A very interesting story in The Independent (U.K.) concerning the prevalence of English language in everyday life in Brussels. This in spite of the U.K. having left the EU.
While the official languages of Belgium are French and Dutch, as a headquarters city for both the EU and NATO, it is likely that many people who come to Brussels for work speak, in addition to their native tongue, English. The story indicates something like one third of the residents of Brussels speak English, and suggests it should become the city’s third official language.
Fortunately for its native speakers, English has become the international language of the current era. Whether it will eventually be eclipsed by Mandarin is unclear, certainly not in the lifetime of most COTTonLINE readers.
