Survey shows more than half of Czechs speak no foreign language

Prague, Dec 15 (CTK) - Fifty-four percent of Czechs are not capable of making themselves understood in any foreign language and 27 percent of Czechs manage one foreign language, according to a survey CVVM conducted for the Social and Economy Analyses Institute (ISEA) released Wednesday.

The biggest number of people know English, followed by German.

Foreign firms with offices in the Czech Republic say the knowledge of languages is of key importance in employing Czechs.

Mainly German investors have problems with the declining interest in German.

"The ability to make oneself understood in another than the mother tongue is becoming one of the key factors of life success as well as life style for the whole population irrespective of education," the survey's chief Petr Mateju said.

The knowledge of foreign languages is much greater among young people and people with a higher education.

"Seventy-two percent of respondents without a secondary-leaving exam cannot make themselves understood in any foreign language. However, even 23 percent of university-educated Czechs do not know any language well," Mateju said.

Those seeking a good job must know a foreign language, mainly English and German in the Czech Republic, experts say.

The Czech-German Trade and Industry Chamber has found out that the knowledge of German is a very important recruitment criterion for 75 percent of German investors.

German is even more important for many firms than English.

"That is why we are embarrassed about that fewer and fewer pupils and students want to learn German. This may result in a shortage of a German-speaking personnel on the labour market," Hannes Lachmann, a member of the Czech-German Trade and Industry Chamber, said.

Most Czech children choose English as the first foreign language at school, followed by German and Russian.