20% of Britons say they can fluently speak a foreign language, while Spanish is the most popular language for those who would want to learn
It’s a bit of a cliché to say that Britons don’t have an easy relationship with foreign languages – whether that is the stereotype of Brits abroad speaking loudly and slowly in English to foreign waiters, or other countries’ enthusiasm in learning English not being reciprocated. But where do Britons really stand on learning languages?
One in five Britons (20%) claim they can speak at least one language other than English fluently, defined by us in our question as being able to “have a full conversation with a native speaker”.
This is more common among Britain’s ethnic minority communities, two thirds of whom (67%) say they can fluently speak a non-English language, compared to just 11% of white Britons. This is likely aided by 74% of ethnic minority Britons growing up in a house where a language other than English was spoken on a regular basis, compared to just 9% of white Britons.
There does also appear to be something of a class difference to language learning, with 24% of ABC1s - those categorised as living in middle-class households - being able to speak a language other than English, compared to just 15% of C2DEs (those living in working-class households).
Which languages can Britons speak?
Among those who can say they speak at least one foreign language fluently, French is the most common, with 26% of polyglots claiming to be able to speak it, (the equivalent of 5% of all Britons). Other European languages are also popular, with 11% of foreign language speakers saying they are able to talk fluently in either Spanish or German.
Proficiency in these languages, though, is concentrated among white Britons who can speak a non-English language, 44% of whom say they are able to speak French. Among Britain’s ethnic minority polyglots, Urdu and Hindi are most common, with one in six (16-18%) saying they are able to speak either language, amounting to around one in ten (9-10%) of all those who can fluently converse in a foreign language.
Other languages with a sizeable number of British users include Punjabi, Italian, Cantonese, Gujarati and Welsh, which around one in twenty of Britain’s polyglots (4-6%) can each speak fluently.
Do Britons want to learn a foreign language?
Although speaking a foreign language is currently a skill that only a minority possess, it is a desired skill for most. Three quarters (75%) of those who cannot speak another language say they would like to be able to speak one fluently, with just one in six (18%) outright saying they would not want to be multi-lingual. Additionally, among those who already can speak a foreign language, more than nine in ten (92%) wish they could speak another.
This likely stems from the fact that nearly nine in ten Britons (87%) see being able to speak a foreign language as useful, including nearly half (46%) saying it is very useful.
But what specifically about being multi-lingual makes it such a useful skill? A key reason is its use when travelling abroad, which 29% of those who would like to be able to learn a new language see as the benefit to being able to talk in another tongue.
Other common motivations to want to learn another language include personal improvement, which one in five (21%) see as the top reason to want to be multi-lingual, and gaining the ability to engage with other cultures, cited as the main advantage by 18%.
For 8%, the top reason is the ability to communicate with family or friends. A further 8% say the best reason to learn a new language is simply for the enjoyment of it.
What language do Britons most want to learn?
If you’re open to learning a language, the next question is naturally: which one? Here, European languages are dominant. Three in ten Britons who cannot currently speak a language other than English but would like to (30%) would choose Spanish as their new tongue, followed by French on 18%, German on 10% and Italian on 8%. Japanese, Mandarin and Welsh would each be the first choices of 3-4% of our wannabe language learners.
Notably, Spanish and French are the top-two choices among both white and ethnic minority Britons. Nonetheless, ethnic minority Britons who would like to learn a second language are more likely than their white counterparts to favour learning Arabic (9% vs 1%) and less likely to choose German (3% vs 10%) or Italian (4% vs 8%).
A desire to learn French is noticeably concentrated among older Britons, with 27% of over 65s who would like to learn a second language making it their top choice, compared to just 10% of similarly minded 18-24 year olds.
But if the desire to learn a language exists, what has stopped these Britons from doing so? The most common reason is a lack of pressure, with 28% saying they’ve just not had a pressing enough reason to learn.
Having experienced a difficulty in trying to learn is cited by 22% as the reason they’ve been unable to speak a foreign language in spite of wanting to, while 21% say they’ve simply not had the time to learn. One in ten (10%) say they were put off by lessons at school, alongside 8% who have a worry that they could never be good enough.
Why do some Britons not want to learn a foreign language?
Nonetheless, not everybody wants to be able to speak a foreign language, with 18% of those who cannot speak one saying they would not like to learn any other language.
For 28% of these Britons, it’s simply a case of feeling that they do not need to know any other language, with an additional 12% more explicitly saying that English is the only language you need.
A further one in seven (14%) say it’s just too difficult to learn, alongside 13% who feel they’re too old to learn, another 13% who do not travel abroad and 11% who don’t have the time.
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Photo: Getty
