Studied Foreign Languages in the U.S.

mac   Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:50 am GMT
This is from MLA and gives an interesting update on foreign language trends at U.S. univesities. Virtually all lanagues have increased the number of students (which is good for the US), while some formerly less popular ones have gained some ground. The specific stats are on page 2.

http://www.mla.org/pdf/release11207_ma_feb_update.pdf
Guesty   Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:41 am GMT
Arabic and the Asian languages made a big increase, although they are still the minority. I'm actually surprised Italian increased as much as it did. It might catch up to German. I wonder why that is?

French and German are hanging in there ok, but Spanish looks to be in the best position as it has the most students and also showed a healthy increase compared to the others. I wonder if Rusian or Portugese will ever get more popular?
Guest   Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:52 am GMT
Italian caught with German in the US and with Spanish and German in UK it's because many English speaking tenor singers recorded songs in Italian such as "The Prayer", "Caruso", "Che Sara" and others. One example of these is Josh Groban whose songs are in Italian and his CD's became phenomenal hits.
Skippy   Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:17 am GMT
Guest is probably right. My friend who got me to come here for grad school is in the school of music and they all have to take English, German, Italian, and French diction, but a majority (maybe plurality) end up studying Italian as opposed to German or French.

I'm not positive, but French and Spanish may be pretty close here in Louisiana.

Also, a lot of people get seduced by French's "sexiness" in high school (I don't see it) and by the time they get to college, they still want to learn a "sexy" language but they're sick of French so they end up doing Italian.
Forza Italy   Wed Apr 30, 2008 8:28 am GMT
The reason of Italian success is because Italy is sexy.
Think to all the fashion brands, to the Italian supercars, to classical music, to Italian renaissance, to roman empire, to mafia, to spaghetti western, to italian cusine, to Florence, Venice, Rome, ecc. They are the most controversal and sexy country of the world.
Guesty   Wed Apr 30, 2008 8:55 am GMT
Be careful Skippy. The Franco-police might come after you for not saying French is sexy. I agree with you and Forza. Italian is the best sounding romance language. I would rather speak/hear Italian over French. I think Italian sounds better and isn't so related to snobbiness as French is. I just wish it was a little more popular. French has more international weight, which is why more people study French I guess.
David   Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:10 pm GMT
<< I'm not positive, but French and Spanish may be pretty close here in Louisiana. >>

I agree, although there are slightly more Spanish learners where I live (New Orleans). I'm guessing that French is more popular in Lafayette, Houma, etc?

I agree with the comment about Italian. It has a beautiful, almost musical quality to it.
Guest   Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:15 pm GMT
Are there many spics in Louisiana?
Guest   Thu May 01, 2008 3:21 am GMT
<< I'm not positive, but French and Spanish may be pretty close here in Louisiana. >>

<< I agree, although there are slightly more Spanish learners where I live (New Orleans). I'm guessing that French is more popular in Lafayette, Houma, etc? >>

Spic troll! French has an official status in Louisiana because it's a French bastion so how can Spanish be more popular in New Orleans than French?

From what I know here in Santa Fe, New Mexico, French is more studied than Spanish in High School.
Guest   Thu May 01, 2008 3:22 am GMT
<< I'm not positive, but French and Spanish may be pretty close here in Louisiana. >>

<< I agree, although there are slightly more Spanish learners where I live (New Orleans). I'm guessing that French is more popular in Lafayette, Houma, etc? >>

Spic troll! French has an official status in Louisiana because it's a French bastion so how can Spanish be more popular in New Orleans than French?

From what I know here in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico, French is more studied than Spanish in High School.
Guest   Thu May 01, 2008 3:32 am GMT
<<French has an official status in Louisiana>>

No it doesnt.
Guest   Thu May 01, 2008 3:52 am GMT
>> <<French has an official status in Louisiana>>

No it doesnt. >>

Yes it does have at least in the Parishes inhabited by the Cajuns.
Skippy   Thu May 01, 2008 3:53 am GMT
No, French has no legal status in Louisiana. I live in Louisiana and there is no official language, though both English and French (as well as Spanish, German, Hungarian, and others) are spoken in relatively large communities.
Guesty   Thu May 01, 2008 4:32 am GMT
Looks like a franco-fanatic got a little upset here about Louisiana. Ha!

It's funny because David's post seemed like he was giving an honest opinion or observaton and immediately a franco jumps on him and labels him a troll. So typical. Who's really the troll here?
Guesty   Thu May 01, 2008 4:37 am GMT
Also, maybe New Orleans has fewer French students because more people there already know French in the first place. Skippy, does this make sense? I've never been to LA so I don't really know how many people actually speak French there.