![]() ![]() Moreover, researchers are finding a swathe of health benefits from speaking more than one language, including faster stroke recovery and delayed onset of dementia. Multilingualism has been shown to have many social, psychological and lifestyle advantages. ![]() So to be monolingual, as many native English speakers are, is to be in the minority, and perhaps to be missing out. People are increasingly expected to speak, read and write at least one of a handful of “super” languages, such as English, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish or Arabic, as well. Many countries have more than one official national language – South Africa has 11. Around the world, more than half of people – estimates vary from 60 to 75 per cent – speak at least two languages. “I went to Germany before I came here, so I also speak German,” he adds. For example, Theo’s mother’s language is Sotho, his father’s is Zulu, he learned Xhosa and Ndebele from his friends and neighbours, and English and Afrikaans at school. In Johannesburg, where they are from, most people speak at least five languages, says one of them, Theo Morris. With friendly smiles, they both switch easily to English, explaining that they are South Africans and had been speaking Xhosa. Out of curiosity, I interrupt them to ask what they are speaking. It’s a shame, because their conversation looks fun and interesting, especially to a nosy person like me. They are discussing a woman, that much is clear, but the details are lost on me. Their cutlery dances during more emphatic gesticulations and they occasionally break off into loud guffaws. In a cafe in south London, two construction workers are engaged in cheerful banter, tossing words back and forth. ![]()
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