Dutch in Belgium of French as a second language among Dutch speakers in Flanders decreases, especially for the benefit of English. In French education, French is no longer a compulsory second language. Such a situation already existed in French-speaking Belgium with regard to Dutch. In schools in Wallonia, Dutch is often taught as an elective, and as such it must compete against English. There are also Walloon educational institutions where several subjects are taught in Dutch as a form of Language immersion. Despite its name, Brabantian is the dominant contributor to the Flemish Dutch "tussentaal". The combined region, culture, and people of Dutch-speaking
Dutch colonization of the Americas independence prompted many to migrate to the Netherlands. Political instability and economic decline after independence resulted in even more migration to the Netherlands. The Surinamese community in the Netherlands is now almost as large as half of the population in the country itself (about 350,000). Dutch colonization of the Americas The Dutch colonization of the Americas began with the establishment of Dutch trading posts and plantations in the Americas, which preceded the much wider known colonisation activities of the Dutch in Asia. While the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600 (in present-day Indonesia), the first forts and