Senator Pauline Hanson raised concerns about immigration and social cohesion, saying ‘more than a million people’ in Australia ‘cannot speak English well or at all’. Let’s look at the numbers.
People currently speak 7,000 languages around the globe.
Michael Gavin
There’s little research into origins of the geographic patterns of language diversity. A new model exploring processes that shaped Australia’s language diversity provides a template for investigators.
Fewer young Australians are learning languages. Why?
from shutterstock.com.au
About 20% of the Australian population speaks a language other than English. However there is little connection between the languages taught in schools, and the languages spoken in homes.
European New Zealanders have embraced and preserved the Māori culture and language far better than European Australians.
Rob Chandler/Flickr