Short Jacket - An Antwerp Symphony musical event for newborns

Looking for something fun, innovative and educational with a newborn or a toddler?

Try the Antwerp Symphony.

Working with a children's development through theater group called De Spiegel, the Antwerp Symphony has developed a series of "musical experiences" aimed at specific age groups.

I went to "Short Jacket," the under one year experience with my three-month old. He was attentive and quiet through the forty-five minute "concert" and slept incredibly well just after.

Kortjakje trailer from Theater De Spiegel on Vimeo.


For the experience, you and your baby (and an adult friend, if you like) show up about 15 minutes early and wait in a comfortable, baby-friendly room.

Then the leader of the experience takes your group into a room full of light and shadows and pillows and weird mobiles designed to stimulate the under-age set.

Once everyone's found a nice place to lie down with each baby, a couple of Antwerp Symphony musicians come in and play random musical chords and noises that science says intrigue baby and stimulate cognitive growth.

You and the baby can move around the room during the "concert" to get a full experience. After about 45 minutes (when science indicates the baby has probably had enough), the musicians take their leave. My baby and I stayed a bit longer - maybe 10 more minutes - to try a few more of the funny mobiles, and then we gathered up our diaper bag and left.

He fell asleep immediately.

Duck Xrossing

 Seen in downtown Antwerp, heading for one of the city's many, many parks...

Antwerp's Farm building

Something that took me too long to discover: the huge KBC bank in the centre of downtown Antwerp is what the locals call the "Farm building."

Apparently that is where, traditionally, the many farmers of the region bank.

Bit of Flemish humour in street signs

These two streets actually cross each other.

Happy Birthday in Flemish

When celebrating Vlaamse Gemeenschap, I've been told to sing the song below:

Verjaardag / verjaardagslied
Lang zal hij/ze leven!
Lang zal hij/ze leven!
Lang zal hij/ze leven in de gloria
In de gloria
In de gloria
Hiep, hiep, hiep...hoera!
Hipe, hiep, hiep...hoera!

To say "Happy Birthday," try either "Proficiat!" (easiest) or "Gelukkige Verjaardag!" (For me, the last one sounds like "He-lew-kay vair - yard-ag."

You can also try out one of the following (remember, "naam" means "name"):

• op de gezondheid van (naam) = To the health of...
• Nog vele jaren! = many years of health!
• Gezondheid! = Health

(Yes, it is in French, but my family, aside from me, is French. The cat cartoons are Belgian - from a Belgian French-speaker....)

The pronunciation app for Dutch - no, for Flemish | Learn to pronounce words in Flemish by yourself

Antwerp is here to help you learn Dutch - wait, no, to learn Flemish.

Specifically, Antwerp would like you to learn the Antwerp dialect of Flemish.  If you don't have the Antwerp accent, you aren't from Antwerp, and they will tacitly judge you for your poor luck. 

To help, the tech-savvy city has provided you with a free application.

In my required Dutch Flemish classes, the visiting speech therapist ensured that all the students downloaded the app from Google Play or the iPhone store. She then took us through a few exercises on the application. There is no excuse, she was clear, for not using this app on a pretty much daily basis until we could appropriately function in proper Flemish society.

Basically, I have no reason to mispronounce words in Flemish (save my own treacherous tongue...)

The Antwerp app is Uitsprekend: Speak Out.

Find it on Google's Play Store if you are a Google user like me. It is also available for iPhones.

Superman

The sign for the street where I take Flemish classes has changed subtly...