Use
In national politics, politicians can choose which of the three official languages they want to speak. In Belgian parliament, simultaneous interpretation is available for those who require it.
Education is provided by the communities, Dutch in the Flemish Community (Flanders and Brussels), French in the French Community (Wallonia and Brussels), German in the German-speaking community. Education in other languages is prohibited (except for foreign language subjects of course, and in higher education where English is increasingly used).
Also all official communication with the government (Tax papers, local politics, id/passport requests, building permits, ...) must be in the official language of the region or community. A few municipalities are granted an exception on these rules.
Read more about this topic: Languages Of Belgium
Famous quotes containing the word use:
“... it is use, and use alone, which leads one of us, tolerably trained to recognize any criterion of grace or any sense of the fitness of things, to tolerate ... the styles of dress to which we are more or less conforming every day of our lives. Fifty years hence they will seem to us as uncultivated as the nose-rings of the Hottentot seem today.”
—Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1844–1911)