Sun, 8 November 2009
A guide to doing gaffe-free business here.
Includes geography, people, government, economy and transnational issues.
Find an affordable roof over her head.
Heroic Gauls celebrate their half century.
Kimberley uncovers the sacred rituals of Frite Almighty.
Tips for managing a successful relocation back home.
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Our Blogger celebrates International Woman's Day by making another attempt to master the Dutch language.I am attempting to learn Dutch… again.
It’s been an on-going battle; a tug-of-war between my guilt at not being fluent (and at this point I would call anything above a three-year-old’s level fluent) and my lack of motivation.
Honestly, my excuses for not learning are pretty weak:
I don’t have time – well, I work from home and don’t have kids so I’m sure an hour a day won’t throw off my oh so busy schedule.
Dutch is a hard language to learn – True, but it’s not like learning English is a piece of cake either. I mean, how do you explain the silent K, like in the word knife, to a non-native English speaker?
Dutch isn’t a very common language – True again, but I am living among Dutch speakers for a few more years at least. Besides, it gives me an excuse to visit some of those Dutch islands in the Caribbean. (Curaçao anyone?)
When we first moved to Belgium we were keen to pick up the language and we hired a private tutor. We knew that organised classes wouldn’t work well for us, as Andrew’s schedule is so unpredictable. We had two classes. After the third time we had to cancel at the last minute because Andrew was flying off somewhere to help a customer, we felt too guilty to continue.
Our neighbour then offered to teach us. We thought, because she lives next door, we could organise things at the last minute. I learned much more from her than our first tutor, as I felt much more comfortable with her, but the scheduling conflict became even more insurmountable. As a single mom with a very active daughter, we had trouble finding times that we were all free.
So, as you do, I picked up words and phrases here and there and, sometimes, I’m quite surprised at the things I do understand. However, my ability and confidence to converse in Dutch is only slightly above nul. The airplane flies
This handy guide from Expertise in Labour Mobility includes how to write a CV, application procedure, interview dos and don'ts, Belgian management culture.
Belgium’s first alternative directory assistance services - available through the shortcode 14-14 - can now be accessed on the internet.
Moving to Belgium presents a host of challenges to expats, not least of all finding the right home.
The psychological effects of global mobility can be physically painful.
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