Do you have a second language?

DO YOU HAVE A SECOND LANGUAGE? 7% v 70% only 7% of Irish 10 year olds learn a foreign language, compared with an EU average of above 70% TOP FOUR LANGUAGES STUDIED IN EUROPE & THE MOST COMMONLY STUDIED LANGUAGES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS (% of pupils in 2011) 2/3 18% 23% 100% 100% SPANISH FRENCH of working age adults in the EU28 in 2011 stated they know a foreign language secondary school students in Czech Republic 2 or more languages are studied Sweden 21% GERMAN 45% 94% 100% 19% ÅÅ ENGLISH Netherlands of Irish students at Leaving Cert level study no foreign languages 43% Germany 93% 93% 27% Poland 50% v 8% 50% in the EU 50% of secondary school students study 2 or more languages, whereas in Ireland the comparable figure is only 8% Ireland 57% 16% UK 25% 9% 500 M France 100% the number of employees Paypal had to hire from abroad to staff positions in its Irish office, to meet its linguistic requirements 66% 1.42% Romania of the total student population in Ireland went on an Erasmus exchange in the academic year 2011/2012, up from 1.29% in the academic year 2010/2011. This is a promising trend Spain Italy 98% 97% 22% 98% 86% 18% Source - Eurostat / Design- Heather Griffin