新奇事件簿 近一半欧洲人为双语达人（在线收听）

Residents of the European Union (EU) are becoming better and better at languages. Almost 50 percent of the EU population say they can speak at least one foreign language very well. That figure rises to nearly 80 percent for students. To celebrate its linguistic diversity, September 26 has become the official European Day of Languages. The day’s website shows a Slovak proverb that says: “The number of languages you speak is the number of times you are human”. This is to encourage all Europeans to brush up on their language skills.

欧盟市民语言水平提高。近一半欧盟人至少精通一门外语。而对于欧盟学生，这一数字接近80%。为了庆祝语言多元化，将每年的9月26日定为欧洲语言日。官方还有一则斯洛伐克谚语，“人文化数量与语言习得量相同”。鼓励所有欧洲市民提高语言能力。

The results of the “Eurobarometer” survey put Luxembourgers at the top of the language ability list. An amazing 99 percent of Luxembourg’s population is at least bilingual. Those with the poorest language skills are the Hungarians (29 percent) and British (30 percent). English is the most widely spoken foreign language, used by more than a third of the population. German (12 percent) is in second place followed by French (11 percent). European enlargement means Russian has risen to fourth place tied with Spanish. The EU spends $36 million a year on language programs.

根据民调机构“欧洲晴雨表”的调查显示，卢森堡市民的语言能力最强。99%的卢森堡人口至少会一门外语。语言能力最差国家是匈牙利（29%），英国（30%）。英语是普及度最高的外语，全球三分之一人口会说英语。第二大语言是德语（12%），紧随其后是法语（11%）。欧洲范围扩大后，俄语升入第四位，与西班牙语持平。每年，欧盟的语言项目经费达3600万美金。