Dear all,
another input : the official Dutch language was called ABN or Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands. It is supposed to be used in the Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders).
This is what you will find in grammar books. This is the way you are supposed to speak or write. In practice, people do speak various forms of dialects, but do write more or less according to the rules.
Flemish is in essence a series of dialects. Somebody from Ostend is not understood in the Netherlands (or a little bit in Fries islands), nor in most parts of Belgium. hence subtitles. An exemple : for the word "bottle " in English, you say also "bottle" in Ostend, while you would say "fles" elsewhere. But in Ostend newspapers, you would read "fles". Pull-over = Boiye (Ostend) = trui (Dutch)
I own a dictionnary Oostends / Dutch : 700 pages !!!!
Regards, Philippe
