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Meet Bart!

Meet Bart!

This week we interviewed one of our translators, Bart. He has been working with us for quite some time now and today we share a bit about the man himself.


1. “Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?”

“I live near the Dutch border in a small village called Lanaken. As a result I spend quite some time in Maastricht, The Netherlands, which is a beautiful city that I would recommend to everyone! I have quite a busy working schedule, always trying to juggle my freelance translation work with other commitments. It can be quite busy but I manage to get everything done. I graduated from a masters course in English-French-Dutch translation eight years ago, so I can translate from both of these languages to my mother tongue. Beyond pure linguistics, it is the cultural part of a language that interests me as well. When I have spare time, I usually like to jog, cycle, go to the gym or do some gardening.”

2. “When did you decide to become a professional translator?”

“During my days at secondary school it became quite clear to me that languages were my main topic of interest. I loved to read and learn more about the cultural aspect of different languages and I had a genuine flair and aptitude for it. Making the choice to study languages later on was therefore more or less self-evident for me.”

3. “According to you, what is the most beautiful language and why?”

“I like the French from France in particular. I prefer it to the French that is spoken in Belgium, as I really like the accent in France. In the same way that I like British English more than the American variant. It sounds a bit “chic” somehow, and that’s something that I can appreciate.”

4. “Belgium is such an interesting country linguistically speaking. Can you give us your take on the influence of Belgian French on the Flemish language and vice versa?”

“Well, I worked in Brussels, the Belgian capital, for two years. People there mostly speak French, but it’s officially bilingual. I realise myself that I have taken some French influences in the way I speak Flemish today, using words that are in fact only spoken in Wallonia. In the region where I live you don’t see a huge influence of Wallonia as it is completely Flemish, but in Brussels everything official is bilingual.”

5. “Though it is a country of two principal languages, not everyone in Belgium is perfectly bilingual. How do you feel about this?”

“To be honest, I think it’s quite normal. A person who lives and works in a Flemish city doesn’t need to speak French and he won’t feel motivated to learn it. And that’s the case for many people in Flanders. There is also quite a quite large number of people in Flanders that aren’t very fond of Wallonia, so that could be a factor. In secondary school, everybody learns French as their first “foreign” language, but after leaving school many people stop learning or using it. Nevertheless, from a professional standpoint, it can be very useful, as many companies require a knowledge of French, so it can really be worth studying.”

 

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