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Location advice
I was contacted by a student from the US who is working on a school project. He wants some info on places in BXL where one can see or identify co-existance (or conflict) of French-speaking and Flemish-speaking communities. I don't live in BXL so one of the very little things I could think of is how the metro station name is indicated on the metro map (i.e. the names are indicated in 2 lines and which language goes to the top/bottom is alternated). If you know any interesting places or signs in BXL that he could do further research, please let me know. Thank you very much!
i thought this book about Belgium with some chapters covering the issues between the french and the flemish speaking communities (including Brussels, the Gordel, the commune a facilité, etc) was an eye-opener and sometimes highly entertaining .
worth a read if the student has some spare time:
http://www.amazon.com/Tall-Man-Low-Land-Belgians/dp/0349112061
Not exactly BXL , but de panne and koksijde are very interesting study objects.
As is most of the Flemish coast apart from De Haan.
One example of the ways to manage (avoid?) the language issue could be the use of English (only) in names of local events and slogans. Just take a look at the latest expos in Brussels or the culture calendar at visitbrussels.be. Another example are the signs outside the Dutch speaking schools in Brussels encouraging the use of only NL inside the school area.
