Auslandsreportage: die Sprachenvielfalt von Maastricht

Düsseldorf TV berichtet heute von der Sprachenvielfalt in Maastricht, einer Stadt an der Grenze zu Deutschland und Belgien. Maastricht ist nicht zuletzt bekannt durch den Maastrichter Vertag, der hier in 1992 ausgehandelt wurde. Touristen sowie niederländische und ausländische Studenten schätzen diese verträumte Stadt sehr. Doch wie sieht es mit der Sprachenvielfalt in der niederländischen Stadt aus? Welche Sprachen werden im Alltag gesprochen? Interessant was wir alles entdeckt haben!

In der folgenden Reportage werden wir Ihnen einen Einblick in die Sprachverschiedenheiten sowie in die verschiedensten sprachlichen Zeichen in Maastricht geben. Ich besuchte die Universität sowie die Universitätsbibliothek, sprach mit Studenten und Einwohner und entdeckte eine sehr große Sprachenvielfalt in der 120.000 Einwohner Stadt Maastricht.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn5cVTPXZdU&feature=youtu.be

 

 

Wallons, nous! – Us, Walloons!

Walloon and French cohabiting

One of the biggest feature of the European Union is its language diversity. Apart from the official languages, there is a large diversity of regional languages. In Wallonia, the French speaking part of Belgium, the most spoken regional language is Walloon. The numbers of speakers is constantly diminishing as younger generations, like me, speak and learn exclusively French. Nonetheless, the language is still relatively visible in various medias in Wallonia.  

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English, Do You Speak It?!

A little bit more than two years ago, I decided to start a Bachelor at the Maastricht University. The main reason for my choice was the content of the studies. However, the fact that English was the medium of instruction was also very important. Prior to starting the bachelor, I had a very good opinion toward using English for my upper education. Nonetheless, the idealism that I had in my early student years made ways gradually towards a more critical view on the use of English.

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Are you bilingual?

Bilingualism

“You live a new life for every new language you speak. If you know only one language, you only live once.” (Czech saying). Who is bilingual? This is an interesting question concerning this course. Generally, people who speak two languages are considered to be bilingual, if one speaks more than two even multilingual (Colin Baker, 2000-2005). If one considers this definition the question arises what ‘speaking’ a language actually means. Is it understanding and being able to order dinner in a restaurant? Or does one have to have an extensive vocabulary, perfect grammar and a high fluency? This is highly discussed in academic literature. Furthermore, it is just natural that one language will be developed more than the other. Thus can be due to circumstances such as being exposed to one langauage constantly through school and friends whereas the other one is just spoken at home (Colin Baker, 2000-2005). Interestingly enough, the proficiency in one language can change over time and the dominant language can be become the less dominant one. Academics call this phenomenon “balanced bilingualism”. Thus, langauge proficiency is not set in stone!
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My Identity and My Language(s)

 

My name is Benjamin and I am currently a student. I was born in Belgium but 15 days later I moved to Burundi. In a way, it is representative of how my life has been so far . The constant moving around allowed me to live in numerous countries spreading over Africa, North America and Europe. And now I am in Maastricht.

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Finding my Identity

Do you feel more Italian or Dutch? So many times i was asked such question, but I never managed to find a right answer. For many people reading this, it might seem like the most obvious and easy question. That is, because they have a clear idee of where they come from and especially which cultural identity they relate to. For me it has never been so simple. My life has been subject to so many different cultural influences that it is hard for me to express with words. My parents are both Dutch, from Alkmaar. They moved 28 years ago to Mexico, for my fathers work, , where my brother was born. They moved again 2 years later, to Rome. Well, that is where my home is, where I feel like walking in my own backyard and where I recognize people’s behaviour. Continue reading Finding my Identity