Sea time matters more than a common language

How much did the multilingual character of the French fleet create problems?

Language and dialect could complicate communication, but the larger British advantage was repeated sea time that made crews and command systems work together.

Both British and French forces contained regional languages and strong dialects. The Royal Navy's advantage came from sustained time at sea, which gave crews and command structures time to work through practical frictions. Common practice, rather than linguistic uniformity alone, made coordinated action more reliable.