The two pie charts illustrate the percentages of British students at a university in England who could speak languages other than English in the years 2000 and 2010.
Overall, the proportion of students who were multilingual increased over the decade. The largest gains were seen among students who could speak Spanish or two other languages, while the proportion of students who could not speak any additional language decreased.
In 2000, the highest proportion of students (30%) could only speak Spanish in addition to English. This figure rose slightly to 35% by 2010, making it the most commonly spoken second language in both years. The percentage of students who could speak two other languages also saw a noticeable rise, from 10% in 2000 to 15% in 2010.
The proportions for French and German remained relatively stable. French declined slightly from 15% to 10%, while German stayed constant at 10%. Meanwhile, those speaking another unspecified language increased slightly from 15% to 20%.
The proportion of students who spoke no language other than English fell significantly, from 20% in 2000 to just 10% in 2010, suggesting an overall improvement in multilingualism among students.