While French remains the most widely spoken language in Brussels, its popularity is declining, according to a major study by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. English takes second place, followed by Dutch, but the number of people who don’t speak any of the three languages is rising, BRUZZ reports.
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Study finds French in decline in Brussels as multilingualism increases
Sally Tipper
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The VUB has been researching the language habits and knowledge of people in Brussels for 25 years. Its fifth Taalbarometer, presented this week, confirms that language diversity is increasing in the capital. While 72 languages were spoken in the first study in 2000, the latest survey counts 107. The researchers believe this number is likely to be an underestimate.
English is gaining in importance, with 47% of people saying they speak English, up from 33% in 2000. While in the first language barometer almost every resident spoke some French, that has fallen to 81%, meaning almost one in five doesn’t speak French.
Knowledge of Dutch has declined since the first study, from 33% in 2000 to 22% today, but researchers say they are now seeing a turnaround. In 2018, the figure was only 16%. This growth is partly attributable to the fact that many Dutch-speakers move from Flanders to Brussels and to the popularity of Dutch-language education.
We need to be aware of this richness and strengthen it even more, although not at the expense of Dutch
The multilingualism of Brussels is rising, with many people using several languages interchangeably to communicate. The number of people speaking all three major languages has doubled since the previous language barometer and the number of those who speak only French has fallen.
At the same time, the number of people who speak no Dutch, French or English has increased, to 10.5% from 3% in 2000, and is most common among non-EU nationals. A quarter of that group say they do not speak any of the three languages.
Social exclusion
“Should this trend continue, this poses a substantial challenge for the future of Brussels,” the researchers say, warning of the risk of social exclusion. “This group will most likely experience barriers in contact with public and private services.”
For Flemish Brussels minister Benjamin Dalle, of Christian democrats CD&V, who funded the study, there are encouraging figures, such as the relative stability of Dutch alongside multilingualism. “We need to be aware of this richness and strengthen it even more, although not at the expense of Dutch,” he told BRUZZ.