Language barrier: British ‘linguaphobia’ has deepened since Brexit vote, experts say

Britain faces further isolation after Brexit if it doesn’t adjust its citizens’ attitude towards learning foreign languages, a panel of experts has warned, with Britons becoming increasingly “linguaphobic” in the wake of the EU referendum.

Speaking at the Hay literary festival on Friday, a panel including Cardiff University professor Claire Gorrara and linguist Teresa Tinsley, said that Britons had too long relied on a false belief that English was the world’s lingua franca.

Only 6 per cent of the global population are native English speakers, with 75 per cent of the world unable to speak English at all. But three-quarters of UK residents can only speak English.

“That English is somehow the norm is a complete misapprehension of the facts, but this notion that everyone is speaking English is persistent and believed by many in the UK,” said Gorrara, warning that economic opportunities and bridge-building with the rest of the world was at risk after Brexit if Britons did not become less “linguaphobic” and learn more languages.

Deficient language skills in the UK cost 3.5 per cent of GDP, according to 2014 research by Cardiff Business School for UK Trade and Investment. A 2017 British Council report recommended that the top five languages needed by the UK “for prosperity and influence” post-Brexit are Spanish, Mandarin, French, Arabic and German.

The same report also found that there was a “growing language deficit” in the UK, which is expected only to grow post-Brexit because the UK’s £1 billion (US$1.3 billion) “language industry” – including services such as translation and interpreting – already heavily relies on EU citizens, whose expertise may become harder to access.