Britons urged to lose ‘lazy linguists’ tag by learning new language

A group of organisations, including the British Council, have launched a new public awareness campaign to “challenge elitist attitudes towards language learning”.

Speaking another language is “crucial” to understanding another culture, they said.

The Speak to the Future campaign calls for everyone to learn 1,000 words of a foreign language – a level that would allow them to hold simple conversations in another tongue. Those behind the bid insisted that this level is a 
realistic goal for anyone to achieve.

Speak to the Future campaign director Bernadette Holmes said: “The idea that everyone can learn the basics of another language is both realistic and attainable.

“We are not expecting instant fluency. Yet if everyone were capable of at least 1,000 words in a new language, social attitudes and economic prospects would be significantly enhanced: young people would be better prepared for the challenges of globalisation and our cultural and intellectual levels would be raised.

“I urge everyone in a position of influence to join the campaign and help us achieve this aim.”

Vicky Gough, of the British Council, said: “For too long people from the UK have suffered from a reputation that we are lazy linguists. Speaking another language is crucial to understanding another culture – so let’s overturn our poor record in language learning and show that we’re ready to engage with a multilingual world.”

The campaign comes just weeks after this year’s GCSE results showed a slump in the uptake of modern languages has halted.

The figures revealed an increase in the numbers of pupils taking GCSEs in languages such as French, German and Spanish.