Multilingualism: Growing up speaking four languages

More than half of the world’s population is bilingual, according to recent estimates. However, only 1 in 4 UK citizens speak another language fluently and rates of bilingualism in the UK are some of the lowest worldwide. Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise, in light of these statistics, how differently my UK and international friends see the topic of bilingualism. When they find out I speak four languages, most European friends want to find out if we have any in common – other than English, of course. If we do, this may lead to a discussion in Spanish, German or, rarely, Dutch within a matter of minutes.
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