Relying solely on spellcheckers to asses your writing is risky, as this sentence shows. In Flanders, you can turn to de Taaltelefoon – the Language Telephone, which is de taaladviesdienst van de Vlaamse overheid – the language advice service of the Flemish government.

At the other end of the line, a language expert will answer your questions on Dutch spelling – spelling, grammatica – grammar, uitspraak – pronunciation, stijl – style. I wonder if that’s the expert’s only job, just sitting by the phone in case some doubter calls to ask what is juist – correct.

Take klant or cliënt; what is the difference? The answer given on the website corresponds to the English use of customer and client: Strikt genomen een bankdirecteur heeft cliënten – Strictly speaking, a bank manager has clients, as do advocaten – lawyers. Klanten doen aankopen bij winkeliers – customers make purchases from shopkeepers. So, now I know the difference, I may just complain if my bank addresses me as a klant.

Another enquirer asked: Is de zin “Ze is weer beginnen werken” juist? – Is the sentence “She has begun to work again” correct? (The Dutch sentence is not; the English one is.) De correcte zin is “Ze is weer beginnen te werken”.

Apparently, in informal speech het woordje te – the little word ‘te’ is often dropped. The advice is: In verzorgde taal kunt u dat beter niet doen – In polished language, it’s better not to do that. Words to encourage rather than to admonish.

Here’s one on pronunciation. Spreek je de sc in sceptisch als [s] of als [sk]? – Do you pronounce the sc in sceptisch as [s] or as [sk]? The surprising answer is: U kunt kiezen – you can choose. A sceptic in English is only pronounced [sk], as the US spelling of skeptic makes clear.

So what about confusion with septisch – septic? The writer soothes this concern: de context wijst uit welk woord bedoeld is – the context makes clear which word is meant. The worst that can happen is that iemand er een flauwe grap over maakt – someone makes a corny joke about it, which I now will not attempt.

You can ask for advice elke werkdag – every workday from 9.00 to 12.00 and elke schoolwoensdag van 14 tot 16 uur – every Wednesday during school term from 14.00 to 16.00, for teachers as well as pupils I suppose. But don’t all phone this week!
Tel: 078.15.20.25
http://taaltelefoon.vlaanderen.be