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FRANÇAIS DE BELGIQUE VS FRANÇAIS DE FRANCE

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0:00Hi everyone, I hope you are doing well and that you are ready for a new video in French.

0:05So today, I'm going to propose you a special theme.

0:09You will see. This is going to be a pretty funny video.

0:11You are certainly few to know, but in reality, I'm not

0:15French. I come from another French-speaking country. I come from Belgium, so I am Belgian.

0:21Belgium is a very small country, just above France.

0:24It's a quite important country in Europe because Brussels,

0:27the capital of Belgium, it's also the capital of Europe.

0:31Brussels is where most of the European institutions are.

0:35This is a fairly important city. In this video,

0:38in fact, I would like to talk to you about the French of Belgium. Obviously,

0:44most of the language is common with the French language spoken in France.

0:49But there are some particularities,

0:51linguistic peculiarities, expressions, words that we will only use in

0:55Belgium, or even words that are going to be different to designate things.

1:02Words that we use in France, so objects that we will name differently.

1:05Even you'll see, even a vegetable that we don't call the same thing. If you are a beginner,

1:10I'm afraid it will be confusing in your learning of the language. So, it's more if you want to

1:18enrich your knowledge of the French language, or if you have planned

1:23a vacation in Brussels soon or in Belgium,

1:26or if you are learning French because you live in Belgium, or

1:30if you are planning to settle down, or if you are just curious.

1:35Let's see together these linguistic particularities.

1:38Before starting, remember of course to activate the French subtitles if

1:42you need them. It will help you better understand the video and especially

1:47to understand these particular words in Belgian French. I came with my dictionary of Belgianisms.

1:56I'll show you. A Belgianism, in fact, it's the word we use to designate

2:03words that come from the French of Belgium. So, a Belgianism, it's a word in Belgian French.

2:09You see, it's huge. There are a lot of words, actually, that are particular to Belgium.

2:14I have selected some. I'm reassuring you,

2:15we didn't see everything, otherwise the video will last 10 hours,

2:18but we'll get some of them, the most important ones or the funniest ones.

2:25If you live in the north of France or if you plan to go there, you will also see, there are many

2:31of these words that are used there, in the Lille area. It's true that we share a very

2:36close bond between Belgium and the north of France. And in the manners...

2:40in some areas or in the manners of living, but also in the language.

2:47I guess in your country too, it must be like that according to

2:49regions. Even if you share the same language, there must be some words

2:52that are used in one region and not in another.

2:55So, this is also the case in France, for example, in Marseille,

2:58there are words that we will use, that are not used elsewhere in France,

3:01which are linguistic particularities of certain regions.

3:05Let's start right away with the first words. It's quite particular because we

3:10also use them in France, but not for the same moments of the day. These are the words we use

3:14to qualify, to talk about meal times. In France, we'll say "petit-déjeuner"

3:20for the morning, "déjeuner" for lunch and "dîner" for the evening.

3:26And if we eat between meals, we'll say we're having an "encas". In Belgium,

3:31we say "déjeuner" for the morning. So, what we use in France. For lunch, we say

3:36"dîner", whereas in France, dinner is in the evening. And the "souper" for the evening.

3:43So in France, it's "petit-déjeuner, déjeuner, dîner". And in Belgium, it's

3:50"déjeuner, dîner, souper". It's true that when I arrived in France, it could be confusing.

3:57I was often wrong. I wasn't saying the right word, so it was hard to make plans

4:02with people because I was telling them about dinner and for me, dinner

4:07was at noon. And they thought that we were going to meet in the evening. Now, it's been six years

4:12that I am in France, and I'll tell you about it too,

4:15anecdotes about words that we're going to see, about bad uses or

4:21what might have happened when people didn't understand.

4:23A second particularity that also concerns a meal time. I told you in France,

4:27we'll say "un encas" for a snack. In Belgium, so when you go to eat

4:31at the morning break between breakfast and lunch, but for Belgium, between lunch and dinner.

4:38For example, a snack, it could be a Kit Kat,

4:40for example, we'll call it "un dix-heure", so ten hours like the time.

4:46That's because in general, when you're in school,

4:48the break between the beginning of school and when we go to lunch is at 10 o'clock.

4:55So we'll say: I eat my "dix-heure". Instead of saying I eat my snack.

5:00Another peculiarity is on the numbers. When we count in France, we say

5:08"soixante-dix, soixante-et-onze, soixante-douze, soixante-treize, soixante-quatorze..."

5:11and we also say "quatre-vingt-dix, quatre-vingt-onze, quatre-vingt-douze..."

5:16In Belgium, we say "septante" and "nonante".

5:21All other numbers are the same, from 1 to 100, everything is the same, except

5:26the part seventy and the part ninety. So we, we will

5:30say "septante et un, septante-deux, septante-trois, septante-quatre, septante-cinq, septante-six, septante-sept, septante-huit, septante-neuf."

5:39After eighty, it's the same. And when you pass to ninety, we'll say ninety,

5:44"nonante et un, nonante-deux, nonante-trois, nonante-quatre, nonante-cinq, nonante-six, nonante-sept, nonante-huit, nonante-neuf."

5:52For me, this particularity is difficult, especially when I have to count.

5:58For me, it was also difficult when I picked up the phone at work and I had to write down a number.

6:05For example, if someone told me that their number was seventy-four,

6:09I didn't know if it was 60 and 14 or if it was just 74, "septante-quatre" in Belgian French.

6:19That's always a bit difficult for me, even though I've been living in France for years.

