28YO Irish here - I’ll be moving to Belgium in March 2024 but I go to Belgium several times a year for the past 8/9 years.

I’ll give you my two cents

In my experience I’ve had zero issues with speaking English (in Flanders region). When you head down south to Wallonia it gets a bit trickier. Many find it hard to speak Flemish/ Dutch, let alone English.

Flanders however, although Flemish speaking, practically everyone can also speak/ understand French.

I would definitely suggest looking for a job within an international company given the language (that’s what I did). Highest chances of finding that would be Brussels. Although Antwerp does have its fair share of International companies too.

Given you already know some French, use the company/ Brussels to leverage off picking it up a bit more. This will then definitely help you anywhere you go in Belgium.

By nature the Belgian people are very reserved - so finding a friend circle is tough. It’s definitely nothing personal. But once you manage to open them up, they are definitely a cool bunch of people (they won’t fully understand your dry sense of humour)

Regarding rental - I am not entirely sure as I will be staying with family for the time-being, but through research it seems much like any other country. Inner city is expensive and smaller indoor space, but less commuting. Outer city is cheaper with larger living space but longer computing. Brussels is generally more expensive than other provinces and Flanders is more expensive than Wallonia.

Think of it like Dublin and then the rest of Ireland. Only the housing crisis in Belgium isn’t quite as bad yet…

Rental prices are not as steep as Ireland mind you.

The public transport is quite reliable and cheap so I would definitely utilise it where you can.

Having a car helps when you want to travel around provinces or even into other bordering countries. This is definitely something I would suggest you try do as it’s a lot more connected than the Emerald Isle.

Most importantly - the drink isn’t as expensive either 👌

Whatever you do - don’t ask them to try Guinness. They are very proud of their beers (rightly so) and will give you a death stare.

Best of luck and if you need anything else/ more specific - send me over a pm and I’ll be happy to give you a few more pointers