Harrow has ranked joint second as the best prospects in London to raise the next multilingual generation, it has been revealed.
In the results published by global learning platform Preply, they looked at some of the most nurturing factors to encourage multilingualism, revealing the UK hubs that are set to raise the next multilingual generation.
The London boroughs with the best prospects are Haringey, Harrow and Tower Hamlets (joint second) and finally Westminster and Barnet in joint third.
Over half of the world’s population can speak more than one language, with 43% classifying as bilingual and a further 17% identifying as multilingual. With bilingualism and multilingualism being proven to have many social, psychological and lifestyle advantages, the benefits of having more than one language at our disposal are more than threefold. Encouraging the younger generation towards becoming apt with multiple languages is one of the best head starts in life one can be given.
Taking over 110 UK towns and cities, Preply’s latest research reveals the UK ‘hubs’ set to raise the next multilingual generation. The study considers bilingual/international schools, demand for learning a language and the size of the bilingual community (bilingual population), to reveal the country’s top locations for nurturing multilingualism in children.
When a child is learning a new language, at-home development is beneficial, so parents and guardians who can support with their own skills can also boost learning. London’s high ranking is largely owed to its appetite for “picking up” a new language, as annual demand for learning a language surpassed the 100,000 mark last year. As for the languages, Londoners are most interested in learning, Spanish came top of the list, followed by French, Arabic, Italian and Japanese respectively.
Alongside the desire to learn a new language, the city is also home to the UK’s second-largest bilingual community, being dethroned by Leicester which ranks first. One-fifth of the capital’s residents register as speaking more than one language, whereas 30% of the city of Leicester speak two languages or more.
Specifically speaking, the boroughs with the best prospects for those wishing to further nurture their children’s knack for languages are Haringey, Harrow, and Tower Hamlets in joint second and finally Westminster and Barnet in joint third. The capital’s worse-off boroughs are Waltham Forest, Croydon and Bromley.
Newham, Brent, Ealing and Harrow register the strongest bilingual communities, all of which make up for more than 30% of the boroughs’ population.
