May 26, 2004

Welcome on board, Maarten, and look forward for our Dutch and Belgian Typepad and MT launches

Maarten Schenk, the creator of Skynet Blogs, is joining us. Maarten has been visionary in launching one of the earliest and most successful blogging tool in Europe at Skynet, that has now more than 17000 blogs in Belgium (French and Dutch language). Or should I say Flemish ? Maarten has Dutch roots and is a trained linguist so I do not expect there will be much language related issues between Flemish and Dutch :=)

Maarten will prepare and launch Typepad and MT3 in Belgium and The Netherlands, in French and Dutch (and Flemish !), all our team in Europe is happy to welcome him on board.

By the way if there are any Dutch or Flemish people reading this blog, what do you think about the languages/cultural differences ? My opinion is that it is probably like the Walloons and the French, making jokes about it but finally not so many differences, right ?

Team growing, looking interesting... congrats again. (I will stop now with the congrats for new people or it will become my new hobby ;))

Anyway. One thing I have to say about the Wallons and French is that Wallons are more often than not easier to understand. Same actually goes for Flemisch I think. It's a bit cleaner and slower. Maybe that's because both languages in the country they need to remain clearer in their pronounciation.

That's the view from a german having lived in belgium for 8 years. So there you go. That's my feedback ;)

Oliver Thylmann, May 26, 2004 at 08:07

Oliver,

I think you got that correct the Dutch - Flemish relationsship is basically based on that the Dutch assume that the Belgiums (Flemish in the Dutch case) are stupid, and the Flemish think farthing every cent.

Jochem

Jochem Donkers, May 26, 2004 at 09:27

There are a lot of differences between the Dutch and Flemish languages. The same object can have different words. Some words have an unfortunate sexual connotation in one country, but not in the other. But there are also significant differences between the Belgian and Dutch markets. When I launched Weekendhotel.nl for the Netherlands and then Weekendhotel.be a year later for Belgium, I did not realize just how different they would be. My biggest problem in Belgium is satisfying French and Flemish speaking people, so now I have to do a French version of the Belgian site as well. My French is okay, but it takes time to translate everything and at some point I kind of gave up (sorry French-speaking Belgians!). Approaching customers in these markets is also different. You have to be very sensitive to how you talk to them, what approach works, etc. Fortunately I am Filipina so they all forgive my mistakes and I do make a great effort to speak Dutch (with mangled Flemish words here and there) and French. There is a German speaking part of Belgium and there I polish up my German and try not to offend anyone with wrong declensions (you know the der-die-das problem with direct/indirect objects).

Esme de Guzman Vos, May 26, 2004 at 17:56

There are a lot of differences between the Dutch and Flemish languages. The same object can have different words. Some words have an unfortunate sexual connotation in one country, but not in the other. But there are also significant differences between the Belgian and Dutch markets. When I launched Weekendhotel.nl for the Netherlands and then Weekendhotel.be a year later for Belgium, I did not realize just how different they would be. My biggest problem in Belgium is satisfying French and Flemish speaking people, so now I have to do a French version of the Belgian site as well. My French is okay, but it takes time to translate everything and at some point I kind of gave up (sorry French-speaking Belgians!). Approaching customers in these markets is also different. You have to be very sensitive to how you talk to them, what approach works, etc. Fortunately I am Filipina so they all forgive my mistakes and I do make a great effort to speak Dutch (with mangled Flemish words here and there) and French. There is a German speaking part of Belgium and there I polish up my German and try not to offend anyone with wrong declensions (you know the der-die-das problem with direct/indirect objects).

Esme de Guzman Vos, May 26, 2004 at 17:56

Written Flemish and Dutch are -in their standard version- almost the same, regardless of some minor grammatical variations and the obvious differences in word choice in certain fields. The pronunciation however is very different.

But the difference doesn't stop there, even more important is the cultural difference. Just to name one: religion.

When the Spaniards invaded the rebellious Lowlands at the end of the 16th century they only managed to conquer Flanders. An up until today that has deep catholic roots, while the Netherlands have a protestant/calvinist tradition.

Peter Caestecker, May 26, 2004 at 20:42

Written Flemish and Dutch are -in their standard version- almost the same, regardless of some minor grammatical variations and the obvious differences in word choice in certain fields. The pronunciation however is very different.

But the difference doesn't stop there, even more important is the cultural difference. Just to name one: religion.

When the Spaniards invaded the rebellious Lowlands at the end of the 16th century they only managed to conquer Flanders. An up until today that has deep catholic roots, while the Netherlands have a protestant/calvinist tradition.

Peter Caestecker, May 26, 2004 at 20:43

One thing you should take note of: the Flemish (almost) always win the Grand Dutch Spelling Contest (in Dutch: Het Groot Dictee der Nederlandse Taal).

