Brandon Peirce wrote: > On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 04:54:43 -0800 RavenKnight > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> Hello Everybody, >> I would like to ask a few questions about cultural differences > ... > > Before I answer the questions, let me note that they have provoked much > entertainment, > but probably not much useful stuff for your project... I like to think I > could change that ... but then again, when I was 17 I thought I could > change > the world and now I fear that I can't even change myself :-( > >> 1) What is the predominant language used in business in your country? > > Hmmm. Most business discussions begin with a discussion about which > language > will be used ... and then ends up being in a mixture anyway! It's > predominantly > French in the south and Dutch (Flemish) in the north and mostly English > for international business or when the participants need a neutral > language because they can't agree between Dutch and French! > However, this is important: any contract is not considered legally binding > unless it's written in the official language of the region (i.e. Dutch > in the > north, French in the south, Dutch or French in the capital and French or > German > in the south-east. <snip>
As a Brit who did a lot of business in Belgium, I heartily concur with Brandon's analysis. The Belgians are probably the nicest people in Europe too - especially so in Flanders. For reasons that I think go back to WW1 (if you drive round Ieper/Ypres you'll see why), English is almost universally acceptable both for business and day-to-day life. R. -- http://linuxfromscratch.org/mailman/listinfo/lfs-chat FAQ: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/faq/ Unsubscribe: See the above information page
