Inside the British town where locals CAN’T SPEAK ENGLISH

Daily Express reporter Lotti O’Brien investigated the UK town where 43% of residents speak little to no English.

North Evington, less than 10 minutes from Leicester city centre, is home to a large South Asian community, with residents speaking West and East Asian languages, African dialects, Arabic, Portuguese and French. The district, which has two mosques and a Hindu temple, is among 34 Leicester neighbourhoods where at least one in five people cannot speak English.

0:00 – The English town losing its language
1:06 – Interviews with locals
2:52 – Why so few residents speak English
5:40 – Outro

While many residents prefer the comfort of their mother tongue, others who have learned English are increasingly frustrated.

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At least 80% of people I’ve spoken to aren’t able to give me a response. No more English. English. Okay. No problem. Thank you. Not very. They are living in a UK, so they’re good speaking English. I’m here in the little town of North Edmonton in Leicester. A fun fact about this town, 43% of adults, nearly half of the people who live here, speak little to no English at all. The area is located just 10 minutes away from Leicester city center and is home to just under 2,000 residents. Many of those who lived here have moved from India, Pakistan, and southern East African countries. The area is one of 34 neighborhoods in Leicester where at least 1/5if of the population can’t speak English at all. The most commonly spoken languages here include South Asian languages, African languages, Arabic, Portuguese, and French. We’re here today in North Ed to find out why so few people speak English and what can be done about it. I’ve seen people come here like they only want to speak their native language, you know? I mean, they don’t want to get into the English and that’s very dishearting. I mean, it I think we we must do that. We must learn English first. I seen that people like you know students and um from abroad they they come here and they do study as well. I think they must learn English first because um uh contributing to their English as well uh to their studies. I think it’s important if they learn English. I recently went to snooker table. So I’ve seen that there many people are speaking Arabic, Punjabi and not English that much. So I think that they should like they are living in a UK so they should speaking English. Yeah. And do you think it’s important for people to learn English when or before they come here? Uh since English is an international language so I think everyone should like at least understand the English. Yeah. If they uh learn English then they can communicate and express themselves better. And I think Leicester college has a lot of courses online and in the college that they could uh learn and access easily. So even with AI and everything nowadays, it’s easy for them to learn English and it’s important for them to learn English so that they can express themselves and not be misunderstood. Do you think it’s perhaps a generational thing or are you seeing a reluctancy in younger people not wanting to learn English as well when they first move over here? No, I think uh the new generations that are coming over now, they’re more wanting to learn uh English. I think it’s just the older generations as they didn’t have to learn English as like as a necessity when they moved here, but now it’s like actually a necessity. Mhm. Many of the people who I’ve spoken to while I’m here in North Ed say they can’t speak English at all. I would say at least 80% of people I’ve spoken to aren’t able to give me a response when I ask them, “Do you live here? Do you live locally?” of the people that do respond to me, they tend to be of the younger generation whose parents perhaps moved over here and they can and they’ve now learned English from growing up here. However, the older population, there seems to be a reluctance to learn English that’s based on information that people have told me themselves. Um, and many of the elder people that I’ve tried to speak to, they can’t speak English at all. Oh, understand. I No more English. Sorry. English? No. Okay. No problem. Sorry. Okay. No problem. Thank you. Thank you. Because I’m not really. Okay. No worries. I’ve just spoken to conservative counselor Sanjay Muardia who told me why there are such low levels of English speakers here in North Edington. They settled in North Heington. The reason why we had a lot of clothing factories surrounding here and that they used to work in the clothing factories and um where they don’t need English because that all the worker used to work in same language people. So the older people because younger people now they are speaking English but the older generation which is came direct from here they straight they started working and with the working environment where they don’t need English so they don’t bother to learn English because they wanted to support the family and they don’t have enough time to go to the learn English and support the family. So the people choose to work and support the family. That’s why I think uh that North Heington have a less English speaker. Maybe in next 10 year you will we will see most of people are talking in English in this area because it’s a new generation. So and what are the facilities like here for people to access English classes or lessons to English? I think not that brilliant. There is classes available but because the local community don’t have that information even the government sending information that there is a classes going on but that maybe is in English or maybe they are lack of education so when the leaflet arriving they’re not bothered to reading as well that this is facility available. Mhm. Earlier this year, the UK Statistics Authority revealed that almost 1 million people living in England can’t speak English well or at all. Official data also shows that Brits see language ability as a key sign of integration and that migrants themselves also see language ability equally as important. Please hit the subscribe button below and the bell to get alerts when we release our new videos. It really helps us to keep doing exclusive content.