Level of French in Flanders: how is that going?

In [this column](https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20230108_97999789) from De Standaard, Wouter Deprez (48) talks about the decline of the French language in Flanders. He points out that his older brother had to write an essay about the death penalty in French back in the late 80s. For him and his peers, only six years later on (early 90s), such an essay would have been impossible and his teacher had adapted. The level of French had declined that much in only six years. Now, he realizes that this was an ongoing trend and the current generation of Flemish children doesn’t seem to be able to utter sentences in French.

My impression is very similar. I am 26, so I had French classes from 2007 until 2015. I am younger than Wouter Deprez but older than his children. Indeed, our French was mostly an abomination. After 4th grade, we could barely utter a sentence and barely understand *anything*. Teachers were supposed to speak French in class starting the 4th grade of highschool (which is awfully late), but ours still spoke Dutch. “Jullie zouden me niet verstaan, moest ik Frans spreken!” We had a few listening comprehension tests here and there, which were the only times I heard French in my life, so you can guess how I performed on those tests. In my final two years, our teachers finally spoke French to us and my level of French went from almost zero to “at least I can say *something*” to “I can make myself understood, although in a retarded way”. We did wetenschappen-wiskunde. I hope the students that focused on modern languages performed better.

On the other hand, something that comes up a lot on Reddit (and elsewhere) is that even though younger Flemings might not be good at French anymore, when they move to Brussels, they learn quickly because they already have the basics. However, I am not at all convinced that is **still** true. I don’t know anyone of my age who dared to work in a Francophone environment. This might have been true for millenials. Especially if the level of French has declined any more after 2015, then I am not convinced that the average gen Z can do that.

I personally gained interest in French music, books and television during the COVID pandemic and started following French classes again, just for pleasure. I would now “dare” to work in a Francophone workplace. But when I was 18? Hell no.

So tell me what your experience is. Don’t forget to mention your age or if you don’t want to, around what time you went to highschool.

(Interestingly, I did have to make a presentation about the death penalty… …in English class)

by Kikkervelf