Does a Remote Developer Need to Speak Dutch? Working in English or French
In most development teams, yes. Bringing in someone who works in English feels like extra work: meetings, tickets and documentation that suddenly have to be in another language. In practice the code, the tools and much of the documentation are usually in English already, and Dutch teams are among the strongest non-native English speakers in the world, ranked first of 123 countries and territories in the EF English Proficiency Index 2025. Tunga also has French-speaking professionals, for teams that work in French. A developer who doesn't speak Dutch is the wrong choice when the work means talking to your clients or users in Dutch.
Why working in English feels like extra work
When a team works in Dutch, adding one person who doesn't means changing habits that have never been a topic: the language of the stand-up, of the ticket, of the quick question at the end of the day. Before it happens, that looks like a cost on every one of those moments.
What actually changes, and what doesn't
Much of a development team's work is already in English:
- Code, commit messages and pull requests are almost always written in English, also in Dutch teams.
- The tools (issue trackers, CI, cloud consoles, documentation of libraries and frameworks) are in English.
- Technical vocabulary is English to begin with, even in a Dutch conversation.
What does change:
- Meetings the developer joins move to English, or switch to English for the part that concerns them.
- Tickets and specifications the developer works from are written in English.
- Existing Dutch documentation has to be readable for them. Machine translation handles most of it today; what matters is that the team answers questions in English.
Many teams keep their own internal conversations in Dutch and use English only in the channels the developer is part of.
How well both sides speak English
On the client side, the Netherlands ranked first of 123 countries and territories in the EF English Proficiency Index 2025, for the seventh year in a row. Belgium also scores "very high".
On Tunga's side, communication is part of the selection: the test cycle includes several personal conversations, and candidates are assessed on how well they communicate and how well they read a situation. Many of Tunga's professionals have worked for European or American clients before.
French-speaking professionals
Tunga's pool includes French-speaking professionals, and Tunga has placed them with clients before. Most come from Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon; there are smaller numbers in Senegal, DR Congo, Benin, Rwanda and North Africa, and Tunga can search specifically for a French-speaking profile. For teams in Belgium or France that work in French, that removes the language question altogether.
When Dutch is a real requirement
Some roles do need Dutch, and then a remote professional who doesn't speak it is the wrong choice, from Tunga or anyone else:
- The developer talks to your clients or users in Dutch, for example in support, training or implementation.
- The work is mainly Dutch-language text: content, user-facing copy, legal or government documents.
- A client or regulator requires Dutch-speaking staff on the account.
Where Tunga fits
Tunga takes the staffing side off the plate of companies that need digital professionals: software engineers, AI operators, product managers and other digital roles, from across Africa. The client directs the work. Tunga handles finding and vetting, contracts, payments and compliance, onboarding, keeping people, and replacing them when someone leaves or it isn't working. The professionals are independent freelancers contracted by Tunga and work remotely from their own country; the client has one contract, with Tunga, and a delivery manager who checks in with both sides. In 2025, about 1 in 56 placements ended because the professional left for another job. Founded in 2015; 3,500 professionals across 38 African countries and 300+ client companies, as of September 2026.
Tunga is not the right fit when the role has to be on site, when the work means talking to your clients in a language other than English or French, or when saving on cost is the main reason you're looking.
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