694 residents reported English as the household language in the 2021 census

Only a very small number of households in North Macedonia reported English as their usual household language in the 2021 census. Out of the resident population, 694 people answered that English is the language normally spoken at home.

Observers and language teachers say this aligns with everyday experience: English is often used in mixed marriages or while foreigners are still learning Macedonian.

"From what I follow on the internet, I see that there are Macedonians who met a boy or girl from abroad and at the beginning they speak in English, they communicate that way until the foreigners learn Macedonian. Those who come here and start living, attend courses and learn Macedonian, but in the meantime they communicate in English. That is my opinion based on what I have seen in practice," says English language professor and translator Aleksandra Jankova.

Other small-language communities recorded in the census

The 2021 census recorded a range of other non‑majority household languages. For example, 762 residents said Bulgarian is usually spoken at home, 117 said German, 60 said Greek, 49 said Italian and 262 reported Croatian in the household. Smaller counts include: Danish 13, Armenian 10, Norwegian 3, Polish 34, Romanian 68, Russian 143, Slovak 19, Slovenian 27, Serbo‑Croatian 144, Hungarian 4, French 28, Dutch 27, Czech 3, Swedish 13, Arabic 28, Montenegrin 40, Spanish 10 and 118 who declared other languages.

"In my circle I've met families where the husband or wife is from abroad and in that case they communicate both in Macedonian and in English. Lately children are exposed to cartoons in English via the internet and there are increasingly children who communicate in English," said Simona Dzima, an English language professor.

By comparison, the census shows the vast majority of residents speak Macedonian at home — 1,145,327 people — while Albanian was reported by 444,026 residents. Other reported household languages included Bosnian 15,509, Vlach 1,795, Romani 28,088 and Turkish 61,596.

Photo: press material from the event