Portuguese second language skills puts expat Brits to shame

Paul Rees 15 December 2017

books In just ten years, the number of Portuguese who speak a second language has increased from 52% to 72%, according to our old friends at the National Institute of Statistics.

This makes Portugal shine out among its European partners as its adults have shown the greatest increase in their language skills.

In 2016, 72% of people aged between 18 and 64 stated that they knew a language other than their mother tongue, according to the must-read publication, ‘Education and training of adults in Portugal: a statistical portrait of a decade – 2016.’

In 2016, "Portugal occupied an intermediate position in European countries in terms of knowledge of foreign languages but was the one that increased the proportion of the population with knowledge of foreign languages, up 20% between 2007 and 2016," according to the researchers.

English is the top second language with 60% stating they know how to speak it. Lagging behind came French at 22% and Spanish at only 15%.

"As for English, 34% of those who said they knew this language could understand and communicate reasonably and produce simple text and 26% had mastered it perfectly in oral and written form," reads the report.

There was no inverse statistic to show the percentage of foreign residents in Portugal who speak Portuguese but with the rise in the number of locals who understand and can communicate in English, this will make it less of an imperative for immigrants to Portugal to struggle with language lessons and the dreaded 'book of verbs.'

This aptitude of the Portuguese in foreign languages is more developed in the younger population which will help Portugal’s ambitions to become a European partner of increasing integration and importance.

According to Eurostat:

"Around two thirds of working-aged adults in the EU knew at least one foreign language. In 2011, just over one third (34.3 %) of the working-age adults (defined here as 25–64 year-olds) in the EU-28 reported that they did not know any foreign languages.

"A slightly higher proportion (35.8 %) reported that they knew one foreign language, while just over one fifth (21.1 %) knew two foreign languages, and fewer than one tenth (8.8 %) of all working-age adults knew three or more foreign languages.

See also: Foreign language skills statistics (Eurostat)

Comments

+1 #11 Pedro Gonçalves 2017-12-19 16:57

Quoting Carrack:

[quote name="Diedre"]The downside to so many Portuguese using the language of their old enemy - the British Empire as was in 1890 - can be seen in the sickening levels of harassment of the McCann Parents for over 10 years. Still as uncontrolled and uncontrollable as ever. What should have been for them and their 3 infants, a short holiday in the Algarve triggered the worst outflow of bile from any national sewer on the planet.

Diedre, get back to your history books, England is the oldest Portuguese mutual friend, actually the first recorded comercial and defense agreements ever made in europe was between Portugal and England. Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373 called the Treaty of Windsor then th Methuen Treaty as a military and commercial treaty between Portugal and England that was signed in 1703. Get your history right first then comment. I will even help you learning something - https://history.blog.gov.uk/2016/05/09/historys-unparalleled-alliance-the-anglo-portuguese-treaty-of-windsor-9th-may-1386/
Please read...thank you. p.s. This is my second language.

+1 #10 Mr John 2017-12-18 19:02

I was born in Portugal but raised overseas now living in in Portugal, i understand the language hurdle to the point i indulged in speaking lessons from a local, i cringe when i listen to the English radio presenters showing off with their skill of the local language, here's a reality check, your grasp of the language sucks big time, stop embarrassing yourselves and get some language speaking lessons like i did and ps: Lagos means lakes and stop saying LagoSH, there is no SH at the end of the word and when you say Loooley, you are referring to a squid, say it right, Loule. Now i'll laugh my head off when you "those from England" try to speak Spanish or Greek, i'm laughing already, and i can read and speak Thai, you "those from England" try it.

+5 #9 Carrack 2017-12-17 09:29

Quoting Diedre:

The downside to so many Portuguese using the language of their old enemy - the British Empire as was in 1890 - can be seen in the sickening levels of harassment of the McCann Parents for over 10 years. Still as uncontrolled and uncontrollable as ever. What should have been for them and their 3 infants, a short holiday in the Algarve triggered the worst outflow of bile from any national sewer on the planet.

What a stupid comment, when the article is about second language skills and to put it into perspective, if the McCann's have been sensible, caring parents and not left their children unattended whilst they went out enjoying themselves they wouldn't have had any "harassment", from anybody.

-2 #8 Franky Jones 2017-12-17 08:16

As a Brit. who has dabbled at learning Portuguese out in Portugal and getting constantly belittled by locals when using it; Maxwell raises the question - if I stick at the language to get better, do I have to bundle in all the additional baggage? The hang ups and inferiorities around my own nationals?
Telling my old British friends "Watch out - I'm turning Portuguese, going native. From now on do not trust anything I tell you as a fact - particularly what passes for the laws and Portuguese History. Anything I tell you as definitive fact; find another national, Dutch or German for example, to get it checked. Also do not handle or mention money near me - I will separate you from it in the blink of an eye. But - weirdest of all, don't waste time asking me what is going on in my head nowadays and why any of this should matter in the European Union today. I cannot explain it!"

0 #7 Maxwell 2017-12-16 14:00

Those of us with English as our native language must guard against assuming someone speaking our language shares any of our values and behaviours. No Portuguese would have accepted by fellow Portuguese any claim to genuine comprehension of British beliefs and customs.
The story elsewhere about Salgado and BES having accepted by a judge that poor training was the explanation for inadequate checking of Bank customers ID is incomprehensible to a Brit. The entire senior management would be seen as incompetent or worse. But, as we see so often, the hierarchy in Portugal is accepted unquestioningly by a Portuguese - special people must be treated specially. To the extent that they will tell you, "Why can't we foreigners accept this (that we are not as important as whoever it is has turned us over) in Portugal too?"

-9 #6 Diedre 2017-12-16 09:49

The downside to so many Portuguese using the language of their old enemy - the British Empire as was in 1890 - can be seen in the sickening levels of harassment of the McCann Parents for over 10 years. Still as uncontrolled and uncontrollable as ever. What should have been for them and their 3 infants, a short holiday in the Algarve triggered the worst outflow of bile from any national sewer on the planet.

0 #5 SueF 2017-12-16 09:10

This week I went into Iceland and was both amused and saddened to see a young man working on a till wearing a huge badge that read 'Eu falo português'.

-2 #4 Peter Booker 2017-12-16 08:48

Since we arrived in the Algarve nearly 20 years ago, we have noticed a dramatic shift in foreign language skills among Portuguese. The older Portuguese, who had worked in France during the Salazar years, used to speak French (and I suppose those that are left still do), and English was being taught as a second language in schools. As the generations turn over, it is clear that the French speakers die out, and the younger English speakers come into the labour market.

This change is convenient for the economy because Portugal is becoming highly reliant on the tourist trade. But ironic, in the light of Brexit, that native English speakers with their devalued pound will decline in numbers.

I agree with mj1, that many native Britons speak a garbled form of English. But the English spoken on American films is much, much worse.

-5 #3 Mike Towl 2017-12-16 07:31

Maybe it is the free English courses offered by the UK Embassy to any Portuguese who wants one. Very useful if you want to leg it from Portugal to find a better standard of living as thousands do every year. Also of course English is very handy when relieving foreigners of their hard earned spondoolies. Any way I do agree with the sentiment of the article, and my Swahili lessons are coming on nicely, thanks for asking.

+4 #2 Nog the Real Noggin 2017-12-15 21:23

Quoting mj1:

in my view the worst English speakers are those from the UK, they cannot even speak English let alone another language.

eg on television - many times I have to put the English subtitles on to understand what is being said on screen.

I think you may be meaning "those from England", rather than the UK. :lol: