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In the Netherlands:
- English - compulsory from age of 11 on Elementary schools. Could be compulsory from age of 5 within years.
- German - compulsory on high schools (depending on level), but halfway you can choose to continue or drop
- French - compulsory on high schools (depending on level), see German.
Many other languages are offered as a free choice, like Spanish.
For example, I had English, German and French the first three years at high school, but dropped French and only did exam in English and German. English is compulsory and German was my second choice language. I didn't do French because I found it quite difficult.
Back in my day at school in Norway, English was mandatory from the age of 9-10 and then you had to pick a second mandatory foreign language at 13 - German or French. I picked German.
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
Danish schools start teaching English in first class (first-grade). A high level of proficiency in third language used to be mandatory, but I think that has been dropped recently.
Had to study English (9 years), Latin (6 years) and Spanish (4 years). I could have chosen French instead of Spanish. Other popular languages in high school include Italian and Russian.
The number of languages you have to learn depend on the type of school you attend, though. The bare minimum you have to take is 6 years of English (Hauptschule/Polytechnischer Lehrgang, which doesn't allow you to go to university). Some other types of schools teach Latin and Greek alongside three modern foreign languages.
In the Netherlands:
- English - compulsory from age of 11 on Elementary schools. Could be compulsory from age of 5 within years.
Can you learn English in the Netherlands without having to study it in school?
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