In Belgium, a linguistic controversy triggered by a “Hello” in the Flemish region

A passenger filed a complaint against a controller of SNCB, the Belgian Railway Company, because the latter had said hello to users in Flemish and French.

A few weeks ago, a conductor shouted a Flemish “Goeiemorgen” followed by a “Hello” in French in a wagon. However, at that time, the train to Brussels was still in the Flemish region: according to the rules in force, the controller was supposed to use only Dutch there. Bad luck: that day he came across a Flemish passenger who was, to say the least, picky, who pointed out to him that we “Here is not in Brussels. It is not a bilingual area”. And this disgruntled passenger then filed a complaint with the Permanent Linguistic Control Commission for non-compliance with the rules on public transport.

History reminded everyone that language legislation is very finicky in the kingdom, for public institutions. In Wallonia, we speak French; in Flanders only in Dutch. And in Brussels, the only bilingual area, the announcements are in both languages ​​but with subtleties: at the Gare du Nord, it is always Dutch first while at the Gare du Midi it is always French first. As for the central station, it is that of compromise since the order there changes every week to satisfy everyone.

The debate has even reached the Chamber of Deputies, because these language stories are anything but trivial in a bilingual kingdom. Dutch speakers have long believed that their language was going to be eaten by French. MP Sammy Mahdi, president of the Flemish Christian Democrats and perfectly French-speaking, explained on RTL Info that “French is a global language, much more widespread. If we don’t invest in Dutch, if we specify that we have to learn Dutch, in the end we mainly speak French.”

A “Belgian history”commented the newspaper The Last Hour…A real “cultural marker”added a columnist from RTBF (French-speaking public radio), continuing: “Nowhere in the world is a guy going to file a complaint about ‘Goeiemorgen, Hello’, except here !” Finally, some good news: the controller will not be sanctioned.