The drop in language students has nothing to do with Brexit

The number of students studying modern languages is plummeting, The Sunday Times says today. ‘The number of pupils studying German has fallen below 2,200 with French also on a downward trend — amid fears students are becoming little Englanders.’ It shows a graph suggesting, rather absurdly, that Brexit is linked to the drop. Really? Little Englanders because they don’t want to learn German? My hunch is that today’s young are more globally-minded than any generation that came before, and this is reflective of a Britain that voted in 2016 not to move away from Europe but to strengthen ties with the wider world.

When I was at school, we were told that Maastricht changes in 1992 would change our world: we were hearing of a European future – culturally and economically – which would be best exploited by those who spoke French, German, Spanish. Or all three. To my Cold War generation – and to me especially