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Where I live:
German: age 6-13, in high school it can be dropped (it's rare)
English: now age 6-18, I studied from age 11
French: it can be taken as soon as age 11 (rare)
Spanish: it can be taken from age 14
Certain schools offer also Russian, Portuguese, Chinese and Arabic (rarely also Japanese).
I have also seen courses of Lithuanian offered by a local school
at my place is of course similar, but with some little differences.
The main foreign language we are required to study is English. I studied it from age 11 to 18 (so the whole secondary school), but now the children probably study it also at the elementary school.
Usually here in Piedmont we are not required a compulsory second foreign language at the elementary school, but so that I live really near to the french borderline a lot of our schools teach it. For example both me and my sister studied French during elementary school (we were also in contact with a school in France, and we wrote them a couple of letters every year. It was funny )
At the middle school (age 11-13) English is compulsory, and a secondary european language is as well (even if with less hours). The secondary language usually is French, German or (rarer) Spanish. French and German are preferred because they are official languages in some parts of Italy. Mainly for geographical reasons here the secondary language is always French.
About the high school (age 14-18) the situation is much more complicated, because it depends on the kind of high school you choose. In practice we have a certain number of high school curricula with a different set of subjects, and we choose the one we prefer. But we can't choose single subjects, when we take a curricula we have to study all its subjects, without the possibility of change them.
The minimum language requirement is English (for all the 5 years), but there are also some curricula (for example the "liceo linguistico"="linguistic lyceum" and "istituto turistico"="touristic institute") in which foreign languages are considered as central subjects. In those schools the students learn 3 foreign languages in total (4 if you count also Latin). The first language is always English, and the other are usually French and/or German and/or Spanish. Probably in Turin there are also some schools that teach more "exotic" languages, such as Chinese, but they are really rare.
In a lot of our high school we still study Latin, in some cases ancient Greek as well. The funny aspect (or the sad one, it depends) is that those subjects have more hours than English in some cases.
For my answer I considered the last school reform, so what our students are studying now. In the past the importance given to foreign languages was much smaller, and I think that this is quite evident looking at our average English proficiency levels...
I know that for decades, students in Eastern Europe learned Russian due to the Soviet takeover of those countries. Are they now offering English classes on a wide basis?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mouldy Old Schmo
Can you learn English in the Netherlands without having to study it in school?
Depends on how old you are.
During compulsory schooling age, you WILL learn it *in school*.
After school age, several private institutes that will teach English.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mouldy Old Schmo
Is the study of Latin or Greek required anymore? It was in many American schools long ago.
While still living in Europe, as a youth, I learnt Latin and Greek besides the required English, German and French (just because I liked to ... but never became fluent in it, in comparison with the other required languages which I can speak fluent, only because I lived and worked in countries where those languages are *native*.)
Since I have never met any American who went to school here in the USA, who was taught Latin or Greek as a requirement, when was it that Latin and Greek was a requirement ??
(Besides as a true requirement in Graduate Studies)
What I meant by that was Dutch people hear English-language media quite a bit. Even American movies are only subtitled, not dubbed.
Yes, you'd have to know some of the basics, but from there it wouldn't be too hard to learn a lot from television. Out of ten Dutch stations, 7 of them broadcast like 90% American/English shows. And like 90% of the music we hear on the radio is either American or English.
English language is a big part of the daily life in Holland. Last week I heard that English is the official second language of Amsterdam. Didn't know that before...
I know that for decades, students in Eastern Europe learned Russian due to the Soviet takeover of those countries. Are they now offering English classes on a wide basis?
Yes. Speak Russian in the former Warsaw pact nations and you will collect your teeth up from the pavement. Because everything Russia touches will turn into shit, and for that reason everyone except Serbia hate Russia.
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