What language is spoken in Belgium?

A language border runs right across Belgium. It was fixed by law in 1962 and 1963 and separates Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north from French-speaking Wallonia in the south. Every municipality has exactly one official language, except Brussels, which is bilingual. In the east, on the German border, nine municipalities speak German.

A few towns right on the border also offer official services in the other language. Two of them stand out on the map: Voeren belongs to Flanders but is cut off from the rest of it, sitting between Wallonia and the Netherlands. Comines-Warneton in the west is the opposite case, a French-speaking piece of Wallonia between Flanders and France. Tap a region to hear how it sounds.

Most Belgians grow up speaking Dutch, around 40 percent speak French and only a small minority speak German. All three are official languages, and each language community has its own parliament that runs schools and culture.

No. "Flemish" is the name for the Dutch spoken in Flanders, and the official language there is Dutch. Belgium and the Netherlands write the same standard language. The spoken language differs a bit, much like British and American English: the G sounds softer in Flanders, people greet each other with "Goeiedag", use the polite "u" more often and call a mobile phone a "gsm". "Flemish" can also mean the local dialects of Flanders, for example in West Flanders, which even Dutch people find hard to follow.

If you learn Dutch, you will get along fine in Flanders.

Brussels is officially bilingual: street signs, public offices and metro announcements are in French and Dutch. In everyday life French clearly dominates, even though the city lies inside Flanders. Because the European Union and NATO are based there and many people from abroad live in the city, you also hear a lot of English. As a visitor, French gets you furthest.

Around 80,000 people live in the German-speaking Community in the east of Belgium. It is made up of nine municipalities: Eupen, Kelmis, Lontzen and Raeren in the north, and Amel, Büllingen, Burg-Reuland, Bütgenbach and Sankt Vith in the south. Most of the area belonged to Germany until 1920. Today it has its own parliament in Eupen and is part of the Walloon Region. German is the language of schools and public life here, with a few Belgian touches: a mobile phone is a "GSM" here too.

The French spoken in Belgium is the same language as in France, with a few quirks you will notice quickly. Belgians say "septante" for 70 and "nonante" for 90 instead of "soixante-dix" and "quatre-vingt-dix", while 80 is "quatre-vingts" as in France. Meals have different names too: "le déjeuner" is breakfast, "le dîner" is lunch and "le souper" is dinner. When handing something over, Belgians say "s'il vous plaît", the way you would say "here you go".

Wallonia also has old regional languages such as Walloon and Picard, and Luxembourgish is spoken around Arlon. Today only a few people, mostly older ones, still use them in daily life.

English is not an official language, but you can get by with it in most of the country. Many people in Flanders speak excellent English, and in Brussels it is used every day because of the EU institutions and international companies. In Wallonia English is less common, so a few words of French help a lot. Learning a handful of greetings in the local language is always appreciated, and in Flanders it is more polite to start in Dutch or English than in French.

It depends on where you are going. For the coast, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges or Leuven, Dutch is the right choice. For Brussels, Liège, Namur and the Ardennes, learn French. You can learn both for free on Langula, with audio for every word and sentence. For a holiday, a few greetings and polite phrases are often enough to make a good impression.