Foreign Language Programs Statistics

There have been numerous elementary school districts that have recognized the call for bilingual and multilingual people in today's globalizing nation. Some of the schools programs are total immersion classes (definition of which is in the previous blog). These schools may offer anywhere from one - three different foreign languages or more to their students. Here is some information on foreign language programs, such as statistics on the percent of foreign language programs in elementary schools in the U.S.

• In 2008, only 25% of the elementary schools in the U.S. offered any foreign language programs, whereas, in 1997, the percentage of foreign language programs in elementary schools was 31 percent. 
• Only half of all American high school students have even taken one year of a foreign language.
• Foreign language programs are less available in urban schools than in suburban or private schools.
• For the past 50 years, the foreign language choices available in schools have for the most part have been the same commonly taught European languages. 
• The learning of a foreign language is a higher priority in other countries, such as, Japan, South Korea, China, Africa, etc, than it is in the U.S. 
• It is said that twenty out of the twenty-five industrialized countries start teaching foreign languages in grades K-5.
• Twenty-one of thirty-one European Union countries require students to take nine years of foreign language study.
• If you look in the very first blog on my post (Mandarin as a second language?)  there will be information on various schools with Mandarin programs. These programs have sought out the need for Mandarin speakers due to the growing business relations with China.