If Pygmalion’s Professor Henry Higgins were to walk down Mornington Street in Leicester, he may be drawn in by the linguistic towel. Speech is a fabric of languages, the majority of which are English, in the center of St. Matthew’s. The lowest percentage of English speakers in the whole United Kingdom are found in this humble stretch of red-brick Victorian slopes, according to the 2021 Census. Nearly 43 % of people in the hundred or so streets that surround Mornington speak little or no English. Only 57 % of Leicester’s population was born in England, a decrease from 65 % in 2011, as a result of decades of migration from Gujarat, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Somalia, and Eastern Europe. More than a resident, Arabic signs flank corner takeaways serving spicy recipe pizzas, and children frequently interpret for grandparents in Morningside Street.
Around 2, 000 people live in the area, which is located in a densely populated area of North Evington, spread out over a hundred streets. A sizable number of immigrants, mostly Muslims of Gujarati descent, live on Morning Street and in the neighborhood, as well as members of considerable communities in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Somalia, and Eastern Europe. There are numerous multicultural households with three years living together in the area, including two mosques, a Hindu temple, and a number of them. According to local school workers, children often act as translators for grandparents and parents. Ruki, 62, a long-time native and noon officer at St Barnabas Primary School, claimed that many older people do not speak English and concentrate on younger family members to get in touch with universities and health care. Takeaway owner Shohel Issufo, who immigrated from Gujarat in 2003, claimed to have taken an Education course to strengthen his English. He noted that some people in the area did not feel the need to learn the language because they were surrounded by people who also spoke the same pronunciation. Owner of a car who is primarily from Iraq, Ribwar Hussein, explained how he learned English after marrying a European woman. Although his kids are linguistic, he claimed that the use of Kurdish at home is steadily declining. Carer Payl Vaghela, whose home lives on Mornington Street, claimed to be able to communicate between house and Gujarati. Her mother, who has lived in the area for 40 years, speaks both languages well, but her young child just speaks English with a limited knowledge of Gujarati. Other people cited longer working days and obligations from their families as obstacles to learning English. Imran Ussene, a construction worker, noted that because his family had childcare obligations, she had to quit. A neighborhood resident claimed that because most of her social group also communicates in the same language, his aunt, who only speaks Memon, found it very hard and needless to learn the language. Erstwhile president of Leicestershire’s Race Relations Committee, community leader Mansoor Moghal, acknowledged that there are pockets of non-English listeners in the city, but argued that the majority of the city’s non-white community does talk English. He added that Eastern European workers may have contributed to the census’s higher proportion of non-English listeners. In places like St. Matthew’s, there were social tensions in Leeds in 2022, including clashes between Hindu and Muslim teams. Although the situation has since calmed down, worries persist about linguistic diversity and inclusion. In his most recent” Island of Strangers” talk, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer asserted that immigrants must commit to learning English. Despite his opposition to a helmet on immigration figures, he argued that the government may distinguish between those who incorporate and those who do not. There were a number of opinions regarding the statement. Starmer’s comments were long overdue, according to former UK head Nigel Farage, while Labour MP Diane Abbott criticized them as being harmful and contentious. Today’s Morningside Street is a microcosm of Britain’s evolving industrial identity, which has been shaped by subsequent waves of immigration, pluralism, and a sophisticated negotiation of tradition, belonging, and communication.
