What Languages are Spoken in Belgium?

Belgium’s a wonderful little country.

Similar in size to the state of Maryland, and with 11 million people living there, our favorite diminutive country has brought many joys to the world. Belgians through history have invented such things as the beloved comic strip Tintin, the saxophone, and a whole host of culinary delights including French fries, pralines, and waffles.

And like many other small countries that share borders with larger ones (here’s looking at you, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Northern Cyprus, Luxembourg, and others), the language situation can be varied. So, is there an official Belgian language? If there’s not one official, dominant language, what are the languages of Belgium?

Let’s delve into the question that visitors to the country (and, truth be told, probably some natives as well) often ask…what do Belgians speak?

The Multilingual Landscape of Belgium

What language do Belgians speak?

Belgium doesn’t have one official language. Given the country’s centuries-long influence from larger, more powerful countries, it’s only natural that one single tongue isn’t spoken everywhere within Belgium’s relatively small borders.

There are actually three official languages in Belgium: Dutch (also known as Flemish in Belgium) is spoken by more than half the population. Another 40% speak French, while a small percentage of the population speaks German. So, the “Belgian language” is actually a trio of more common languages spoken in Western and Central Europe.

What’s Behind the Multiple Languages of Belgium?

Belgium is made up of two distinct cultural and linguistic groups: the French-speaking Walloons and the Flemish-speaking inhabitants of Flanders.

The differences between the two peoples reflect centuries of various European powers ruling over Belgium: Spanish, Dutch, and French rulers have all presided over the country at one point or another, passing control of the territory among them.

The Belgian Revolution in 1830 – where the Flemish and the Walloon groups rebelled against their Dutch rulers – finally led to the country’s independence, and the Kingdom of Belgium was born in 1831, uniting the two linguistic groups.

Following the end of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles, the German-speaking territory of Eupen-Malmedy was annexed by Belgium from Germany. This brought thousands of German speakers under Belgian rule.

Language Regions and Their Cultural Significance 

There’s also no single Belgian language because of the country’s main historical and geographical regions. 

The Flanders Region: Roughly the northern half of the country, the Flanders region has more than 7 million Flemish (Dutch) speakers.

Wallonia Region: The southern half of Belgium has nearly 4 million French speakers.

Brussels Region: The next most populous region is the Brussels capital region, with another 1 million people who speak both French and Flemish.

Eupen-Malmedy Region: Nestled in the eastern outskirts of Wallonia, the Eupen-Malmedy region contains less than 100,000 people who speak German. However, many people within Eupen-Malmedy can speak Dutch and French.

How Language Influences Belgian Identity

Language politics is a huge source of friction in Belgium, with both French and Flemish speakers complaining that their language is not given priority by the authorities.

The language border – the demarcation between French- and Flemish-speaking communities – is fixed by federal law.

And although Brussels is officially bilingual, it’s become majority French-speaking due to its central role in international politics. The influx of foreigners today are more likely to speak French than Flemish.

As the capital has expanded, the number of French speakers outside the city’s boundaries has expanded into neighboring Flanders. This can lead to tension between French and Flemish speakers, who each just want to speak their own languages.

This must sound a little daunting to anyone wanting to visit Belgium. After all, no one wants to offend the locals!

But don’t be put off by the politics, just keep these simple tips in mind when you’re wondering which language to use in Belgium:

Three Tips For Choosing Which Language to Use in Belgium

1. Never speak French to locals in Flanders.
2. Never speak Flemish to locals in Wallonia.
3. When in doubt, start the conversation in English (particularly in Brussels) and then ask which language you should continue in.

How is Belgian French Different?

Any French speaker who’s visited Belgium will know that the biggest differences between Belgian French and French from France are in the small, everyday words.

Numbers are the most obvious difference!

Most French learners have likely spent years proudly mastering lightning-quick mental arithmetic in order to fluently recall the complicated French numbering system, featuring numbers like soixante-dix, quatre-vingt-huit and even quatre-vingt-treize. Way to go – that’s no mean feat!

