The planet has never been more connected, but students are hardly flocking to study foreign languages. Over all, enrollments in the courses have stagnated. Colleges are increasingly dropping foreign language as a requirement for graduation. Many departments have been targeted for closure or consolidation. That’s not true for all languages. Interest has surged in Arabic, Chinese, Korean, and Portuguese, mirroring geopolitical trends. But other departments are withering. None has been hit harder in recent decades than German. Its enrollment is less than half of what it was in 1968, all the more notable as the number of college students has nearly tripled. Since 1990 more than 280 colleges have stopped teaching German.

February 10, 2016 ・ From Chronicle of Higher Education