Jean-Claude van Damme speaking Flemish/Dutch (RARE)

Jean-Claude van Damme speaking Flemish (Dutch) in an interview with VRT NWS.
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[@ld4032]

It sounds like he speaks neither English, nor Dutch, nor French well enough 😁

[@dominus6224]

Correct. “I am coming from”… he meant to say “I’m from”.

[@muratisik6956]

Exactly! 30 years in the US and his English is so poor. Come on JCV, get some lessons. (Bit late now, but still)

[@heroicnonsense]

@@muratisik6956 It's a bit of a trademark too of course. With training, you can get rid of your accent when you speak English. There are coaches for that. When you watch Game of Thrones, you won't notice that Peter Dinklage is an American, or that Carice van Houten (Melisandre of Asshai/The Red woman) and Michiel Huisman (Daario Naharis from S4 onwards) are Dutch. They've trained to hide their accents as much as possible. Any accent you hear in that show, is there because the characters have accents, not the actors. So, in theory, Arnold an JCVD could have been speaking fluent English, without a hint of German or French, for years. But the accents have become part of their image - people now expect "ged to ze choppah" when they see Schwarzenegger in a movie.

[@harrybruijs2614]

@@dominus6224that meant he was thinking in Dutch strange enough. Ik kom van

[@harrybruijs2614]

@@heroicnonsenseyou have people who will never learn it.

[@eskiltester3913]

He never really spoke Dutch/flemmish. He's native French speaker. He understands Dutch like most Belgians do. I met him in the early 90s and even then he didn't speak Dutch.

[@benjaminvdvyt]

That's what I gathered from what he said. Brussels is mostly French, so he would've only learned Dutch/Flemish in school.

[@hermansohier7643]

He was in a karate club in Oostende and they speak Flemish over there .My karate trainer used to train with him in Oostende .

[@eskiltester3913]

@hermansohier7643 well he didn't speak Dutch except for some words and sentences

[@house684]

He has a Flemish surname, which confuses people. But his first name is very French..

[@87890-]

​@@eskiltester3913 the man is born in belgium ofcourse he did speak dutch when he was younger, but he forgot how to speak and it happen to a lot of people that move to other countries

[@gogamelkadze1273]

Vriendelijk bedankt Jean Claude 👍😄

[@DogRoze]

Vliendelijk bedankt!

[@ambientsounds1416]

I think what most commenters don't understand is that he's a francophone, he's not Flanders despite his dutch surname.

[@carloschong2795]

Exactly, he is fluent in both French and English, but he is neither able to speak Dutch nor Flemish. Not criticizing him though, I’m just making a point.

[@ricaard]

I watched the Van Halen Brothers interview. They never lost their mother tongue of Dutch, even after 50 years in the States.

[@Herobox-ju4zd]

Probably because they moved there with their entire family. JCVD went alone as far as I know.

[@HerrKonig]

​@@Herobox-ju4zd and sadly He dont Go to Belgium Restaurants or Belgium or french Festivals He dont conmected with people from Belgium netherlands or french thats The das Point.

[@dutchy5752]

vanDamme is born in Brussels. They speak French in Bxls. They learn Dutch in school but most hardly speak it. Brussels is situated in Flanders but the main language is French. I am pretty sure his French is still good. I learned French in school but I hardly speak it. But I am taking an online course at the moment. Every day 30minutes. Hopefully in 1 year ...

[@xXTheoLinuxXx]

Eddie and Alex always spoke Dutch to their mother. Eddie had a bit more of an accent than Alex (Eddie was younger than Alex when they left The Netherlands).

[@ridx2140]

He’s native language is French, not Flemish / Dutch. They dont speak dutch in Brussels

[@TheGamingChefOG]

It's not about still knowing it's about where your interest is. Dr Pol came to Holland after 60 years and still speaks fluent Dutch..

[@UnpwnedSoldier]

Dr Pol is Dutch and Dutch is his mother tongue. Van Damme is a Walloon and most Walloons don't bother to learn Dutch

[@Leviwosc]

He did not! Dr. Pol's Dutch was at best broken. He has an American accent when he speaks Dutch and he lacks vocabulary. When he speaks English he has a Dutch accent. Effectively he doesn't speak any language fluently.

[@dominus6224]

@@LeviwoscAlso correct. Although with Poll u gotta give him some slack. 60 years is a lot, he’s getting older and probably hasn’t spoken much Dutch (?) ever since. Although I can’t help but to wonder whether these people never call relatives to speak to?

