# What are the first languages studied in your country ?



## pléonasme

Well , in France ,commonly, the first language studied after french (LV1 : Langue Vivante 1) is English or German, then LV2 : Spanish or English (depends on the LV1), and (optional) LV3 : Italian or Latin.

And in your country ?

---------------------------------------------

En France , les langues étudiées , après le français, sont généralement :
LV1 : Anglais ou Allemand
LV2 : Espagnol ou Anglais (cela dépend de la LV1)
LV3(option) : Italien ou Latin

Et dans votre pays ?


----------



## Miguelillo 87

On Mexico the first languege you have to learn is. English (almost all school since secondary scool give it) and second is French.

Lately japanese is taking an importance on schools. but it is not given on public schools.

En México se enseña el Inglés como primera opción de hecho enla mayoría de las escuelñas desde la secondaria se da. Como seunda opción tenemos el Francés.
Aunque ultimamente el Japones está tomando uerza e interes enla sociedad aunque este no es impartido en escuelas públicas.

Au Mexique le Anglais est la prèmier langue que on doit apprendre, Presque tout les étudiants des ècoles publique le apprende. Deuxieme C'est le Français.

Mais miantenemant le Japonais est trés important pour qqns t beacoup de gans le veux apprendre.Malgré le japonais n'est pas étudié dans lècole publique.


----------



## Etcetera

In Russia English is the most popular language to learn. Children usually start to learn it when they're in their 2 or 3 year at school. 
Then, German and French are also very popular - I myself had German as my second language at school.


----------



## Eleni

In English secondary schools we usually learn French and German, although at my school it was French and Spanish. I also did Latin (but had to give it up after a while as I was the only one left in the school who wanted to study it!)


----------



## linguist786

In English secondary schools, the main languages studied are French, German and Spanish (Spanish isn't _as_ popular as the other two though). In a few schools, mostly faith schools, Urdu and/or Arabic is also studied. In Grammar schools (like the one where i went to) Latin is studied (I have a GCSE in it)

However, when at university, anything is possible. There are evening-classes, as well as self-learning courses to help you learn virtually any language you like. (Obviously not _every_ single one, but there is a very very wide variety)


----------



## Krümelmonster

In Germany it is first English (except some areas near the french border where you begin with french), then it is latin or french, and third french, spanish, italian or (mainly in Eastern Germany) russian. Of course there are some schools who offer other third languages like greek or chinese, but that's quite unusual.


----------



## djchak

Usually it's Spanish, followed by French or German.


----------



## Henryk

Krümelmonster said:
			
		

> In Germany it is first English (except some areas near the french border where you begin with french), then it is latin or french, and third french, spanish, italian or (mainly in Eastern Germany) russian. Of course there are some schools who offer other third languages like greek or chinese, but that's quite unusual.


The first foreign languages are French *and* English (in Berlin). I was astounded when I saw that there are so many students at the language school I used to attend who had learned French as first language.

But English, of course, is the primary foreign language when considering all Germany. After that, I would say that Spanish and French follow. At the schools I've attended or heard of up to now Latin is not offered.

As I have experienced, Italian is often offered as third foreign language.

Russian is really seldom, not to mention Greek or Chinese. I suppose they are only offered at private schools, of which there is meanwhile quite a number of in Berlin.


----------



## Krümelmonster

In Germany (or at least where I live) you start with British English and then begin to learn the differences in American English. After 2 or 3 years you switch almost completely into American English. I don't know why, but maybe it's the sources...
For example we worked a lot on Eminem Songs etc. 

In Spanish we learned the Castellano of Spain, but now in the last two years we had a Profesora married to a man from Chile and also our sources were more southern American (dictadura de Pinochet, Rigoberta Menchu Tum y Guatemala, Frida Kahlo y Mexico, Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, los Incas...) and so we also had a change in accents... 

Of course there was also the British Commonwealth and Shakespeare in English and we did some Catalan (or in fact it was Valenciano) lessons in Spanish, so it varied a bit...


