Learn French in Lille, next door to Belgium
Lille sits close to the Belgian border and since 1994 has been on the Eurostar line between London, Paris and Brussels. That makes it a natural landing spot for English speakers, and a city where good French opens doors on both sides of the border. French Ultimate is an online course you can follow from home in Lille.
French in Lille
French is the official language of Lille and of the whole Hauts-de-France region, of which Lille is the capital. The city itself had about 238,000 residents in 2023 according to INSEE, but it is the centre of a much larger metropolitan area of around 1.5 million people. Lille also belongs to a cross-border Eurometropolis with Kortrijk and Tournai in Belgium, set up in 2008, so you may hear Dutch on the Flemish side and Belgian French on the Walloon side. Historically the area spoke Picard, often called ch'ti in the north. A 1998 estimate counted about 700,000 native Picard speakers across its whole area, most of them elderly.
Why people in Lille learn French
Lille has one of the largest student populations in France, with more than 110,000 students across the metropolitan area, so many people come to study and need French for lectures and admin. Others work in the Euralille business district or commute across the border, where French is one of the working languages in Wallonia and Brussels. Daily life, from the CAF housing benefit office to the doctor, runs in French. For those staying long term, naturalisation now requires B2 French. And the Braderie de Lille, a giant flea market each September, is far more fun when you can bargain in French.
The French you'll hear
Lille French is easy to follow, but it has a distinct northern flavour shaped by Picard, Flemish and Belgian neighbours. When it rains hard, people say il drache, from a Walloon and Flemish word for a downpour. An endive is a chicon, as in Belgium. A cosy traditional café-restaurant is an estaminet, where you might order potjevleesch, a Flemish dish of white meats set in jelly. A floor cloth is a wassingue, from the Dutch word for washing. You will hear ch'ti in songs and jokes more than in daily conversation.
- Il drache depuis ce matin.It has been pouring since this morning.
- Je voudrais un kilo de chicons, s'il vous plaît.I would like a kilo of endives, please.
- On mange dans un estaminet ce soir ?Shall we eat at an estaminet tonight?
- À quelle heure part le train pour Bruxelles ?What time does the train to Brussels leave?
- Tu vas à la Braderie cette année ?Are you going to the Braderie this year?
French exams in Lille
The Centre de Langues de l'Université de Lille, through its DEFI section, is an exam centre for the DELF (A1 to B2), the DALF (C1 and C2) and the TCF, with an electronic version of the TCF also available. The Alliance Française Lille Métropole holds DELF and DALF sessions and offers preparation courses. Because Lille sits near the border, some people also sit exams in Belgium, but check that the certificate you choose is accepted for your purpose in France.
Check dates and fees with the exam centre directly; they change every session.
Where to start in the course
French Ultimate is an online course, so you can follow it from Lille or anywhere else. These topics are the most useful here:
Questions about learning French in Lille
Will learning French in Lille give me a strong northern accent?
Not unless you try. Most people in Lille speak standard French with only a light northern colour, and the ch'ti you hear in films is far stronger than everyday speech. What you will pick up is useful local vocabulary such as drache and chicon. French Ultimate teaches standard French, and its unit on French around the world explains how Belgian and other varieties differ.
Is it worth learning French if I commute to Belgium?
Yes. French is an official language in Belgium, used in Wallonia and widely in Brussels, so it helps with colleagues, clients and paperwork on both sides of the border. Belgian French has a few differences, such as septante for seventy. French Ultimate is online, so you can fit lessons around the train or the commute rather than a fixed class schedule.
Where can I take the DELF or TCF in Lille?
The University of Lille's language centre (DEFI) runs the DELF, DALF and TCF, and the Alliance Française Lille Métropole holds DELF and DALF sessions. French Ultimate does not run exams, but its mock DELF and DALF papers let you practise timing and format at home before you register at one of these centres.
Learn French from Lille, at your own pace
Animated video lessons that stop for your answers, speaking practice, graded stories and DELF/DALF mock exams, from A1 to C2. Start with the free placement test to see where you are.
Take the placement test