[@xXTheoLinuxXx]

A better example are the brothers Alex and Eddie Van Halen. The were kids when they moved to the USA and the spoke it very good after quite some years. But the main difference is that they always spoke Dutch to their mother.

[@megalolkiller]

@@Leviwosche doesn’t, he talks like somebody from Twente we were in the same restaurant in Amsterdam he sat with his family next to my table

[@marcodia3443]

Welk Nederlands ? Welk Vlaams ? Er is niks ervan over.

[@joons3374]

How can someone totally forget their language :D this is mindblowing

[@bartcroxford8160]

I was born in the Netherlands to a dutch mum and English dad and we moved to England when I was young around 4 or 5 and at that age I spoke dutch and no English but living in England for 16 years and nit speaking dutch regularly I have also forgotten the language. I can get by a little I can understand it but I can't speak it fluently at all. It happens I guess because eu concentrate so muckle on one language and when you don't have to use the other you don't remember the words or pronunciations

[@zybergis]

Define 'his language', Eimantai :) Here in Brussels (where I've been for quite some years), Flemish is barely spoken. Even if Jean-Claude's mother was Flemish (and his father bilingual 'brusselaar'), it's still guaranteed that most of his friends in school and neighbourhood were francophones. He must have grown up speaking two languages, with French being spoken more (because of Brussels being Brussels at the end of the day). And with Jean-Claude being a teen who was very much into sports, I am sure he didn't spend too much time working on his Dutch and French vocabularies to bring them to a decent level. And since he left to the US, he just completely cut his ties with the languages. To give you an idea how it works here for a non-native speaker, I am 35 and I started learning both French and Dutch in my late 20s (my French is rather decent and Dutch is more passive but with an extensive vocabulary). And I am horrified by how great is the effect of moving between Brussels and Flanders on my active language use. It's crazy. If I spend a week or more in one or another region, I feel as if I start to forget the other of the two languages. As if it goes to take a deep nap, becomes dormant, hibernates. It becomes copletely passive. Granted, being Lithuanian, I'm no native Dutch speaker but with Van Damme having spent most of his professionally formative life in the US... One can be sure he didn't have time to update his dormant language skills in America... And with getting old.. the brain starts getting rid of dead weight, shedding the inessential. In general, children have not lived long enough to have what is know as 'crystalized knowledge'. When the brain, with age, eventually starts losing its plasticity, it starts getting less flexible. And due to this fact crystalized knowledge (with which you are left later in life) can become even sharper, clearer, more efficient than it was in your young years. (At least until dementia kicks in.) That's how it normally works for an average individual. It's rough and it's not nice at all. But that's how life is...

[@sebastian_hornet]

He did too much coke

[@zybergis]

An UPDATE on my previous comment: Van Damme's FRENCH is actually pretty much perfect and with decent vocabulary. Granted, his expressions get somewhat clumsy at one point or another but that's totally okay and understandable. For being from the US, he does NOT activelly THINK in French anymore. Sometimes he can almost start translating the sentence structure from English. :) It demonstrates, nevertheless, he knows his French just fine and has not forgotten it all. The brain, however, needs time to adjust to the environment to find the more natural, more native cadence in French. And since his active Dutch is so bad, it just proves Dutch was not ever his 'native' language to begin with. (Whatever that means in bilingual/multilingual Brussels.)

[@amjan]

Just like every other skill - you lose them if you don't practice them. And just like every kind of knowledge - do you remember everything you ever learned? Do you remember everything you've ever seen, read or heard? Of course not.

[@stejer211]

Better title suggestion: Jean-Claude van Damme hardly speaking any Flemish/Dutch

[@12123188]

Walloons mostly don't speak Flemish, so this is understandable.

[@JB-wc4pu]

But Brussels is in flanders isn’t it?

[@SexManNordin]

@@JB-wc4pu yup and wallonia was flemish land that got stolen by the french and turned into wallonia same with parts of northern france flemish land and the people in it are still mostly of flemish blood

[@Edodod]

Brussel is niet Wallonia.

[@SexManNordin]

het is een hoere allochtoon die onze identiteit en land wilt stelen het wordt tijd dat vlamingen ten strijd trekken tegen de franse plaag@@Edodod

[@flitsertheo]

@@JB-wc4pu Geographically, yes. Otherwise, no. It's an entity on its own, a sort of city state. It used to be Flemish speaking many centuries ago but today about 85 % is French speaking.

