According to an American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) survey, in 2007-2008:
• 18% of U.S. public school students were enrolled in foreign language courses
• 40% of those enrolled in a foreign language were in California, Texas, New York, Florida, or Pennsylvania
• 17 states, half of them in the northeast, reported a decrease in the number of students enrolled in a foreign language
• 72% of enrollments were in Spanish, 14% in French, 4% in German, 2% in Latin, 82% in Japanese, 67% in Chinese, and 14% in Russian; another 5% of enrollments were in one of several other languages, including American Sign Language
• Enrollment in Chinese had increased 195% since 2004-05, while enrollment in French and Latin had declined slightly
