Europeans and their languages

Summary:

56% of respondents are able to hold a conversation in one language other than their mother tongue, and 28% state that they can manage this in two foreign languages. There are of course wide variations from one country to another and 44% don't know any other language than their mother tongue.

The typical “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. When people do decide to learn a language, they do so for the expected practical benefits: 35% learn a language to use on holiday abroad, 32% for work. 83% of respondents agree that knowing several languages is an advantage and more than two thirds even think that language teaching should be a political priority. English emerges as the most widely used language in the EU: 51% speak it either as mother tongue or as a foreign language.