----------



## KittyCatty

In the UK you can learn French even at primary school (but not all of them. However, there is going to be a new law where languages have to be learnt at primary school).
Then at secondary, well at mine (they're not compulsory, for GCSE exams at least. I don't know about earlier in school) we learnt French from 11, German from 12, got the opportunity to take one or both of these for GCSE [at our school we had to. It differs], and recently Spanish has been introduced, but you learn that from 14 and only if you choose to. I would have chosen it, but that's a new thing at our school. I don't know from my own experience, but it seems you could go through school in the UK and never learn a foreign language.


----------



## gorbatzjov

In Belgium:

-FLANDERS (native language Dutch)
1st French (obligated as of the age of 8 or 10)
2nd English (obligated as of the age of 12 or 14)
3rd German (obligated as of the age of 16)
4th Spanish (optional)

-WALLONIA (native language French)
A choise between two systems:
a) 1st Dutch
    2nd English
b) 1st Enlgish - no second


----------



## danielfranco

In the USA the first foreign language you have to learn (as in, forced to learn) depends on which one is available at your local high school. And it also depends on your school district to determine in which grade you will be forced to take a class of a foreign language.


----------



## tvdxer

The most common language studied besides English, by far, is Spanish.  A ways behind Spanish is probably French; it seems as though French was once that most common second language, but this has changed as immigration and the like increase the utility of Spanish.  After French, I would have to guess German.  

Some schools still offer courses in classical languages to their students; Latin is most common, with Classical Greek much rarer.  

Other modern languages occasionally (but rarely) taught are Italian, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, and Chinese.  On reservations, or in areas with high American Indian populations, one often finds courses in indigenous languages, for example here, Ojibwe.


----------



## ronanpoirier

Here in Brazil, Spanish is now obligatory in all high schools. But English is still the number 1 language learnt. Some schools may also teach Italian and German (specially here in south). And more rarely, French is also taught... it used to be more popular, just like Latin... however it is not anymore.


----------



## arisha

In Spain studying English is compusory during both Primary School (3-11) and Secondary School (12-16).In Secondary School during ESO (compulsory secondary education) you study a second foreing lenguage(French, German or Italian). And in the last two years (16-18), that are not obligatory, just one lenguage is required.

Now in some Spanish schools there are specials groups that have 5 hours a week instedad of the normal 3 hours a week of English classes, and other subjects are also given in English. They do the same with French.


----------



## Lancel0t

In our country the first language that is being studied is Filipino if you are studying in an ordinary school but if you are studying in an exclusive school its English and due to a large population of Chinese people on our country it is also used on some schools.


----------



## Alazne

Bon, here we study english at school... and after, at the high school some people start studying french as un opcional subject... But only few people take it, becouse it's too much languages as we have two official languages: basque and spanish


----------



## HeatherR

If you are an English Canadian you learn French starting in Grade 1 and usually continue until the end of Grade 12.  Many students in the Province of New Brunswick, the only bilingual province in Canada, are enrolled in French Immersion.  These students take at least half of their subjects in French and the remainder in English.
I know that French Canadian students study English in school, but I can't say for sure how many years they spend studying it.
Other languages are taught in some schools too, but I think it depends on the availabilty of a teacher who knows how to speak the language and the interest of the students in learning that language.


----------



## Ayazid

In the Czech republic, the first language taught in schools is mostly English. Then German and French, but only few people really speak these languages well. Older people usually know some German and Russian, because they were forced to study this language during the rule of the communist regime. Young people usually know some english (but not always).


----------



## aledraka

Hi everybody, this is my first post
In Italy the most popular foreign language is -or better, should be- English, even if grammar and pronunciation are terrible.. French -especially among older people- and Spanish are popular as well. Then German, unfortunately still considered tough and harsh.


----------



## pjay

Well my first foreign language was Latin. In most German grammar schools you have four or five classes with English as a first foreign language and one class with Latin. Russian was pretty much en vogue during the late 80s and early 90s. But now it's become quite unpopular.

After doing Latin I started English, then French and finally Spanish. I later started Russian at university but Russian proved to be quite a difficult language.


----------



## Etcetera

Hi pjay,
Russian is a difficult language. But it doesn't mean that it's impossible to learn it! I know several people who are/were studying Russian, and they're really good in it.


----------



## pjay

Well I believe you of course, Etcetera, but Russian proved hard for me. It's an extremely interesting language though, but it's also quite a time consuming one, if you try to learn it. 

