Basic information on the spoken languages:

The population of Belgium is divided into three linguistic communities. In the north the Flemings, who constitute more than half of Belgium’s population, speak Dutch. The speakers of English usually call the language spoken in The Netherlands “Dutch” and that spoken in Belgium “Flemish”, both are actually the same language. In the south the French-speaking Walloons make up about one-third of the country’s population. About one-tenth of the population is completely bilingual, but a majority have only some knowledge of both French and Flemish. The German-language region in eastern Liège province, containing fewer than 1 percent of the Belgians, consists of 9 communes around Eupen and Saint-Vith. The city of Brussels comprises 19 officially bilingual communes, although the metropolitan area extends far into the surrounding Flemish and Walloon communes. The French-speaking population is by far the larger in the capital region.

German

German is spoken in a geographically discontinuous area which stretches for about 100 kilometres along the border with Germany and Luxembourg. When describing the situation of German in Belgium, it is necessary to make a distinction between the areas awarded to Belgium in 1918 following the Treaty of Versailles (the cantons of Eupen, Malmedy and St. Vith), and those German-speaking areas which have been part of Belgium since its creation in 1830 (Montzener Land, an area arond Montzen/Welkenraedt), or since 1839, following the division of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Areler Land, which corresponds to the administrative district of Arlon, near the border with Luxembourg).

In the official German-language community education is entirely in German, from pre-primary to higher level. Primary school teachers are trained in German. There is no German-language university in Belgium. German-speaking students either go to universities in Germany or take courses at Belgian universities through French or Dutch. Those who wish to enter German-language secondary school teaching, but who studied at a Belgian university first need to pass a linguistic test. There is an extensive network of adult language classes in German. A certain number of primary schools offer German from the third year on.

Luxembourgish

Luxembourgish is spoken in the administrative area of Arlon/Arel (Areler Land) which is adjacent to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Arelerland is a historical and toponomical unit.

The official language in the education system is French (in the Wallonian). More demands are now made for the introduction of Luxembourgish in schools. In one pre-primary school the language is used as a teaching medium as part of a pilot programme. The teaching of Luxembourgish to adults is very much in demand, especially among people working across the border in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, but it is very much hampered by a lack of qualified teachers.

A note on Walloon, Picard, Lorrain and Champenois

In addition to French, there are also a variety of regional languages spoken on an occasional and informal basis in the French Community of Belgium. Walloon is spoken by an estimated 600.000 people in the greater part of the province Liège, in the French-speaking part of the province of Brabant, in the province of Namur, in the northern part of the province of Luxembourg and in the eastern part of the province of Hainaut. Picard is spoken by an estimated 200.000 people in the western part of the province of Hainaut. Lorrain is spoken by an estimated 20.000 people in the south of the province of Luxembourg and Champenois is spoken in a few villages in the west of the provinces of Namur and Luxembourg.

At present, the languages are offered as voluntary subjects in various primary and secondary schools, and in third-level non-university establishments. It is, however, not possible to introduce the regional language as languages of instruction, as this would be against the Belgian language acts. Adult courses are being set up in many places, and Walloon is offered as an optional subject in Romance Philology at several universities (Brussels, Liège and Louvain-La-Neuve).

Eurostat surveys showed that 42% of the population can take part in a conversation in English, 37% in French (excluding mother tongue speakers) and 15% in German.

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