Flanders is a small country with many foreign influences: the Flemings live at the meeting point of the Germanic north and the Latin south, and have traditionally always been in close contact with other languages and cultures. Like their neighbours to the north, their native tongue is Dutch, a language spoken by 21 million people, making it one of Europe’s medium-sized languages. At school, students learn to speak French and English to a high standard from a very early age. They have a reputation for being excellent at languages, and most Flemish people speak a second or even a third language fairly fluently.

More information

Nederlandse Taalunie (NTU) (Dutch Language Union): http://taalunieversum.org/taalunie/summer_courses_in_dutch

Huis van het Nederlands-Vlaams Brabant (House of Dutch-Flemish Brabant): http://www.huisvlaamsbrabant.be/

Universities and university colleges organise their own language courses. For more information consult the websites of the respective institutions (for links see the web page Institutions).