[@Nessevan]

After watching we can safely say that the title off this video is a bit stretching it.

[@finckel2682]

He speaks French better than Dutch.

[@ScaroMK]

That doesn't say much, his dutch is beginner level at best...

[@finckel2682]

@@ScaroMK Even though his mother Flemish and he has a relatively Dutch surname.

[@nb2705]

Because he is from Brussel

[@finckel2682]

@@nb2705 So? Brussels is a bilingual city. There they speak both Dutch and French.

[@Adriaantje2008]

@@finckel2682you say “they” but not everyone speaks both

[@Rhovanion85]

"Sorry I didn't speak Flemish" **proceeds in Flemish**

[@keyster4985]

his real name is Van Varenberg (like my ex wife). His parents are Flemish, moved to Brussels (which used to be Flemish, but has become about 85% French speaking, although a lot of these people are actually perfectly bilingual, but they "feel" francophone), they sent their son to a French speaking school, like most flemish people used to do, in order to give their children a better future (nowadays it has become the opposite, a lot of french speaking people send their children to dutch speaking schools, like the grandchildren of my Burundian girlfriend, since Flanders has become the economic engine of the country in the seventies). He heard his parents talk flemish dialect to each other but they spoke French to him. His pronunciation of English reveals his predominant French-speaking background.

[@Jorg05111980]

I really didn't know abou the Varenberg (or the fact that he has another name), I'm absolutely sure i can find this through google, but did he just change this as an artis name?

[@keyster4985]

@@Jorg05111980 I suppose the American moviemakers did, since it's easier to pronounce. Van Damme is a common name in Flanders and refers to a small historic town not far from Bruges (Brugge). "Varenberg" means fearnhill.

[@Jorg05111980]

​​@@keyster4985Yeah, so artist name, don't even think Brugge, just from Varenberg

[@squierstrat9502]

You're divorced?

[@keyster4985]

@@squierstrat9502 me? Yeah, sixteen years ago, that's when I met my girlfriend.

[@harrybruijs2614]

I know people who lived, more then 60 years in Canada and Australia and still talked Dutch perfect. Conclusion Dutch is not his first language.

[@diatonicdelirium1743]

Indeed, it's French

[@butwait]

I concur. I've lived outside of Europe for over half my life and have never returned to the Netherlands, nor do I have anyone to speak the Language to. But I'm most definitely still able to. I met a Dutch professor here a while ago, he was an expat like me but wanted to have a conversation in Dutch, which I was willing to try, but other than a bit of a slow start it was not a stretch to say that it was 100% fluent.

[@YvieT81]

If he’s from Wallonia (which apparently he is) it makes total sense. I think most Wallonians don’t speak Flemish or at least not very well.

[@obienator]

He has been speaking English for 30 years, but he still remembers a little

[@zybergis]

Well, in contrast, his French is really good. That is well demonstrated by all the numerous interviews given to francophone TVs over the years. :)

[@wilco8729]

@@zybergis and he has also bin in the dutch area of Belgium. And just like every Belgium man he has bin in the Netherlands and can pick up a view word's.

[@carmenl163]

😆

[@sananton2821]

wtf is a Belgium man@@wilco8729

[@Haitibaby-g6x]

@zybergis I agree that his French is spoken very well, because I'm Haitian we speak broken French which is Creole,French,Spanish and English. I comprehend what he's saying well.

[@thato596]

Maybe his great grandparents spoke flemish because his surname is van dam. But jean claude van dam spoke walloon at home. I think he can not speak flemish but I have seen videos of him talking in french but he prefers to talk in english.

[@guntertorfs6486]

His mother is Flemish ( his real name is Van Vaerenbergh ) His father is from Brussels. As usual he did speak French at home but not Flemish. Although we the Flemish are about 2/3 rds of the population of Belgium, we learn French but the French speaking part rarely learns Flemish.

[@eudeciogabriel8571]

I am brazillian, everybody knows this actor.

[@cverhaert]

Actually he never really spoke Dutch/Flemish because he grew up in the french speaking Brussels area, his parents tough are fluent in it.

