The Spanish government, fed up with the national reputation for not speaking foreign languages, will give young people up to 1,000 euros, or $1,300, each to study English.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero homed in on his country’s linguistic failings in his annual State of the Nation address to parliament on Tuesday, in which he announced the subsidy for people aged from 18-30.
“I have set myself the task of overcoming our traditional shortcomings with regard to languages,” said Zapatero, who cannot speak English but once tried his uncertain French in an address to France’s National Assembly.
English is compulsory in Spanish schools but, according to the European Commission, fewer than 20 percent of Spaniards can speak the language despite the needs generated by a massive tourism industry and a fast-growing economy.
That puts Spain near the back of the European Union class for foreign languages, beaten in the dunce stakes by English-speaking Britain and Ireland.
