Sunday

1st Oct 2023

Fewer EU pupils being taught two foreign languages

  • School in Romania, where in 2015 95.2 percent of pupils in lower secondary level were taught two or more foreign languages

The share of EU citizens learning a foreign language at lower secondary level has remained the same in 2015, but learning two foreign languages has become slightly less common, according to figures released by Eurostat on Thursday (23 February).

In 2015, 58.8 percent of all EU pupils at lower secondary level were being taught two or more languages at school. A year earlier, that figure was 59.9 percent.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The downward trend in Germany (from 39.1% to 34.5%) and Italy (98.4% to 95.8%) helped pull the EU average down.

Other countries where the share of pupils learning two foreign languages went down were Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia - although in some cases the drop was less than a percentage point, and eight of those countries were already above the EU average.

"The slight decrease from 2014 to 2015 is due mainly to a decrease in Germany of nearly 5 percentage points - in fact, at EU level the 2015 level equals the 2013 level," EU commission spokeswoman Nathalie Vandystadt told EUobserver.

"In other words, there has not been any significant development in language teaching at lower secondary level," she added.

The EU average excluded the United Kingdom, for which no data has been available this year or last year. Eurostat, a European Commission branch, did not have 2015 data for Denmark and Greece.

Eurostat also counts official languages of a country as foreign.

The share of pupils learning at least one foreign language at lower secondary level remained the same: 98.6 percent.

There were no shifts in the three most popular languages, with English still being taught to 97.3 percent of the pupils. French was second, on 33.8 percent, and German was third on 23.1 percent.

Spanish, taught to 13.1 percent in 2014, was taught to 13.6 percent of pupils a year later.

EU leaders agreed in 2002 that at least two foreign languages should be taught at a very early age.

In 2005 the Commission said in a strategy paper that its “long-term objective is to increase individual multilingualism until every citizen has practical skills in at least two languages in addition to his or her mother tongue”.

As recently as 2014, national governments published a declaration, saying they should "adopt and improve measures aimed at promoting multilingualism", including by "teaching at least two languages in addition to the main language(s) of instruction from an early age".

Interview

How one man and his dog made a mark on EU history

A local man walked into a pharmacy in Galway, western Ireland, to buy medicine for his dog five years ago and now he is making history in the European Court of Justice.

Opinion

Let's revisit why the EU only has three 'work' languages

If the EU institutions adopted a single working language, couldn't the substantial amount of money saved on translation services be put to good use: such as protecting and preserving the many endangered languages of Europe?

Poland's culture of fear after three years of abortion 'ban'

Poland in 2020 imposed a near-total ban on abortion, triggering mass protests — and today the demands for access to safe abortion continue. On International Safe Abortion Day, dozens gathered in Brussels calling for solidarity among member states.

Opinion

Time for a reset: EU regional funding needs overhauling

Vasco Alves Cordeiro, president of the European Committee of the Regions, is advocating a revamp of the EU's regional policy so that it better supports all regions in addressing major challenges such as the green and digital transitions.

Opinion

How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?

The EU Commission's new magic formula for avoiding scrutiny is simple. You declare the documents in question to be "short-lived correspondence for a preliminary exchange of views" and thus exempt them from being logged in the official inventory.

Latest News

  1. EU women promised new dawn under anti-violence pact
  2. Three steps EU can take to halt Azerbaijan's mafia-style bullying
  3. Punish Belarus too for aiding Putin's Ukraine war
  4. Added-value for Russia diamond ban, as G7 and EU prepare sanctions
  5. EU states to agree on asylum crisis bill, say EU officials
  6. Poland's culture of fear after three years of abortion 'ban'
  7. Time for a reset: EU regional funding needs overhauling
  8. Germany tightens police checks on Czech and Polish border

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  2. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us