“oh, I know that language too!” from someone. And… They don’t.
Prime example: according to numerous surveys more Dutch people speak French well than Belgians.
Belgian is half French speaking, French is taught in Flemish schools from an early age, and many Dutch/Flemish speakers work in predominantly French speaking Brussels, and/or have French speaking friends/relatives.
But it’s understandable: a Dutch person thinks their French is great if they manage to order something in a French restaurant while on holiday and have the waiter understand them. That’s more than enough for their purposes. A Flemish Belgian thinks their French is bad, if they’re unable to write a letter in French which respects rules like those about accord COD/COI (Elle a pris des photos. Les photos qu’elle a prises. Elle est allée prendre des photos. - Hope that’s correct)
That and Dunning Kruger. If you have little competence in foreign languages, you don’t know enough to know that you don’t know enough.
Exactly! They think they know German because of a few phrases. Meanwhile, I think my German is bad because I watched the TV show “Real Humans” (Echte Menschen) in German with German subtitles and got lost anytime they were talking about legal matters in the lawyer’s office!
Prime example: according to numerous surveys more Dutch people speak French well than Belgians.
Belgian is half French speaking, French is taught in Flemish schools from an early age, and many Dutch/Flemish speakers work in predominantly French speaking Brussels, and/or have French speaking friends/relatives.
But it’s understandable: a Dutch person thinks their French is great if they manage to order something in a French restaurant while on holiday and have the waiter understand them. That’s more than enough for their purposes. A Flemish Belgian thinks their French is bad, if they’re unable to write a letter in French which respects rules like those about accord COD/COI (Elle a pris des photos. Les photos qu’elle a prises. Elle est allée prendre des photos. - Hope that’s correct)
That and Dunning Kruger. If you have little competence in foreign languages, you don’t know enough to know that you don’t know enough.
Exactly! They think they know German because of a few phrases. Meanwhile, I think my German is bad because I watched the TV show “Real Humans” (Echte Menschen) in German with German subtitles and got lost anytime they were talking about legal matters in the lawyer’s office!