dutch in belgium
posted by Deleted user in Belgium forum
Hi,
if you consider living in Wallonia or Brussels, it's not necessary to know dutch, practically everyone speaks or can speak French there. Brussels is officially "bilingual" so you'll meet dutch-speaking people, but most of them speak French or English on a very good level, so communication shouldn't be a problem.
In Wallonia dutch is only taught in schools (the basics), outside school doors, French is the spoken language.
The knowledge of dutch could make the job search easier, though, as quite some companies ask for a (basic) knowledge of dutch, but it's not necessary, I think especially not for an expat.
About living in Brussels, it's true that the city itself is not a good place to raise children, but you could consider the outskirts of Brussels, for exemple Huizingen or Beersel, ... . The outskirts are close to the city, so ideal if you want to find a job in the capital, but they are quite and rural, so nice to live and grow up in. It feels like being in a village far away from the big city there, even though you're so close to it.If I'm not mistaken, there's also a quite large Greek community in the outskirts of Brussels.
I hope I could help you a bit with this answer. If you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask!Marthe