Nationally, there are three languages in Belgium. French, Flemish and German. Most are regional. If you live in Flanders, you speak Flemish. If you live in Walonia, you speak French. And there is a small German area near the German border where they speak....German.
Officially, Brussels is bi-lingual, with everything in both French and Flemish. However, each of the 19 communes that make up Brussels has their official language. We live in Auderghem, and the official language is French. But again, everything published by the commune is in both Flemish and French. (Can you imagine the cost associated with that?!)
Flemish is similar to Dutch. The French in Belgium is not exactly like the French in France. There are distinctions.
Most people have discovered that the Flemish speaking people are more willing to speak English. The French speakers.....not so much. I think this is probably very noticeable in Flanders or Wallonia. In Brussels, because of the large number of 'foreigners' in the city, because of the EU, NATO, and large corporations and their European headquarters, most people can speak English. Whether or not they choose to do so is another matter!
So we're trying to learn French. We have 3 Little Pim DVDs for the girls. Here is the Little Pim website: Little Pim . It is teaching us some basics. It's meant for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, but Matt and I are learning too. I took two years of French in high school, and I remember some things, and can recognize written words (like on a menu), but I have a long way to go for every day stuff. I do have the option of taking lessons. I'll probably wait until Grace is in school to start, if I can also find something to do with Audrey so I can focus on it.
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