Latest news with #Nieuwsblad
New York Times
17-07-2025
- General
- New York Times
‘Bonjour' Sets Off a Linguistic Dispute on a Belgian Train
A train attendant's use of both Dutch and French — 'goeiemorgen' and 'bonjour' — to greet passengers during rush hour last year could easily have gone unnoticed in multilingual Belgium. 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. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mark Flekken set to join up with Erik Ten Hag at Bayer Leverkusen
The Brentford goalkeeper will sign for the German side for a reported fee of £8 million, as he completes his medical today, with Nieuwsblad reporting that the official announcement to come shortly after. Flekken has signed a three-year-deal with the club, which will keep him there until 2028. The 33-year-old Oranje keeper has been ever-present at Brentford over the last two seasons, having initially joined from SC Freiburg in 2023. Now, he returns to Germany to work under former Ajax and Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag. He will officially become the manager on 1st July, and has already identified his new number one. Advertisement Flekken, who has 8 caps for Oranje, has enjoyed an impressive season for The Bees, with seven clean sheets and a 7.05 rating on FotMob. He also has made 153 saves and has achieved a 73.6% save percentage. One of the reasons ten Hag is signing Flekken is due to his long style of passing. He completed 338 long balls this campaign and recorded two assists; a rare achievement for a goalkeeper. Brentford have already acquired their replacement; signing Caoimhin Kelleher from Liverpool for a fee of £18 million. GBENeFN | Samuel Fabre
