1. Survey of perception and knowledge of the English language amongst youngsters between 16 and 18 years in the Brussels metropolitan area off Press conference 29 février 2012 1

2. Content  Who are we  Survey Context & objectives Profile of respondents Importance of the English language Knowledge of the English language  Conclusions 2

3. HEC Consulting Group in a nutshell Active in marketing-consulting Number 1 as enterprise leading by students Lead by 17 students of the HEC – ULg (University of Liege) 35 surveys accomplished in 2011 Cumulative turn-over of € 915,000 since establishment National coverage linguistically with possibilities for interventions in English, Italian and Spanish

4. Content  Who are we  Survey Context & objectives Profile of respondents Importance of the English language Knowledge of the English language  Conclusions 4

5. Context & objectives  The non-profit organisation ‘Business Route 2018 for Metropolitan Brussels’, in short ‘ Brussels Metropolitan’, was founded by the four interprofessional employers organisations in Belgium: UWE, BECI and Voka for each of the regions, and VBO-FEB on a federal level.  The mission of ‘Brussels Metropolitan’ is to contribute to the economic development of metropolitan Brussels, an international centre “par excellence”.  From an economic point of view, the region involved concerns Brussels Capital Region and larger parts of the Nivelles and Hal-Vilvorde districts.  ‘Brussels Metropolitan’ has called upon HEC Consulting Group to check the knowledge and the importance of the English language amongst the youngsters.  HEC Consulting Group is presenting today the findings of this survey held in the Brussels Capital Region and in Walloon & Flemish Brabant. 5

6.  The Brussels Metropolis : Brussels Capital Region District of Nivelles District of Hal-Vilvorde  Brussels, a multilingual capital  English is THE language for doing business  453 young people questioned (sample established in accordance with the demographic data of the area defined)  Young people between 16 and18 years old  Target audience questioned before taking up higher studies, maybe influencing their choice 6 CONTEXT

7. Brussels, European capital, where many languages interfere 7 MULTILINGUAL CHARACTER MOTHER TONGUE OCCURREN CE African2 Albanian2 German1 English4 Arabic28 Armenian1 Bengali1 Berber1 Bulgarian1 Chinese1 Spanish6 French196 MOTHER TONGUE OCCURREN CE Greek1 Italian4 Rif (North of Morocco)1 Lingala1 Moroccan9 Dutch161 Pakistani5 Polish8 Portuguese6 Russian4 Serbian1 Turkish9

8. Content  Who are we  Survey Context & objectives Profile of respondents Importance of the English language Knowledge of the English language  Conclusions 8

9.  Age & gender  Number of questionnaires in French and Dutch (Flemish) 9 PROFILE PEOPLE QUESTIONED FEMALE MALETOTAL 1994 79 74153 1995 66 85151 1996 74 75149 TOTAL 219234453 FRENCH DUTCH (FLEMISH) TOTAL FEMALE 112 107219 MALE 109 125234 TOTAL 221232453

10. 10 FIRST SECOND LANGUAGE STUDIED

11. Content  Who are we  Survey Context & objectives Profile of respondents Importance of the English language Knowledge of the English language  Conclusions 11

12. 12 IMPORTANCE OF ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH  96% of the youngsters consider the ability to speak English important to very important

13.  A couple of reasons: International language, spoken worldwide and know by everybody Useful for the future (for everyday life as well as professionally) Important language for communication  Rating on a scale of 1to 4: 13 IMPORTANCE OF ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH Social contacts StudiesThe economy Professional career Average 2,643,053,273,42

14. Content  Who are we  Survey Context & objectives Profile of respondents Importance of the English language Knowledge of the English language  Conclusions 14

15. 15 KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE  The person questioned was evaluated on the basis of two questions asked  Only a minority has an active knowledge of the English language ( 31,8% answered clearly, 6,6% answered in a perfect way )

16. 16 KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE  Details of knowledge of English by mother tongue

17. 17 KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE  Details of knowledge of English in function of first second language studied

18.  Motivations most often named: Possibility for travelling, living and working abroad Work towards a better professional future and an international career For studying abroad 18 MOTIVATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

19. Content  Who are we  Survey Context & objectives Profile of respondents Importance of the English language Knowledge of the English language  Conclusions 19

20.  For a vast majority of young people it is important to speak English  However, the knowledge of the English language is not always good …Are they solely responsible for this? Or should the quality of education be improved or reviewed?… 20 CONCLUSIONS

21. Review performed by: Rue Louvrex 14 4000 Liège www.heccg.com 21 Rue Louvrex 14 4000 Liège www.heccg.com Maxime HEUTZ Project Leader +32 491 34 43 46 mheutz@heccg.com Lionel BLANCHARD Project Leader +32 491 34 43 52 lblanchard@heccg.com Rue Louvrex 14 4000 Liège www.heccg.com Johan VAN LANGENDONCK Project Leader +32 492 31 15 68 jvanlangendonck@heccg.com Lars VERCAMMEN Project Leader +32 492 31 15 67 lvercammen@heccg.com Rue Louvrex 14 4000 Liège www.heccg.com

22. www.heccg.com 22 Thank you for your attention