Almost all Cypriot pupils learn a 2nd language, 99.8pct English, Eurostat says

Almost all high-school and all primary school pupils in Cyprus studied English in 2014, according to the European statistical service Eurostat.

In 2014, more than 18m primary school pupils (84 per cent) in the European Union were studying at least one foreign language, including nearly 1m (around five per cent) studying two foreign languages or more, according to Eurostat.

Meanwhile at the lower secondary level in Cyprus, 99.9 per cent of the pupils studied English, 88.1 per cent French, 1.4 per cent German, 0.5 per cent Spanish, 0.7 per cent Russian, and 0.2 per cent Italian.

Of all the primary pupils, 91.9 per cent learn just one secondary language and 8.1 two or more, of which English 99.8 per cent and French 2.1 per cent.

All or nearly all pupils at primary level in 2014 attended foreign language classes in Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta (100 per cent) Croatia, Italy and Austria (99.9 per cent), Spain (99.5 per cent), as well as in France (99 per cent) and Poland (97.7 per cent).

At primary level, English was by far the most popular language, studied by over 17 million pupils. The dominance of English is confirmed at the lower secondary level, with over 17 million pupils in the EU learning English as a foreign language (97 per cent) in 2014.

French (5m or 34 per cent of the relevant population) came second, followed by German (3m or 23 per cent), Spanish (2m or 13 per cent), Russian (0.5m or three per cent) and Italian (0.2m or one per cent).

English is the most common foreign language studied at primary level in every EU Member State, except Belgium and Luxembourg, both multilingual countries.

English, which is mandatory in several countries, was also studied by an overwhelming majority of pupils at lower secondary level in almost all EU Member States in 2014.

Only in Belgium (46.3 per cent), Luxembourg (54 per cent), Hungary (69.3 per cent) and Bulgaria (87.2 per cent) was the share of pupils learning English below 90 per cent.

French was the second most popular foreign language studied at lower secondary level in the EU. The highest proportions of pupils learning French as a foreign language were registered in Luxembourg (100per cent), Cyprus (88.1 per cent) and Romania (84.6 per cent).

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.