Britain's lack of linguists

The release of the national results for school examinations last month gave an indication of British schoolchildren’s reluctance to learn foreign languages, and the education authorities’ belief that they shouldn’t be forced to, and now a European Union survey has shown the true level of foreign language knowledge in the country. It reveals that just 30% of Brits speak a second language, with Hungary the only EU country that has a lower level than this. In contrast, 99% of Luxembourgers know a second language, 91% of Dutch, 88% of Danish and 45% of French. This cannot purely be blamed on a lack of availability of language teaching in schools as, in fact, 70% of Brits say they have studied a language at school.

One of the main factors behind this seems to be the rather arrogant belief, also found in some other English-speaking countries, that it is unnecessary to learn foreign languages as it’s possible to get by pretty much anywhere in the world with only English. While it is true that English is the most useful language to know, the changing dynamics of the world mean that now it is becoming more important to know other tongues. Many employers now look for candidates who speak more than one language, with Spanish, Japanese and increasingly Chinese particularly attractive, and in a globalising world Britain is in danger of losing out if its work force are unable to easily communicate.

Despite these clear signs, the authorities in Britain are not only failing to improve language learning in our schools, they are allowing it to suffer further. Our schoolchildren do not have to start learning a language until they are 11, compared with seven years old in Norway and Sweden, and they are then free to drop all languages at the age of 14. This means many pupils will spend only three years studying a foreign language, which simply isn’t good enough.

At least the Higher Education Funding Council is taking the matter somewhat seriously and has put forward money to allow universities to hold summer language events. However, the group can only afford to offer £4.5m towards these schemes, and it is up to the government to provide not only more funds for languages learning, but also to show that they take the issue seriously. It is not just a question of giving pupils the chance to learn languages, it is also vital to help them understand why it is so important to do so.