EXHIBIT 99.3
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


                  LERNOUT & HAUSPIE ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF
                    TIM LEDWICK AS CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

SEASONED FINANCIAL EXECUTIVE TO HELP DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT L&H'S RECOVERY PLAN

IEPER, BELGIUM, BURLINGTON, MASS.--11 APRIL 2001--Lernout & Hauspie Speech
Products N.V. (EASDAQ: LHSP, OTC: LHSPQ) ('L&H' or 'the Company'), a world
leader in speech and language technology, products, and services, today
announced that Tim Ledwick has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of the
Company, reporting to President and Chief Executive Officer Philippe Bodson.
Mr. Ledwick will assume immediate responsibility for managing the global
financial operations of L&H, including financial planning and reporting, tax,
treasury, risk management, investor relations and mergers and acquisitions.

Mr. Ledwick joins L&H from Cross Media Marketing Corporation, a New York-based
direct marketing company, where he served as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to
Cross Media Marketing Corporation, Mr. Ledwick was Senior Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer of Cityscape Financial Corporation.  He has also held
financial and accounting positions at River Bank America, GTE Corp. and KPMG.

Philippe Bodson, Lernout & Hauspie's President and CEO, said: "Tim brings over
two decades of domestic and international financial management experience, as
well as significant expertise in the area of corporate reorganizations.  He also
brings with him invaluable leadership as well as team-building and technical
skills, which will be instrumental in helping restore L&H to financial health
and to continue leading the speech and language technology marketplace."

"I'm excited to be joining a leader in the promising speech and language
technology industry," said Mr. Ledwick. "I welcome the opportunity to address
the challenges, financial and otherwise, that L&H faces today, and look forward
to assisting Philippe and the rest of the management team in developing and
implementing L&H's recovery plan."

Mr. Ledwick holds an M.S. degree in Finance from Fairfield University, and a
B.S. degree in Accounting from George Washington University.  He is a Certified
Public Accountant and is a member of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public
Accountants and the AICPA.

ABOUT LERNOUT & HAUSPIE

Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. (L&H) is a global leader in advanced
speech and language solutions for vertical markets, computers, automobiles,
telecommunications, embedded products, consumer goods and the Internet. The
company is making the speech user interface (SUI) the keystone of simple,
convenient interaction between humans and technology, and is using advanced
translation technology to break down language barriers.  The company provides a
wide range of offerings, including: customized solutions for corporations; core
speech technologies marketed to OEMs; end user and retail applications for
continuous speech products in horizontal and vertical markets; and document
creation, human and machine translation services, Internet translation
offerings, and linguistic tools.

L&H's products and services originate in four basic areas: automatic speech
recognition (ASR), text-to-speech (TTS), digital speech and music compression
(SMC) and text-to-text  (translation).

This Press Release contains forward-looking information that involves risks and
uncertainties, including statements about the Company's plans, objectives,
expectations and intentions. Readers are cautioned that forward looking
statements include known and unknown risks, including the uncertainties
associated with the Company's recent chapter 11 filings in the United States and
similar proceedings in Belgium, uncertainty of new product development, the risk
that newly introduced products may contain undetected errors or defects or
otherwise not perform as anticipated, the early state of development of the
speech, language and medical information technology markets, the ability of
L&H's customers to successfully integrate and commercialize L&H's technology,
the retention of key technological and other personnel,  currency and other
risks related to international operations, rapid technological change and
intense competition, as well as other risks set forth in L&H's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.   The forward-looking statements contained
herein speak only as of the date of this Press Release.

L&H is a trademark or registered trademark of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products
N.V. or its affiliates, in the United States and/or other countries. All other
product names or trademarks referenced herein are trademarks of their respective
owners.

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L&H CONTACT INFO:
CORPORATE COMM:      Ron Schuermans, Lernout & Hauspie, +32-57-22-8888,
                     ron.schuermans@lhs.be
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MEDIA CONTACT EMEA:  Hans Michiels, Lernout & Hauspie, +32-57-22-9547,
                     hans.michiels@lhs.be
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MEDIA CONTACT US:    Thomson Financial/Carson, Karina Byrne, (212) 510 9266
INVESTOR RELATIONS:  Allan Forsey, Lernout & Hauspie, +1 (781) 203-5233,
                     aforsey@lhsl.com
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