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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Yes you are correct, Brussels has all the important
buildings for the European Community. The president changes every 6 months I
believe, so there have been some Belgian and Dutch presidents ;o) Wilfried
Martens, i think and our current Prime-minister Guy Verhofstadt. (The rabbit
;o)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The children don't have contact with the Wallon
children. The times they come out to play or eat are very different. The Wallon
school does not work Bilingual i believe. The teacher don't really interact with
one another.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I will tell Kristof about all these mails ofcourse
;o)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>greetz Kathleen</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>ps: you are from California? I've been there 2
years ago: L.A., Vegas, Death Valley, San Fransisco, ... Beautiful!!!!!
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This summer I was in Pennsylvania, at Hopewell
Furnace National Parc, working as a volunteer. I visited D.C. and Gallaudet
;o)</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=sutton@signwriting.org href="mailto:sutton@signwriting.org">Valerie
Sutton</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=sw-l@majordomo.valenciacc.edu
href="mailto:sw-l@majordomo.valenciacc.edu">sw-l@majordomo.valenciacc.edu</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, October 13, 2004 9:53
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [sw-l] BELGIUM: New SW
Literacy Project and new web area...</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>SignWriting List<BR>October 13, 2004<BR><BR>Kathleen Heylen
wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>What can I tell you about
Belgium? Better ask me what I can't tell you about Belgium because it is
such a fascinating country ;o) We ARE the capitol of Europe ;o) <?/fontfamily><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>This is absolutely fascinating, Kathleen!
Thank you for sharing with us. So Belgium is the capital of Europe? grin...a
side note....I come from California and I know some Californians feel we are
the capital of the USA...but the rest of the USA does not agree - ha!!
smile...<BR><BR>But now I realize maybe Belgium is the head of the European
Community? is that right? In 2004 I believe you have a Dutch president of the
EU? http://www.eu2004.nl/<BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>And we have some beautiful city's
to visit. Like; Antwerp, Brussels, Brugge, Gent, Liège, Namur, ..<?/fontfamily><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>oh yes! They are beautiful! I have been
to Brussels, Brugge, Gent, Leige, and Antwerp...I love Belgium...<BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>It is so that we officialy have 3
languages: Flemish, French and German.<BR><?/fontfamily></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>I had
no idea that German was spoken in Belgium!<BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>Flemish is the upperside close to
Holland where people understand us pretty good because they speak Dutch.
Brussels is situated in Flanders, but used to be and still mainly is French
(Wallon) speaking.<BR><?/fontfamily></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>So there is a
French-speaking city in the middle of Flanders, and the French dialect is
called Wallon ? smile... <BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>The lower side of Belgium is near
to France and this is where the people live that we
call 'Wallon'. This used to be the 'rich' part of Belgium in the
early 19th century, but that changed about 70 years ago. Now Flanders
is the economic drive of Belgium. Some people in Flanders want to be
seperated from the Wallon part. I myself dont see me going on a trip and
telling people i'm from the independant 'state of Flanders'. Who ever heared
of Belgium, so WHO will know what Flanders
is? :s<?/fontfamily><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Oh. Wow. I see. I think Belgium
is fascinating as one country with many regions and languages!<BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>And then there is a VERY
small part of German speaking people in Belgium, but they are such
a smal part that they are fogotten about frequently. (shame on us!)<BR><?/fontfamily></BLOCKQUOTE><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica><BR>Do they
use German Sign Language, or is it a separate Belgian-German Sign Language?<?/fontfamily><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>So far the general situation
of Belgium. Now for our other languages that do exist in Belgium but
are not recognized are the signed languages. There
is a Flemish Signl anguage in Belgium wich consist also
of many dialects as you can see on the website of the University of
Ghent. (<?/fontfamily> <?fontfamily><?param Helvetica><?color><?param 0000,0000,EEEE>http://gebaren.ugent.be/<?/color> )<?/fontfamily><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>All
those dialects can be written in SignWriting, as you know...<BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>There is also a 'French' Sign
Language or better said 'Langue des Signes Wallon'. I'm sorry i dont have
any information on the existence of 'Germang Sign Language' in Belgium.
(Deutche Gebarensprache)<?/fontfamily><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>You answered my
question above...thank you!<BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>I know the signlanguage in
Wallonië is recognized to use in the schools, but not as an official
language. There are actions at hand to promote the recognition of Flemish
signlanguage.
(<?color><?param 0000,0000,EEEE>www.doofactiefront.be<?/color>) this site is
availible in English as well
;o)<?/fontfamily><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Great!<BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>Now for my school. Being it is
situated in Brussels you will think, Jeezus all those languages?? No, it is
true at my school there are Flemish speaking and signing people aswell as
Wallon speaking and signing people. This used to be all mixed up, but a few
years ago the two groups where seperated. So now the children learn 2
languages: Flemish SignLanguage (FSL) and Dutch (Flemish) written
and/or spoken. This is how we see Bi-lingual education. The children are
brought up in there mothertongue Flemish signlanguage and learn to read and
write (speak) Dutch. I myself teach FSL (VGT - Vlaamse Gebarentaal) and
d/Deafculture together with Sara (my sweet friend and Deaf coöperator).<?/fontfamily><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>I see. Very interesting. So you
have the school divided into two sections...one section for the Flemish and
the other the French (Wallon)? So do the Deaf kids inter-mix on the
playground? Because we could also write their Wallon Sign Language too, and
then the kids could learn each other's signed languages! Just a thought...but
for the future...smile<BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>We teach the children the grammar
and sytaxis of VGT and do this by using SignWriting. What is our population?
Well all the children run trough our classroom, no matter there hearingloss.
Some student have more ours VGT a week then
others.<?/fontfamily><BR> <BR><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>I would
love to get some information on other people using SignWriting in Belgium,
the people i know dont really use it or are not working as educators. My
french is not as good as I would want it to be. So i get more information in
English and Flemish then French. It's more difficult for me to read a book
in French then in English. But i will do my best to work with my Belgian
partners ;o)<?/fontfamily><BR> <BR><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>More
news WILL follow
;o)<?/fontfamily><BR><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>Greetings Kathleen<?/fontfamily><BR><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>ps: hope i don't
make to many mistakes (my spelling isn't that great)<?/fontfamily><BR><?fontfamily><?param Helvetica>pps: i have a disk
that has a DOS program for SignWriting (Kristof De Weerdt gave it to me
;o)<BR><?/fontfamily></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Please send my best wishes to
Kristof! Your English is excellent - no problems at all! I will send you some
contacts in Belgium -<BR><BR>it may take a few days before the web area is
ready and I will write when it is!<BR><BR>Val ;-)<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>