Language is Power; Power is Language

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According to a Sept. 28th article in the Economist, tensions between French and Dutch speakers in Belgium has been flaring up. Apparently, in the region around Brussels, French-speaking Walloons and Dutch-speaking Flemings live side by side. Dutch has long been the official language of the region despite the fact that most residents now speak French. So if you go to a town meeting, you have to speak Dutch and the officials have to speak Dutch, even if you can’t speak Dutch. Needless to say, translators are doing a nice business and the Walloons aren’t too happy about matters.

This struggle is not unique to Belgium. There are parts of the U.S. where Spanish speakers are the majority and yet the laws mandate the use of English. Language is power and if you don’t speak a certain language, you end up feeling powerless. But I don’t think the either/or solution works for either side.

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John Yunker

John Yunker

John is co-founder of Byte Level Research and author of Think Outside the Country as well as 19 editions of The Web Globalization Report Card.
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