It's funny. In East Germany, pupils had to learn it, but they didn't like it. So after  8 years of high school Russian training, most of my friends from East Germany could hardly order food in Russian.


----------



## antonia2240

In Bulgaria we used to study Russian / so sweet language / at school as an obligatory language from the age of 10. Now Russian is optional and British English is the obligatory language even from the kindergarden. We study optional all other main languages -I mean German, French, Spanish and Italian, but there are a lot of schools and courses providing Greek, which is interesting but very hard.


----------



## tvdxer

Miguelillo 87 said:
			
		

> I have an extra question.
> We are talking about the languag but not the style.
> for example here in México People prefer to learn American English Than British. Orat least there're more schools which teach this american style. Maybe it's because We are so close of USA. But in the other habd The French we learn is not Canadian it's Franch from France.
> 
> So Which spanish stylr do your country prefer? (Mexican,argentinian,Caribean,Spanish from spain????)



My teacher said she taught "General American" Spanish.  Castillian used to be very popular, but I think American Spanish is more common now.


----------



## Etcetera

pjay said:
			
		

> Well I believe you of course, Etcetera, but Russian proved hard for me. It's an extremely interesting language though, but it's also quite a time consuming one, if you try to learn it.
> 
> It's funny. In East Germany, pupils had to learn it, but they didn't like it. So after 8 years of high school Russian training, most of my friends from East Germany could hardly order food in Russian.


 
The same I can say about Finnish: very difficult, but extremely interesting.
I've heard that Russian was taught in schools in East Germany as an obligatory language, but unfortunately, all my friends come from West Germany, so I don't know anything about how Russian was taught to pupils in the East...


----------



## panjabigator

When I was in high school, two years of Spanish (or any foreign language) were obligatory, however most students leave it forgetting everything almost immediately.  I took four years of Spanish.  In college, only 1 year is required, and most find loop holes around it...I wish they required four!  I have taken two languages for two years here at college (3 years of spanish and 2 years of Hindi/Urdu) and I love it!


----------



## jomoalce

In Colombia the first language to learn is English, I think is important to us and all the world, but I think the most important some times is to learn first our language so very well, because for example, the spanish is no easy and there are a lot of synonim and Antonymous.


----------



## Setwale_Charm

gorbatzjov said:


> In Belgium:
> 
> -FLANDERS (native language Dutch)
> 1st French (obligated as of the age of 8 or 10)
> 2nd English (obligated as of the age of 12 or 14)
> 3rd German (obligated as of the age of 16)
> 4th Spanish (optional)
> 
> -WALLONIA (native language French)
> A choise between two systems:
> a) 1st Dutch
> 2nd English
> b) 1st Enlgish - no second


 
  But both sides successfully go at great lengths to avoid studying N1!!!


----------



## BlueWolf

In Italy I'd say the most taught languages are in order:
1st - English
2nd - Latin
3rd - Ancient Greek
4th - French
5th - German

Even in non-grammar high school Latin is often taught.


----------



## Kajjo

In Germany:
1st foreign language is always English.
2nd foreign language is mostly Latin or French (parents may choose).

Many people do not learn a third language. If they do, then it depends on the school which language is offered, e.g. Spanish, Russian.

There are some highschools emphasizing on humanistic education. They offer 1st language Latin, 2nd English, 3rd Ancient Greek. Sometimes 4th Hebraic.

Kajjo


----------



## Lykurg

Henryk said:


> At the schools I've attended or heard of up to now Latin is not offered.
> [...]
> Russian is really seldom, not to mention Greek or Chinese. I suppose they are only offered at private schools, of which there is meanwhile quite a number of in Berlin.


If I recall correctly, there are six schools left in my city teaching Latin as first foreign language - four of them are public schools (I went to one of them). We had English as our second and electively Ancient Greek or Russian as our third foreign language (in my year about one third took Greek). Optional languages in grade 11 were French, Italian, Chinese or Spanish. Hebraic was possible if someone asked for it.



BlueWolf said:


> In Italy I'd say the most taught languages are in order:
> 1st - English
> 2nd - Latin*
> 3rd - Ancient Greek*
> 4th - French
> 5th - German


I'm quite impressed... Good to know someone keeps up the line.


