LL-L: "Code switching" LOWLANDS-L, 20.FEB.2001 (06) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 20.FEB.2001 (06) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Roger Thijs [roger.thijs at euro-support.be]
Subject: LL-L: "Code switching" LOWLANDS-L, 19.FEB.2001 (03) [E]

> From: Stefan Israel [stefansfeder at yahoo.com]
> Subject: Multi-linguistic environments
> Roger Thijs heeft geschreven:
> > An issue of today was how to formulate delivery terms
> > or payment credits of two weeks in screens where people have
> > to enter a number of days in a text box:
> If the form is electronic, the computer could add a uniform
> number of days, regardless of language (or user's poor math);
> that would also confirm the precise date for the user, e.g. <15.
> april>.  Someone would still have to decide definitively how to
> define "two weeks", but there would then be one standard at
> least.

Thanks Stefan,
what we basically are doing, for critical spots, is just forseeing "list
boxes" for having people to select options, with a clear rulesetting
behind each element of the selection list.
Though customizing of standard packages is not obvious when dealing with
large (governmental) organizations, since
- budgets are strictly linked to tender books
add to that
- the risks of incompatibility of customized parts with furture releases
of the basic package
and typical, for govenmental applications in this kingdom of Belgium:
one has to foresee guis (user fronts) in 4 versions:
- Dutch for the North
- French for the South
- bilingual Dutch/French for Brussels
- German for the East.
Adding more features, as e.g. list boxes for each of the languages,
implies more "objects" to mantain, and to controll with future software
releases.

It's curious that powerpoint presentations reporting the progress of the
implementation are in Belgian English most of the time.

Back to code switching:
I'm trying to follow-up what (uncounsciously) triggers Dutch-French code
switching during meetings:
- 1th rule: when somebody needs to be convinced, one switches to his
language (the seller chooses the language of the buyer)
- 2d rule (subordinated to the second rule): when one doesn't have
directly in mind the translation of a key term or expression in the
language one is speaking, one switches to the other language for a
while.

What surprises me: the "old politeness" is playing a very minor role. In
the past, when just one of the participants was speaking French-only,
the whole conversation was held in French. Actually, I have the
impression hardly anybody has empathy for those who only master one
language, and the old adagio "Et... pour les Flamands "la même chose""
(replacing a translation), is more and more frequently reversed against
monolingual Walloons, as to my perception in Brussels.

250 Years of French-speaking by the dominant class in Brussels (from the
beginning strongly pushed by the Austrians in the 18th century) turned
the population of the town, and 18 suburbs, gradually to become French
speaking for 85-90%. My perception is that nowadays Dutch is strongly
present downtown during business hours. If this will trigger a switch
back to the linguistic past for the inhabitants, I dare not say. The
Belgian population strongly moved to the outskirts and there is a
significant Maghreb population downtown. It's hard to say what
linguistic evolution this population will have in the future.

(English colonies are strongly fixed at the East of Brussels, in the
area around Tervuren; Swedish immigrants are foming a strong colony in
Waterloo, South of Brussels.
Last Sunday I toured on the flee marked in Mons: I observed  a very
strong American presence on the market: quite a lot of Americans live
around the NATO-SHAPE military basis in Casteau-Mons, about 35 miles
South of Brussels)

Btw: 3-language code switching Dutch-French-English is not exceptional
over here. That doesn't imply that the English spoken is upper-class
Oxford English. I think fluent code-switching requires a restricted
vocabulary. I remember participating at a "Managerial analytices"
training, for a complete week, in Cambridge. The course started with an
explanation of the meaning of the word "event", a richely colored
semantical analysis, taking about 2 hours. Such exposés are not suitable
for code switching every 30 seconds..

Regards,
Roger

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