Flemish is the one to learn if you're moving to Flanders or Brussels, or you'll be talking with people from Belgium. Most Dutch apps don't say whether their Dutch comes from the Netherlands or Belgium. Our Dutch app comparison covers apps for any kind of Dutch.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Flemish. You learn from Flemish you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, that you're starting a new job in Antwerp, and she writes a lesson about your first week at your level. Play it, and ask her what any line means.
Bubblegum focuses on reading and listening more than speaking, so for speaking practice, try a tutor or partner in Practice With People From Belgium.
- Dutch (Belgium) is its own journey, with Belgian words and places, like a gsm or a tram in Ghent.
- Lessons are read aloud with Flemish pronunciation.
- Lessons fit your level, interests, and goals.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, and you can export them to Anki.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- Lessons teach standard Belgian Dutch and don't cover local dialects like West Flemish.
- Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
uTalk
uTalk sells Flemish as its own course, apart from its Dutch one. Each topic, like food or shopping, is a set of quick games, so you hear each word spoken by people from Flanders.
- uTalk has a separate Flemish course, recorded by people from Flanders.
- Download it and practice offline.
MobileWeb
NedBox
NedBox is a free website and app from Flanders for people who are learning Dutch. You pick a place on a map of a town, like a shop or the hospital, and practice the Dutch you'd need there.
- Practice with real clips and articles from VRT, Het Nieuwsblad, and Wablieft.
- Exercises follow everyday life in Flanders, like buying bread or calling a landlord.
MobileWeb
Preply
Ask a tutor from Belgium to role-play a visit to a Belgian bakery or a talk with your new neighbors, so you hear the words people use there.
- Filter Dutch tutors by country of birth, and pick Belgium.
- Book one-to-one lessons over video.
MobileWeb
italki
italki has Dutch teachers from Belgium and the Netherlands. Tell yours you want Flemish, so the examples fit the people you'll talk to.
- Filter Dutch teachers by where they're from.
- Pick a lesson time that suits you both.
MobileWeb
Tandem
On Tandem, you help people learn your language while they help you with theirs. Search for partners in Belgium, and trade a voice note in Dutch for one in your language.
- Find language partners who live in Belgium.
- Trade voice notes, or talk over video.
MobileWeb
Other Apps We Looked At (3)
- BusuuBusuu has a Dutch course that also covers some differences between the Dutch of the Netherlands and Flemish.
- ReelangReelang has short videos posted by Dutch speakers, and its own feed of more than a thousand Flemish clips.
- HelloTalkMessage Dutch speakers from Flanders and the Netherlands, and help each other improve.
VRT MAX, from Belgium's Dutch-language public broadcaster, streams shows, radio, and podcasts for free. Its video works for people who live in Belgium, and its podcasts and radio play anywhere. For easy news, Wablieft writes short articles in clear Dutch, and most of them need a subscription.
If you live in Brussels or Flanders, a local office can find you a Dutch class. In Brussels, the Dutch Language House gives you a free level test and finds you a class, and courses cost less if you live in the city. In Antwerp, Atlas gives you a free test and finds you a class. Elsewhere in Flanders, the Agency for Integration talks with you about your Dutch and points you to a school.
| App | Free? | What's Free |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | Free version | Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read. |
| uTalk | Some lessons free | Every language has free starter words, and getting full marks in the games opens one more topic for free. For the rest, you subscribe or buy a language or topic. |
| NedBox | Free | The NedBox app and website are free to use. |
| Preply | Paid | You pay for each lesson, and each tutor sets their own price. If your first tutor isn't a good fit, you can try two more for free. |
| italki | Paid | You pay for each lesson, and each teacher sets their own price. Practicing with the community and taking the level test are free. |
| Tandem | Free version | Signing up is free, and Tandem reviews each new member first. Many features are free, and Tandem Pro gives you all of them. |
| Busuu | Free version | Many Busuu features are free. Busuu Premium gives you all of them. |
| Reelang | Free version | Reelang is free to use. Reelang+ adds more features with a subscription. |
| HelloTalk | Free version | Chatting with language partners is free. HelloTalk VIP removes ads and adds unlimited translations and more new partners each day. |
Try one lesson in your language before you pay.
| App | Languages You Can Use It In | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Supported language pairs |
| uTalk | 1 | App Store |
| NedBox | 1 | App Store |
| Preply | 19 | App Store |
| italki | 19 | App Store |
| Tandem | 14 | App Store |
| Busuu | 15 | Full list |
| Reelang | 21 | Full list |
| HelloTalk | 16 | Full list |
Which Flemish app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Flemish, start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with uTalk if you'd like to learn Flemish words first.
Is Flemish a different language from Dutch?
No. Flemish is the Dutch spoken in Belgium, and about 6.5 million people there speak Dutch. It has the same spelling as the Dutch of the Netherlands and nearly the same words and grammar. The biggest difference is the accent. A few everyday words change too: in Belgium jam is confituur, while in the Netherlands it's jam.
Will people in the Netherlands understand Flemish?
Yes. People in the Netherlands understand standard Belgian Dutch, though it sounds different. A few words change too, so a Dutch show from the Netherlands may take some getting used to.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read. Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Belgian Constitution, Article 4: the Dutch-speaking region and the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital
- Taalunie: facts and figures (about 6.5 million Dutch speakers in Belgium)
- Team Taaladvies (Flemish government): differences between standard Dutch in Belgium and in the Netherlands
- Woordenlijst: the official Dutch spelling for the Netherlands and Flanders
- Bubblegum: Dutch (Belgium)
- uTalk: Learn Flemish (Belgium Dutch)
- NedBox app on the App Store
- Flemish government: NedBox, practice with material from VRT, Het Nieuwsblad and Wablieft
- VRT: NedBox is a free app and website
- Preply: Dutch tutors (country of birth filter)
- italki: Dutch teachers
- Tandem: language exchange in Belgium
- Busuu: Learn Dutch (differences between Dutch from Holland and Flemish)
- Reelang: Learn Dutch on the App Store (a Flemish feed)
- HelloTalk: Dutch language exchange
- VRT MAX: watching and listening outside Belgium
- Wablieft: news in clear Dutch
- Huis van het Nederlands Brussel: Dutch classes
- Atlas Antwerp: Dutch courses (English)
- Atlas Antwerp: the Dutch course intake test is free
- Agency for Integration and Civic Integration: learning and practising Dutch
- Wablieft: online news, with articles for subscribers
- VRT MAX
- uTalk: what's free
- uTalk: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Preply: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- italki: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Tandem: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Busuu: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- HelloTalk: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- italki: what's free
- Tandem: what's free
- HelloTalk: what's free
- HelloTalk: what the paid plan adds
