Learning Romanes language at the Govanhill Swap Market

by Rhiannon J Davies

It’s a figure that’s long been debated – the number of different languages spoken on the streets of Govanhill. A survey carried out in 2016 counted 32, but ask anyone locally and they’ll tell you it should be much higher than that.

It turns out it is. Quite a lot higher in fact.

New research has found that Govanhillians can speak at least 88 different languages, from Arabic to Yoruba and everything in between. While the results are not entirely conclusive – the new survey has only been completed by 222 of the neighbourhood’s many thousand residents – it confirms the incredibly diverse make-up of this unique neighbourhood.

Key Findings

The survey was completed by 222 people, around 80 per cent of whom live in the area. The rest had a strong connection to Govanhill through working here or living here previously for example.
There are 54 different ‘mother tongue’ languages spoken by Govanhillians.
182 people said they spoke at least two languages, and quite a few were comfortable using even more.
With these additional languages, and further research, the total spoken reaches 88.

The survey was carried out by Marzanna (Mana) Antoniak, in her role as the Community Connector for the Thriving Places initiative in Govanhill. Originally from Poland, Mana has worked in Govanhill for six years and considers herself an ‘aspiring polyglot’. As well as fluent English, she speaks Russian, intermediate Arabic and Spanish and has a strong basis of Romanian, but that isn’t all:

Marzanna Antoniak, Community Connector, Thriving Places - Govanhill

“Through exposure, I've developed a very good understanding of Ukrainian and Slovak, which allows me to grasp all the other Slavic languages, though I wouldn’t claim I speak them. There are some more languages on my wish list, including Persian, Turkish, Romanes, and British Sign Language.”

Mana wanted to count the languages spoken to find out whether there was a scope for a bigger language project as part of a heritage-based regeneration strategy for the neighbourhood. Mana previously worked teaching English in Govanhill so knew that a wide range of languages were spoken here, but said that even she was surprised by the results:

“I didn’t expect we would end up with such a high number of languages. Especially as what we've got so far are just initial results. With 222 responses to date, the survey has reached only a fraction of our community. As more people join in, more languages are bound to appear.”

“I have lived through hearing different languages spoke in the area as the population changes. It makes it interesting, and I love the multicultural nature of the area.”

— Survey Participant

Some of the other languages that Mana came across when teaching English with the Govanhill Community Development Trust include Edo [a Volta–Niger language spoken in Nigeria], Sorani [a dialect of Kurdish], Mandinka [spoken in parts of West Africa], and Dari [spoken in Afghanistan].

“So far, we don't have entries for those languages in the survey, but I know that they are spoken in Govanhill. I’ve also compared the survey results with the records of languages spoken in some of the local schools, and I discovered languages I’d never heard of before such as Twi [spoken in the southern part of Ghana] or Xhosa [ a language with click consonants from South Africa and Zimbabwe]. “

1 Govanhill mother tongues 01.07. 2020.jpg

Govanhill is widely considered to be the most multicultural neighbourhood in Scotland, and Mana believes that this survey confirms that. She says: “Govanhill ‘feels’ multicultural, everyone says so, but the survey has shown us that it's even richer than we could have thought. So I guess I've learned that Govanhill truly is where the world meets. And it's been a reminder that people are immensely proud of their languages. They are, after all, a significant part of our identity.”

“Love the diversity, which we should promote more widely beyond Govanhill and show the world exactly what the benefits are of living in a diverse and multicultural community. ”

— Survey Participant

There are already a number of opportunities in Govanhill to learn other languages, but the survey also confirmed that many locals were willing to learn more, something Mana plans to build on as part of her work with Thriving Places, creating spaces for language exchange to happen:

“There are some language quizzes coming up and a series of Govanhill Polyglot Sessions where participants will have a chance to practise a language of their choice. The richness of languages spoken in Govanhill is unique for Scotland and that’s something to be proud of and a reason to celebrate.”