ALMOST two in three Britons are unable to speak any language other than English. This is the worst record in Europe, a survey by the European Commission has found.
According to The Independent, about 700 people were interviewed in every European Union (EU) country last year for the report "Europeans and their Languages".
The study found that 62 per cent of respondents from the UK admitted they could not speak a language other than their mother tongue. This compared with an average of 44 per cent across the EU and just 1 per cent in Luxembourg, the top-ranking country.
Tamzin Caffrey of the UK's National Centre for Languages said Britons could lose out because of laziness.
"There is sometimes a very arrogant attitude that people from other countries will learn to speak English so we don't need to bother to learn to speak their languages,"Caffrey said. "Britons are missing out on fabulous opportunities to interact with other cultures on holiday or on business because they don't speak the language."
The survey also confirmed that English was the most widely-spoken foreign language throughout Europe, with 51 per cent of EU citizens able to hold a conversation in English, including 13 per cent for whom it was their mother tongue. A total of 14 per cent know either German or French along with their mother tongue.
The EU recognizes 20 official languages on its territory. Irish will become the 21st EU language on January 1, 2007. After the accession of Romania and Bulgaria ?scheduled for 2007 ?EU will have 23 official languages. The Commission said governments must make the learning of foreign languages obligatory and train more foreign language teachers.
But the report warned that there was a growing divide between multilingual and monolingual Europeans.
"A multilingual European is likely to be young, well-educated or still studying, born in a country other than the country of residence, who uses foreign languages for professional reasons and is motivated to learn." the report concluded. "Consequently, it seems that a large part of European society is not enjoying the advantages of multilingualism."
