Students in the European Union (EU) are learning foreign languages at an earlier stage, a European Commission report said Friday.
Over the past three decades, there has been an increase in early learning of a foreign language as a compulsory subject. In almost all European countries, compulsory learning of a foreign language now begins in primary education. In some cases, there is even an earlier start: in all autonomous communities of Spain, and in Belgium's German-speaking community, children learn a foreign language from the age of 3, according to the report by Eurydice network, which provides information on education for 31 European countries.
However, the time devoted to foreign language teaching in primary schools remains limited -- in general less than 10 percent of the total teaching time -- and varies considerably between countries. The amount of time spent on language learning is generally greater in lower secondary education than in primary schools.
In 13 European countries, English is the mandatory first foreign language. Even when a choice is provided, pupils and their parents tend to favor English, which is now the most widely taught language in primary education. English is learnt by 90 percent of all European pupils at some stage of their compulsory education. French and German are among the first choices for a second foreign language.
"Although we register progress, there is still some way to go to give all students the possibility to learn two foreign languages at school: this is the objective that the member states fixed for themselves in Barcelona in 2002," said Jan Figel, EU commissioner for education, training, culture and youth.
Source:Xinhua
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