{"id":8036,"date":"2018-07-16T13:26:39","date_gmt":"2018-07-16T19:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/?p=8036"},"modified":"2018-07-17T12:12:51","modified_gmt":"2018-07-17T18:12:51","slug":"the-belgian-national-team-unites-belgium-and-speaks-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/the-belgian-national-team-unites-belgium-and-speaks-english\/","title":{"rendered":"the belgian national team unites belgium. and speaks english"},"content":{"rendered":"

during the 2014 world cup<\/strong> there were several articles around the internet speculating that belgium’s status as a nation was at risk.\u00a0at the time, several weeks after national elections,\u00a0 belgium still had not \u00a0established a government.<\/p>\n

\"the
(polgeonow.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

joshua keating<\/strong> explained<\/a> on slate.com<\/strong> that<\/p>\n

the underlying<\/em> issue [in belgium] is the division between the country\u2019s dutch<\/em>-speaking flemish<\/em> majority and the french-speaking walloons<\/em>. the flemish, in particular, largely favor further<\/em> devolution of power to regional governments and resent<\/em> their tax dollars going to support the less prosperous french-speaking south. belgians, more or less, live in separate areas, watch separate TV, read separate newspapers, and vote for separate politicians<\/em>.<\/h4>\n

underlying<\/em><\/strong> means principal<\/em>. dutch<\/strong><\/em> is the nationality and the language of people from the netherlands.\u00a0flemish<\/em><\/strong> refers to people from flanders. walloons<\/em><\/strong> are people from wallonia, the southern region of belgium. further<\/em><\/strong><\/a> means more<\/em>. resent<\/strong><\/em><\/a> means be offended by<\/em>. politicians<\/strong><\/em><\/a> are government officials<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"ned<\/a><\/p>\n

flemish folks are from flanders. flanders is also homer simpson’s neighbor.<\/em><\/h5>\n

keating observed that belgium’s national football team was<\/p>\n

a rare<\/em> source of national pride<\/em>\u00a0for what\u2019s generally ranked<\/em> as one of the least patriotic populations in europe.<\/h4>\n

rare<\/em><\/strong><\/a> means not common<\/em>, pride<\/strong><\/em><\/a> is a strong feeling of satisfaction in yourself<\/em>,\u00a0\u00a0ranked<\/strong><\/em> means compared to<\/em> the other nations in europe.<\/p>\n

fun elt practice\u00a0\":)\"<\/span>\u00a0richyrocks english on youtube<\/a><\/h4>\n

\"belgium<\/p>\n

belgian fans showing pride in their national team<\/em><\/h5>\n

pundits<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(experts) were quiet about any potential political disintegration at this world cup. but\u00a0 belgiuim’s extremely talented players and intense style of play made them one of the most exciting teams at the \u00a0tournament. their ethnic and linguistic diversity were still a point of interest as well. ellis palmer<\/strong> at bbc.com\u00a0<\/strong>asked<\/a>…<\/p>\n

how, one may wonder<\/em>, does belgium’s multilingual team communicate?<\/h4>\n

wonder<\/strong> <\/em><\/a>means think about<\/em>. the answer to palmer’s question is<\/p>\n

the players speak neither<\/em> dutch nor<\/em> french but english in the changing room<\/em> [and on the pitch<\/em>], to avoid<\/em> the perception of favouring<\/em> one language over another.<\/h4>\n

neither,nor<\/em><\/strong><\/a> is used to present two negative options<\/em>. changing room<\/strong><\/em> is where players change clothes<\/em>. in american english, it’s more typical to use locker room<\/em><\/strong>. pitch<\/em><\/strong> is thefootball\u00a0 field<\/em>. avoid<\/em><\/strong><\/a> is stay away from<\/em>. favour<\/em><\/strong> is written with a u<\/em> in british and canadian english.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

donald trump defended his famous “i grab them by the pussy” comment as “locker room talk”<\/em><\/h5>\n

nikhil sonnad<\/strong> shares a similar assessment<\/a> on quartz.com<\/strong><\/p>\n

french might seem<\/em> like a better option as<\/em> the team\u2019s common language. most belgian players speak french well enough; it\u2019s widely<\/em> spoken in belgium, and would be less likely than english to be understood<\/em> by the team\u2019s world cup opponents. moreover<\/em>, some of the belgian team\u2019s players have rather<\/em> poor english skills. one british commentator called marouane fellaini, a belgian midfielder, the worst english speaker\u00a0he\u2019d ever come across<\/em>.<\/h4>\n

might<\/strong><\/em><\/a> is possibly<\/em>, maybe<\/em>. seem<\/strong><\/em><\/a> is appear<\/em>. as<\/strong><\/em><\/a> is used to refer to the potential\u00a0function<\/em>\u00a0french could serve for the belgian national team. widely<\/em><\/strong><\/a> means in many places<\/em>. be understood<\/em><\/strong> is passive voice<\/strong><\/a>—be<\/em> is an auxiliary and understood<\/em> is the irregular past participle of understand<\/em>. \u00a0moreover<\/em><\/strong> is additionally<\/em>.\u00a0rather<\/a>,<\/strong><\/em> like quite<\/em><\/strong><\/a> and pretty<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, can be understood to emphasize<\/em>, or to indicate a relative level<\/em> of the adjective it is used with, poor<\/em> in this case. come across<\/strong><\/em> is encounter<\/em>, meet<\/em>.\u00a0he’d come across<\/em><\/strong> is past perfect<\/strong>. it refers to a moment in the past and the time leading up to it<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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So disappointed we didn’t made it to WC final, but proud of what we have achieved as a team. Big thank you to all the @BelRedDevils<\/a> fans for the support #redtogether<\/a> 🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com\/9q1VzymngU<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Marouane Fellaini (@Fellaini) July 11, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n