----------



## elpoderoso

gorbatzjov said:


> In Belgium:
> 
> -FLANDERS (native language Dutch)
> 1st French (obligated as of the age of 8 or 10)
> 2nd English (obligated as of the age of 12 or 14)
> 3rd German (obligated as of the age of 16)
> 4th Spanish (optional)
> 
> -WALLONIA (native language French)
> A choise between two systems:
> a) 1st Dutch
> 2nd English
> b) 1st Enlgish - no second


 
Hello Gorbatzjov, i was wondering, is't walloon different from french? i can't remember where i heard or read this, but if it is true which do you learn, french or wallloon?
saludos


----------



## Lemminkäinen

In Norway, children start learning English in elementary school, at the age of 8-9 (though of course, by then they've been massively exposed to it through tv and radio). They continue their English education all the way through elementary school (to age 13).

When they start at the next level, _ungdomsskolen_ (junior high), they start learning what's called a _b-språk_, or 'b language'. Most schools offer French and German, sometimes Spanish (which also are the most usual ones, though the trend is more people studying Spanish and to a certain degree French, while the number of German students is dropping), while it's possible to take Italian, Russian and Japanese at some schools (mostly in the major cities). 
They take this b language through all three years of _ungdomsskole_ (simultanously with English), at ages 13-16.

Then comes _videregående skole_, which isn't obligatory in theory, but the vast majority goes there.
In the first year, English is obligatory, and then students can choose if they want to continue with it for the next year or two (or drop it).
You also either have to continue with your b language for two of the three years (it is then possible to take it the last year voluntarily), or choose a new language, c language, which is then obligatory for all the three years at _videregående_.


----------



## Blehh.

In many U.S. schools, languages are not obilgatory until the high school level. Even then, you have a choice of languages. The most popular option is Spanish due to a large Spanish-speaking population in the U.S. and the usefulness of it. Language options vary between schools, since schools are not entirely run by the federal government.

Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and Latin are offered at my school. There is also a movement to offer Hindi and Urdu in my school as well.


----------



## EvilWillow

In Germany the school systems (!) are quite complex. Where I come from, it depends very much from the type of school you're attending which foreign language you learn first. What all have in common is that pupils start learning a foreign language at the age of 10-11.

Pupils attending _Hauptschule_, which takes 5 years to graduate from, are only taught English.

Pupils attending _Realschule_, which takes 6 years to graduate from, are taught English as the 1st foreign language during all 6 years, and French as the 2nd foreign language during 4 years.

Pupils attending _Gymnasium_, which takes 9 years to graduate from, enabling them to enrol at university, must learn at least two foreign languages. Depending on the orientation of the _Gymnasium_, these are the options:
a) English plus Latin ("liberal arts" type of G.)
b) English plus either Latin or French ("scientific" and "economical" types of G.)
c) Latin 1st, English 2nd, Ancient Greek 3rd ("humanistic" type of G.)
d) English plus Latin plus one of French, Spanish, Russian or Italian ("linguistic" type of G.)

I learned English (9 years) and Latin (5 years). I could have chosen to learn English and Latin for 7 years each or English and French for 9/5 or 7/7 years.
We were free to choose between British and American English, as long as we used it consistently. Most teachers spoke English that was supposed to be BE.


----------



## Lemminkäinen

I have to say it's fascinating to see that Latin is taught in other European countries (though understandable I guess, especially for countries with a Romance language).

Especially as it seems Latin is actually prioritised vis à vis other European languages - I had no idea it was taught to that degree anywhere. 
If you see my above post, you can add Latin to the c language list at _videregående_ - at my school there was a questionnaire about what subjects we were going to choose (to get an idea of how many classes were needed &c.), and not even the necessary five students chose Latin.


----------



## roxcyn

In USA it depends on the schools because the schools vary a lot from city to city!  

Schools will offer at least Spanish and French.
Then other schools will offer other languages such as German or ASL.  
Other languages may be offered at schools (it depends on the demand for the language): Latin, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, etc.  

Some schools will begin another language at a younger age, where I live they have two schools, one teaches Spanish from kindergarten to 8th grade, the other teaches French.  In other suburbs, another language is started in elementary school, but not for the full week, maybe twice or three times a week.  More and more I think the schools are seeing that it is important to start another language earlier!


