By Rafael Gerena, of Instruxo
As China and Brazil experience strong economic growth...
Chinese and Portuguese now rank among the Top 5 foreign languages with the fastest-growing enrollment rates at U.S. colleges. College enrollment in Arabic classes boomed 46% in the three-year-period ending in 2009. The jump resulted from the U.S. government's recruiting of Arabic interpreters to help with communication in the Middle East.
But Spanish (864,986 enrollees) remains the the most popular foreign language studied on U.S. college campuses in terms of total enrollment.
The Bottom Line: U.S. college students are shifting the languages they study to match the countries experiencing strong economic growth.
Sources:
International Monetary Fund, Modern Language Association
Rafael Gerena is the author of the "Go Global" blog and a former Economics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal. He can be reached at 407-536-9146, rg@instruxo.com, www.linkedin.
Rafael Gerena is the author of the "Go Global" blog and a former Economics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal. He can be reached at 407-536-9146, rg@instruxo.com, www.linkedin.
