Skip to main content

Foreign languages studied in European Union countries - who studies what?



Who studies foreign languages? In the European Union member states 17 million lower secondary school students studied at least one foreign language in 2015. That represents 98.6% of al students at secondary schools in the EU countries.

Of these students, 10 million (58.8%) studied two or more foreign languages.

English was the most popular language of study with nearly 17 million lower secondary students (97.3%). All students in Denmark, Malta, and Sweden studied English. The other popular languages of study were French with 5 million students (33.8%), German with 3 million students (23.1%), and Spanish with 2 million students (13.6%).


French was studied by all students in Luxembourg and was also the top foreign language studied in Ireland (60.4% of students) and Belgium (52.8%). French was the second most popular language studied at lower secondary school in nine EU countries, with the highest being Cyprus (89.2%), Romania (83.6%), Portugal (66.6%), Italy (65.4%), and the Netherlands (55.6%).

German was studied by all students in Luxembourg in 2015 and was the second most popular language studied at lower secondary school in eight EU countries, with the highest being Denmark (73.6%), Poland (69.2%), and Slovakia (53.6%).

Spanish is popular in Sweden (43.7%) and France (39.0%).

Russian, the only commonly studied non-EU language, was the second most popular language (after English) in the three Baltic States: Lithuania (66.2%), Estonia (63.6%), and Latvia (59.7%) – as well as Bulgaria (16.9%).

In 2015, all or nearly all lower secondary students in EU countries studied at least two foreign languages in Luxembourg (100%), followed by Finland (98.4%), Italy (95.8%), Estonia (95.4%), and Romania (95.2%). At the other end of the scale, 8.8% of students studied two languages in Austria, and 6.0% of students in Hungary.

The 2015 research was conducted by eurostat.

www.ec.europa.eu/eurostat



MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...
1 comment
Read more

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...
2 comments
Read more

The Knight in the Panther Skin by Shota Rustaveli (2015 translation): book review

The Knight in the Panther Skin (12th century, this edition 2015) is a recent translation by American poet and author, Lyn Coffin. The author, Shota Rustaveli, is Georgia’s most loved poet. This poem is mammoth, a magnum opus – it is 1,656 verses long, separated by chapters. But readers, don’t give up, because every verse is worth reading. It is akin to 1001 Arabian Knights, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, or Shakespearean poetry. King Rostevan of Arabia has a daughter, Tinatin. She loves the knight Avtandil and he loves her. Verse 368 from Avtandil: ‘The doctor’s could do nothing. A dark twilight on my heart now pressed, I was on fire because of love, but nobody knew or guessed. They blamed my blood. The king decided bleeding my arm would be best; I let it be done to hide the suffering I had not confessed.’ But a knight in panther skin is seen weeping, and subsequently kills the king’s soldiers, sparing the king. Before Tinatin weds Avtandil she r...
Post a Comment
Read more