Languages
Languages
Read about language learning in the UK and then do the exercises.

If you’re reading this, then you’re probably studying English. Maybe you speak a couple of other languages too. What are the British like when it comes to learning languages?
Statistics
Brits are famous for not speaking foreign languages. According to a survey published by the European Commission, this bad reputation is totally justified. The results of the survey state that the British are officially the worst language learners in Europe! Let’s look at some statistics:
- 62% of people surveyed can’t speak any other language apart from English.
- 38% of Britons speak at least one foreign language, 18% speak two and only 6% of the population speak three or more.
- The European Union average showed that 56% speak at least one foreign language, 28% speak at least two and 11% speak three or more. The survey confirmed that English was the most widely-spoken foreign language. 51% of EU citizens can have a conversation in English.
School
Learning a foreign language is not a popular option at school in Britain. In UK schools it is common for children to start studying a foreign language at the age of 11 and many students give up languages completely at 14. So why don’t young people continue with languages at school? Research suggests that students think that it is more difficult to get good grades in languages than in other subjects such as science or history. The British government is now looking at different ways to improve language learning at school. One idea is to start much younger; there are plans to introduce foreign languages from the age of 5.
Which languages?
Another plan is to give school children more choice. The languages traditionally studied in British schools have been French, Spanish and German. Now the government is encouraging teachers to expand the range of languages taught to include Arabic, Mandarin and Urdu.
Mandarin Chinese is predicted to become the second most popular foreign language learned in UK schools. It is already studied by more children than German or Russian. Only French and Spanish are more popular. Gareth from Wales says 'I am learning Chinese, and find it fun.' Another student, Thomas from London, says 'Just telling people that I learn Mandarin impresses people. Even having a very basic level gives you an advantage.' Brighton College has become the first independent school to make Mandarin a compulsory foreign language. Its headmaster Richard Cairns said, 'One of my key tasks is to make sure pupils are equipped for the realities of the 21st century. One of those realities is that China has the fastest-growing economy in the world.'
It may be an ambitious task to change the Brits’ attitude to learning languages but the government is determined to try!
Match the sentence halves to make sentences from the text. They contain comparative and superlative forms.
Choose the correct option to complete the sentences and practise using comparatives and superlatives.
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Language level:
Grammar:
How many languages can you speak? Do you like learning English? How important is it to you to speak foreign languages?

Comments
hi. Im from Indonesia. i always speak Indonesian. for english, just a little. i think english is very important language, because to entry an university or to find a job, english skill is required.
Well, I'm Vietnamese and I can speak a little English. I'm pretty good at English. You know, I study English for my interest not just for studying or work. I love English. I like to watch video which talk in English, but slowly. If people in the clip speak so fast, I can't hear anything.
Hi Little Dragon! I can see that you're doing very well at English! If you like videos, have you seen our video sections? Have a look at Video UK (in English Skills Practice) and Video Zone (in Free Time). You can find videos in the Grammar Snacks too! Let us know what you think!
Jonathan (LearnEnglish Teens Team)
Here, in Kazakhstan, you need to know at least two languages: Russsian and Kazakh. Russian is my native language, and I can say that I know Kazakh language rather good. I like learning languages. In fact, it's my hobby. I learn English at home and at school. But last year I decided that I need to learn one more language, so I started learning French. French is really difficult, but I like it. And, who knows, maybe in a few years time, I'll be able to speak French...(although sometimes it seems to me that this will never happen). I would also like to learn Spanish some day, because I think that when you know different languages, you've got the whole world in your hands! :)
Well,I am Egyptian and I can speak Arabic and English .At my school I learned French at preparatory school and at secondary school we had options at senior one to choose German or Italian or French.I chose Italian because I think that learning it it's a piece of cake it's easy to write what you listen and also easy to be pronounced.But i think that i learned basics in those languages at school . I want to learn more about them.I feel interest when i learn languages . Recently I've been taking English courses and it's giving me confidence.I learn English at school but not in a good approach . Now I want to finish English courses .I just want to keep focus on English and then take French,Italian and German courses.Hope to achieve my goals.:)
I can speak portuguese very well! It's my mother language!
I also can understand spanish, it's very similar!
Well, I'm trying learn english, I really want do to another country and study... It's my big dream.
Others languages like italian, french and german I know a few words.
Japanese only one ahaha (yeah, it's difficult guys!, but nice!)
i am a chinese and i am an english major. besides engliah and chinese,i also wanna learn german .because i wanna go there .anyone can give me some advice?thanks!
I'm Bahraini and I can speak Arabic and English very well. I learn English at the British Council Bahrain. I have been there for more than six years and I really enjoy it. When I was younger I always wanted to learn French, but my mum said it's not important honey ! Just focus on your English !
i can speak Vietnamese and English. i'm learning German and i know the common tongue of French
I speak Ukrainian and Russian free, English well. Also I can understand Polish. I study Spanish as well, and in future I plan to study Japanese or Chinese.
