If you’re from the UK you’ll be aware of the stereotype that English people don’t learn the language when they go on holiday, instead getting by on improvised hand-signals and slow, deliberate enunciation.

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While Britain isn’t a monolith and there are many committed polyglots living there, new data does suggest an element of truth.

Research conducted by the language-learning platform I work for, Babbel, found that half of Brits just hope when they go abroad that people will speak enough English to get by.

Furthermore, almost half believe that as English is spoken more widely around the world, they feel less inclined to learn a different language; instead relying on a global tourist lingua franca.

This reluctance to learn another language is further impacted by the fact that live-translation apps are growing in popularity.

These apps allow two people who don't share a common language to engage in a near simultaneous conversation and our data shows one in eight........

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