In this paper, we report on a sample of 6,434 young Swiss men, who answered a questionnaire about their foreign language skills and intercultural abilities. The instrument combines well-established as well as novel attitudinal scales. The focus of the paper is on the operationalisation of variables through the Common European Frame of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). Preliminary results are also presented, showing a significant relationship between three MPQ dimensions (open-mindedness, cultural empathy and social initiative) and language skills. There was no significant relationship between language skills and the other two dimensions (flexibility, emotional stability). A significant relationship was also found between the nature of respondents' second language and open-mindedness, social initiative, emotional stability, and flexibility.