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            Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love,
            live in or have just visited - are what make this guide.
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                <title>Watch your language</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1425</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[Brussels is officially a bi-lingual city, with French and Dutch having equal status. But... French speakers won't thank you for speaking Dutch to them and Dutch speakers will be just as unhappy if you address them in French. The two groups of people use English as a lingua franca to avoid having to lower themselves to speaking the other's language, so this is probably the one city in mainland Europe where speaking to the locals in English is justifiable. If you do speak French or Dutch, it's worth keeping your ears open when you go somewhere to see if you can recognise what language people there are using, then you can choose which language to use accordingly. That said, French-speakers make up 80% of the population of Brussels, so if you really don't want to use English, that's going to be the language most likely to work.]]></description>
                
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