Europeans are confident that, without forgetting their native language – even if it is 'unpromising' in terms of popularity abroad – they can easily learn to communicate with their neighbors. Already now, almost half of the citizens of the European Union speak a foreign language. Such, as the BBC reports, is the result of a sociological survey conducted in EU countries by the Eurobarometer group.
In Luxembourg, for example, 98% of the population, in addition to their native language, knows at least one foreign language. Next come the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden – in these three countries, only 15% of the population does not speak a foreign language. The director of the Swedish National Agency for Education, Mats Ekholm, emphasizes the economic aspect of linguistics: 'Sweden is a rather small country. If the population of the country is only nine million people, and its economy depends on foreign economic ties, then to establish connections with partners, you need knowledge of the language. We understand that the Swedish language is not very widespread in the world, and therefore you need the language of the country with which you are cooperating.'
About nine out of ten Swedes consider their level of English quite decent. Which is not surprising: in Sweden, English is taught in schools from the age of 7-9. Moreover, it is studied compulsorily until the age of 19. Gradually, French, German, or Spanish are included in the curriculum. As a rule, a foreign language at school is a separate subject, but at the same time, a number of natural science subjects are taught in a foreign language.
However, school is not the only place where a young Swede can learn a foreign language. Swedes also study languages at home. For example, through television. Films there are not dubbed, so you have the opportunity to watch movies in the original language with subtitles. This means that the melody of foreign speech becomes familiar.
According to the head of the European Commission for Education, Culture, and Sport, Viviane Reding, the results of the study are encouraging. The European Commission aims for every European school graduate to know, in addition to their native language, two more languages. Of course, this task is not easy, because today only 24% of Europeans are able to communicate in two foreign languages at once. However, Brussels does not lose hope and calls on the education ministries of EU countries to promote the importance and usefulness of multilingualism. And today, even those who believe that to preserve national traditions, one must first promote the native language, admit that polyglots have an easier time both culturally and economically.
True, standing apart among European polyglots is Great Britain, where only a third of the population can boast knowledge of some other language. But the British can be understood – while Europe fights to preserve diversity, Hollywood, the Internet, and international finance are increasingly turning English into an international language. For example, in the German cantons of Switzerland, which is not in the EU, many schools have begun to prefer English over French or Italian – the official languages of the Confederation, spoken by more than a third of the country.
Based on materials from Korrespondent.net.