# Foreign language requirements in other nations **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 4, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-requirements-in-other-nations/238211 "2004-04-04T18:45:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mcbiggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@mcbiggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcbiggins)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-requirements-in-other-nations/238211/21 "2004-04-05T05:10:40Z")
In English schools in Ontario, French is required through grade 9. ---
**Author:** ![epepke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de0a6/32.png) [@epepke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epepke)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-requirements-in-other-nations/238211/22 "2004-04-05T05:19:28Z")
Just a datum, but when I was in intermediate school in New York (roughly equivalent to Middle School but consisting of grades 6, 7, 8, and 9), two years of a foreign language were required. This was back in the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-requirements-in-other-nations/238211/23 "2004-04-05T07:50:49Z")
In Norway, children begin learning English in second grade. Actually it’s not uncommon for them to be _exposed_ to English in first grade or even preschool, in the form of learning songs and nursery rhymes and so on in English, but it is in second grade something resembling formal teaching begins. Everyone studies English until tenth grade, the end of what you might call junior high school (_ungdomsskolen_). Mandatory schooling ends at that point, though most go on to high school (_videregående skole_). Those who choose to study a trade at v.g.s. probably won’t have time for much English; those who study academic subjects will have at least a year more, possibly three years depending on their chosen specialization. In _ungdomsskolen_ pupils must begin studying another foreign language, with French and German being the most popular choices. If you attend a small rural school you take what they offer; if you attend a large city school you might be able to choose from four or five languages. Again, how far you go with this depends on what you choose to study in high school. Fella bilong missus flodnak studied English for six or seven years, German for three, and French for one - but that was several school reforms ago! ---
**Author:** ![Aankh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@Aankh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aankh)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-requirements-in-other-nations/238211/24 "2004-04-05T10:59:44Z")
In India, in schools where the medium of instruction is English, one starts learning English at kindergarten level. Around 3rd or 6th grade (it varies), the national language (Hindi) is introduced, as well as an elective (either your regional language or a foreign language). Most Indian kids are trilingual that way, with many speaking even four or five languages depending on where they’ve been brought up. (In schools where the medium of instruction is Hindi or the regional language, well, just flip the choices around in my explanation above; the point is that you end up with at least three languages.) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-requirements-in-other-nations/238211/25 "2004-04-05T11:25:41Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > I have a very very basic knowledge of French (although oddly enough, my Spanish is better even though I only studied that for a couple years during my lunch breaks at school), so if you _did_ find some cites, I might be able to look through them. That’s only if you want to, if you get bored, etc. 🙂 > > Thanks for the replies so far, this is really interesting! OK/ Actually, I found a comprehensive site in english about the “position of foreign languages in european education systems”, including a diagramm for each country, with the age of the students, the number of languages, language requirments which are currently being implemented, etc… and classified by kind of school (for instance concerning Germany you’ll find a diagramm for the “gymnasium” and another for the “hauptschule”). I’m pretty happy with this find, which IMO answers perfectly to your question concerning the EU. The only thing apparently lacking are the optionnal languages. [Here’s the link](http://www.eurydice.org/Documents/langues/en/FrameSet.htm) . You should check the “diagrams by country” part. Since it’s a PDF document I can’t link directly to a sample diagram. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-requirements-in-other-nations/238211/26 "2004-04-05T11:30:07Z")
Just noticed this site also include the countries which are about to join the EU (Poland, Slovenia,etc. and the EEA countries (Iceland, Norway). Optional language taught apparently aren’t mentionned on the diagrams, though, at first glance. Only the mandatory ones. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-requirements-in-other-nations/238211/27 "2004-04-05T14:05:01Z")
As far as I know, Australia doesn’t have any compulsorary foriegn language requirements but most schools offer languages as compulsorary till year ~7 - 10 and then as an elective after that. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-requirements-in-other-nations/238211/28 "2004-04-05T14:26:56Z")
I don’t have any cites here, but the situation in India is interesting. Government schools are under the authority of the states and usually require the medium of instruction to be the state’s official language (depending on the state – Bengali, Marathi, Guajarati, etc.). Federal law also requires the teaching of Hindi. Many schools also require some instruction in Sanskrit. However, most middle-class children are sent to what we would consider private and parochial schools, where the medium of instruction is usually English. Still, they are required to learn Hindi and usually some Sanskrit as well. What’s even more interesting is that most Indians live in a situation in which they are surrounded by multiple languages. For example, an ethnically Bengali child living in Bombay will speak Bengali with his or her family. However, the mass media and the schools will bring in Hindi and English. Depending on the neighbourhood in Bombay, he or she will be exposed to varying levels of Marathi and Gujarati, as well as the “Bambaiya” dialect of Hindi. Because Bombay is a metropolitan city, the child is likely to come into contact with speakers of one or more of the many other languages of India as well. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-requirements-in-other-nations/238211/29 "2004-04-05T15:22:15Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > OK/ Actually, I found a comprehensive site in english about the “position of foreign languages in european education systems”, including a diagramm for each country, with the age of the students, the number of languages, language requirments which are currently being implemented, etc… and classified by kind of school (for instance concerning Germany you’ll find a diagramm for the “gymnasium” and another for the “hauptschule”). I’m pretty happy with this find, which IMO answers perfectly to your question concerning the EU. The only thing apparently lacking are the optionnal languages. > > [Here’s the link](http://www.eurydice.org/Documents/langues/en/FrameSet.htm) . You should check the “diagrams by country” part. Since it’s a PDF document I can’t link directly to a sample diagram. :eek: WOW! That’s an amazing cite, thanks **clairobscur** (I’ve always loved your username!)! Thanks for everyone’s replies so far, this is amazing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-requirements-in-other-nations/238211/30 "2004-04-05T19:10:41Z")
Dutch checking in. I checked the booklet **clairobscur** refered to, which seems correct. Since it’s been some time since I was in high school, I’m not sure whether the following is still entirely correct. The Netherlands have several types of high school. The pre-university school (VWO) has AFAIK still a requirement of three mandatory foreign languages (learned in between 1st and 4th year of the school). These mostly are English, French and German. Some schools (Gymnasium) offer in addition or in replacement Greek and Latin as part of a ‘classical’ education. A few schools offer other languages such as Spanish or Russian, I think mostly because one teacher has such a hobby. In the 5th and 6th year you are only required to have one foreign language. Despite this education I think most Dutch are actually only really comfortable in English. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-requirements-in-other-nations/238211/31 "2004-04-05T19:42:58Z")
> [@Harriet the Spry](#): > > I really doubt the part about most US high schools requiring 2 years foreign language to graduate. They strongly encourage it for college-bound students, but I know my high school foreign language classes had virtually no non-college-bound students in them. > > If a cite emerges I’ll eat my words (bilingually) if necessary. Well, I graduated in 1979 from a private school, and also did time in public and catholic schools [army brat, I moved every 18 months whether or not I wanted to=] I can say I was considered very odd because I took french AND spanish, and was fairly fluent in both of them, and no university I applied to had any sort of language requirement [other than english, as I did my tertiary education in the US.] My german BF speaks incredibly good english, he is bavarian and I know he started in 5th grade. He went into a profession that did have an englsh speaking component, and when I first met him on the internet I didn’t realize he was german because he has a very good command of american slang. When I visit him, I am impressed because almost everybody I run into casually speaks some degree of english. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-language-requirements-in-other-nations/238211.md?page=1)