The Struggle for Dutch Language Survival

Speaking Dutch used to be a total act of rebellion. For centuries, the elite only spoke

Latin or French, leaving Dutch for the common people. It took a literal war and the printing

press in the 1600s to finally force a standard language into existence. Flanders had it

the hardest, fighting a massive political battle just to use their own language in

courts instead of French. They even tried forcing people to speak perfect Dutch

in the 50s, which completely backfired. After fighting for survival for fourteen

centuries, the language is now facing its final boss as universities slowly switch everything

to English.