speaking west coast of Finland and natively speak a dialect of Swedish which is sometime difficult for other Swedish speakers to understand. As they sing about sauna, use some Finnish too and are from Finland, Finns are massively enjoying the song.
EDIT: As a bonus, Swedish speakers in capital region mix a lot of Finnish into Swedish. [This old ad](https://youtu.be/Tktz1W73XCc?si=EGgZCuGrOTbqJmC2) parodies this way of speaking in a way most Finnish speakers also understand what they are talking about.
In Finland almost everyone who speaks the number two language is almost or entirely fluent in the number one language. There is a bit of friction about the number one speakers forced to learn a bit of the number two language. Many do learn it; most don’t and that’s all ok. We also have languages 3 4 and 5 up north but noone knows them. I wish it weren’t so but I’ve never been able to pick up any of any of them. Considering everything there’s very little fuss.
Oh, and national politicians, presidential candidates and such need to be able to make themselves understood in both languages. Some are not very proficient but us number two speakers really truly appreciate the effort, especially for those who struggle.
Languages are very regional, with the capital and some other large southern cities a bit more mixed.
We have reason to be proud over how well we get along.
I was born in a Hungarian majority part of Romania. We mostly used what was the most familiar to everyone in the given discussion.
Sometimes that was Hungarian, sometimes Romanian, a few times even English. It really wasn’t an issue in the vast majority of cases.
Generally speaking most people just speak all those languages. Of course that’s not always the case, but the languages are usually sequestered in their own regions so unless you’re moving around a lot it’s more or less the same as being anywhere else with one language being used.
Hey I’m not european, but I can give you Canada’s perspective.
French speakers understand English, English speakers don’t understand French. The end.
To hijack the post. How are press conferences given? Are there multiple TV-Channels that all translate, live, to the other language?
What about in public? How does the president of Belgium speak? Does he speak French? Dutch? Both?
What about ads (digital ads) and laws?
Spain here. We have an official language (Spanish) and everybody has the constitutional right to use it and the duty to learn it. So we understand each other because this is the main language and everybody understands it. Other languages are only spoken in their regions.
Wait until you hear about the political system in Belgium, it’s wildly complicated for it being 1 country
At least in Spain it doesn’t really works like “a country with different languages” but more of different countries with different languages in a single state. It’s way more complicated than that but that’s the general rule of thumb. I’m a Catalan speaker and to me Madrid or Estremadura may as well be Rome or the Tyrol for how “part of my country” they feel, I’m always going to feel closer to a Catalan speaker from Valencia or the Balearic Islands than to a Spanish speaker from Barcelona or Tarragona (I’m Catalan). The closest to “someone from my country who natively speaks another language” would be the Occitan speakers of the Val d’Aràn, but they are so few I don’t think I ever meet one.
A majority of the Swedish speaking minority can speak Finnish just fine, and many Finnish speakers can speak Swedish to some extent.
Furthermore, much of the Swedish speakers that can’t speak Finnish live in rather isolated communities, so there’s hardly ever a scenario where they would communicate with Finnish speakers.
And if that all fails, English is always an option, which most people are able to speak well enough to get by.
I for one have only once met Swedish speakers who can’t speak Finnish, so the issue of language at least on personal experience is not at all an issue.
Biggest problem to most people is the mandatory education of Swedish for Finnish speakers, (Swedish speakers need to study Finnish, i don’t really know how they feel about it) It’s absolutely bonkers that 95% of the population is forced to study one spoken by 5% of the population. That’s almost like Arabic being mandatory in France. Completely fucking ridiculous.
15 comments
[It does be a bit like this](https://youtu.be/Hs-rgvkRfwc?si=tYcB-5c4a5GFXkkd)
We are very split here in Belgium.
In the North everything is in Dutch, including road signs.
In Brussels everything is in two languages
In Wallonia everything is in French.
So you might end up in situations where the town you go to is Rijsel and it’s suddenly Lille on the signs next to the highway, and yeah you kinda have to know this is the same city.
Postive sides: culture is tied to language, so the culture is also very different. Going to the other part of the country than you live in actually feels like going to another country while having the convenience of being in your own country. Or something.
But in my daily life, it’s not noticeable at all, since everything is in Dutch and that’s my mothertongue
by learning the language.
feels normal
By making the minority language obligatory for everyone to learn.
Men det är helt ok.
For Switzerland:
Either we learn one of the other languages or we communicate in English.
Since most things are always written in 3 or 4 languages and you overhear one of the other languages regularly and also read/watch news from all parts of the country, maybe even visit from time to time or work there, or have friends or family who are from another region, it feels very natural. It’s just part of our identity as a country and part of what makes our country up.
Finland has a Swedish speaking minority on coastal areas. Most of Swedish speakers are bilingual and manage with Finnish too. At my work it is normal that Swedish speaking co workers talk to each other in Swedish and I have no idea what they are saying. I don’t really think much of it, although with my limited Swedish skills I try to listen and learn.
