widely spoken language in the European Union and the second most widely learned language in the world, but despite its strong international position, the outlook for French in Europe is not so encouraging. Over the last four years, the number of French-speakers in the continent has fallen by 8%.

In the non-francophone regions of Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg, French remains the most commonly taught foreign language, but elsewhere in Europe, the teaching of French is in decline.

In Germany, for example, French is still the second most commonly taught foreign language, but according to the study, its “reputation as a difficult language to learn,” and the rising popularity of other languages, particularly Spanish, threaten this position. In Austrian schools, French has already been overtaken by Italian as the second mostchildren at home, as it is the common language of the local labour markets. In a region of such linguistic diversity, French is also vitally important for international trade, and the strong economic performance of many Sub-Saharan economies in recent years has placed French as a language of opportunity in Africa and beyond.

French is the language of choice for dealings between Chinese investors and African businesses, and is now the third most commonly learned foreign language in China, after English and Russian.