New Year, new language
Learning a language is resolution for one in five Brits, survey says
Learning a language will be a new year's resolution for about one in five Britons in 2018, a survey suggests.About one in three said they intend to learn at least some key phrases.
Spanish was the most popular language among 2,109 UK adults questioned by Populus for the British Council.
"If we are to remain globally competitive post-Brexit, we need more people who can speak languages," said British Council schools advisor, Vicky Gough.
Of the representative sample of adults polled:
- 64% said they had always wanted to speak another language fluently
- 56% said they regretted never having made the effort to do so
- 58% agreed it was more important than ever for people in the UK to learn another language
- but only a third said they could currently hold a basic conversation in one
- 45% were embarrassed by their poor language skills
The organisation warns that uptake of languages in schools continues to fall with official figures indicating a 7.3 percentage point fall in the number of pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland taking GCSE exams in languages in the past year.
In Scotland, official figures show similar falls in numbers taking French and German qualifications.
A report by MPs has estimated that poor language skills in the workforce costs the UK economy £50bn a year in lost export opportunities.
Businesses struggle to fill posts that require language skills said the report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on modern languages.
The MPs called for a national recovery programme to improve language skills.
Ms Gough said the new year was the perfect time for budding linguists to get started.
"It is fantastic that many of us hope to brush up on our language skills in 2018," said Ms Gough.
"The languages we are most keen to learn are some of the languages the UK needs most.
"But the country is still facing a languages deficit."
Comments
The English let me down in uptake of languages. I always look up to the English because they have opened the way of science (especially the Scots, of course), but I get surprised that their level of languages isn’t higher. According to this survey, 36 % couldn’t care less to speak another language and 44 % doesn’t regret having made the effort to learn another language.
However, the Spanish begin to study English since our birth, we are studying English all life and it doesn’t matter if we learn it or not. LOL.
Learning another language is necessary to find an employment, to improve your working hopes, to look into, to be independent and to do science. It’s the best way to know other cultures and other people.
But this doesn’t mean that people who know one, two or more language are more intelligent or wiser than the others. LOL
See you.
I am not at all surprised to read about the lack of language skills in the UK. I suppose it is an inevitable consequence of the dominance of English.
I am ashamed at my Spanish level. I gave up making an effort to improve many years ago. I get by quite well but nevertheless, I make far too many basic mistakes.
One essential skill I have never mastered is to speak at the same time as others and raise my voice in the hope that I will be heard.
The English let me down in the uptake of languages. I always look up to the English because they have opened up the way in the field of science (especially the Scots, of course), but I am surprised / astonished that their level of languages isn’t higher. According to this survey, 36% couldn’t care less to speak another language and 44% don’t regret not having made the effort to learn another language.
However, the Spanish begin to study English at birth, we study English our whole lives and it doesn’t matter if we learn it or not. LOL.
Learning another language is necessary to find employment, to improve your job opportunities, to look into (look into is followed by an object), to be independent and to do science. It’s the best way to know other cultures and other people.
But this doesn’t mean that people who know one, two or more languages are more intelligent or wiser than others. LOL
This is one of the great issues of our times: the learning of foreign languages worldwide. But, is it really so important dominate foreign languages? Of course, if you speak other languages beside yours, you can explore other cultures and can understand different way of life in the world, but I think that it’s not so easy. I mean that you can communicate with other people in their language, but not deeply. You find always limits in the communication. On the other hand, the translations are every time more efficient.
There are a great business in the teaching foreign languages and I don`t know if the political reasons which seek justify their expansion are successful. For example, the learning of English in Spain is important, of course, but really is it necessary to change the plans of study in Secondary School in order to teach different subjects, no in Spanish, but in English? Everything has a limit and in this case it has been exceeded by far.
José Luis professor
I doubt many people who have learning a language on their to-do list will ever get round to it seriously.
Most Brits sound as if they are in agony when attempting a foreign language.
I find this post very surprising. I thought that there wasn’t any great interest for foreign languages in the UK, but I see that it is not true. English is an important language in the world but I see that the British need to learn new languages in spite of the supremacy of their language. So, the world is upside down (I don’t know if this expression exists in English...). In Spain, for example, an authentic fever to learn English has spread throughout the country. However, in the UK, people with political responsibilities are worried about the great ignorance of foreign languages among students (that exists).
This is one of the great issues of our times: the learning of foreign languages worldwide. But, is it really so important to dominate foreign languages? Of course, if you speak other languages besides your own, you can explore other cultures and can understand different ways of life in the world, but I think that it’s not so easy. I mean that you can communicate with other people in their language, but not deeply. You always find limits in the communication. On the other hand, the translations are more and more efficient. (= cada vez más...)
Teaching foreign languages is a huge business and I don`t know if the political reasons which seek to justify its expansion has been successful. For example, the learning of English in Spain is important, of course, but is it really necessary to change the plans of study in Secondary Schools in order to teach different subjects, not in Spanish, but in English? Everything has a limit and in this case it has been greatly exceeded.