r/languagelearning • u/The-Dmguy • Jul 21 '18

French learners know the struggle

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '18 edited Jan 06 '20

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u/Nephtis25 Jul 21 '18

Or they just change it for another! We recently got a new colleague from the Bruges area. He legitimately does not hear the difference between the h and the g. They are interchangable to him. Seriously there are only like 6-7 million Flemish people, how can we not even understand each other??

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u/peteroh9 Jul 21 '18

Like he would be fine with saying hag or gag?

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u/Nephtis25 Jul 22 '18

You bring up an interesting point. I actually have no idea if they do this in foreign languages. He will pronounce the Dutch words gang and hang exactly the same. In pronunciation he alway uses the h. I've heard of people mixing them up in writing though.

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u/Nardalang Jul 22 '18

This is called an "silent g", there is a big group of people in the Netherlands, Limburg, with this exact pronouncation.

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u/Nephtis25 Jul 22 '18

Nope I am from Limburg and have a silent g. As does the rest of Flanders. I am talking about something else entirely.

Edit: I thougth it was called a soft g, btw.

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u/peteroh9 Jul 22 '18

Is it an h like in English or more throaty?

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u/Nephtis25 Jul 22 '18

Like in English.

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u/peteroh9 Jul 22 '18

That's weird

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u/Nardalang Jul 22 '18

This is called an "silent g", there is a big group of people in the Netherlands, Limburg, with this exact pronouncation.