A 20-year-old Oxford University undergraduate has been named the most multi-lingual student in the United Kingdom, speaking 11 languages.
Alex Rawlings can speak English, Greek, German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Afrikaans, French, Hebrew, Catalan and Italian fluently or near-fluently, the BBC reported.
Mr Rawlings learned French and Greek from his half-Greek mother, and is currently studying German and Russian at university.
"When I was younger I always wanted to speak different languages," he said.
"My dad worked in Japan for four years — I was always frustrated I couldn't talk to other kids in those countries because of the language."
The competition to find the most multi-lingual student in the United Kingdom was launched by Collins, a publisher known for its dictionaries.
But Mr Rawlings is not the most multi-lingual person in Britain. Ray Gillon, 54, is fluent in 18 languages, most of which he learned outside of formal education settings.
The self-taught language enthusiast can hold a conversation in Portuguese, Thai, Turkish, Russian, Polish, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Bulgarian and Mandarian, but is fluent in eight more languages.
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