How immigrants experience integration in
15 European cities
SURVEY
IMMIGRANT
CITIZENS
PARTNERS
Managing Partners
King Baudouin Foundation (KBF)
Migration Policy Group (MPG)
Co-funders:
European Commission
King Baudouin Foundation
Fundação Calouste
Gulbenkian Oak Foundation
Belgium
King Baudouin Foundation (KBF)
Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
France
Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (Science Po)
France Terre d’Asile
Germany
Research Unit of the Expert Council of German Foundations on
Integration and Migration (SVR, Germany)
Hungary
MTAKI (MTA Etnikai-nemzeti Kisebbségkutató Intézet)
Menedék Hungarian Association for Migrants
Italy
Fondazione Ismu – Initiatives and Studies on Multiethnicity
Portugal
High Commission for Immigration and Intercultural
Dialogue (ACIDI)
Spain
University of Leicester
Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas
Fundacion CIDOB
Branding and Design:
CITIZENSHIP
LONG - TERM RESIDENCE
FAMILY REUNION
CIVIC AND POLITICAL
PARTICIPATION
LANGUAGES
EMPLOYMENT
LANGUAGES
 What’s your mother tongue?
HIGHLIGHTS
 What other languages do you speak well?
 Did you have any problems that discouraged you from learning
the country’s language(s)?
 Have you taken a language or integration course in the country?
 How has this course helped you personally?
LANGUAGES
Key Findings
DID YOU HAVE A PROBLEM LEARNING THE LANGUAGE?
 Learning the language was more of a
problem for non-native speakers in
Portuguese, Italian and French cities than in
German cities or Madrid.
 Around 60 to 70% of immigrants in
Portuguese, Italian and French cities mention
one or more reasons undermining language
learning, in contrast with 24 to 30% in German
cities and Madrid.
DID YOU HAVE A PROBLEM LEARNING THE
LANGUAGE?
Immigrants generally
speak more languages
than the average
person in their country
of residence.
LANGUAGES
Key Findings
WHAT WERE THE MAJOR PROBLEMS LEARNING THE LANGUAGE?
 What are the biggest obstacles for nonnative speakers to learn the language of the
country in which they live? Is it a lack of
information, the costs, low-quality courses,
personal motivation or time?
 In most cities, no one reason predominated.
More than one in three non-native speakers
found that they did not have time to study in
Budapest, French, Italian, Portuguese, and
Spanish cities.
 Half said they did not have time to study in
Italian and Portuguese cities.
WHAT WERE THE MAJOR PROBLEMS LEARNING
THE LANGUAGE?
For immigrants – like for
most people – time is
the major problem for
learning a new
language.
Getting information on
learning opportunities may
be more difficult for
immigrants than general
public.
LANGUAGES
Key Findings
HAVE YOU STARTED OR COMPLETED AN INTEGRATION OR
LANGUAGE COURSE?
 For immigrants – like for most people in the
country – time is the main problem for
learning a new language.
 The comparison suggests that time to study
was a much greater problem for non-native
speakers in Italian and Portuguese cities.
 Getting information on learning opportunities
is more of a problem for non-native speakers
in the Belgian, French, Hungarian, Italian, and
Portuguese cities.
HAVE YOU STARTED OR COMPLETED AN
INTEGRATION OR LANGUAGE COURSE?
Wide range of immigrants
participated in language or
integration courses.
LANGUAGES
Key Findings
HAS THE LANGUAGE OR INTEGRATION COURSEHELPED YOU?
 Participants in most courses were
overwhelmingly positive about their effect on
language learning and other integration
outcomes.
 Courses helped most participants not only
learn the basics of the language, but also
specific vocabulary that they needed for
their jobs or skills.
HAVE YOU STARTED OR COMPLETED AN
INTEGRATION OR LANGUAGE COURSE?
Participants highly value
courses for learning
language and often for
socio-economic integration.
How immigrants experience integration in
15 European cities
SURVEY
IMMIGRANT
CITIZENS
Branding and Design: