The 2011 census has produced some fascinating information about the languages spoken in different parts of England and Wales, tracking the main languages spoken in 34,753 ‘output areas’ across England and Wales, each of 1,500 people.
The study found that although 0.3% of the population cannot speak English at all, around four million people do not speak it as their main language.
The interactive guide on The Guardian’s site lets you choose an area you’re interested in and use a drop down menu to see the percentage of people speaking different languages in that area.
Naturally, we were keen to see how Brixton fared and, not surprisingly, there was a few languages represented, with the most popular being Portuguese, reflecting the large community centred around Stockwell Road, with Spanish speakers being the second most common.
Browsing the guide makes for a fascinating read, although I was a bit miffed to find no mention of the Welsh language anywhere – even for their Welsh maps. Harrumph!
[Click here to view the language map – or click on the links below to jump straight to the following cities: Bradford | Bristol | Birmingham | Cardiff | Liverpool | Manchester | Peterborough | Southampton.]
I’m a Welsh speaker living in Brixton so there is at least 1!
My wife speaks Welsh so that makes two in Brixton!
Oh and my 3 month old son is being sung to and read to in welsh so that’s another 0.5!