Importance of Spanish

I know this is going to sound controversial but I support the British government's proposal to no longer make French and German compulsory in schools. However, I do believe that one foreign language should be made compulsory and that is Castilian Spanish. Both French and German are in decline and with no disrespect to Mr Schroeder and Mr Chirac they are languages which are rather pointless if you are not going to live in either Germany or France. During a recent visit to the United States I found myself speaking a mixture of English and Spanish. Being able to converse in both languages is a definite plus on the other side of the “pond.” Now, my comments above could be slammed as being rather anti-European, perhaps so, but I am a realist and have come to the conclusion that if you want to live and work around the world, like a growing number of British people want to do, then speaking Spanish and English is vital. At the end of the day young people are being prepared for working life and this should be paramount when schools decide what should be taught. I was lucky because I learnt Spanish at an early age and, thanks to my circumstances, was fluent in a matter of months. With Spain being Britain's favourite holiday destination and with thousands of British people settling here Spanish would be a real advantage. Languages are as important as history, geography and literature and closely behind English, maths and science but it is important to decide what languages. Spanish will continue to grow, the same cannot be said for French and German.