----------



## spakh

In Turkey
1st foreign language is English
(in past it used to be French)
French or German in high school


----------



## bombadil

danielfranco said:


> In the USA the first foreign language you have to learn (as in, forced to learn) depends on which one is available at your local high school. And it also depends on your school district to determine in which grade you will be forced to take a class of a foreign language.



Yes, education in the USA varies a lot by state and by individual school district. I went to high school in a small town in the state of Texas, which has a common border with Mexico, and Spanish was the only foreign language offered. Larger schools also offer French and German, and some are now beginning to offer Japanese as well.

I was taught Spanish with the Latin American pronunciation, but that also varies from place to place and depends mainly on where the teacher is from (if she is a native speaker), or where she learned Spanish (if she is not).


----------



## minicooper

In Greece the first foreigh language to be learned is English. French or German are equally learned as secondary languages. But some people go for a third language too, like Spanish or Italian!!!

Ancient Greek is taught in high school, but only the very basic, just to understand where the modern Greek came from.... (nobody actually remembers ancient Greek after school!!!!!!! 
But if someone wants to follow literature, then has to learn Ancient Greek and Latin as well.....


----------



## natasha2000

In Serbia, there are four options: English, German, French and Russian. Each school has it's own combinations of those languages. At the age of 7, in the first grade of elementary school, children start learning one of them, and then at the age of 12 at 5th grade, they start another one. Latin is thaught only in language schools, or those schools that are more as a preparation for the University and are called "gimnazija", I don't know how to call them in English, maybe Etcetera knows, since I am sure in Russian is the same or very similar.

English version that is taught is BE.


----------



## Etcetera

natasha2000 said:


> Latin is thaught only in language schools, or those schools that are more as a preparation for the University and are called "gimnazija", I don't know how to call them in English, maybe Etcetera knows, since I am sure in Russian is the same or very similar.


It's grammar school or gymnasium.
The Russian for it is гимназия.


----------



## natasha2000

Etcetera said:


> It's grammar school or gymnasium.
> The Russian for it is гимназия.


 
Thanks, Etcetera. I thought gymnasium stands for gym, and gym is not school...


----------



## Chipolata

In Quebec we start studying English in first grade (it is recent, though. I started in third grade). We finish about 13 years later... We study canadian English, of course.
People willing to study an other language usually choose Spanish. In my case, I studied with a woman from Sevilla, another one from Nicaragua and a last one from Mexico. 
Other popular languages are Italian and German. I think Chinese (Mandarin) is getting more popular now.


----------



## taina

pléonasme said:


> Well , in France ,commonly, the first language studied after french (LV1 : Langue Vivante 1) is English or German, then LV2 : Spanish or English (depends on the LV1), and (optional) LV3 : Italian or Latin.
> 
> And in your country ?
> 
> ---------------------------------------------
> 
> En France , les langues étudiées , après le français, sont généralement :
> LV1 : Anglais ou Allemand
> LV2 : Espagnol ou Anglais (cela dépend de la LV1)
> LV3(option) : Italien ou Latin
> 
> Et dans votre pays ?


 
En Dominicaine les langues étudiés après l'Espagnol sont l'anglais et français, pour pouvoir avoir le baccalauréat il faut avoir au moins un niveau moyen, c'est obligatoire.


----------



## GEmatt

It's a bit complicated in Switzerland, since there are 4 national languages, and the sequence of language instruction at school varies a lot, depending on which language region one grows up in, and what path of study one follows.

Growing up in the German-speaking part, the spoken language is the dialect Swiss-German, which I guess is just the geo-political term for that part of the dialect continuum spoken in Switzerland; it's actually related to other dialects spoken in Liechtenstein, the south of Germany, and in pockets of France, Italy and Austria, and has around 10 million speakers in all). For those who know a bit of German (and for those who assert that Swiss-German is 'not a written language'), try it out here.  

The official language (i.e. language of instruction), however, is High German, so effectively the first "foreign" language learned in primary schools (up till around age 13) _in the German-speaking part_ is German-German. After this, it would depend on what type of secondary school one attended: secondary school would normally include French instruction through all 3 years, so this may be interpreted as the first really "foreign" language encountered. A choice of English or Italian instruction would become available only after the 2nd year.

In other schools/systems (e.g. in the gymnasium), it is possible that at the secondary level, students were exposed to the study of several foreign languages at the same time. French/English certainly, with the added possibility of Spanish/Italian, and possibly Latin/Greek, for those leaning toward the sciences.

Much of this has changed in some parts of the country, however. French and English instruction are now introduced at the primary school level, and in some places (notably German-speaking Zurich), there will be a vote this weekend as to whether English should be the first foreign language taught in schools.. .. ..

It would be interesting to know the teaching order in other parts of the country, though!

And no, Swedish is not spoken here


----------



## avalon2004

Where I live (Northern England), most people have to learn French at some stage and there is usually a choice between Spanish and German. Italian has recently become another popular option although if you want to study it for GCSE the lessons do not take place during the school day, at least not where I was! After Italian, it is probably Japanese or Chinese- although they aren't offered in many places other than grammar schools! Latin and Ancient Greek are very unpopular nowadays; I think more people took the Modern Greek and Russian exams last year than those two! Arabic, Urdu and Welsh are also being taken by a fair number of students apparently, though I've never actually come across a school in my area that offers any of them.
Unfortunately I don't think languages are taken particularly seriously in the UK because there seems to be a very blasé attitude regarding the popularity of English.


----------



## Elibennet

Here it´s English, bien sur!
As to the variety taught here, we teach British English just because that´s what we are taught at teacher´s training colleges. We are taught to speak like Queen Elizabeth, and then the only one who speaks like that is Laurence Bowen in Changing rooms!


----------



## janezhang88

In China, from primary school to high school, the first language studied is English,the second language studied,like German, Janpanese,French,etc, is allowed to be taught in college. English is a worldwide language.


----------



## roxcyn

natasha2000 said:


> Thanks, Etcetera. I thought gymnasium stands for gym, and gym is not school...



I think some dialects (maybe British English?) use gymnasium to mean grammar school or elementary school.  .


----------



## Brabol

Up to late 50´s Spanish, French and Latin were obligatory in Brazil (besides Portuguese of course). During the 60´s  Latin, French and English. From the 70´s to the lat 90´s only English. At that moment due to Mercosur Spanish was required again, and together with English are the foreing languages studied today.


----------



## Trina

When I was going through the school system, the most popular foreign languages taught were French followed by German. (in fact, if you wished to learn some other language, you usually had to learn it out of school - but you still could sit for exams and count these subjects towards matriculation)
Today, I suspect that is changing. The Asian languages are gaining in popularity. Although French is still being offered, I doubt it is still the most popular. Perhaps there is a younger Australian out there who could confirm this.


----------



## Eloy1988

In *Spain*, people generally take just one foreign language. This is due to the fact that many regions have their own languages and so both Spanish and the region's language have to be taught. Then, at the age of roughly 8-9, children are introduced to the second language, which is usually English but it is NOT compulsory. Other people opt for French, although not many. German is taught in around 5% of schools and almost nobody chooses it, and Italian is just taught in Italian schools. Latin, however, IS compulsory in some varieties of high school studies. 
If people want to take a second foreign language, (just 20%) they usually take only two years so they learn the basics and they end up forgetting it. 
Other languages such as Chinese, Arabic or Japanese are not taught in any school.
All in all, we can say that Spanish students just take one language, which is often English. To boot, not many people is good at English and very often people don't learn the language at all. They might finish Bachillerato saying "Hello" and "my name's X", period.


----------



## Lugubert

I hope that I don't violate any rules by resurrecting this thread.

In my days in Sweden, it was English from age 11 = grade 5 = first year of what Germans would name Realschule.

After two years, German was added. (Mother had German first, then English, then a bit of French, in the very early 1900's).

Another year, and Frech was added.

Then, my grade 9 was split again. Some went for Latin and could go on with Classical Greek and probably yet one more language; I took science, which proved to exclude Latin and Russian. Spanish might have been possible, but we didn't get enough number of applicants. Anyway, English and German, and for some, French, persisted until graduating from grade 12 (Gymnasium 4).


