Which are the most studied languages in EU schools?
By comparison, this figure was almost 35% among students in vocational education, which prepares students for specific trades, careers, or professions.
English remains, by far, the most widely studied language among both compulsory (96%) and vocational studies (80%).
German and French lead in vocational education
Among general education pupils, Spanish was the second most popular language to learn at school (27.1%), followed by German (21.2%), French (20.8%) and Italian (3.2%).
When it comes to students in vocational education, German takes second place with 18.1%, followed by French (14.1%), Spanish (6.6%), Russian (2.3%) and Swedish (2%).
Chinese is only studied by 0.5% of students, with the highest percentages of pupils learning this language found in France (1.4%), Luxembourg (1.1%) and Italy (1%).
Almost all French, Romanian and Czech students take two foreign languages
Some countries seem to be putting more effort into teaching foreign languages than others.
Nearly 100% of high school students in general education in France, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, and Luxembourg studied two or more foreign languages.
By contrast, high school students in general education in Portugal (6.7%), Ireland (10.4%), Spain (22.4%) and Italy (23.3%) were much less likely to study two or more languages.
The situation differs when it comes to pupils in vocational education.
Romania is the only country where nearly all pupils in this type of high school education study two or more language classes (97.2%). It is followed by Finland (85%) and Poland (78%).
The share of students studying at least two languages is zero or close to zero in Malta (0%), Spain (0.1%), Greece (0.1%), and Denmark (0.9%).
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
an hour ago
- LeMonde
Titanic sub disaster caused by operator failures, says probe
Multiple failures to follow basic safety protocol led to the deadly implosion of a private submersible visiting the Titanic wreckage in 2023, according to a final report published on Tuesday, August 5. The US Coast Guard investigation outlined a litany of issues with OceanGate's operations, as well as design flaws on its Titan submersible, that led to the high-profile disaster in which all five passengers were killed. The probe said "OceanGate's failure to follow established engineering protocols for safety, testing and maintenance of their submersible was the primary causal factor" for the implosion. It also accused the company of "intimidation tactics (...) to evade regulatory scrutiny." OceanGate had a "toxic workplace environment, which used firings of senior staff members and the looming threat of being fired to dissuade employees and contractors from expressing safety concerns," the report said. Explorers and tourists Company chief executive Stockton Rush, British explorer Hamish Harding, French deep-sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Pakistani-British tycoon Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman died when the submersible failed on its expedition in the North Atlantic Ocean. After a loss of communications with the sub, a multinational search for survivors started, captivating the world. But occupants "were exposed to approximately 4,930 pounds per square inch of water pressure" when the hull collapsed, resulting in "instantaneous death," the report said. Debris was found on the ocean floor, about 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic. In its report, the Coast Guard said that OceanGate continued to use Titan "after a series of incidents that compromised the integrity of the hull and other critical components of the submersible without properly assessing or inspecting the hull." It also identified design flaws with Titan's carbon fiber hull "that weakened the overall structural integrity." The wreckage of the Titanic sits 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland and has become a lure for nautical experts and underwater tourists since its discovery in 1985. The ship hit an iceberg and sank in 1912 during its maiden voyage from England to New York, with 2,224 passengers and crew on board. More than 1,500 people died.
Euronews
2 hours ago
- Euronews
Danish zoo asks people to donate small animals to feed its predators
A zoo in Denmark has divided public opinion after issuing an unusual appeal on Facebook for people to donate unwanted animals to be used as food for its predators. The zoo said online that those who own "a healthy animal that needs to be given away for various reasons (should) feel free to donate it to us." People were advised to bring a maximum of four small animals at a time. The post on social media said the zoo was looking for guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens and potentially horses as possible donations. After being "gently euthanised" by trained staff, the animals will be fed to the zoo's carnivores. The zoo explained that such animals are "an important part of the diet of our predators — especially the European lynx, which needs whole prey that resembles what it would naturally hunt in the wild." 'That way, nothing goes to waste — and we ensure natural behaviour, nutrition and well-being of our predators,' the zoo said. To discover more, pet owners were told to click on a link accompanied by a picture of a wildcat baring its teeth with its mouth wide open. The zoo remained open to receiving horses, it said, but "needs vary throughout the year and there may be a waiting list." Horses donated to the scheme should have a passport, and the donation comes with the opportunity for a tax deduction based on the animal's value — which is calculated by its weight. Zoologist Thea Loumand Faddersbøll said the horses 'come from private individuals, and then when they are either injured, old or just in excess, and they cannot get rid of them — they come to us.' The appeal sparked backlash in comments online, with people protesting the idea that healthy pets would be used as prey. Others defended the zoo for trying to preserve feeding behaviours found in the wild. The facility's chief zoologist, Anette Sofie Warncke Nutzhorn, said there was "nothing new" to the practice. "We've always done it, and we see it as very natural to do it this way," she said, adding that people rarely donate dogs and cats. "I'd rather donate them to something like this than put them in the ground where the meat goes to waste." It's not the first time Denmark's zoos have come under scrutiny. In 2014, a zoo in Copenhagen caused an outcry after it killed a healthy two-year-old giraffe named Marius to avoid inbreeding despite an online petition against it. Its carcass was partly used for research and partly fed to a crowd of tigers, lions and leopards on the zoo's grounds. Last week, a zoo in the German city of Nürnberg sparked uproar after it killed 12 baboons despite protests against it by numerous animal rights groups.
Local France
3 days ago
- Local France
Do the French say 'deja-vu'?
The French language has gifted quite a few phrases and expressions to English, but often within France itself these phrases have a slightly different meaning (like voilà or oh là là ) or are simply not used any more ( sacré bleu ). So what about deja-vu? The phrase itself is made up of déjà meaning 'already' (note the accents that appear in the French version) and vu , the past participle of the verb voir , to see. It therefore means 'already seen'. You'll hear the constituent parts all the time in daily conversation, as well as the words together in certain contexts - eg J'ai déjà vu ce film - I've already seen the film. Advertisement But the phrase déjà-vu , written with a hyphen, is also used in French, where it is masculine. The pronunciation is slightly different, leaning more on the second syllable of déjà - more like day-JHA - rather than on the first which is more common in English. Le déjà-vu describes a sense of having already witnessed a scene or a conversation, accompanied by a slight feeling of strangeness or unreality. It's a form of paramnesia, and is essentially caused by the wiring in your brain getting slightly mixed up and filing something as a memory rather than a new experience. It's estimated that around 70 percent of people experience it from time to time. The reason that so many languages around the world use the French phrase is that the phenomenon was first described by the French philosopher Émile Boirac, in his 1876 book L'Avenir des sciences psychiques (the future of psychological science). In everyday conversation, you can distinguish déjà-vu from a more normal sense of having already seen something by the pronoun - if it's le déjà-vu then it's referring to the spooky brain trick. You may also hear une sensation du déjà-vu - a sense of deja-vu. For example Le déjà-vu peut être mineur, de faible durée, de quelques secondes à 1 ou 2 minutes, il apparaît et disparaît rapidement - Deja-vu can be minor, lasting from a few seconds to one or two minutes, appearing and disappearing rapidly Je viens d'avoir un petit air de déjà-vu - I just had a bit of deja-vu Je m'ennuie et j'ai déjà vu Netflix - I'm bored and I've already watched Netflix
