Britons by far the worst in Europe at foreign languages

They all learnt English

Thats the bit that matters.

Studies have repeatedly show that once you have one additional language, learning a second and third are far far easier.

but Russian seems quite common

Its worth remembering that a lot of eastern Europeans firstly, grew up in a turn under USSR rule, so knowing Russian was extremely important. Secondly, particularly in the East, have very close linguistic ties. Like German and Dutch or French and Italian. English doesnt really have a contemporary in this regard in unlike the rest of Europe. We lost our Gaelic to the Romans and intern pushed English onto the other Gaelic nations. If England still spoke a form of Gaelic most of us would likely also be at least halfway competent in Welsh, Scottish and Irish Gaelic as they all share a root from Celtic origin.

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