[@KmT81]

I wanted to see him talking in Flemish for once even if its only in the end of the interview

[@dreamsanddaytime]

Then you should watch the commercial with him of casino 777. He's supposed to speak Flemish in that but the accent is so terrible that even I had to rewind a couple of times to understand.

[@guntertorfs6486]

His mother is Flemish but JC isn't capable of speaking one decent sentence of it. Never was. Typical French speaking Belgian.

[@mickvever38]

@@guntertorfs6486 I just did some research, indeed JC is exclusively French speaking in Belgium, on some interviews he says his French is not good because it's not his mother tongue... I never believed him, I'm from Dunkerque, and I know Belgian accents. So a very small lie from JC, :( .But he is a good person, I am a fan.

[@b.a.b7834]

yeah you people are so obsessed with your language. take it easy. Nobody is going to take your little femish pride away.

[@БакентийБакеев]

@@guntertorfs6486 он наполовину ещё и еврей

[@bmwforlife6951]

Je spreekt geen Vlaams omdat je het als Walloniër vertikt om Vlaams te praten zoals de meeste Franstaligen in België.

[@maxrolland3148]

he’s not a walloon, he’s a brusseler

[@dubthabreak]

​@@maxrolland3148same shit just different part of the country

[@Serenoj69]

Ze leren het in Wallonie toch ook niet op school. Kun je ze niet kwalijk nemen dat ze het niet spreken.

[@kyaxar3609]

Van Damme is toch Nederlands/Vlaams? Zijn voorouders moeten toch wel Vlaams zijn denk ik.

[@LogiForce86]

Beetje erg over het paard getild na al die jaren. Weinig van het Belgische (Nederlands/Franse) karakter meer over gebleven. Triest om te zien.

[@Rob_Dekker]

Such a nice guy. So humble near the end of the video. Glad to have met him 👍🏻💪🏼

[@amyoleary9157]

I fucking love this guy.

[@FireDragonArmy2]

Lol its worse than his English accent

[@MrUltracoin]

MOvie of Jean-Claude van Damme speaking Flemish/Dutch where he doesnt speak Flemish/Dutch. NUMNUTS

[@christopherharper9932]

I'm 49 and have been a JCVD fan from day one! Back when he was an extra in Breakin', lol! Love this guy because he's humble. Even when his popularity started to wane a bit because of his personal problems I still watched his straight to DVD flicks! Just watched Nowhere To Run for about the 20th time in my life. He's in his 60s now and is still in shape and down to earth. He never made up insane backstories like being a CIA-trained operative or beating up the Yakuza nor did he disparage his action movie peers like some people. You know, 70-year-olds who have put on 120lbs and wear goatees but have cut the ponytail off? Those kinds of people! God bless JCVD!

[@exeuropean]

Ridiculous. I live in the US for 35 years and still speak fluent Dutch

[@thatrollinstoner7437]

Jij weet hoe het hoort.❤

[@SkinnyEMedia]

Benoît Poelvoorde avait la même problème. Il est plus français que belge malgré son origine.

[@mechart8888]

By now his Cantonese might be better than Flemish/Dutch, lol. 30 yrs US/HK vs 19yrs and only on school. Especially the swearing words he knows it all by now.

[@Adamski1987]

Vriendelijke charismatische man!

[@mrt8242]

I live in The Netherlands for 45 years and i still havent forgotten my native language.......twat

[@cleopatra1633]

Claiming you are a belgian at heart and you don't speak the language. Ridiculous. Flemish is not an offical language but Dutch is.

[@Monkeegenesgroup]

Like Arnold and Stallone? Ok, we know Arnold is Austrian but Stallone is American? 😅

[@carlitoab]

Love JCVD but Belgium is basically not even a country.

[@Timbermannetje]

He’s both feminine and masculine

[@rankobarensic]

Vind het een leuke poging❤..Charlize Theron haar Afrikaans vind ik mooi trouwens ❤

[@spaceenemiesnovel]

Brussels is mostly french speaking. I worked in Brussels a few years. I can understand he does not speak any flemish. I speak flemish, but that's because I was born in Flanders (not to be confused with the character from the Simpsons lol).

[@axolotl-guy9801]

Flemish is Dutch.

[@MJ-cl8gr]

@@axolotl-guy9801 Yes and a salami is meat. Useless specification. Flemish is the Belgian dialect and since we're talking about Belgium, Flemish is the most accurate way to refer to that language.

