Greeks Are Multilingual

A lot of modern Greeks are multilingual. Although they don't speak so many languages as the people from the central European countries and the Scandinavian countries, they speak more foreign languages than other Europeans. More specifically, 44.4% of Greeks, aged 25-64, claim that they speak one foreign language (35.7% of Europeans claim the same), 33.4% of Greeks claim that they don't speak any foreign language (36.2% of Europeans claim the same) and 21.9% of Greeks state that they speak two of more foreign languages (28.1% of Europeans state the same). The same data show that the largest percentages of students that are taught at least one foreign language are recorded in Greece (92%), in Italy (74%) and in Ireland (73%). According to the Eurobarometer data, English is the most popular foreign language, since it is spoken by the half Greeks, while French and German are listed in the second place. On the other hand, fewer Greeks speak Italian. Totally, the Greeks who speak at least one foreign language are about 50%. The reasons that Greeks learn many foreign languages are various, e.g. the facility of learning foreign languages, the developed desire to communicate with foreign people, the increased interest to visit or live in a foreign country, the access to the job market in the European countries etc. In Greece the learning of foreign languages is connected mainly to the private education, especially to the "frontistiria", in which children spend about five hours in a week. In Greece there are more than 7350 "frontistiria" and, according to the data of Ministry of Education, the total cost for learning foreign languages is more than 440 million euros annually. Children from a young age (mainly from the first classes of elementary school) begin to go to "frontistiria" in order to learn foreign languages. They continue their study during the secondary school, even during their college years. It should be noted that the foreign languages are taught in school, but teaching is systematic and organized, especially in public schools, where the language courses are considered as a less important lesson. That is why most students choose the "frontistiria" in order to learn a foreign language. The learning of foreign language is accompanied with diplomas at every level of proficiency (e.g. Lower, Proficiency in English). The diplomas are obtained after taking a successful exam, which takes place on a national level. The acquisition of many diplomas increases the skills of young people and creates multiple opportunities in the job market.