Ever since 1958, The Modern Language Association (MLA) has been tracking the number of college students who study a language other than English. Every few years, the organization publishes its findings in a lengthy report. Sometimes enrollment goes up; sometimes enrollment goes down. But lately America’s love for foreign languages appears to be wavering.

The MLA’s newest report, released this month, highlights a drastic fallout in foreign language studies: roughly 100,000 fewer students took language classes in 2013 than did in 2009, the last time the association surveyed students. Even enrollment in Spanish language classes, which have been climbing for decades and account for more than half of all enrollments, fell off over the period—by roughly 70,000 students—marking the first time that’s happened since at least 1958, when the MLA started tracking enrollment.

The drop off is a pretty discouraging sign (for those who cherish foreign languages, anyway) considering that over the same period the number of students enrolled in college rose by well over 150,000. The rate at which students in the United States are opting to study foreign languages fell from 8.7 per 100 students to 8.1, the largest drop since 1995. The rate was 9.1 for every 100 students in 2006. The trend is pronounced, though perhaps not quite stark enough to draw any firm conclusions about the future. More.

See: The Washington Post

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