[@basilmarasco1975]

@@MJ-cl8gr Flemish (as spoken in Belgium) and Dutch (as spoken in the Netherlands) are very similar, correct? But they are not completely the same, correct?

[@basilmarasco1975]

@@MJ-cl8gr Flemish (as spoken in Belgium) and Dutch (as spoken in the Netherlands) are very similar, correct? But they are not completely the same, correct?

[@FragLord]

@@MJ-cl8gr Flemish vs Dutch is like British vs American. Small variation of the same language.

[@itubecollection1623]

He's on the French side of Belgium...where they don't like the Vlaming language at all and it's totally different

[@aa6945]

He is being friendly and considerate but he is French speaker from Belgium and most of French speakers don't speak Flemish or Dutch. Whether that is good or bad is another debate.

[@emma.alon44]

😅jean cloude van dam nederlads praat haha

[@laurafbkliniek4196]

He is a great men and sense of humor🤣😅

[@Cenot4ph]

Try and speak Dutch in Brussels, they get mad at you 😂

[@nadirhajjour]

Sounds like he wanted to forget the language..

[@Casketkrusher_]

Pretty understandable if you moved to the US at age 17 or something you'll quickly learn the language, besides that its probably the most easiest languages to learn and almost everyone can understand English. But at the other side, I think the main language in Wallonia, and Brussels aren't Dutch anyway, I believe they speak French.

[@alexanderds9574]

both are spoken in Brussels, though French by the majority.

[@Erwin-eo7iv]

Yes He speaks French native, and fluent, flemish is just strong dialect dutch, that a dutch person doesnt understand, belgians are a bit affraid to talk dutch to a native dutch

[@samrad6508]

@@Erwin-eo7iv why are they affraid to ? is it because their dialect is different or hard maybe?

[@Erwin-eo7iv]

@@samrad6508 inferiority complex

[@kennethguthrie180]

@@Erwin-eo7iv, ge zijt werkelijk nen (Amerikaanse) ezel. 🤣

[@Belcapper]

Zo rare is het nu ook niet meer in de reclames van 777 spreekt hij constant Nederlands!

[@debroeglenn4924]

🤣

[@debroeglenn4924]

We gaan naar Vegas 🤣🤣🤣

[@DogRoze]

@@debroeglenn4924 777 :D

[@KotrokoranaMavokely]

Nice talk. This testimony is true, peoples can forget yours maternal langs.

[@Kanarie1973]

Die Waal kon natuurlijk nooit goed Nederlands spreken. Maakt ook niet uit.

[@700yopirate]

“The muscles from Brussels” en dan geen enkel woord goed uitspreken in het Nederlands, zo’n gevalletje van de vlag wel willen dragen maar niet willen verdedigen.

[@BelgianCat]

Brussel is nu niet bepaald een goed voorbeeld van de Nederlandse taal. In de overgrote meerderheid van de gevallen word je aangesproken in het Frans in Brussel.

[@lugo_9969]

Do it in English like Stallone ? I didnt know stallone had any other languages in his head ?

[@Mark-Gillis]

Wanne gek!

[@aryinc]

great guy. symphatic.

[@deje2213]

Jij ook vriendelijk bedankt gozer ❤❤❤

[@beyourself7215]

You lose it when you don't use it.

[@JPWick]

He's right. For example, I'd rather not speak French at all in France than speak it poorly. It's one thing to be learning it, showing effort and enthusiasm, they are forgiving. But if you're French, and speak it poorly, they'll take offense.

[@IamMarjoree]

Dutch I have it yeah aha This is not me

[@wakinyanokiye]

Typical for a Belgian francophone NOT being able to speak Dutch/Flemish.

[@Serenoj69]

Why should they. It is institutionalised: Dutch and French mandatory in Flemish schools, French only mandatory in Walloon schools. What to expect. As a Dutch I like Belgium and it seems to work fine over there. I do not see a problem.

[@INFIN1TY-]

He speaks nothing well enough.. still a legend tho.

[@Twu587]

We’re used to people not trying to talk Dutch. We don’t mind.

[@hennyschuitert4623]

His original is French

[@Headbangerr-en2cc]

As an imigrant living in Netherlands i can happily say, that my Dutch is better than JCVD.

[@laetitiazichy-vanlidth5882]

Brains= muscles😂

[@Roos_the_artist]

Im from belgium

[@emma.alon44]

Ik ben sok😅😅😅

[@TrIpMo1981]

As many mentioned before, he is from the French side in Belgium. FYI: Flemish and Dutch are not the same.

