Topic: is not possible to have Belgian friends?
Eyadbalawi's photo
Sun 09/13/15 02:46 PM
I have been in Belgium from less than one year, and I moved from Antwerp to Kapellen then to Shellebelle. my problem is that I didn't mange to have friends, I mean Belgian friends. all the people whom I know are originally from outside Belgium. it seems like very hard to get involved with the Belgian community without speaking the Dutch Language, or it maybe due to other factors. ohwell

no photo
Mon 09/14/15 02:15 PM
Edited by Mangasakka on Mon 09/14/15 02:16 PM
Do you mean after a year you still don't speak a word of Dutch or French? Then it's quite normal you don't get along with people in Belgium. Moreover, if I judge by the way you write your post, your English isn't all that fantastic either. We all get by rather well in English, especially the Flemish, but that's just to show the tourists the way to the nearest landmark or monument. Not to get friends.
If I were to move to China or Mongolia, and all I spoke was Dutch, I could stay there for 50 years and not make any friend. And frankly, it wouldn't surprise me, since nobody would understand me. But I most certainly would start doing huge efforts from the first day I was there, to learn the language, and after a year, I am positive I would be able to speak at least some Chinese or Mongolian. I don't get how you can sit in a country for a whole year and not pick up one single word!
Come on, start studying! Get yourself a book, follow a language course, there are several being organized in every city. What's stopping you?

Dutch and English aren't all that different. For instance, "friend" in Dutch is "vriend". Not really rocket science to learn it, don't you think? "I miss you" in Dutch is "Ik mis jou". All you need is a bit of an effort. You will get friends, if you want to! (Maybe not in Antwerp, for their dialect is really horrible there tongue2 ). But it is really impossible to get friends anywhere in the world, without learning to speak the language. What're you going to do? Force them to speak yours?

Chinwa2000's photo
Sat 03/05/16 09:52 PM
it is possible to have Belgium girls