----------



## Nander

Seems like I'm a bit younger than Lugubert so I can tell how things are these days in Sweden 

I started reading English in the third grade. My year was one of the very last to study what we call a _B-language _(French or German) in the sixth grade, now the kids start with it in the seventh (the first year of _högstadiet, _junior high (?) ). Spanish has also been added since 

During _högstadiet _most study their B-language, but there is also a possibility of studying extra English. Then when you continue to _gymnasiet _(high school) it depends on what kind of education/course you've chosen. I read the natural scientific line (usually seen as the toughest one...) and we had to read one year of a B-language, the second and third year it's voluntarily.


----------



## Musical Chairs

I think where I grew up, Spanish is probably the most popular language. People think it's most useful because that is the second most used language in the US, and there are many Hispanic people in our area and others. After that, it's French. Then German. Then everything else (Latin, Japanese, etc). I think there are even schools that only offer Spanish and French.

However, most people only start learning in middle school or high school, and almost nobody becomes fluent unless they already knew it from home (those who do always continue their studies after graduating high school). Even people who started learning a language early at immersion schools (when they were still in elementary school) aren't fluent, actually I don't even know how good they really are.

I don't think they consider foreign languages very important in the US because English is already a very useful language.

In Japan (where I lived), the only languages offered used to be English (most popular) and Russian, but now I think it's just English.


----------



## MORTIMER

In Spain we`ve had an evolution in this topic because during the dictatorship French was the language more learnt instead English.
Our fathers studied French as a second language and nowadays it`s the third after English, of course. After French we usually study German but in mi case I`m learning German before French


----------



## Silvia B

Nowadays, in Italy, most of the children start with English when they are 8.

Then, when they go to the "medium school" (from the age of 11 to 14) the may choose a second language (it is not compulsory) and most of the school teach French then (some German, but not often).

Then, when you begin high school everything varies from school to school.
Let's say that English is compulsory in every school (at different levels, of course).
But school like business schools (which are much attended here) have at least 2 compulsory languages: English, then French - Spanish or German.
Some have 2 compulsory languages, some have 3.


----------



## lozenge

Mainly English, then German (specially in northern Italy), Spanish, French. Ancient Greek, as I read before, is not that popular. It is taught only in particular high-schools (liceo classico), unless you're going to private classes


----------



## Silvia B

lozenge said:


> Mainly English, then German (specially in northern Italy), Spanish, French. Ancient Greek, as I read before, is not that popular. It is taught only in particular high-schools (liceo classico), unless you're going to private classes



Well, in this case I also have to add Latin.
It is taught before ancient greek in all _licei_ (kind of high school)


----------



## a_catarina

In Portugal, in the past French used to be a very important language. Today you starte learning English, then French or German, although Spanish is becoming more and more popular. You can also study Latin but it is optional.


----------



## argentina84

In *Argentina:*


1)Our first tongue is *Spanish,* but we speak the Argentinian variety of it, which has several differences in grammar, lexis,and pronunciation.
2)Then, at school ,*British English* is part of the compulsory curricula. *American English* is only taught at some private language institutes. English is our first foreign language, then.
3)The study of other foreign languages depends on personal taste and social background. If you can afford a billingual school, you will study *French or German*. And there are many people who study *Italian *because of family traditions ( Argentina is a country made up of Spanish and Italian inmigrants, mainly).
4)A lot of people also study *Portuguese*,which is very necessary for business because of the Mercosur (economic alliance between Southamerican countries, which include Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, etc.)
5)Some people are starting to study *Chinese*.Economic reasons again!


----------



## CiegoEnamorado

Here in Phoenix, Arizona, in the United States, they actually start to introduce students to Spanish in elementary school (starting probably around 4th grade, or at least that was the case for me) and throughout middle and high school, usually only Spanish and French are offered. A few schools will also have German classes, but it's not very common any more. Some private schools, at least from what my friends who have attended them tell me, you have to take Latin. In college, they offer a larger variety of foreign language courses, but they're still quite limited: Spanish and French tend to dominate as much as they did before, but you can also take Japanese courses (unless not enough students enroll, in which case they drop it like they did with my 202 course), Chinese (but it doesn't go beyond conversational or 101), and now Russian (but it's only conversational). In some other schools here you can also find Italian and Portuguese, but it's difficult and expensive.


----------



## raspina

I live in Iran. In my country, the first language which people intrested in is English. I think because it's international language, and after that French .


----------



## Chevaux

In my school, we are offered Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Elementary Arabic.

