BELGIUM - GHENT
With its three national languages, Dutch or as the Belgians call it Flemish, French and German, Belgium is a linguistically well-versed country. But also in regard to English, a large part of the population, especially in Ghent, my temporary home, has a predominantly advanced level of knowledge. In addition to Belgian students, the very student oriented city also consists to a large extent of international students. For this reason, my environment is largely characterized by English communication.
Before I started my semester abroad, I already had quite a bit of confidence in my communication skills in English. It's not the first time that I've been on my own in a non-German speaking country for a longer period of time. However, I was excited to continue developing my language skills.
What I wasn't prepared for was the Belgians' love for their national languages. Although the Belgians in general have a very good knowledge of English, you can immediately feel how much more they prefer to converse in their own language. Every opportunity is used to talk Flemish or Dutch. Just being around as a non flemish speaker doesn't guarantee the switch of the conversation to English. They switch to English if an international student is directly involved in the conversation. This applies to students as well as lecturers.
It is also quite difficult to break out of the Erasmus bubble. I was fortunate to be one of the few Erasmus students to actually make Belgian friends, and through interacting with them I've noticed a few patterns. From personal experience what I noticed is that most of my friends and their acquaintances don’t mind conversing in English in principle at least. When we meet up with one to three friends and you're having 'one' conversation, people are happy to keep it English. However, if you're in a larger group, very quickly the group will switch to Dutch as soon as multiple conversations are going on. When that happens it's quite difficult to catch up, especially when you’re the only non-Flemish speaking person around. What I’ve also noticed is people who don't feel very comfortable speaking English will stop trying quite fast. Therefor in my opinion people in Gent at least don't mind too much as a principle, but if one intends to stay long term learning Dutch would help a lot to gain friends and have a more interesting social life.
Of course, it is almost impossible to find your way into a culture of which you do not understand the language . However, it is very exciting that Flemish has many similarities with German and Austrian dialects. Written text becomes fairly easy to understand through context and strong similarities, while in most spoken conversations only the context can be guessed. Due to the many international students in Ghent, the city and its residents are very well attuned to English conversation. In everyday life you mostly get addressed in Flemish but a short: "in don't speak Dutch, sorry" or even a short "sorry" is enough for them to immediately switch to English. But with similar conversations repeatedly, for example in the supermarket and a little effort, you can quickly lead small linguistic interactions. Especially if the language is similar to one's mother tongue. You also don’t get smiled at weirdly for any attempts of speaking Flemish but it is very much appreciated.
As noted above, I was fairly comfortable communicating in English from the start. Due to my stay in Ghent and the contact with the international students, the last reservations disappeared pretty quickly. I've learned that even if a word is missing, you can describe everything and you can always find a common denominator in the end. Whether with hand, foot or sounds, with initiative and a pinch of humour, every communication barrier can be overcome. I have particularly enjoyed exchanging and learning from and with each other. Communication outside of the comfort zone can sometimes be a bit scary, but it is worth using every opportunity to try something new.