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| - Fact Check: No, Bangla has not been declared the second language of London
Social media users have claimed that Bangla language is 'officially declared' as the second language of London, India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the viral claim to be misleading.
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India Today Fact Check
The British government has made no such announcement
Has Bangla been officially declared the second language of London? Hundreds of social media users have claimed that Bangla language is now officially declared’ as the second language of London, followed by Polish and Turkish.
Facebook page Getbengal’ shared a link of its own article with the claim, BREAKING! Bengali has been officially named as the second most-spoken language in London, followed by Polish and Turkish. Be proud of Bengali, be proud of your mother tongue!
The article goes on to claim, Bengali is officially the second language of London, with around 71,609 London residents speaking it as their main language.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the viral claim to be misleading. It was actually a survey done by a private organisation which came out with the conclusion that Bangla is the most commonly spoken language after English in London.
Though the viral article does mention the survey, it has wrongly called it officially declared.
Till the filing of this story, the viral post was shared almost 600 times. The archived version can be seen here.
AFWA probe
We ran a Google keyword search to crosscheck if an announcement declaring Bangla as the second language of London was made by the British government but could not find anything. We found that a private organisation called City Lit’ recently conducted a survey on languages spoken in London.
On November 19, City Lit’ published a research report which shows that Bangla is the second most common language spoken in London.
The report says, We recently conducted research into the most common foreign tongue here in London Our research shows that Bengali is the second most common language spoken in London behind English, closely followed by Polish and Turkish. In London, 71, 609 London residents speak Bengali and this language is most commonly spoken across three different boroughs - Camden, Newham and Tower Hamlets - three huge boroughs in the city.
Based in London, City Lit conducts various short and long term courses in arts, design and language for adults. The organisation was established in 1919 and has a registered office in Keeley Street in London’s Convent Garden.
Conclusion
The British government’s official website says the next Census will be conducted in 2021. So it is clear that only after that survey will we get an update on languages spoken in the UK and London. So it can be said that the viral claim of Bangla being officially declared the second language of London is misleading.
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