Transcript Slide 1

Minority Language
Conference
Hanasaari-The SwedishFinnish Cultural Centre
November 27th and 28th
2008
The EU as a Language Community.
The Linguistic Competence of EU
Citizens Today
Johan Häggman
Member of Cabinet of Commissioner
Leonard Orban, Commissioner for
Multilingualism
Languages of the EU
23 official languages
 More than 60 regional- and minority
languages and languages of migrants.
 Language policy is competence of the
Member States.
 Eurobarometer study ”Europeans and
their languages”
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Today’s multilingual Europe
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The mother tongue of most Europeans is one
of the state languages of the country (for
instance 100% of Hungarians and Portuguese,
99% Greeks name their state languages as their
native tongues.
However, a there is minority speaking either an
official EU language (such as the Swedes in
Finland) or a non European language. (14% in
Luxembourg speak another EU language and
10% in slovakia speak Hungarian).
Today’s multilingual Europe
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The cases where a sizable number of the
country speaks a regional and minority language
are the Baltic States, Belgium, Bulgaria, Ireland,
Finland, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovakia, Spain
and the United Kingdom.
Only 1,4% speak a regional and minority
languages not announced in the Eurobarometer
study of 2005.
Other Languages Known – Two is
the target
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A majority of Europeans are able to have a
conversation in one language other than their
mother tongue.
56% of Europeans in at least one language, 28%
in at least two languages and 11% in at least 3
languages and 44% in no other languages.
Fewer Europeans remain without competences
in foreign languages than four yeasr ago. From
47% in 2001 to 44% in 2005.
Language Skills
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At the country level, 99% of Luxembourg citizens, 97%
of Slovaks and 95% of Latvians indicate that they
speak at least one foreign language.
At the other end of the ranking, Ireland and the United
Kingdom have only 34% and 38% of citizens knowing
a language other than their mother tongue.
Also few Italians 41%, Portuguese (42%) and
Hungarians (42%) speak another language than their
mother tongue.
Two languages
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In 2002, the Heads of States set a long-term
objective, mother tongue + two.
The citizens of Luxembourg score best again
with 92% speaking two languages apart from
their mother tongue. Followed by 75 % in the
Netherlands and 71% in Slovenia.
At the bottom of the table are the southern
Europeans, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Who is the multilingual European
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In general:
Young
 Well-educated
 With a multilingual background (foreign parents,
born abroad or belonging to a linguistic minority)
 In a managerial position or a student
 Motivated to learn
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Range of Languages Known
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English remains the most widely-spoken foreign
language throughout Europe.
English 38%
 French 14%
 German 14%
 Spanish 6%
 Russian 6%
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Range of Languages Known
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More respondents say that they speak these
languages than in 2001, Russian was not
covered.
With the enlargement of the European Union,
the balance between French and German is
changing.
Russian has been introduced largely due to the
Baltic States.
Range of Languages Known
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In 19 put of the 29 countries polled, English is
the most widely spoken language, after the
mother tongue.
Particularly in Sweden (89%), Malta (88%) and
the Netherlands (87%).
French is the most widely spoken foreign
language Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and
Ireland.
Range of Languages Known
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German is commonly spoken in Slovakia (32%),
the Czech Republic (28%) and Hungary (25%)
While most Lithuanians (80%), Latvians (70%)
and Estonians (66%) speak Russian.
Maybe surprisingly a significant part of
Slovenians master Croatian (59%)
The Level of Language Skills
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Over half of the respondents rate their language skills
as very good or good.
People evaluate their language skills in English to be the
best. 69% claim they can speak English well or very
well.
59% say that their competence in German, and 56% in
Russian, is better than basic.
People claim less frequently that their language skills are
very good in German, French or Spanish.
Frequency of use
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47% indicate that they use foreign languages
almost every day.
53% do not use their language competence on a
daily basis.
31% of those who know English indicate that
they use it almost every day.
22% said that they used Spanish or German
daily.
Situations of use
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42% of Europeans use their first foreign
language on holiday abroad.
26% use it while watching tv, films or listening
to the radio.
25% while communicating with friends and as
many while having conversations at work.
Ways of learning
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59% of those polled said that they have learned
languages at secondary school.
Other learning environments are also
mentioned, for example 24% in primary school
and a fifth on holidays abroad.
Most learn languages at school, but 16% have
learned languages on their own.
Learning languages
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Language and education policy is a competence
of each Member State. But the Commission
encourages and motivates people to learn
languages.
18% of EU citizens have learned a language or
improve their languages skills during the last two
years and 21% intend to do so in the coming
year.
Learning languages
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Approximately 1 in 5 Europeans can be
described as active language learners.
The most active language learners come from
Sweden (32%), Latvia (28%) and Finland (28%)
…and the ”laziest” from Greece (6%) and
Portugal (11%).
The most useful language
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English is perceived by Europeans to be by far
the most useful language (68%)
The gap between the perceived usefulness of
French (25%) and German (22%) is narrowing.
In 26 of the 29 countries covered English is
rated as the most useful language.
Reasons for learning languages
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35% claim they learn languages for travelling
abroad.
27% learn for personal satisfaction and as many
to be able to work in another country.
However, employment related reasons are on
the increase. Especially in the new Member
States.
Reasons for young people
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To improve their job opportunities is the most
common reason, with 73% stating this.
Another reason is that the language is widely
spoken around the world (38%).
Around a third stresses the advantages of being
multilingual when going on holiday.
Conclusions
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Europeans have fairly good language skills, 56%
speak another language
English dominates
The language skills could be used more
frequently
Most learn languages at school.
Language skills are considered useful.
Conclusions
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Work-related reasons are becoming more
important.
Still more than a third learn languages to go on
holiday abroad.
Language skills are important for young people.
Most young people learn languages to have
better job opportunities.
Thank you for your attention!