Do people speak English in Algeria?
Not widely. Arabic and Tamazight are the official languages and French is the common second language in business, signage and administration. English is growing among younger people and in tourism, but outside hotels and guides you should not count on it. A few words of French goes a long way.
Algeria is a trilingual country, and English is the language it does not run on.
Arabic — Modern Standard in official use, Algerian darija in the street — and Tamazight (Berber, in several regional varieties including Kabyle, Chaoui and Mozabite) are the official languages. Tamazight is dominant in Kabylie, the Aurès and the M’Zab.
French is the de facto second language and the one most useful to a visitor. It is on street signs, menus, government forms, product packaging and shop fronts; it is the language of much of business and higher education; and most adults can hold a conversation in it. If you have school French, Algeria is a country where it suddenly becomes valuable.
English is a different picture. It is taught in schools, it is spreading fast among people under thirty, and it is standard among professional tourism guides and in international hotels. Outside those contexts — a taxi, a market, a small-town café, a museum ticket desk — you should not assume it.
The practical advice is not to learn a language before you come, but to arrive with a handful of French phrases and a translation app downloaded for offline use. Algerians are famously patient with people making the attempt, and a greeting in Arabic — salam alaykum, shukran — is received warmly everywhere.
Our full languages of Algeria answer goes into the regional detail.
Key facts
| Official languages | Arabic and Tamazight |
| Widely used | French |
| English | Limited but growing among the young |
| Practical tip | Learn basic French phrases |