Arsène Wenger has won The Guardian's inaugural Public Language Champion award.
The award was set up to celebrate individuals who have made exceptional use of an additional language, or who have championed the importance of learning one.
Wenger, who speaks French, English, German, Spanish, Italian and Japanese, had been nominated alongside the sailor Ellen MacArthur, actor Larry Lamb, comedian Eddie Izzard and the BBC patron Zeinab Badawi. The vote was open to the public on The Guardian’s website.
Wenger said: "Being voted Britain's first ever Public Language Champion is an incredible honour. I am very proud that Arsenal and I can help raise the profile of language learning in schools.”
Arsenal in the Community has long championed language learning through its Double Club programme - an innovative scheme which aims to fuse football and education to form a fun and enjoyable way for young people to engage with their academic studies.
For more information about the programme, please visit www.arsenaldoubleclub.co.uk or contact languages@arsenal.co.uk
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