Be they immigrants or indigenous/regional groups with their own languages. This is following on from this thread I recently opened: https://www.theapricity.com/forum/sh...sh-Proficiency
While in the UK, the percentage is around 1.5%.
Printable View
Be they immigrants or indigenous/regional groups with their own languages. This is following on from this thread I recently opened: https://www.theapricity.com/forum/sh...sh-Proficiency
While in the UK, the percentage is around 1.5%.
The 1.5% who can't speak our native language are a result of some of the many immigrants in places like London. Polish is now officially England's second most spoken language due to the 600,000+ Polish immigrants here, and reports show that there's some Poles living here who can't speak English.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tooting Carmen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sqk...&frags=pl%2Cwn
My parents think they can speak English but I don't think they can.
According to the 2011 census, 19% (562,000) of Welsh residents three years old or over reported being able to speak their native Celtic Welsh language. 77% (431,000) of them were able to speak, read and write the language. There are also thought to be between 100,000 and 150,000 Welsh speakers in England, particularly in London, Liverpool and Oswestry, and about 5,000 in Chubut Province in Argentina.
There are Welsh speakers throughout Wales, but the proportion of speakers increases the further west you go. In some towns and villages in northwest Wales, for example, 80–90% of the people speak Welsh, and on Anglesey about 68% speak Welsh, with higher percentages in some parts of the island.
https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img...les-578441.jpg
People think there are probably about 8,000 to 13,000 people who speak the Celtic Cornish language in Cornwall, south-west Britain. Some young people have grown up speaking it.
In the 2011 census of Scotland, 57,375 people (1.1% of the Scottish population aged over three years old) reported as able to speak the Celtic language of Gaelic, 1,275 fewer than in 2001. The highest percentages of Gaelic speakers were in the Outer Hebrides.
According to the 2016 Republic of Ireland census 73,803 people speak the Celtic Irish language daily in the Republic of Ireland outside the education system including 20,586 people who speak it every day in the Gaeltacht outside the education system.
The Celtic language of Manx on the Isle of Man has been the subject of language revival efforts with estimates, in 2015, of around 1,800 people with varying levels of second language conversational ability. Since the late 20th century, Manx has become more visible on the island, with increased signage, radio broadcasts and a bilingual primary school.
Most of the people in the British Isles and Ireland understand, write, read, and communicate with each other in English.
Pretty much all native-speakers of Celtic languages still know English too - the last monolingual Welsh-speaker died in the 1970's (not sure about the other languages).Quote:
Originally Posted by ♥ Lily ♥
As for Poles and other immigrants in the UK: even though the percentage of immigrants in the UK and the US is pretty similar - circa 15% in both, excluding illegals - due to their different origins and backgrounds, they're far more likely to speak English in the former than the latter. Most immigrants in the UK either come from Commonwealth countries, which are English-speaking anyway, or from Eastern Europe, where many of them also speak good English. By contrast, ironically most immigrants in the US nowadays come from the two least English-speaking parts of the world, namely Latin America and East Asia.
I know Latin Americans are one of the worst for speaking English, but I thought East Asians were ok. Filipinos and Hong Kongers, for examples, can usually understand and speak English very well. Hong Kongers tend to speak English with a southern English RP accent, and Filipinos tend to speak English with a US accent.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tooting Carmen
They even hold English speaking competitions in the former British Empire region of Hong Kong. I've also encountered Japanese people in LDN who speak English well too. I don't know what percentage of them can't speak English though.
From HK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM2WEadY5II&frags=pl%2Cwn
2:53 (from the Philippines.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7YRRaOgpUk&frags=pl%2Cwn
Those two groups often speak English well. However, I am referring more to mainland Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Cambodians and Vietnamese - all of whom are nowadays quite numerous in the US. (In fact, China is the second-biggest source country of immigrants to the US after Mexico).Quote:
Originally Posted by ♥ Lily ♥
Just to clarify, the figures I gave in the OP for both the US and the UK combine those who either cannot speak English at all or cannot speak English very well. Needless to say, the latter are more common than the former.
I've noticed people using British Isles and Ireland a bit lately when you can just say Britain and Ireland. British Isles includes Ireland and that is why it is called the British Isles otherwise it is just Britain or Ireland. I know some Irish don't like the term British Isles but it is a geographic descriptor like Iberian Peninsula or Scandinavia. I do use it myself or just use "the Isles" or Britain and Ireland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles
True. In any event, what would be your estimate of the proportion of people in Australia who have limited English?Quote:
Originally Posted by Grace O'Malley