Britain’s inability to speak “important” foreign languages could jeopardise future prosperity and global standing, according to a new report.

The British Council has said the UK has an alarming shortage of people who are able to speak what it regards as the 10 most important languages.
They are Spanish, Arabic, French, Mandarin Chinese, German, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Turkish and Japanese.

The Languages For The Future report identifies these languages as vital to the UK over the next 20 years on economic, geopolitical, cultural and educational grounds. John Worne, director of strategy at the British Council, told Sky News: “The problem isn’t that we’re teaching the wrong languages, because the most widely taught languages like French, Spanish and German all feature in our top 10.

“But the UK needs more people to take up the opportunity to learn, and crucially, get using these languages – along with new ones like Arabic, Chinese and Japanese.
“If we don’t act to tackle this shortfall, we’ll lose out both economically and culturally.
“Schools have their job to do, but it’s also a problem of complacency, confidence and culture – which policymakers, businesses, parents and everyone else in the UK can help to fix.
“Languages aren’t just an academic issue – they are a practical route to opportunity for the UK in business, culture and all our lives.”

A YouGov poll commissioned by the British Council showed that three quarters of British people cannot speak the “important” languages well enough to hold a conversation.
French is spoken by 15% of people, German by 6%, Spanish by 4% and Italian by 2%.
Arabic, Mandarin, Russian or Japanese are each only spoken by 1%, while less than 1% of people in the UK speak Portuguese or Turkish.

The report calls for children to be taught a broader range of languages and for the subjects to be given the same priority as maths and sciences.
It also states that businesses should invest in language training for staff and that everyone should learn at least the basics of those languages deemed so important to the country’s future.

By James Matthews, Sky News CorrespondentPhoto by Amplified Group