Is French spoken all over belgium?

Question

Or just in certain regions, if so which ones? Is flemish more prevalent there or french?

Answer 1

Hi, I am Belgian (Flemish) and as everyone said, Dutch is most spoken in Belgium, but if you go to the capital, you're better of with English or French. If you go to Wallonia, don't try English, the Walloons only speak one language; French. Flemish people speak Dutch, decent English and a little bit of French. You will notice that the older the people are, the better they speak French. You also have to know that lots of Flemish hate to be talked to in French, because of political issues. It's not a race thing, it's grown through history and can't be understood by foreigners. You will probably not be in the German part, but they also speak French. the Walloon language is a dialect of French but it is hardly spoken anymore, they all speak official French now. Flemish is a dialect of Dutch, but it is only spoken in the Western provinces. What foreigners call Flemish, what Flemish people speak to each other, is just Dutch with some different vocabulary. I often hang out in The Netherlands (Dutch Limburg, I live in Belgian Limburg, those two provinces used to be together), and haven't noticed any language problems, neither in the rest of the Netherlands. I do not know what your purpose of travel is, but I think it will be best if you learn Dutch; with Dutch and English you will be able to talk your way through the most beautiful cities and the most important businesses in Belgium. Except for nature, there is nothing to see in Wallonia.

Answer 2

Mainly in the southern half of Belgium (Wallonia) and Brussels. In the northern part (Flanders) most people over the age of 40 also understand it and many speak it, but for historical and political reasons some would not like to be addressed in French, unless it is with courtesy ("I am sorry, I don't speak X, can I speak Y").

The courtesy thing is huge in Flanders, as there is so much frustration being treated as a 'dialect' (the word 'Flemish' used to describe the language stems from the time when the french speakers dominated all areas and 'flemish' was one of the tactics used to belittle... 'you do not even speak a language... only a dialect').

In Flanders you'll get by in English just fine, and in Wallonia in French, and in Brussels everything from English to Arabic.  

Answer 3

In Belgium there are three official languages : French, spoken  by the Southern French Community, Communauté française,  in 4 of the five provinces of Wallon region; Flemish (a kind of Dutch), spoken by  the (Northern) Flemish Community   or Vlaamske Gemeenschap,  in the 5 provinces of the Flemish Region; German, spoken by the (Center eastern) smaller  German Community Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft, in a province of the Walloon.

Brussel/ Bruxelles is multi language (Flemish and French)

More than 6 - 6. 5 Million people speaks Flemish as first language (majority ), 3.4 -4 million speaks French and just 70 to 75 thousands, in 9 municipalities, speaks German as first language

Southern (French + German speaking) Walloon region provinces cover  a little bit more of 55% of Belgium territory, while northern Flemish around 44% .

Answer 4

Wallons, a French dialect, is spoken in the southern part of Belgium. Flemish, a Dutch dialect, is spoken in the northern part. The third official language besides Dutch and French is German. It is spoken by a minority in the eastern part of Wallon near the German boarder.

The capital Bruxelles or Brussel is bilingual.

Statistics for Belgium as of 1st January 2007

Total inhabitants - 10.584.534

- Flemish - 6.117.440

- Wallons - 3.435.879

- Brussel - 1.031.215

Edit: sorry that I have bothered some people here, but I consider Flemish and Wallon being dialects, since the official languages are Dutch and French.

I often made the experience, that policemen in the southern part of belgium, preferred to answer my question in broken German than in Dutch, allthough they officially are required to be bilingual.

Answer 5

The country is bilingual. The Northern part is Flemish (Dutch) and the Southern part is Wallone (French). It is quite simple:

1. Not every Flemish speaking person, does speak French. They do learn the language in school, but they hardly use it. Therefore the quality of French in the Flemish part is quite poor.

2. Almost every person from South Belgium, speaks French. They do speak Flemish (Dutch), but 95% simply refuses to talk Flemish.

You will see that everything in Brussels, where the language border is, is written in both languages. Look for the places Brussel (Bruxelles), Namen (Namur) and Luik (Liege) and draw a line. This is approximately the language border. Everything on the north is Flemish, everything on the south is French speaking.