‘Bonjour' Sets Off a Linguistic Dispute on a Belgian Train
But it rubbed one Dutch-speaking commuter the wrong way. He told the attendant, llyass Alba, that 'bonjour' was not appropriate because they were still in Dutch-speaking Flanders.
'Excusez-moi?' Mr. Alba replied.
'You need to speak in Dutch,' the man said back to him in Dutch.
The dispute escalated. Mr. Alba explained what was going on to nearby passengers — in French. The Dutch speaker then filed a complaint to Belgium's Permanent Commission for Linguistic Control. Five months after the initial incident, in March, the commission issued its opinion: The commuter's complaint was 'well founded.'
Their guidance was reported on Friday by the Dutch-language newspaper Nieuwsblad.
Invoking administrative language laws, the Permanent Commission for Linguistic Control stated that the train attendant should have greeted passengers in Dutch.
'As soon as he knows the traveler's language (French or Dutch), he will respond in that language (French or Dutch),' the commission said in a statement.
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