[@Robson7788]

So he left the country at 18 and forgot his first language???

[@carloschong2795]

He is completely fluent in French since it’s his native language.

[@D4NK1]

Is it me or is his dutch heavily accented? Isnt goedenavond pronounced "hoodenavond"? Sorry im learning dutch so I might be totally wrong

[@bosslife001]

You are totally wrong

[@D4NK1]

@@bosslife001 ok

[@Afura33]

I love this guy

[@tristannicolaas6249]

So friendly man. A hero from me.

[@Casmaniac]

Legend. A national treasure, severely underappreciated.

[@SkinnyEMedia]

Nederlands / Vlaams is an easier language than German, for me because of the strong similarities with English / Engels. Problem is I don't know many Flemish or Dutch speakers since many of them < spreek groet Engels met geen probleem >

[@チャーリーブラウン-w8l]

The Muscles from Brussels LOL

[@b.a.b7834]

This is a Flemish obsession : they ask everyone " SPEAK FLEMISH"

[@patrickdereyck7061]

No, we don't. Foreigners hardly get the chance to learn Flemish because we directly switch to English or French to help them out. But If someone comes to live here, we expect him or her to speak the language at least bit after some time.

[@9grand]

@@patrickdereyck7061 Totally understand you from Québec.

[@krunk9790]

He said (Ja een beetje) what means (Yeah a little bit) (Goedenavond) means (Goodnight) (Dank je wel) means (Thank you) and (Vriendelijk bedankt) means (Friendly thanks for having me)

[@N1120A]

His accent in English is French, which shows that was really his native tongue.

[@LVZVRUS]

Ek is afrikaans tweede taal en ek het die meeste hiervan verstaan.

[@MariaHernandez-qv5cl]

I have little bit of bulguime i don't speak it i mostly Portuguese

[@benmanutd2]

Considering how little chance he got to speak Dutch/Flemish for 3 decades, I don't blame him. My aunt got a Master in French in Indonesia, and now she doesn't speak a word of French at all. Why? Never get to practice it for decades.

[@honeyhoney1529]

Da's niet erg. Belgian here who live in California. I can totally empathize with Jean-Claude. Fortunately, I have not lost my French and Flemish (grew up in both in Antwerp). Every time I go to Belgium to visit family, it takes about a day to readjust to Flemish (Belgian Dutch) and French.

[@tromboneJTS]

How could this happen. His English is pretty horrible to boot.

[@datatsushi2016]

Because some belgians simply don't speak dutch and never learned to lol. People are over analyzing. The only reason why belgians learn dutch is because it's close to the netherlands so it comes in handy. It's like asking a dutch person "Why don't you speak german?" Yeah, alot of dutch people speak german, because germany is close by, but not everyone.

[@BelgianCat]

Are you Flemish? Your information is blatantly false. The majority of Belgium speaks Dutch/Flemish, and only a small minority speaks German.

[@datatsushi2016]

@@BelgianCat 59% of belgians speak dutch/flemish and 40% speaks french. Jean Claude just happens to be one of the 40% (which is still a pretty high percentage) and only 1% of belgians speak german. But the dutch speak german MORE than belgians do. edit: Yeah, just a quick check. 71% of dutch people speak german. So if any "dutch celeb" can't speak german they're just part of the 29% that doesn't speak it. Nothing weird about it, just like it's not weird that JCVD can't speak flemish.

[@BelgianCat]

My bad, I misread your second paragraph. Somehow swapped out Dutch with Belgian. That being said, Belgians don't only learn Dutch because of us neighboring The Netherlands. We speak Dutch because historically we were part as one country with The Netherlands.

[@datatsushi2016]

@@BelgianCat Ah, i see. Well im not that big a fan of Jean Claude anyway. Just thought it weird people assumed he knew how to speak flemish/dutch.

[@cliffdewind1389]

Je ziet wel aan zijn gezicht dat zijn voorouders uit de lage landen komen. Aan zijn achternaam Van Varenberg hoor je dat ook.

[@MarkMarkko]

What kind of person forgets his own native language ? Which he spoke btw till age of 19, until he moved to the States.

[@wettenenrechten]

Je vergeet je taal niet zomaar, tenzij je dementie hebt.