6:23Another peculiarity of Belgian French is when you say

6:28goodbye to someone, but you will see them again

6:29during the day. In French, we say "à tout à l'heure". In Belgian French, we say "à tantôt".

6:38In reality, "à tantôt" is really... sorry... it is sometimes really very, very old French.

6:47So, if you say "à tantôt" in France, nobody says that. Or people who are really very, very old.

6:54In Belgium, we almost never say "à tout à l'heure", but "à tantôt",

6:56we really say "à tantôt" all the time to say we'll see you later.

7:01So, other words where it's a bit complicated... that are different... it is... I'll show you. This,

7:11in French from France, it's a bath towel. And this is a tea towel. This is for the kitchen.

7:23We, in Belgium, this and that, we'll call them towels,

7:29this "une serviette de bain", this "un torchon". But, depending on the context, you can

7:34just say "essuie" and everybody understands. On the other hand, in France,

7:37when you say "essuie", no one understands what you're saying.

7:44And... it's true that when you're used to it, it's hard to change your

7:47habit. And from one day to the next, saying "serviette" instead of saying "essuie".

7:54Another word that is different. In France, we say a cell phone

7:58or a mobile phone. In Belgium, this is called a GSM. G...S...M. Another word that is different.

8:07And this is said in the north of France, I'll show you because I don't have any at home.

8:13These are endives, it's a vegetable that you can eat either in a salad,

8:17or cooked. I'll put a small picture so you can see. Often we make gratins with ham.

8:22In Belgium, we say a chicon. So this is a different word for a vegetable that is different.

8:30But in the north of France, we also say chicon. An expression we use a lot

8:34in Belgium and which is not well understood in France.

8:37By the way, it happened to me with a colleague. It's the expression "Je te dis quoi".

8:42In French from France, it could correspond to... I'll inform you later. I'll tell you more later.

8:51In Belgium, we'll say "I tell you what". So it happened to me with a colleague, we had to...

8:58We were taking the same subway, we thought we'd leave work together to take our subway

9:04and we didn't know exactly what time he and I would finish.

9:07I said to him: "I'll tell you what later today".

9:11And in fact, he didn't understand what I was saying and in fact, he left without me.

9:14So, this is an expression that is used a lot in Belgium, but it's not used at all in France.

9:20If you say to someone "je te dis quoi", he won't understand you.

9:23Another difference sometimes is just in little words, for example.

9:26In France, we'll say "frapper à la porte". whenever you want... you do like this to signal yourself.

9:32In Belgium, we say "toquer à la porte". Another word that we use differently, that's it...

9:40In France, we'll say adhesive or a roll of tape. In Belgium it is called "papier collant".

9:48In itself, this makes much more sense because that's what it is, a piece of paper that is sticky.

9:54Another expression that is different. In Belgium, when you wait

9:58one behind the other, for example at the bakery,

10:01we say that we "faisons la file", so we are one behind the other. We wait.

10:05In France, we'd rather say "faire la queue". It happened... I was on vacation with my parents

10:12a few years ago. And we ran into some French people and the discussion went on for a very long time.

10:18There was a French woman who asked my

10:20father "C'est la queue ?" And my father answered "Oui, c'est la file."

10:24and the Frenchwoman said "Ah but is this the queue?"

10:28And my father was like, "Yes, this is the line." And it went on for a super long time like that.

10:33Another word that is different, when in France... When you drink in one go a drink. Like this.

10:44They say you "bois cul sec". In Belgium, we say that we "affone" the glass of water.

10:54As another difference, what else is there, for example, hair when it's like that.

10:59In Belgium, we say it's hair that has been "crollés".

11:03In France, we will say hair "bouclés". So crolles and curls. Otherwise, there are many other words.

11:09For example, we'll say "foire". And in France, we say a "fête forraine".

11:16This is the place where you can go... where you eat candy apples,

11:18cotton candy. You see, there's really a lot of them.

11:21I'll give you three more because otherwise it never stops. There are so many of them.

11:25One that is often used in Belgium, because it rains a lot. This is when it really rains...

11:31it's raining like crazy. That's what they say in France: "pleuvoir des cordes".

11:35It's raining really hard. In Belgium, we say "il drache". It's the drache.

11:42Another word is for example this ring, it's a fake ring. We'll say in France it's "en toc". It's not

11:56a precious metal. So we say in France that it's fake. In Belgium, we say that it's "de la cacaille".

12:03So we'll say if it's peanuts, it's a ring made of peanuts.

12:07That means it's not precious, that it's not of good quality.

12:13And finally, on will end on a last word. Where same, every time I go

12:17to a store to buy some, we don't understand. I'll show you. In Belgium, you

12:28see this, what the girls wear in winter with dresses. They're called "bas-collant".

12:37So with an underscore. So, that's it. In France, either it's stockings,

12:44or it's tights. So this, what I showed you, this, is pantyhose. Stockings, it's a little bit more...

12:52It's like socks. You see, there's a piece. It's true that often, me, when I go into a store,

12:57and I say "I would like to get some bas-collant". They look at me and say, "you want

13:00stockings or tights?" So there you go, it's another confusing word.

13:07Where they don't understand me in France. That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this video.

13:14Don't hesitate, if you already have

13:17been to Belgium or you live in Belgium and there are words that you

13:20have noticed that are indeed not the same in French

13:25and the French of France, do not hesitate to put them in the comments.

13:29Please tell me if this video has

13:31pleased you, if you liked it, don't forget to put a like, it helps me a lot.

13:36If you are new too, please subscribe, like this,

13:39you can receive all the videos and it helps me a lot to continue my channel.

13:43I say to you very soon and have a wonderful day.

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