I SOMETIMES wonder how continental Europeans effortlessly identify British people. In my case, it’s probably not much of a challenge. As far as dress sense and hairstyle are concerned, I’m more Apache than Versace, more Harris than Paris.

Of course, linguistic limitation marks us out as indelibly as the seemingly obligatory tattoo. On checking into a Paris hotel, I foolishly tried to impress my wife with fluent, well I thought it was, French. For some reason, the receptionist didn’t mistake me for a denizen of the Eighth Arrondissement and replied in perfect English.

There should be a collective noun for persons who speak a single language. “A Brit of monoglots” has a certain je ne sais quoi to it. We alone amongst Europeans can turn deficiency into grievance. I heard a British tourist in Tenerife complain loudly that the lady who serviced her room, “couldn’t even speak English”. I’m sure the cleaner would have understood perfectly if the lady had only shouted a bit louder.

We don’t have the courtesy to inquire of a cleaner, waiter, taxi driver or shop assistant if they speak English before launching forth, usually in an impenetrable accent. Mind you, my thick Scottish accent has served me well on occasions. I’ve been mistaken for a German or Scandinavian gallantly using English as a sort of lingua franca. As a bonus, it allowed me to honestly reply “No” to the question, “English?”.

We can convince ourselves there are sound reasons for our linguistic impoverishment. “English is the international language, ain’it?”. “It’s different for them foreigners, they learn from American movies and music, don’t they?”.

We can’t accept that our national inability to communicate in other tongues isn’t due to a faulty gene or something in the water. It’s down to a blend of laziness and arrogance. Most French, German and Italian youngsters are desperate to learn and practise English. Many years ago, in Cuba we were cornered nearly every day by a teenage gatekeeper clutching an ancient and rapidly disintegrating Spanish/English dictionary. Invariably the conversation opened with “How do you say this word…?”

The failure starts in schools. For most youngsters, secondary school is far too late to start learning another language. By that time self-consciousness has kicked in and they are unwilling “to show themselves up” in front of their pals. Attempts to introduce foreign language teaching in primary schools have had little overall impact. Class teachers have valiantly tried to do the needful, but many lack confidence in their own linguistic skills.

It’s also an inconvenient truth that many youngsters abandon the study of a foreign language for the same reason that they give up on maths and physics. It’s too hard.

The Government has rightly prioritised closing the attainment gap between children from our poorest homes and their counterparts from better-off families. We need to consider however, if we are demanding enough of all our youngsters. Many schools and parents give in far too easily to a demand to “drop” a subject. I have heard parents say, “I just want him/her to be happy”, as if there is a contradiction between challenge, difficulty and happiness.

Some years ago, I worked in a school that operated a French exchange. The youngsters spent a week living with a French or Scottish family. The French leg was always oversubscribed, but the return fixture petered out because too few of our youngsters wished to be “embedded”, even for a week in unfamiliar surroundings.

Recent evidence suggests that the number of Scottish youngsters studying foreign languages continues to decline. There is a real danger that German, the international language of engineering, is going to disappear entirely from our schools. Changes to the curriculum have increased pupil choice and limited the number of subjects studied. The predictable outcome has been the “squeezing” of foreign languages.

I allowed myself a wry smile when a variety of politicians used the statistics to give the Government a kicking. There may be many Holyrood polyglots hiding their linguistic lights, but the quality of debate in the chamber suggests a goodly number find English challenging enough.

Much has been made of the economic opportunities arising from Brexit. It’s more than likely however, that our national aversion to learning a foreign language will be a substantial barrier. In contrast, it is estimated that multilingualism in Switzerland adds around 10 per cent to the economy. Even in the insular United States, it is claimed those who speak a foreign language earn an additional $3,000 per year.

It’s surprising that our European neighbours haven’t tired of our expectation that they learn and communicate in English. Who could blame them if they decide exit negotiations will be conducted in German, French or even Polish? We have only ourselves to blame if Europe decides to speak with one voice.