Picture the scene: an Englishman loudly-ordering food in a Parisian restaurant. The waiter rolls his eyes at the customer’s stubborn commitment to soldiering on in English, and everyone in the-vicinity has the good grace to look suitably embarrassed. This may sound like a tired 1970s stereotype. Except, tragically, it’s just as likely to serve as a prophecy for our future.
Three quarters of the UK’s residents are unable to hold a conversation in any language other than English. This reluctance — or lack of interest — is echoed in this summer’s academic results. This year the number of entries to French GCSE exams fell by 8.1 per cent compared to 2015, while German entries dropped by 7 per cent. A-level French entries also fell by over 6 per cent, alongside a 4.2 per cent decrease in German. Spanish, happily, enjoyed a boost, but the overall picture is one of woe.
The UK has carried a mantle of infamous linguistic laziness for decades, instead relying on diligent foreigners to learn English in order to make conversation.
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