Time for a reality check: Britain cannot be a big player on the world stage unless we speak more languages | Sophia Smith Galer

For all the talk of addressing the problem, things have got worse. Which is criminal when there is so much we could doLots of people told me to not study languages – including my own (monolingual) dad. “You’re never going to be as fluent as a native speaker,” I remember him saying when I was deciding on my university degree. “Why bother?”A little more than a decade later, I’ve collected a wealth of experiences. I’ve staffed Sotheby’s Madrid reception desk, I’ve taught theatre and English to Syrian children excluded from mainstream schools in Beirut. I’ve given a speech on sustainable development goals for Arab audiences at the UN, and I’ve trained journalists in Ecuador’s most dangerous city. I’ve dated men I’ve wanted to, swatted off men who I didn’t, sung songs, cooked recipes, all in languages that are not my native tongue. And most important of all? I’ve changed my dad’s mind.Sophia Smith Galer is a journalist and content creator. Her second book, How To Kill a Language, will be out next year Continue reading...

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