This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English EducationReport.

It seems more and more Americans want schools to teach foreignlanguages to children younger than five years old. The most popularway to teach these young children another language is calledimmersion.

Children in immersion programs hear only the new language in theclassroom. The children play games, sing songs and talk to oneanother in the new language. Some experts say immersion programs arethe most effective way for young children to learn a language.

But there can be a problem when children in the United Statesbegin to learn another language at such an early age. Not manyelementary schools continue the effort as the children get older.

Only seven of the fifty states require schools to teach a foreignlanguage to students between the ages of six and twelve. Languageexperts say it is easier for younger children to learn a language.Still, American schools generally do not begin to teach foreignlanguages until secondary school. By then, students are aboutthirteen years old.

American schools face difficult choices about the cost ofeducational programs. The federal government has increased supportfor foreign language study in its education law called No Child LeftBehind.

At the college level, the Modern Language Association says morestudents than ever are studying foreign languages. The grouprecently announced its findings for the period fromnineteen-ninety-eight until two-thousand-two. The number of studentswho studied foreign languages in American colleges and universitiesincreased by seventeen percent.

Spanish is the most widely taught language in American collegesand universities. Other popular languages include French, German,Japanese, Chinese and Italian. The Modern Language Association saysmore languages are being studied now than in the past. It says thelargest growth since nineteen-ninety-eight has been in the study ofAmerican Sign Language, Arabic and biblical Hebrew.

The association says about nine percent of college students inthe United States study foreign languages. That is the highest levelsince nineteen-seventy-two.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by NancySteinbach. This is Steve Ember.