Survey: Two thirds of Irish people unable to speak second language
Almost two thirds of Irish people are unlikely to be able to speak a second language, according to a Eurobarometer survey released today.
The survey found that Ireland has the fifth worst record when it comes to learning a second language, after Hungary, Italy, the UK and Poland.
Some 40% of Irish people surveyed would be able to hold a conversation in another language - including Irish - compared to 98% in Luxembourg and 95% of Latvians.
Yet the latest study demonstrates an improvement - up six points on the previous survey.
The most common additional languages for Irish people are Irish, French, German and English.
When asked to name the two languages they believed to be most useful for children to learn for their future, Irish people were most likely to say French at 50% (down 14% from last survey in 2005), German 42% (unchanged), Spanish 25% (down 10%) and Chinese 20% (up 18%).
In addition, the survey found that almost nine out of 10 EU citizens believe that the ability to speak foreign languages is very useful and 98% say that mastering languages will be good for the future of their children.
Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, said: "This Eurobarometer shows that multilingualism and language learning matter a great deal to people and that is something we should rejoice in. But we must also do more to improve the teaching and learning of languages.
“Being able to communicate in a foreign language broadens your horizons and opens doors; it makes you more employable and, in the case of businesses, it can open up more opportunities in the Single Market."
The most widely-spoken mother tongue in the EU is German (16%), followed by Italian and English (13% each), French (12%), then Spanish and Polish (8% each). For 93% of Irish respondents English is their mother tongue and for 3% it is Irish.
English is the most widely spoken foreign language within the EU.