But sometimes people don’t understand each other, or use English. Like here in Finland there are rural Swedish speaking areas and the people there don’t necessarily speak Finnish, and many Finnish speakers don’t know Swedish. In these cases people then stick to areas where they can use their mother tongue.
When I was a kid I lived in a 50/50 Swedish/Finnish speaking town. My friend was Swedish speaking and spoke barely any Finnish and I didn’t know any Swedish so we interacted with some crappy English by 9-year old kids. But we were friends for years until I moved away.
Generally there’s not much fuss about it in here. But some people are annoyed about Åland, an autonomous archipelago territory of Finland. Whereas Finnish and Swedish are the official languas of Finland, Finnish is not an official language of Åland islands. Some Finnish speakers feel this is unfair. I personally don’t mind it but rather see Åland as like a mini-nation within Finland. Think of Faroe islands of Denmark.
Outside Åland, majority Swedish speaking areas are small towns and rural areas on the coast. I’ve heard an anecdote that the most Swedish speaking municipality in the world is in the west coast of Finland.
Fun fact: the [Swedish entry for Eurovision this year](https://youtu.be/WK3HOMhAeQY?si=5a_3MvNRWpnZGWg5) is actually a Swedish speaking band from Finland. They are from the rural Swedish speaking west coast of Finland and natively speak a dialect of Swedish which is sometime difficult for other Swedish speakers to understand. As they sing about sauna, use some Finnish too and are from Finland, Finns are massively enjoying the song.
EDIT: As a bonus, Swedish speakers in capital region mix a lot of Finnish into Swedish. [This old ad](https://youtu.be/Tktz1W73XCc?si=EGgZCuGrOTbqJmC2) parodies this way of speaking in a way most Finnish speakers also understand what they are talking about.
In Finland almost everyone who speaks the number two language is almost or entirely fluent in the number one language. There is a bit of friction about the number one speakers forced to learn a bit of the number two language. Many do learn it; most don’t and that’s all ok. We also have languages 3 4 and 5 up north but noone knows them. I wish it weren’t so but I’ve never been able to pick up any of any of them. Considering everything there’s very little fuss.
Oh, and national politicians, presidential candidates and such need to be able to make themselves understood in both languages. Some are not very proficient but us number two speakers really truly appreciate the effort, especially for those who struggle.
Languages are very regional, with the capital and some other large southern cities a bit more mixed.
We have reason to be proud over how well we get along.
I was born in a Hungarian majority part of Romania. We mostly used what was the most familiar to everyone in the given discussion.
Sometimes that was Hungarian, sometimes Romanian, a few times even English. It really wasn’t an issue in the vast majority of cases.
Generally speaking most people just speak all those languages. Of course that’s not always the case, but the languages are usually sequestered in their own regions so unless you’re moving around a lot it’s more or less the same as being anywhere else with one language being used.
Hey I’m not european, but I can give you Canada’s perspective.
French speakers understand English, English speakers don’t understand French. The end.
To hijack the post. How are press conferences given? Are there multiple TV-Channels that all translate, live, to the other language?
What about in public? How does the president of Belgium speak? Does he speak French? Dutch? Both?
What about ads (digital ads) and laws?
Spain here. We have an official language (Spanish) and everybody has the constitutional right to use it and the duty to learn it. So we understand each other because this is the main language and everybody understands it. Other languages are only spoken in their regions.
Wait until you hear about the political system in Belgium, it’s wildly complicated for it being 1 country
At least in Spain it doesn’t really works like “a country with different languages” but more of different countries with different languages in a single state. It’s way more complicated than that but that’s the general rule of thumb. I’m a Catalan speaker and to me Madrid or Estremadura may as well be Rome or the Tyrol for how “part of my country” they feel, I’m always going to feel closer to a Catalan speaker from Valencia or the Balearic Islands than to a Spanish speaker from Barcelona or Tarragona (I’m Catalan). The closest to “someone from my country who natively speaks another language” would be the Occitan speakers of the Val d’Aràn, but they are so few I don’t think I ever meet one.
A majority of the Swedish speaking minority can speak Finnish just fine, and many Finnish speakers can speak Swedish to some extent.
Furthermore, much of the Swedish speakers that can’t speak Finnish live in rather isolated communities, so there’s hardly ever a scenario where they would communicate with Finnish speakers.
And if that all fails, English is always an option, which most people are able to speak well enough to get by.
I for one have only once met Swedish speakers who can’t speak Finnish, so the issue of language at least on personal experience is not at all an issue.
Biggest problem to most people is the mandatory education of Swedish for Finnish speakers, (Swedish speakers need to study Finnish, i don’t really know how they feel about it) It’s absolutely bonkers that 95% of the population is forced to study one spoken by 5% of the population. That’s almost like Arabic being mandatory in France. Completely fucking ridiculous.