Does only being able to speak English make you lucky or lazy?

Valentina Pini

Coming from a bilingual family where Italian and English are frequently spoken, studying Spanish A level and having a mother who is a language teacher, I am no stranger to languages.  I can completely understand the dread that some people feel when facing learning a language for the first time, especially in a grammar school such as ours where languages are so valued. However, should we be encouraging people to learn another language when English is so dominant in the political and business world?

Well, in my opinion the answer is Yes! Yes! Yes!

Now, you might be sitting there thinking who is this over-excited language enthusiast and why should we listen to what she has to say? Well, “non mi importa” and no doubt your response to this is “¿Qué significa eso?”.  If you were a linguist then this would be “une tranche de gâteau”. Okay, okay! I have had my fun fishing out different phrases that I know, however, with all seriousness language learning is vital, or is it?

Did you know that over 1.5 billion people in the world speak English and 360 million people speak English as their first language? It is fair to say that we could get around the world communicating solely in English. Whenever people visit a foreign country and encounter a language barrier the first language they attempt to communicate in is usually English after failing to converse in the foreign language. Therefore, unsurprisingly the argument that we are fortunate to have English as our first language and that there is no necessity to learn a foreign language in addition, may be considered reasonable. But is this just laziness?

Research by the British Council finds that three-quarters of UK adults cannot hold a conversation in a foreign language.

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To compare, just over half of Europeans (54%) can hold a conversation in at least one additional language, a quarter (25%) are able to speak at least two additional languages and one in ten (10%) are conversant in at least three. Now, I know that this just seems like I have bombarded you with statistics (which I kind of have) but what these facts demonstrate is that we have a massive temptation to be lazy by only speaking English, yet other Europeans do not fit this trend, and in my opinion, neither should we.

Considering the prevalence of the English language throughout the world, you may wonder what the benefits of learning an additional language actually are. To this, I urge you to appreciate that the advantages of learning a language are extensive. Granted, this may sound eerily similar to a teacher in one of the language lesson inductions that attempt to sell you the idea of taking a language GCSE or A-level, but this work is not an attempt to convince you to undertake a qualification in a language, rather to consider the advantages of languages outside of a school environment. If you still aren’t enthralled by the prospect of learning a language, consider that through learning languages you are able to: meet new people, build multitasking skills, improve your English (strange but true!); potential employers value it highly and learning a language will be even more useful after Brexit. Indeed I have mentioned Brexit; the word that haunts us all and has the same ominous status as Voldemort, “that it shall not be named”.
Of course, learning a foreign language takes time and dedication but I firmly believe that the benefits you will reap after a certain level of competency is reached, are immeasurable.

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So, going back to the question, ‘does only being able to speak English make you lucky or lazy?’ I would say: both. Perhaps an unsatisfying response, but it’s true! Undoubtedly, being able to speak English is beneficial and thus makes us lucky. However, it also gives us some degree of complacency. Why not take the opportunity to speak another language when you have ample opportunity to do so?