[@SmokeTheSteak]

Clown. Je vergeet je taal wel degelijk. Daar is oefening voor nodig. Als ik super goed Frans kon vroeger en ik het 10 jaar niet meer sprak zou ik het ook niet meer perfect kunnen. Da's de logica zelve.....

[@Noutchka]

Actually his French is perfect

[@hollandmeester347]

Insane. Van Damme has a Dutch name, comes from a Dutch speaking country ... but can't speak Dutch himself. Huh???

[@Jay-ef2ii]

Special Word: I think that his English is his Flemish, his French, and his Dutch. We have to understand that he is one of a kind. His English was shaky at first when he was doing movies, but he has progressed a lot in speaking better English here in America. America is the number one country in the world when it comes to many things including Movies. Jean Claude had to better in his English or else his movies would not be selling that well. People especially in Europe don't get that Jean Claude is a super star and they treat him like a filthy oil rag from 1967. Europeans are super cruel to one of their own, but he is immune in my mind because he is Jean Claude Van Damme. He is a major star even though Knock off (the movie) brought him down big in the 1990s. Europeans will always think they are superior to Americans and to Jean Claude as well, but his progression in English and his good looks along with his Great acting have propelled JCVD to the top. He is a millionaire, and he is still making millions. Who cares if he speaks mediocre or "Forgotten Dutch"? It still will sound good or great because he is Jean Claude van Damme. No other European man or European woman will ever have the success (in terms of action films) that Jean Claude has attained in Hollywood, USA. This interview that he did in Europe titled, "Jean-Claude van Damme speaking Flemish/Dutch (RARE)" Is Gold! August 8, 2024, USA

[@abboed.4076]

The weird thing is, although born in The Netherlands, I grew up in Germany in the 70s and 80s. And living in the Netherlands again for 37 years now. But Germans still can't hear I'm Dutch and back then (or now) Dutch people never would've guessed I was living in Germany. Both languages always have been fluently, without any accent whatsoever, next to each other. 🤔 I don't really understand this loss of language.. 🤷

[@teresarose685]

He’s not really Flemish. He’s a Walloon that grew up surrounded by Flemish communities

[@baret9146]

'totally belgian' but doesn't speak flemish. okay, bye.

[@zybergis]

FYI, almost half the country do not speak Flemish. And they even have been living here for all their lives, unlike JCVD.

[@emiriebois2428]

"totally begian". like half of Belgium which speak no flemish .

[@guntertorfs6486]

@@emiriebois2428 40 percent.

[@emiriebois2428]

@@guntertorfs6486 Belgium( the territory)

[@JayStillYung]

Bro this country doesn’t fucking work man. There’s zero nationalism lol what a shitty country. Each linguistic region should split or annex to their respective neighbouring countries

[@Sevisija]

JCVD Legend!

[@RfQsheo59]

I left my homecountry at the age of 7 and live already for 58 years in The Netherlands, but I still speak my native tongue Sranang tongo, Hindi and Dutch, as well as English, German, French. Guess not everyone is a polyglot😅 Just an unbelievable act of this actor looking for attention it seems. Within 5 yearheI guess he will only speak English and Kantonese😂😅

[@ronnyvanderwee417]

flauwe kul

[@mloesb]

I don’t think Dutch was ever his language. Muscles from Brussels sais it all. Brussels is a French language part of Belgium. The French speaking Belgians do learn Dutch in school but rarely speak it. I suspect his French will be better, all be it with an accent.

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

Lol. Poor guy is explaining he doesn’t remember much at all, even has trouble with his French. Around 25-ish years back I was involved in a Belgian Open martial arts championship in Knokke. He was in the area and lurked around for a very short bit. Came over as gun-shy which could be interpreted as standoffish. I chose to see his attitude as having had too many unpleasant interactions with overzealous fans. He should have remembered that Belgians and especially the Flemish are quite chill where celebrities are concerned. Generally we treat them like ordinary humans.

[@janvangorp6918]

Schwarzenegger speak perfectly Austrian. And in every movie, there is a little hint to He's Origins. Respect for that

[@JeffSyam]

Alex and Eddie van Halen left to US at age 10 & 7 yo respectively, yet they both still occasionally give interview in Dutch.

[@Harrypjotter7]

Imargants from still rather speak the language from their native country instead of the country where their children are born.

[@coldenhoff]

Wat een held!