[sw-l] BELGIUM: New SW Literacy Project and new web area...

Wed Oct 13 20:22:46 UTC 2004

Hello,

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)

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.

I will tell Kristof about all these mails ofcourse ;o)

greetz Kathleen
ps: you are from California? I've been there 2 years ago: L.A., Vegas, Death Valley, San Fransisco, ... Beautiful!!!!! 
This summer I was in Pennsylvania, at Hopewell Furnace National Parc, working as a volunteer. I visited D.C. and Gallaudet ;o)
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Valerie Sutton 
  To: sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu 
  Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 9:53 PM
  Subject: Re: [sw-l] BELGIUM: New SW Literacy Project and new web area...

  SignWriting List
  October 13, 2004

  Kathleen Heylen wrote:

    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) 

  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...

  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/

    And we have some beautiful city's to visit. Like; Antwerp, Brussels, Brugge, Gent, Liège, Namur, ...

  oh yes! They are beautiful! I have been to Brussels, Brugge, Gent, Leige, and Antwerp...I love Belgium...

    It is so that we officialy have 3 languages: Flemish, French and German.

  I had no idea that German was spoken in Belgium!

    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.

  So there is a French-speaking city in the middle of Flanders, and the French dialect is called Wallon ? smile... 

    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

  Oh. Wow. I see. I think Belgium is fascinating as one country with many regions and languages!

    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!)

  Do they use German Sign Language, or is it a separate Belgian-German Sign Language?

    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. ( http://gebaren.ugent.be/ )

  All those dialects can be written in SignWriting, as you know...

    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)

  You answered my question above...thank you!

    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. (www.doofactiefront.be) this site is availible in English as well ;o)

  Great!

    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).

  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

    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.

    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)

    More news WILL follow ;o)
    Greetings Kathleen
    ps: hope i don't make to many mistakes (my spelling isn't that great)
    pps: i have a disk that has a DOS program for SignWriting (Kristof De Weerdt gave it to me ;o)

  Please send my best wishes to Kristof! Your English is excellent - no problems at all! I will send you some contacts in Belgium -

  it may take a few days before the web area is ready and I will write when it is!

  Val ;-)

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