03.12.2008 English is first foreign language in European education

Several weeks ago, Eurydice, in collaboration with Eurostat, published a report entitled ‘Key Data on Teaching Languages at School in Europe’ (click here for the entire report). The study outlines the current state of affairs of language instruction at European primary and secondary schools.

As expected, English emerged as the most widely taught language in schools. In fact, it is the mandatory first foreign language in 13 EU Member States. French, German, Spanish and Russian are also widely taught. Together, these five languages account for 95% of foreign language instruction in Europe. The remaining 5% includes minority or regional languages with an official status, such as Frisian.

In the Netherlands, English is the first foreign language, followed by German. Other countries where German is widely taught include Denmark and Luxembourg. In Luxemburg, German is one of the country’s official languages in addition to French and Letzeburgesch, and in Denmark German enjoys the status of an official minority language.

French is widely taught in Luxembourg and Flanders (i.e. the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium), and Spanish is very popular in France. In the Baltic States, Russian is the primary foreign language taught.

The study also shows that pupils are starting to learn their first foreign language at an increasingly young age. In most countries, for example, children start to learn their first foreign language when they are around nine years old. To read the entire article, click here.