One in two Greeks can communicate in a foreign language, according to a survey held by the European Commission, while only about a third of people in countries like Britain and Italy can speak a language other than their mother tongue.

Data from the Eurobarometer survey, conducted by the Commission and released yesterday, showed that Greeks are in line with the EU average as 50 percent of the bloc’s citizens can communicate in a foreign language.

Younger Greeks lead the way, with eight in 10 students able to communicate in a language other than Greek.

Some 44 percent of Greeks speak English, while 8 percent speak French or German.

Luxembourg’s citizens appear to be the most linguistically capable; some 99 percent of them know at least one foreign language.

At the bottom end of the scale come the British, of whom only 30 percent know a language other than English. Also, about 36 percent of Italians and Spaniards have second-language skills.