Groningen is a true student city: young, compact, affordable, and stuffed with internationals. With the University of Groningen (RUG) teaching so much in English, you can absolutely survive, and thrive, without Dutch. The honest question, as with any Dutch city, is what English-only quietly costs you. Here is the picture for a Groningen student.
Yes, English is enough day to day
RUG is deeply international. As its guidance for international students shows, many programmes are English-taught, and the university hosts around 6,000 international students from over 120 nationalities. With the Netherlands topping the EF English Proficiency Index, daily life, shops, cafes, sport, runs comfortably in English, and as the official International Groningen checklist reflects, the city is set up for newcomers. Groningen is also one of the youngest cities in the country, with about one in four residents a student.
Where English-only quietly costs you
| Area | English enough? | Where Dutch helps |
|---|---|---|
| Studying at RUG | Yes | - |
| Daily shops and cafes | Yes | Friendlier, faster |
| Finding housing | Hard either way | A real edge |
| Admin (gemeente, letters) | Mostly | Fewer surprises |
| Dutch-only student jobs | No | Unlocks them |
| Local (not just expat) friends | Limited | Much deeper |
Housing is the sharp pain: the university does not provide it, so you arrange your own, and Groningen do’s-and-don’ts guides for students warn to use trusted platforms and watch for scams. Dutch helps you read listings and stand out to landlords.
What makes Groningen different
Groningen’s scale is its secret weapon for learning Dutch. It is small enough to cycle end to end, so your supermarket, your gemeente, your cafe, and your classmates are all minutes apart, and you bump into the same faces. That repetition is exactly what language learning needs: the baker who recognises you becomes a low-stakes daily practice partner. It is also cheap, with student rooms often well below Randstad prices, which leaves you the headspace to actually study the language rather than just scramble to cover rent.
The efficient student approach
You are busy, so treat Dutch like any module: small and consistent. Five minutes a day of situation-first practice beats a course you skip, the logic in whether you can pass without Dutch but miss out on student life. Groningen is walkable, so you use new words immediately. The same trade-off plays out for engineers in living in Delft without Dutch, and the social side is in whether you need Dutch for a studentenvereniging. For comparison with another student city, see how much Dutch you need in Utrecht.
The bottom line
You can survive the University of Groningen entirely in English, and thousands do. But Dutch quietly buys you the housing market, Dutch-only jobs, smoother admin, and friendships beyond the international bubble. In a young, compact, cheap city where you use every word the same day, a five-minutes-a-day habit is the highest-return thing you can add to your degree.
Learn it in five minutes a day
Learn Dutch For Expats is an app, available on the App Store, whose five-minute, situation-first lessons teach the practical Dutch of student life, the supermarket, housing, the gemeente, so you make steady progress around a busy timetable and use what you learn the same day in a compact, walkable city like Groningen.
Frequently asked questions
Can you study at the University of Groningen without speaking Dutch?
Yes. The University of Groningen offers many English-taught programmes and hosts around 6,000 international students from 120-plus nationalities, so you can study, and live day to day, in English. Most young people in Groningen speak English well. Dutch becomes useful for housing, admin, deeper friendships, and Dutch-only jobs, but it is not required to study or get by.
Do you need Dutch to live in Groningen?
Not for daily life: you can shop, eat out, and take classes in English, and Groningen’s huge student population is very English-friendly. The friction shows in the housing hunt, official letters, and integrating beyond the international bubble. A little Dutch goes a long way in a compact city where you use it immediately.
Is Groningen good for international students?
Very. It is one of the youngest cities in the Netherlands (about one in four residents is a student), cheaper than the Randstad, and built around its university. The catch is housing: the university does not provide it, so you arrange your own through platforms like At Home in Groningen, and should watch for rental scams.
What is the best app to learn Dutch as a Groningen student?
Learn Dutch For Expats, an app available on the App Store, suits a Groningen student because its five-minute, situation-first lessons teach the practical Dutch of student life, the supermarket, housing, the gemeente, so you make steady progress around a busy timetable and use what you learn the same day in a compact, walkable city.
