BRITISH teenagers are the worst in Europe at speaking foreign languages with fewer than one in 10 15-year-olds competent in French.

    A new report out yesterday exposes Britain’s poor record at learning languages despite growing demand from employers.

    A group of lawmakers warns that the United Kingdom is missing out on almost US$50 billion-a-year in lost contracts because of poor language skills among the workforce.

    The group’s report highlights European Commission research showing that English 15-year-olds came bottom of a table of 14 countries for competence in the main language taught in schools.

    Just 9 percent of English pupils had a basic mastery of French — the most commonly taught language — while the average across 14 nations was 42 percent.

    “English is an important world language but the latest cutting edge research shows that, in the 21st century, speaking only English is as much of a disadvantage as speaking no English,” the report says.

    The manifesto calls for all children to have achieved a “high quality language qualification” by the time they finish secondary education.

    There should also be a long-term commitment to “transforming the reputation of U.K. citizens as poor linguists, reluctant to value languages other than English.”

    (SD-Agencies)