Home

Multilingual Capital: A Resource for London Communities

London is a multilingual capital. Over 20 per cent (20%) of Londoners use a main language other than English. Although research has indicated economic, social, and cognitive advantages to speaking more than one language, multilinguals in London still face many challenges using their languages.

Multilingual Capital is an initiative based at Queen Mary University of London, in the East End of London. We aim to engage with all groups impacted by multilingualism – parents, children, support services, schools, the general public – and to share and develop insights about multilingualism.

Our goals include:

  • Making the multilingualism of East End London and the wider city more visible, to help the linguistic diversity in these areas share a common voice
  • Bringing together language-related community initiatives to strengthen communication across relevant groups
  • Conducting and sharing research on multilingualism and documenting the many language situations of London

We take a particular interest in East End communities in the immediate environment of our university, but welcome dialogue with all London communities, the wider UK, as well as cross-national dialogue.