Spanish Makes Gains in British Education System

Spanish is set to overtake German as the No. 2 foreign language taken by secondary students in Britain, according to a report released this week by the National Centre for Languages, also known as CILT.

French remains by far the most commonly taught foreign language. Although the number of Spanish students has increased in recent years, the switch in positions for the No. 2 spot seems to be more because of loss of interest in German. From 2000 to 2008, the number of English pupils studying Spanish increased by 14,600, but the number of German students dropped by more than 49,000. Spanish is taught in 75 percent of the schools, compared with 67 for German, according to CILT. (French is taught in essentially all schools in the survey.)

The report noted that various less-taught languages such as Italian, Urdu and Cantonese are also making gains.

The report gives no explanation for the decline of German instruction and rise in some other languages, although education writer Alexandra Frean at The Times of London suggests that "the shift reflects changes in cultural attitudes and in the global balance of economic power. It is also possible that teenagers are wising up to the possibility that Spanish may (be) easier to learn than German."