The European Commission published a report that shows how a majority of countries or regions have lowered the starting age for compulsory language learning in the past 15 years and some even offer it in pre-school. In addition to this, the report confirms that English is the most taught foreign language in nearly all European countries, with French, Spanish, German and Russian following far behind.

The Key Data on Teaching Languages at School in Europe 2012 report confirms that English is by far the most taught foreign language in nearly all European countries, with French, Spanish, German and Russian following far behind. Moreover, the report shows that children are starting to learn foreign languages at an increasingly early age in Europe, with most pupils beginning when they are 6-9 years old. Recently, the Commission also published a recommendation to establish national systems for the validation of non-formal and informal learning.

The report published by the European Commission highlights that an increasing number of pupils now learn two languages for at least one year during compulsory education. On average, in 2009/10, 60.8% of lower secondary education students were learning two or more foreign languages - an increase of 14.1% compared to 2004/05. During the same period, the proportion of primary education pupils not learning a foreign language fell from 32.5% to 21.8%.

Few countries require their trainee language teachers to spend an immersion period abroad, says the report. Indeed, only 53.8% of foreign language teachers who took part in the recently published European Survey on Language Competences stated they have spent more than a month studying in a country where the language they teach is spoken. But this average masks a wide variation of approaches: 79.7% of Spanish teachers have spent more than one month studying their chosen language in a country where it is spoken, while this applies to only 11% of Estonian teachers. These findings raise the question of whether exposing future teachers to on-the-ground experience of using the language should be considered as a quality criterion in teacher training.