“When you speak 3 languages, you are trilingual. When you speak 2 languages, you are bilingual. When you speak 1 language, you are British.” My Spanish peers enlightened me with this not-so-funny joke three times in as many days, both in class and in bars, and perhaps it was a bad coincidence.
When I stumbled across Sophia Smith Galer’s article in the Guardian, “Time for a reality check: Britain cannot be a big global player unless we speak more languages” (August 2025), it felt like someone had made a blueprint of my thoughts exactly.
She highlights some raw truths about the state of language learning in the UK. It’s dire indeed. Brits seem to assume that it is too big a challenge, or that it’s just not worth the effort, given they already speak the “global language”.
As Sophia highlights, boy is this a myth. Having lived in Madrid for a couple months, this is simply not true. Most Spaniards are not strong enough in English to give your directions to exit the airport (based on a friend’s anecdote). Studying here has made me realise that in order to connect with Spanish students, while English is a bonus, knowing Spanish has been a life-saver. Why? Because I truly get to know these people, understand their culture, and gain their trust and respect. Imagine how useful this is in the workforce, if you’re starting your own business, or even on holiday.
As Sophie points out, Brexit and the Pandemic have made this skill even more relevant. So has the rise of far-right politics, which feeds into British exceptionalism and this idea of anglophone superiority.
Growing up in Brussels, I was exposed to multilingualism from the beginning. I never knew how lucky I was until my parents moved me to a comprehensive state school in Devon, England.
It felt like a claustrophobic bubble, and it shocked me how little students understood the world outside of England. I was also struck by how different I felt, simply by knowing French, and seeing the world through two linguistic lenses.
When people undermine the value of languages, I truly don’t know how to explain how much of a shame that is. I also like to imagine how monolingual people in power, namely Nigel Farage, must look so ridiculous in a conference room where they don’t understand a thing. Yes there are interpreters, and thank god! They would be stuffed without them. As for AI? Its superficial translation may be handy for rapid results, however it fails to achieve what real human interaction and emotional intelligence bring.
So, given all this, I completely agree with Sophie that it undermines the UK as a key world player. Britain is simply isolating itself at a worrying rate. Simply look at Brexit to understand that the UK is dependent on global connections to thrive. Take the crucial selling point of reducing immigration and boosting the UK’s trade – in both of these cases Brexit has made these worse. If Britain wants to survive on the world stage, teaching and learning languages has to become a priority. We are all human after all, and all crave human connection. Languages enable this.
All this to say, Brits would benefit a lot from learning another language and reversing bad stereotypes. But I will say they are not to blame. Language teaching in UK schools and beyond has never felt engaging to me, and for someone who has never been exposed to multilingualism, it certainly isn’t inspiring. As Sophie says, GCSEs are hard and harshly graded, languages are no longer compulsory from Year 10, and there are these ideas circulating around that English is all that’s needed. Language learning techniques in the UK need to be overturned to actually become fun and inspiring. For me, a good starting point are the guidelines outlined in Gabriel Wyner’s book Fluent Forever, which aims to optimise our visual memory to become fluent in a language, and assures that it fluency is not out-of-reach for anyone.
It is true that one who lives their whole life in England may not need to know Spanish or German. But there are cognitive and employability benefits that are written everywhere in the stats, including adding up to 35% to your salary and reducing the oncoming of Alzheimers.
Above these, in my opinion knowing a language is even part of “self-care” and makes one more interesting. It’s a hobby and skill that is admirable, rare, and effortlessly cool. Imagine being at a cocktail bar with your friends, you meet a woman who works for your dream company, and you can roll out a conversation in her native language? That’s pretty cool if you ask me. I truly believe it can boost opportunities, and be an incredible asset to help women in the workforce.
We just need to make language learning easier and more appealing. Which is why Tête-à-Tête came to life.
If you made it this far, I want to let you know how appreciated this is, no matter your stance on language learning. Although – I’d like to think that as a fellow Tête-à-Tête reader you are as keen on multilingualism as I am. And to that I say, a warm welcome.
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