I am Hungarian, but I live in Romania, so I have to learn Romanian. In the school we have English and German lessons too. I learn French at home. I love learning languages and I think is very important.
I can speak russian, turkish, english and I'm learning chinese. I love learning english as well as other languages. It is very important for me to speak foreign languages, because it's how we communicate with other people. By knowing several languages, we can make a lot of foreign friends, and meet knew people. It also increases your level of education and results in having a well-paid job.
I'm Chinese so I can speak Mandarin Chinese well.I also speak Cantonese with my family.At school we all learn English,it's indeed a useful language all over the world.Learning languages is a hobby of mine.I learn French by myself because I may study in France in the future.Sometimes I try to learn Malay language cause I like it.I enjoy learning foreign languages because I love literature,I want to read more classics and understand them better,and even translate them into Chinese.
The language environment in China is not as well as that in Europe I think.Most Chinese people can only speak Chinese(not always Mandarin but many dialects like Cantonese and Hokkien),many Minority people only speak their own language like Tibetian and Uygur language(of course,many young people can speak Mandarin and even English now).It's not very easy for people here to learn to speak a foreign language fluently and accurately because they just stay here and communicate with Chinese.But lots of people are trying to learn English because there are more and more foreign friends here in our country,and we are glad to greet them.Being able to undertand and use English is almost an essential skill for the young now.Knowing a useful foreign language well,we can associate with foreigners directly and learn more from them.It's also interesting to understand different types of cultures,and respect each of them.
hey i am from pakistan i want to improve my english.any one suggest me how can i improve my english language speaking skills!best wishess
I am Ukrainian and I know Ukrainian and Russian very well. I'm also good at English and learn German at school. I plan to take French this year and maybe in the future I will learn Japanese or Chinese or Spanish (in fact, I'd love to learn all of them!)
I'm Taiwanese.We also say Chinese.But it is different from China.We say"Traditional Chinese".I think it is more diffucult from Simplified Chinese.Also I can say Taiwanese and a little Hakka.I love to learn a new language.I hope I can learn the Japanese and Spanish one day~:)))
Hello everyone! There are so many interesting languages mentioned in your messages: Arabic, Spanish, Kazakh, Hakka, Malay... It would be nice to be able to speak them all, wouldn't it?
Jonathan (LearnEnglish Teens Team)
I can speak a litlle spanish but another languages no
Hi..
well I can speak Kurdish, I can understand 70% of Arabic and I can speak in formal Arabic, I can speak in English just a little bit.
I love French , Spanish , Japanese and many other languages but unfortunately here we don't have courses for such languages, and I can't learn a new language just by using Enternet.I wish I can learn these languages one day,
I'm from Montenegro so I can speak a lot of the South Slovenian languages including Montenegrin, Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian. At school I'm learning German and English of course. I think it's important to learn languages 'cause we will need them wherever we go. I'd like to learn Japanese. It sounds cool.
Wow, that's really impressive! So, what language do you use with your family, your friends and in your school? Thanks for your interesting comments!
Jonathan (LearnEnglish Teens Team)
hi,I am from albania.In my family i speak albanian excpect with my sister where i speak english.
my friends i speak albanian and in my school i speak albanian ....
Hi! Im Albina from Albania.The most of the time I speak Albanian but in school we speak English too.I think English is an important language to connect with people of other countries.
Hey! Im Edlira from Albania.In our schools we learn English but we speak ALBANIAN. This text was very helpful to me.
Hi! Thanks for your recent comments! Do you learn any other languages in your school, apart from English (and Albanian)? Are you interested in starting to learn an entirely new language?
Jonathan (LearnEnglish Teens Team)
Hello))
I can speak three lenguages:Ukrainian,Russian and English,but just a little((Ukrainian is my native lenguage)I love Ukrainian so much)
In my school we learn Ukrainian,Russian.First part of our class learn English,and second part learn German. And I ,of course,learn English)At the holidays i learn Italian with my the best friend)I love this very very very and very much)
I think,if you know foreign lenguage you can open all world for you)
Thank you so much for this very interesting article))
Hello!
Ukrainian is my native language. Also I speak Russian free. I want to know English very well)
I can speak Korean and English. I think learning English is fun but sometimes it's kind of boring.
I learned Bahasa Malayu and Mandarin but I'm not really good at it.
I want to learn French too. I think the French pronounciation beautiful and it sounds like singing.
I'm learning it myself a little bit by myself at home but the pronounciation is really hard.
I think learning foreign language is very important.
Hi....
I am salma from Egypt.I speak Arabic as my native language.I am also studying english as 2nd language.I enjoy speaking English very much.
Hi. I am from albania.. In our school we learn english but we speak albanian..... English is more important for us. . . .
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