Nearly half of Britons 'have sufficient foreign language skills to get by'
Nearly half of Britons have enough linguistic ability to communicate successfully in foreign countries, according to the findings of a new survey.
Holiday property rental firm holidaylettings.co.uk claims that although 49% of British people moving abroad believe they can communicate successfully, the stereotype of the British being a race of linguistically ignorant is unlikely to be suppressed by the research.
Out of the property investors who have bought a house abroad at some point in the last 10 years surveyed by the company, 30% said they found being able to speak the local language to be beneficial during the buying process.
Ross Elder, managing director of holidaylettings.co.uk, commented: "These results, while not scientific, show that British holiday homeowners and expats are far from ignorant when it comes to the languages and cultures of other countries."
He added that Britons buying abroad should "proud" of their linguistic ability, while noting that people should take heed of the statistics when doing business overseas.
Previously, a survey from recruitment firm Office Angels revealed that although many people would welcome the opportunity to work abroard, only 8% of workers can speak a foreign language with any competence.
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