Moving to Belgium as a British national whilst only able to speak English? Is this project realistic?
Posted by Maleficent-Cause-798@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 7 comments
Bonjour 👋 I'm from the UK and I've been living in France with my now-husband (a French national) for about 2 years. We're considering moving to Belgium.
I can only speak and understand my native tongue, English, and all attempts to learn French - beyond memorising a few basic phrases & words - have failed over the last 2 years. This does not mean I am closed to trying other routes (if I find any and they work), I just haven't found anything so far. This is not my question here, I just want to give context that language is my main constraint in deciding where to move. For reasons I'll not go into, moving to the UK as an alternative is not a great option for us, so we'd rather keep that as a last resort.
I have heard mixed opinions from locals (online) on the prevalence of English in Belgium. I know it depends on the region. To any English-speaking expats who live/lived in Belgium, were you able to get by mainly speaking English? What were you unable to do by yourself, if you only spoke English?
I don't mind needing to know some essential words or phrases in French, Dutch or German (I already do this with French), or if the communication is sometimes a bit broken, I just want to be able to get by mostly speaking English and not be hugely disadvantaged by this!
Did you ever face a situation where you were in need of assistance, help or information, and the person in front of you (behind a desk, not on the street!) was totally unable to understand or respond to you when you spoke English?
I want to be able to manage my own healthcare, attend appointments independently without a translator (ie my husband!), and access basic facilities without needing to be fluent in French, Dutch or German. I also want to be able to make phone calls for administrative stuff, like booking someone to fix the plumbing, contacting landlords, etc. (Since my partner is working full-time and I am unable to work, it's only fair that I take on these tasks). Being able to do all the communication around my visa by myself would be good too!
Basically, I'd like to have an adult-level independence in my day-to-day life and I want to know if that would be possible in Belgium, considering my constraints on language.
Is this project possible?
I really appreciate any responses from expats and locals alike, but mostly I am curious what the expat experience is like when your main language is English. Thank you for reading! Have a lovely day 🙂
BoGD@reddit
Where in Belgium? Brussels, Antwerp or Gent are definitely more international and used to tourists so English proficiency is common
Maleficent-Cause-798@reddit (OP)
Brussels and Ghent are the parts we are most interested in, mainly because of that. Thank you btw for the response! Have you experienced using the facilities in any of these cities yourself? (re the proficiency of English)
BoGD@reddit
I’ve been in Brussels many times over the tears and it’s really international. It’s affordable , albeit a bit sketchy and I don’t think you’d years any issues.
WitnessTheBadger@reddit
I currently live in France, but I lived in Flanders for almost 5 years and spoke no Dutch when I arrived. I found it incredibly easy to get by on English -- pretty much everybody "behind a desk," as you put it, could speak English, often excellently. The only time it was ever an issue on any important matter was with my elderly landlords, who were Flemish but old and upper-class enough that their preferred language was French (they spoke no English).
My understanding is that Flemish schools require a certain number of years of English classes, or at least those classes are extremely popular, so if you encounter somebody under the age of 40 or 50 who doesn't speak English, it is likely that they learned some amount at some point, but have either forgotten it or don't feel comfortable with it. I don't know how accurate that understanding is, but it fits with my experience of Flanders.
Speaking strictly in terms of language, Brussels is much like the touristy areas of Paris -- you'll generally have no trouble getting by on English, and when you can't, a bit of broken French will usually do the job. Though I remember there was a particular town hall there that had a reputation for "losing" the administrative paperwork of people who couldn't speak French. It's been a long time, though, no idea if that's still the case (and I imagine that's mostly online these days anyway...).
I've never lived in Wallonia, but I've traveled around it a fair bit for both work and pleasure. My experience is that English is much less widely spoken there, and generally at a lower level than in Flanders. But if you are already managing in France you should be fine. Also, there is a large international community in/around Waterloo, so English might be more widely spoken there.
Not sure what you have tried in terms of learning French, but language classes are far, far cheaper in Belgium than in France. If you have been avoiding formal classes for financial reasons, definitely look into that in Belgium.
Maleficent-Cause-798@reddit (OP)
I can't thank you enough for the detailed response! I really appreciate that. It's good to have the impressions from someone who has lived there for some time with an expat perspective.
My husband and I are in our 20s, so if most people there under 40-50 are proficient in English, that's good news (more for me ofc, as my husband is French!).
From what I can see of the visa application process, it does seem to be mostly online - similar to how it is in France I'm guessing.
One thing I am curious about is if not speaking French or Dutch fluently in Belgium disadvantages you from accessing healthcare and getting a good service? I have to be accompanied by my husband in France so he can translate for me, as they tend to not to be able to speak or understand English fluently here. My health is not at its greatest currently, so I expect in the next few years I'll need to keep having check-ups and get some issues investigated.
While you were living in Belgium, did you find doctors and staff in healthcare were open to speaking in English with you, or was it difficult without knowing French or Dutch? Thanks in advance! 🙂
WitnessTheBadger@reddit
In Flanders, I don't think you'll have any trouble whatsoever finding healthcare where doctors and staff are 100% fluent in English. I see from another comment that you're most interested in Brussels and Ghent -- it would be a piece of cake in either of those cities. Even in a smaller city, the worst case is that you'll need to try a different doctor or go to a neighboring city, but even then I doubt you'll have trouble.
FWIW, Leuven has a large, well regarded teaching hospital that might be worth checking out, depending on your specific needs.
Wallonia could be a different story, I don't know, but if that's where you end up you still have the option of going to a doctor in Flanders or Brussels.
Lucky_Impact_784@reddit
Yes, in Flanders and can survive day to day with English no problem. Everyone from the doctor to the cashier to the plumber often has a very high proficiency level in English. I also find that compared with France there are no qualms to speaking English, it is a much more common occurrence.
That said. In casual settings, unless it is explicitly an international group, do not expect people to speak English because of you.