Linguistically diverse city in the world

101 reasons for Loving London

Reason 2: Diversity in this city is astounding

One of the first things that struck me when I arrived in London was the amount of languages spoken by its people. There are more than 300 languages alive in this city, making it the linguistically diverse city in the world. Every language has a different rhythm and pitch, all of them beautiful. I can read, write and speak 3 languages, understand two or 3 more and can pin point others that are spoken in a conversation. The rest I would not even have a vague understanding of which country they would come from.

I've met people from Germany, France, Algeria, India, Brazil, USA, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Holland, Canada, Ivory Coast, India, Belarus, Poland, Australia, New Zealand ,Ireland, Latvia, South Africa, Russia, Italy and Eritrea. The different cultures have specific ways of greeting, diffent foods that they enjoy eating, values, strengths and weaknesses and behaviours that seem out of this world.

In the work place it can be quite interesting to see these different cultures become unified and work together. People from rival sub-cultures within a certain country seem to accept each other in a country outside their own.

The art, clothing, theatre celebrate the unique heritages of its people. You don't feel like much of a foreigner when most people in this city are originally from another country.

Every person seems to understand and respect your story of why and where you come from because they too have rich pasts that they're willing to share.