Mother Language Day: Where are most polyglots in Europe?

The European Union has 24 official languages ​​and 60 regional or minority languages. But in which countries do people speak the best and most different languages? February 21 is the United Nations’ International Mother Language Day, and Euronews Culture is an opportunity to answer the question.

On the whole, Europeans are very good at languages: about 65% of the continent’s population can speak at least one language other than their mother tongue. By comparison, only about 20% of American adults are competent.

But there are significant regional differences. The Nordic countries Bilingualism is basically better, at the same time Southern Europe Performance is slightly lower.

In English-speaking countries, it is not surprising to find that many people are not interested in learning a foreign language: Only 50% of Irish people are bilingual And the United Kingdom has the worst result in Europe with only 34%.

How do you become bilingual (or multilingual)?

Fluency in multiple languages ​​is a skill often appreciated in the professional world (it certainly is at the Euronews Tower of Babel!). It is a great way to learn about different cultures and interact with people from all over the world.

There are two main ways to become bilingual: by being born into a bilingual family or by learning a second language at school – or later in life, through travel, for example.

Experts agree that the sooner you learn a second language, the easier it is to master it. Language development experts recommend two main techniques for parents.

• The first must Minority language should be taught at home. Take the example of two German parents raising their children in Sweden. They speak only German at home and make their children fluent in Swedish by exposing this language everywhere outside the home.
• other technique”One person – one language“. Let’s take for the moment the example of a Polish mother and a Slovak father raising a child together in Hungary. The mother speaks only Polish to the child and the father only Slovak. Often, in such situations, the parents have to communicate with each other in the language of their country of residence, English or the language of a partner. has

Are Bilingual Children Delayed?

You’ve probably heard the theory before: “Bilingual children have language delaysThis is partly true: children who learn two (or more) languages ​​from birth acquire the same vocabulary as their monolingual peers at the same age, but the number of words they know is divided between the two languages.

When they only speak one word, the normal amount of vocabulary for their age is considered low. This difference soon disappears as the child grows.