Anti-bilingualism in the news
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Complaint upheld against Belgian ticket inspector who said ‘bonjour’ in Flanders
Ilyass Alba also said ‘goeiedag’ on train in Dutch-speaking region but he breached country’s strict language rules
Jennifer Rankin in Brussels, The Guardian (16 Jul 2025)
Go figure! The train was in Flanders and nearing Brussels, which is officially bilingual.
A complaint against a Belgian ticket inspector who gave passengers a bilingual greeting in Dutch-speaking Flanders has been upheld, shedding light on the country’s strict language laws.
The conductor, Ilyass Alba, said Belgium’s Permanent Commission for Linguistic Control [sic, a quasi-judicial body in Belgium] had upheld a complaint made by a commuter in 2024. The passenger had objected to Alba’s use of the French word “bonjour” while the train was in Dutch-speaking Flanders.
I asked AIO whether Ilyass Alba is a Flemish name. It answered:
-
- Ilyass is a masculine given name with Arabic, Turkish, and Persian origins derived from the Arabic name Elias, which refers to the prophet Elijah.
- Alba is a surname that can be Spanish, Italian, Romanian, or Scottish Gaelic in origin. While Alba can be a surname of Belgian origin, the surname is not among the top 10 most common surnames in the Flemish Region of Belgium.
- "A bilingual, biscriptal pun in Belgium" (12/14/16)
- "Bilingualism is good for you — but not for me, thank you." (1/21/11)
- "Fingerspitzengefühl" (5/25/10)
- "A new mixed language in the news" (6/18/13)
- "Luxembourgish and Limburgish" (5/8/25)
- "List of multilingual countries and regions" (Wikipedia) — it's long
DJL said,
July 19, 2025 @ 5:29 am
More a case of linguistic nationalism than anti-bilingualism, I would say. Similar things happen in Catalonia too.
Viseguy said,
July 19, 2025 @ 9:41 am
Enshrining such intolerance in law only encourages the stupid behavior. And now dear leader in the U.S. has decreed that English is the official national language. Che cazzo succede? as my ancestors might have put it.
Charles in Toronto said,
July 19, 2025 @ 10:33 am
@DJL I'd say the difference between this and Canada, though, is that for services under federal jurisdiction (which interprovincial rail is, at least in Canada), there is a right to be served in both official languages. For example even if you live in Calgary, you have the right to request that the Canada Revenue Agency communicate with you in French. So it would not be out of place for a rail employee to greet someone in English & French in a unilingual area and it would not be subject to a complaint. But yes in Quebec, for anything outside of federal jurisdiction, the language laws can come after you for use of English in disallowed situations.
In Belgium the model is "you have the right to be served in the language of the place where you are located, and nothing else". And I think it's similar in a few other multilingual European countries such as Switzerland. Like if you are a Swiss French speaker but you live in a region where the official language is Italian, you do not have the right to communicate with the government in French, only Italian.
Coby said,
July 19, 2025 @ 12:02 pm
Charles in Toronto seems to have misread DJL's "Catalonia" for "Canada". But Catalonia is officially bilingual throughout its territotry (trilingual in Val d'Aran), and announcements on trains are in Catalan and Spanish (and sometimes English as well) everywhere. Bilingualism in Belgium applies in Brussels-Capital only; Flanders and Wallonia are each strictly unilingual (sorry, I don't like the Greek-Latin mongrel "monolingual"), except for some allowances in border communities with a significant minority of the other language.
About Canada: in Quebec, road signage is in French only even on federal highways, meaning that anglophone travelers between the Maritimes and Ontario may not get warnings of road conditions.
Charles in Toronto said,
July 19, 2025 @ 1:36 pm
Haha whoops! I did misread. That's what I get on a lazy Saturday morning.
Strictly speaking there AREN'T any federal highways in the provinces. They are all under provincial jurisdiction although some get a share of federal funding including roads designated as Trans Canada Highway. So that explains the unilingual signage.
Philip Taylor said,
July 19, 2025 @ 3:48 pm
Oh, they get warnings, Coby, they just don’t understand them !
Jason said,
July 19, 2025 @ 4:03 pm
That passenger who complained is definitely whatever the Dutch equivalent of a "Karen" is.
Francis Deblauwe said,
July 19, 2025 @ 6:10 pm
I remember traveling on the highway in Belgium, eastwards from Brussels. The traffic signs would show how many kilometers to "Luik." Then they would say how many km to "Liège," then again "Luik" and finally "Liège" for the rest of the trip. "Luik" is the Dutch name of the French-speaking city of "Liège." Needless to say, very confusing if you're not Belgian yourself! The changes are indeed due to the territorial principle: the highway cuts across the linguistic border back and forth. Of course, if you look for signs on the highway in Brussels, they'll say "Liège/Luik," as the capital district is officially bilingual. By the way, if you travel on this highway in the other direction, coming from Germany, the signs will say "Lüttich" at first, the German name… At least all three versions start with an "L." On the other side of the country, if you travel to Lille in France, signs beyond Brussels will say "Rijsel (Lille)" before you cross the border. Yes, "Rijsel" is the Dutch name of Lille, a French-speaking city but one that in the Middle Ages was part of the county of Flanders. I guess they actually give both names because it's located in another country.
Edman said,
July 19, 2025 @ 6:41 pm
Yes Brussels is bilingual, but that doesn’t make things straightforward: which language should come first? The solution is, conductor’s mother tongue first then the other language. Presumably all bets are off if the conductor’s mother tongue is something other than French or Dutch – which it may well be in this case!
Road signs are a problem in Belgium too: if you’re in Flanders and driving to Liege in Wallonia, you need to follow signs for Luik. Conversely if you’re heading from Wallonia to Antwerp or Mechelen, look out for Anvers/Malines. If you happen to pass through the Brussels region, you’ll get the benefit of both; otherwise, good luck!
Edman said,
July 19, 2025 @ 6:46 pm
Francis Deblauwe, thank you for the much fuller explanation about Liège/Luik! I obviously took way too much time compiling my contribution…
Peter Grubtal said,
July 20, 2025 @ 3:10 am
At one of the stations in Brussels years ago I was puzzled by the departure board announcing "Mons/Bergen", assuming they were two different places. At the time I knew some French, but no German (let alone Flemish), otherwise I might have twigged it.
Seonachan said,
July 20, 2025 @ 3:20 pm
Alba is the Scottish Gaelic word for Scotland, but it isn't a surname.