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U.S. FOREIGN LANGUAGE

GAPMultilingualism is be-coming a must-have skill set in our increasingly globalized world. But a de-emphasis of foreign language learning in U.S. public schools affects students’ career aspira-tions, and their ability to interact with others on an international scale.

73%Americans who are unable to hold a conversation in more than one language.SOURCE: PIMSLEUR

3rdBehind Spanish and Mandarin, English is the world’s third most-spoken language. There are an estimated 335 million English-proficient speakers, compared to over 1.9 billion Mandarin-proficient speakers. SOURCE: ETHNOLOGUE

5 statesCalifornia, Texas, New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania combine to represent over 40 percent of total foreign language enrollment in U.S. secondary schools.SOURCE: AMERICAN COUNCIL ON THE TEACHING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES (ACTFL)

8.9 millionNumber of K–12 public school students who enrolled in foreign language courses during the 2007 – 2008 school year (last year of available data). That’s approximately 18.5 percent of all eligible students.SOURCE: ACTFL

6 to 9The average age at which students in European countries begin to study a foreign language.SOURCE: EUROPEAN COMMISSION

70%U.S. foreign language students who study Spanish.SOURCE: ACTFL

10 statesThe total number of states that require foreign language study for high school graduation.SOURCE: DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

3 of 5U.S. states and territories reporting an expected shortage of foreign language teachers during the 2014 – 2015 school year.SOURCE: DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

600 hoursNumber of classroom hours it takes to learn languages such as Spanish and French. Mandarin and Japanese require almost four times as much instruction time.SOURCE: FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE

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ILLUSTRATIONS: HALIMQD; JOEBAKAL; OLIOPI