Just so you know.... ;)

Roel, May 29, 2004 at 16:45

buffalo bills football betting arbitrage sports betting soccer gambling football gambling odds betting online sports usa basketball gambling software ethics gambling sports sports betting odds football free sports betting betting bill buffalo football pro football gambling ncaa online baseball betting odds baseball betting tactic online sports betting line gambling on football game online baseball betting pick ncaa football betting spread online nfl football gambling sports book gambling sports betting golf college football betting spread online college football betting sports book betting line sports betting advice basketball betting line sports betting line las vegas sports betting info ncaa sports gambling online soccer gambling online sports gambling info mlb baseball gambling football gambling tip online football betting basketball betting site ncaa basketball online betting football gambling portal betting bill buffalo football online sports betting odds football football sports betting line ncaa football gambling internet football betting football betting sheet pro football betting odds professional sports gambling egal online sports gambling basketball betting

Dan, November 12, 2004 at 17:34

I hope the Dutch and Belgian cooperation will be mutually beneficial :))
Sarah http://www.casino-secret.com

Gambling Girl, December 16, 2004 at 16:32

mnbyondart.com Because the insulin pump can be
http://zinedine.byondart.com/zinedine.html zinedine started on an outpatient basis and
http://air-purifier-ionic.byondart.com/air-purifier-ionic.html buy air purifier ionic online patients prefer this form of treatment
http://r9.byondart.com/r9.html _ over multiple daily shots, doctors r9 should consider soma patients with
http://elisabeth-hurley.byondart.com/elisabeth-hurley.html order elisabeth hurley the device, Dr. Philip Raskin and
http://lebron-jame.byondart.com/lebron-jame.html lebron jame online colleagues suggest in the medical
http://rivaldo.byondart.com/rivaldo.html buy rivaldo journal Diabetes Care. from the University
http://micheal-schumacher.byondart.com/micheal-schumacher.html buy micheal schumacher online of Texas Southwestern akane soma
http://brooke-shield.byondart.com/brooke-shield.html _ Medical Center in Dallas. With newer brooke shield medicines there is often no formal
http://rod-steward.byondart.com/rod-steward.html order rod steward information about safety in pregnancy. rod steward Nowadays, when new drugs are tested,
http://jenifer-garner.byondart.com/jenifer-garner.html jenifer garner online soma women who are or might become
http://figo.byondart.com/figo.html buy figo pregnant are not allowed to take
http://sepultura.byondart.com/sepultura.html buy sepultura online part in the safety tests. This means
http://jeniffer-lopez.byondart.com/jeniffer-lopez.html jeniffer lopez that we do not have the same information
http://ronaldinho.byondart.com/ronaldinho.html order ronaldinho on safety in pregnancy which we have
http://bridgette-moynahan.byondart.com/bridgette-moynahan.html bridgette moynahan online byondart.comnm

puppets, July 02, 2005 at 17:24

hello, nice site

kler, September 08, 2006 at 11:32

Post a comment

Comments are moderated, and will not appear on this weblog until the author has approved them.

If you have a TypeKey or TypePad account, please Sign In

« Blogs and advertising | Main | Slow blogging, full day meetings »

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/14060/773907

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Welcome on board, Maarten, and look forward for our Dutch and Belgian Typepad and MT launches:

» On the site today from News Weblog
Here on News blog we'll be looking at why polytunnels are... [Read More]

» Scientist embryo cloning faked from World News Outline
States are doing a mostly poor job in setting policies to discourage cigarette smoking, a new American Lung Association (ALA) report concludes. [Read More]

» Tour - Tour News, Pictures, Shows from Tour News
Latest News. European Tour News · Seniors Tour News · Challenge Tour News... [Read More]

» 500 Most Popular Searches from Internet News: Blog Searches
The 25rd edition of the TOP500 list was officially presented today at the International Supercomputer Conference ... [Read More]

» Directory of Canadian Search and Rescue Organizations from New South Wales State Emergency Service: Students & teachers
Roles of the SES: Alpine Search and Rescue. Paddy Platypus riding the Tumut SES skidoo Paddy Platypus riding the Tumut SES skidoo ... [Read More]

» MP3 music sound files from ALLOFMP3
At this site, you can search for MP3 sound files, as well as lyrics. ... Here, you will find a great collection of free, legal MP3 files of acoustic guitar ... [Read More]

» JS Online: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Page 1 from State Government Offices, Local US Government, City Government
Following are front pages from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Click on the image or link for a full-sized PDF. Online versions of the stories can be found ... [Read More]


Subscribe by email





Activity around the Web

Follow me on FriendFeed

About

Welcome to my blog. Based in San Francisco, I am an entrepreneur and a blogger. I just started my fifth startup, Seesmic, a community driven video social software. Here is what TechCrunch says about it.

I am blogging every day a video on loic.tv about (almost) everything I do as I start Seesmic, I also constantly post short thoughts to twitter and often my pictures on Flickr.

I also organize every year in Paris the conference LeWeb3 that gathers more than a thousand bloggers and entrepreneurs from 40 countries on Dec 11 and 12.

If you would like to learn more, here is a bio, my LinkedIn profile, my wikipedia pages in english and french. Sometimes they are subject to changes that do not always reflect what I consider the truth but that is the principle.

You may also want to subscribe to my RSS feeds in English, French or my video podcast feed.

Quotes

Last photo sent

 
Subscribers EN
Abonnés FR
Twitter Followers
TwitterCounter for @loiclemeur
Video feed

Subscribe to the podcast, it's free !


 Add me on ...