Majority of Brits don't use foreign languages abroad

Choosing a holiday destination with a foriegn tongue is a problem for some, as 64 per cent of us are unable to say a single word in a different language.

While everyone loves going on holiday, research by Hotels.com reveals that this does not 'translate' for Brits into an ability to understand and speak the local language.

Plus, only a third of us are willing to give the lingo a go when abroad. Even simple words such as "bonjour" and “goedemorgen” failed to register, with 19 per cent and 63 per cent of us respectively unable to translate “good morning” in French and Dutch.

Despite French, German and Spanish being on the National Curriculum, only 13 per cent, eight per cent and six per cent of Brits respectively consider themselves able to speak the language.

The majority of Brits rarely or never try to speak a foreign language, with reasons for their lack of effort being put down to simply not being bothered, being too embarrassed they will make a mistake or simply assuming that everyone can speak English.

Surprisingly 47 per cent of 18-24 year olds reported that they haven’t spoken the foreign language they learnt at school, since they left. Conversely, those aged over 55 were most likely to try and speak the country’s local language when on holiday, with 45 per cent of respondents claiming to very often or always try.

Putting pints before their Ps & Qs, more people were able to translate “a beer please” in Spanish (“una cerveza por favor”) than were able to correctly translate “thank you” in Portuguese (“prego”).

Kate Hopcraft, from Hotels.com, said: “The results of our study seem to put British holiday makers to shame, with even languages typically learnt at school such as German, French and Spanish having incredibly low levels of comprehension. Brits often have a negative image abroad when it comes to languages and unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be anything we'll be saying auf wiedersehen to anytime soon.”