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Most Studied Foreign Languages in
the U.S.
Spanish is the most commonly studied foreign language in the U.S., determined by the number of students enrolled in foreign language classes in colleges and universities. In 2006, over 822,000 students were taking Spanish courses, 10.3% more than in 2002. Arabic is the tenth most popular foreign language, but enrollment increased 126.5% in just four years!
| Language |
Fall 2006 enrollments |
% change from 2002 |
| 1. Spanish |
822,985 |
10.3% |
| 2. French |
206,426 |
2.2 |
| 3. German |
94,264 |
3.5 |
| 4. American Sign Language |
78,829 |
29.7 |
| 5. Italian |
78,368 |
22.6 |
| 6. Japanese |
66,605 |
27.5 |
| 7. Chinese |
51,582 |
51.0 |
| 8. Latin |
32,191 |
7.9 |
| 9. Russian |
24,845 |
3.9 |
| 10. Arabic |
23,974 |
126.5 |
Source: Association of Departments of Foreign
Languages at the Modern Language Association, Foreign Language
Enrollments in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall
2006.
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education,
Inc. All rights reserved.
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