Daily life
Gemeente / stadsloket
khe-MEEN-te / STAT-lo-ket
Your municipality and its counter. In Flanders the administrative language is Dutch — unlike Brussels, you have no right to be served in French here.
Bijlage 15
BY-lah-khe vayf-TEEN
The temporary paper slip proving your registration is under way. It is not an ID card, but for a few weeks it is your only proof of legal presence.
Wijkagent
WAYK-a-khent
The neighbourhood police officer who calls at your address to confirm you really live there. Nothing proceeds until that report comes back positive.
Ziekenfonds
ZEE-ken-fonts
The health insurance fund you must choose and join yourself. Compulsory, but nobody enrols you — not your employer, not the city.
Huurwaarborg
HOOR-waar-borkh
The rental deposit. In Flanders it can be up to three months' rent — more than the two months allowed in Brussels — and must sit in a blocked account in your name.
Work
Inburgering
IN-bur-khe-ring
Flanders' compulsory civic integration path: social orientation, Dutch to at least A2, and a participation trajectory. In Antwerp it is run by the city agency Atlas.
Culture
Sinjoor
sin-YOHR
A native Antwerper, from the Spanish señor — a leftover of the sixteenth-century Spanish period, and worn with the confidence the city is famous for.
Social
Goesting
KHOO-sting
Appetite, desire, the urge to do something. Untranslatable, used constantly, and one of the first words that marks you as no longer new.
Amai
a-MY
'Wow' or 'blimey' — surprise, admiration or dismay depending entirely on the tone. Ubiquitous in Flemish speech.
Food
Een zjatteke koffie
un ZHAT-te-ke KOF-fee
'A little cup of coffee' in Antwerp dialect, from the French jatte. The city's speech is full of French borrowings that standard Dutch has dropped.
Emergency
112 / 101
—
112 for ambulance, fire or police anywhere in Belgium; 101 goes straight to the police. Both free from any phone, and 112 is answered in Dutch, French and English.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.