Being well informed might be tricky if you cannot speak the language

Fewer than one in 10 could count to 20 in another language, a survey of 1,500 staff by recruitment firm Office Angels published on Wednesday revealed.

However, 80% felt they would cope at work without another language because "everyone speaks English".

Companies say foreign language skills are increasingly vital, with French, Spanish and Japanese the most needed.

Fewer than half the poll respondents knew how to say "How are you?" in French and one out of five thought "Quelle heure est-il?" meant "What day is it?".

Most of those polled said they regretted not paying more attention to languages when they were at school.

"We are increasingly finding that even people with a second language at a basic level have better prospects in some industries than those without," said the managing director of Office Angels Paul Jacobs.

Manchester, London and Edinburgh had the highest number of foreign language speakers at two out of five.

And women were more likely than men to have language skills, the survey said.