While the chancellor is on the hunt for strategies to spur economic growth, it might be worth reminding her—especially on this International Day of Multilingualism—that there’s an untapped treasure right under her nose. Back in 2014, the all-party parliamentary group on modern languages pegged the value of the UK’s dormant linguistic talents at a jaw-dropping £48 billion. That’s £8 billion more than the extra taxes imposed last year by Reeves. This potential has likely grown since Brexit pushed “global Britain” to start eyeing markets beyond Europe. Any English speaker dabbling in global trade can tell you: when you’re buying, English suffices, but when you’re selling, speaking the client’s language gives you a notable edge.
Over the past three decades, language education in the UK has unfortunately dwindled, mainly due to a shortage of qualified language teachers. But here’s the twist: during this same period, the nation has become more linguistically vibrant. We now have an abundance of individuals fluent in multiple languages, sadly overlooked, and at times, their languages are unfairly stigmatized. Interestingly, these very languages often originate from markets that British businesses would love to tap into post-Brexit.
The government, instead of capitalizing on this linguistic bounty, behaves as though it doesn’t even exist. In the 2021 census for England and Wales, there was just one straightforward question about language: “What is your main language?” and for those who didn’t list English: “How well can you speak English?” Neuroscientist Thomas Bak from the University of Edinburgh likened this to asking parents of multiple kids: “Which is your main child?” It didn’t allow for people to express if they spoke one language at home but another at work. (Scotland’s census posed a slightly varied question, but it wasn’t much more revealing.)
Given that the census rolls around every decade, Bak is part of a team urging for minor changes to the next edition, suggesting the shift to “What are your main languages?” and demanding a bigger response box. So far, this modest proposal has hit a brick wall. With the census’s future in question by 2031, some might see this effort as more symbolic than practical. However, for the moment, the census remains the primary tool to gauge the nation’s linguistic wealth, steering government language policy for the next decade.
So, how do we know that the UK is trending towards multilingualism? We piece it together from a mix of academic research, school data, and the census itself. In 2021, responses to the language question in England and Wales exceeded 90, though this is probably an underestimate due to the question’s format. Over 300 languages are spoken in London alone, and the number of schoolchildren in England who don’t list English as their first language is on the rise, now about one in five. Similar patterns are unfolding in the US and parts of continental Europe.
Historically, viewing this trend offers some perspective. Monolingualism is a relatively modern creation by nation-states, and it was more aspirational than factual, despite historic efforts to standardize languages and suppress regional dialects. For thousands of years, humanity thrived in multilingual environments, and many regions have retained this trait even after Europe and its colonies enforced linguistic uniformity.
In this light, the current shift appears to be a return to the norm. Immigration plays a role—while the colonial era saw people leave Europe, post-WWII movements have flowed towards it. Yet, there are other dynamics at play. Despite lingering pressure to assimilate, research by French linguist François Grosjean indicates immigrants are retaining their native tongues longer, spanning multiple generations. As early as 1982, he claimed, perhaps provocatively, that “there is probably a larger proportion of bilinguals in monolingual nations than in bilingual and multilingual countries.”
Still, in countries officially monolingual, there’s a persistent misconception that monolingualism is humanity’s default state. Isolationist attitudes, paradoxically, might mean they require stronger native language skills than their interconnected counterparts. In the US, the Trump administration declared English its official language, while the UK’s Turing scheme—designed to replace the EU’s Erasmus program—allows British students to study abroad but doesn’t extend the same to foreign students in the UK.
Multilingualism offers more than just economic perks. Numerous studies highlight how speaking multiple languages can fend off dementia, a condition that cost the UK a staggering £42 billion in 2024. Imagine alleviating that burden while reaping economic benefits by integrating our native linguists into the workforce! Speaking different languages enriches mental health too, broadening our social networks and even enhancing rational thinking, open-mindedness, and memory access.
So here’s a to-do list for the chancellor and her associates: bring visibility to our languages, provide incentives for multilingual individuals to become educators and translators, and rethink how we assess language skills beyond standard exams like GCSEs and the English Baccalaureate. This shouldn’t be limited to traditional languages like German and Spanish but should embrace Mandarin, Bengali, Swahili, and more. Let’s cherish linguistic diversity and move beyond the outdated “one nation, one language” mantra—it’s time has passed, and it wasn’t a long era to begin with.
