Brussels museums: a real tool for people learning the national languages!   

Starting to learn a language or writing system is a challenge at any age. Museums can help these groups learn.    

That’s why Open Museum organised a training course for guides in 2025. Here’s what we thought was essential to share with you: 

Point of definition:

Adult learners (known as alpha learners in French or Dutch) cannot read or write. In contrast, people learning French as a foreign language (FLE) or Dutch (NT2) have already been schooled in their mother tongue and are taking on the challenge of learning and mastering another language.     

These profiles are considered to be distant from museums because of the many obstacles to understanding: the wording of the exhibition texts, content that is too abstract, a large difference between the culture presented and their culture of origin, or quite simply because visiting a museum is not part of their leisure routine.    

Because we are well aware of these obstacles, two experts have shared with us some tips on how to make your outreach activities accessible!    

• Simplifying the wording of your sentences, both written and spoken will make it easier for learners to understand.    

• Be creative! Isabel Kennis, a literacy and NT2 teacher, suggests writing short poems about the works of art in the museum, which you can find in her book ‘Je ziet altijd meer’.    

• Turn your audience into actors.  Bénédicte Vershaeren, guide, and FLE expert, is always encouraging the agentivity of audiences, so take inspiration from her work at the Sewers Museum and the Maison du Roi (King’s House).    

• Play with the senses using the essential VTS method (Visual thinking strategies), this mediation technique is also the foundation of slow visits.   

• Don’t be afraid to break out of your comfort zone by creating a horizontal relationship with the public. Breaking down the hierarchy of guides and visitors helps foster a climate of mutual trust and therefore more interaction.   

• Offer a program that creates social links and surround yourself with experts. The Collectif Alpha organises various group activities for adult learners / FLE-NT2 learners.   

• Communicate in advance in order to know the needs and expectations of the group and can adapt your teaching objectives.    

• Use all the museum’s resources to spark curiosity and discussion with the visitors. 

The aim of all these tips is to highlight our resemblance, beyond language, and to share this scientific knowledge with audiences who are also agents of change.     

Of course, all these practices can benefit a wide variety of people! Creating interaction between people and the institution, simplifying content, or giving value to the public’s knowledge, allows many groups to feel included and at ease in our museums.  Implementing inclusive mediation will always benefit more people than the audience it targets! 

©Zoé de Meulemeester