Except, Belgian French uses different numbers.

… Quoi?

Yes, that’s right. Belgian French has dropped the vigesimal numbering system (i.e., the system based on the number twenty), and instead uses the really simple system below for anything over 60:

Phew!  That is so much simpler, isn’t it?

If you’re worried that you’ve wasted time learning the French numbering system, fear not. You’ll still be perfectly well understood if you say quatre-vingt-quinze instead of nonante-cinq. It’s still French, after all, just a different version.

Here are a couple of smaller vocabulary differences in Belgian French:

S’il vous plaît is really common in Belgian French, but not how you’d think.

It still means ‘please,’ but it’s also a synonym for the French voilà. So you might hear s’il vous plaît from a waiter as he brings your food to your table, for example.

This is a great example of how Belgian French has borrowed from Flemish, as the Flemish word alstublieft (please) is used in the same way.

The way that Belgians say they like something is ça me goûte, literally, that it tastes good. 

This is different from the French way, ça me plaît, that something is pleasing. This is likely another borrowing from Flemish, where the phrase is dat smaakt, again, literally, that it tastes good.

What is the Flemish Language – Vlaams Dutch?

As we mentioned, Flemish is actually a variant of Dutch. Called vlaams in Flemish, it’s similar to Netherlands Dutch (called nederlands), with just a few differences.

Although Flemish and Dutch are incredibly similar, it’s important not to refer to a Flemish person as Dutch. The Flemish are ethnically and culturally a different people who have a turbulent history with their northern neighbors, so it’s offensive to suggest that they are one large group.

Here are some linguistic differences between vlaams and nederlands Dutch:

• The Flemish language tends to be more formal. They use the formal U form of you, whereas the less formal je is common in the Netherlands.
• Vlaams uses more French loanwords, whereas nederlands uses more English borrowings.
  • Flemish people put confituur on their bread (from French confiture), but the Dutch use the English word jam.
  • The Flemish word for a bike is the same in French: vélo. In Dutch, this word is fiets.
• The diminutive suffix is different in the two languages. In Flanders you use -(e)ke as the diminutive, but in the Netherlands it’s -(e)tje.
• The dialects sometimes favor one standard Dutch word over another.
  For example, the word peinzen (to think) is common in Flanders, but in the Netherlands, the synonym denken is more prevalent. This is like the terms ‘to call’ and ‘to phone’ in English. Both are valid, but some groups favor one over the other.
• The written language is more or less the same in both dialects.

All About German in Belgium

German is spoken by less than 1% of Belgium’s population. That’s around 70,000 speakers.

So, the number of speakers isn’t huge, but the community is recognized as culturally and linguistically significant enough for German to be given co-official status. It even appears on Belgian passports!

Because the German-language region of Eupen-Malmedy only became a part of Belgium 100 years ago, and the residents there spend a lot of time working, shopping, and having fun in Germany, the German spoken in Belgium hasn’t diverged significantly from the Hochdeutsch spoken in Germany.

Embracing Belgium’s Linguistic Diversity

Thus, the “Belgian language” is actually three languages. To understand the different regions of the country, it helps to ask, what do Belgians speak there? The politics and regional linguistic differences within the small yet influential country aren’t going away—but that doesn’t stop millions of people from visiting Belgium every year! Given the country’s outsized impact (in Europe and beyond), Belgium’s multilingual makeup is considered a cultural quirk to be embraced and celebrated by natives and visitors alike!

We know that preparing to visit multilingual countries can be tricky, but hopefully we’ve resolved some of the confusion about which languages you need to know, and in which region of Belgium. Thankfully, Pimsleur offers easily accessible, intuitive language learning programs for French, Dutch, and German, and they’ll all give you the tools and resources you need to enjoy Belgium for all it’s worth!

All that is left to say is:

Bon voyage, goede reis, and gute Reise!