French and Spanish are most popular here (I am currently in third year French and first year Spanish and plan to start Japanese next year) followed by Japanese and the German, although the Arabic classes are quickly being filled here, now that government jobs are opening up that require Arabic speakers.

Japanese is becoming more popular in my region (I live in the Midwest, USA) but right now I belive that my school is the only one to offer it in my city. On the other hand, I go to one of the most diverse schools on the country, and perhaps 25% of the students here have a mother language other than English. I believe only about 4-5% speak spanish though.


----------



## nanel

Here it depends on the school a lot too. I, for example, started English at the age of 4, and stopped learning it when I finished High School, I also took French lessons for 3 years (14-16 years old), both compulsory. Most people I know started English at 12-14... Some took French and some others didn't. I almost forgot, we were taught British English and French from France.

Now kids, as far as I know, are taught English as 1st foreign language and then French (usually) or German as 2nd. I believe they start when they're 6, or in some schools at the age of 3 (since some bilingual schools are being opened.)


----------



## Eáránë

Setwale_Charm said:


> But both sides successfully go at great lengths to avoid studying N1!!!


 
Hey!

Of course both Flemish and Walloon students have to learn their native language as well at school . The Flemish children start to learn French from the age of 11 or 12, but they have already learnt about the grammar, spelling,... of Dutch a lot earlier. I think it's pretty much the same for our Walloon friends. 

Greetz
Eáránë


----------



## Eáránë

elpoderoso said:


> Hello Gorbatzjov, i was wondering, is't walloon different from french? i can't remember where i heard or read this, but if it is true which do you learn, french or wallloon?
> saludos


 
Hey!

I'm Flemish, but I think I can help you.
Walloon and French are not so different from each other. The situation is very similar to the opposition British English vs American English. In general they both use the same language, but there are some words that only the Walloon use and vice versa.

For example:
The French say: soixante-dix (=70)
The Walloon say: septante

Futhermore, the Walloon accent is a bit different from the French one.

Greetz
Eáránë


----------



## Pedro y La Torre

Eáránë said:


> Walloon and French are not so different from each other. The situation is very similar to the opposition British English vs American English. In general they both use the same language, but there are some words that only the Walloon use and vice versa.



I'm sorry but I must disagree with you. Walloon is a completely different language to French:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walloon_language

If you're speaking of _le français de Belgique_ though, then you are correct.


----------



## Eáránë

Pedro y La Torre said:


> I'm sorry but I must disagree with you. Walloon is a completely different language to French:
> 
> If you're speaking of _le français de Belgique_ though, then you are correct.


 
I'm sorry. You're absolutely right! I just got confused, because the French-speaking population in Belgium is also called Walloon in English. 

Greetz
Eáránë


----------



## duffy90

In Turkey, it's usually English like everywhere else.After English, French and German are taught as electives..I have been taking French for 5 years and also I want to learn Spanish so badly.Spanish sounds so cool...


----------



## gogoneddus

In Wales, Welsh and English are both taught equally until the age of 16, or at least are supposed to be.
As well as these, between the ages of 11 and 14 (I think), French, German or Spanish are studied. Those three languages are the most common, although some schools offer Italian, Japanese etc.!
Languages are optional from 15 onwards. It's a shame, because the number of people choosing languages is slowly dropping.


----------



## Trisia

In Romania... Romanian , of course !

Foreign languages are very popular here, especially English. Then we have French and German (used to be Russian and French), Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. I guess these are popular because they're easy to learn - all of Latin descent, just like Romanian.


----------



## yukilicious

Indonesian ^^


----------



## NightXGazer

In America [atleast where i live] They teach us Spanish.
But understand also that I live in a part of Town where most of the children that I go to school with have Spanish as their native tounge. So very few people actually get something out of our spanish class.

 I'm not sure as to what KIND of Spanish we are being taught, but she's[She being our teacher] always says something to the effect of Mexican[Mexico] Spanish. I'm not sure if there is even a difference.

Where I live, Spanish is a required course to graduate high school. 
[Or you can substitute with French] Either way, you're VERY lucky to find a school here that doesnt teach JUST those two. 
For the past month or so, I've been trying to teach myself Russian.

Ha! No where I can go here in Oklahoma to get help with that, eh?
Library and me are becoming QUITE good friends now-a-days..


----------

