Foreign Languages Taught in US Public Schools

[politicus]

The problem with French is that it has de facto lost to English in most fields where it once dominated.

Geographically French is already replaced with English in Vietnam and Cambodia as the first foreign language (and almost replaced in Laos - not that that matters). In Francophone sub-Saharan Africa the elite is increasingly switching to English as the language of business and sending their children to universities in the anglosphere. Rwanda has de facto switched to English and I think more countries will folllow down the road. Syria /Lebanon do not use French.

[politicus]

As electives, the standard group should be Spanish, Chinese, and Hindi, as these are three most useful languages as a composite of usefulness in business and those using the language in the United States.

Nobody conducts business in Hindi.

Really? I would have thought that it was rather common. I suppose I stand corrected.

This is a common misconception. All educated people in India speak English, and Hindi is only the language of a minority of the population.

A 40%+ minority and a majority language in large parts of northern India. "Nobody" seems a bit hyperbolic.

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