UK voted worst country in Europe at learning other languages as world video dictionary launched
The vote was organised as part of the European Day of Languages
Your support helps us to tell the story
As your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.
Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn't have the resources to challenge those in power.
Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November election
Andrew Feinberg
White House Correspondent
The UK is the worst country in Europe at learning other languages new data suggests.
As part of a vote organised for European Day of Languages, Britain was revealed to be the most monolingual country in the continent.
More than one in three (35%) chose Britain as the worst in Europe for communicating in any other language apart from their mother tongue. French citizens came second in the vote with 22 per cent, followed by Italy with eight per cent.
At the opposite end of the poll, the Netherlands was found to be the best at speaking additional languages with less than one per cent (0.3%) of people choosing the Dutch as the most monolingual nation of speakers.
Rated: Most Monolingual European Country
UK 35.2%
France 22.2%
Italy 8.1%
Spain 6.2%
Poland 5.6%
Germany 4.2%
Greece 3.0%
Portugal 2.3%
Norway 1.1%
Austria 0.8%
Sweden 0.7%
Denmark 0.5%
Netherlands 0.3%
Other 9.8%
The data was released by language learning app Memrise, who have also compiled and launched the world's largest video dictionary.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments