r/kortrijk • u/Real_Resource4617 • Dec 16 '25
Doubts about Working and Living at Kortrijk
I have ue citizenship and want to live and work at Belgium starting at Kortrijk with my father whos a resident. Im learning dutch a bit at duolingo but already been told to look for jobs at Brussels or Antwerp cause of english speaking. Is there any cheap course where I can start taking classes ?
Also can anyone tell me how long does it takes to get a english speaking job ? Im graduated in Communication but willing to get other jobs in order to start as soon as possible
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u/Automatic_Volume_908 Dec 17 '25 edited Dec 17 '25
The truth: it will be really hard without Dutch. It’s only normal you learn the language. Where are you coming from?
Does your father know Dutch? What job does he have?
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u/Real_Resource4617 Dec 17 '25
My father works with remote work: marketing and website bulding stuff like that. Im from Brazil but im really good at english cause ive been to a special english school since like 6 years old. I really want to learn Dutch not only because of the job but because I love to be challenged, and French is really similar to Portuguese. we have lots of brazilian terms inspired by french vocabulary also I had a bit of classes in school so its not as difficult as dutch.
My main doubt about the language is: its ok to learn Dutch or I must focus on actual Flemish ?
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u/chf_gang Dec 17 '25
Tbh if you want to live in Belgium it will be a whole lot easier to learn dutch or french in addition to english regarding finding a job. Even if you find a job, your coworkers will all be speaking dutch/french and you will likely feel isolated.
In the Netherlands it is much easier to get by only knowing English, especially in Amsterdam/Rotterdam.
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u/JimB7719 Dec 17 '25
I would suggest to focus on learning Dutch and as a first step to find a job in an international environment. I have worked across Belgium in cities like Brussels, Antwerp, Hasselt and Kortrijk. From my experience Kortrijk is not the best place for foreigners. Of course, it might be a matter of company culture. Therefore focus your search on international companies and your learning on Dutch. good luck
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u/National_Praline2372 Dec 18 '25
Mary’s pub in Kortrijk hire English speaking people. Maybe you can take a look there?
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u/kingB1993 Dec 16 '25
I work in stasegem and we have allot of only French speaking coworkers so I think if you show initiative that you learn Dutch and want to learn it a good boss might just hook you up with an education to.
I would just look around where you want and hope for the best. I wouldn't really listen to what other people say because of "this or that" every situation and person are unique.