US deficits in FL learning

Today in the Cincinnati Enquirer's online edition of their newspaper there was an article about Americans are behind in foreign language learning. I gleaned some good quotes from the article. The link is below the quotes.

" 'It's always been a good thing to know more about the world and to speak another language, but now it's become an issue of our economic security, our national security and our public diplomacy,' says Charles Kolb, president of the Committee for Economic Development in Washington, D.C. 'Speaking a second language gives our young people an edge in terms of the competition we're facing around the globe. Believe me, you win kudos if you're negotiating in another country and you're fluent in that language.' "


"Number of hours of instruction to reach advanced level of speaking:
Group I: French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish - 720 hours
Group II: Farsi, German, Greek, Hindi - 1,320 hours
Group III: Polish, Russian, Turkish, Vietnamese - 1,320 hours
Group IV: Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean - 2,400-2,760 hours

Four years of a high school language course (which few students complete) equals 480 hours of instruction.
Source: Alice Omaggion Hadley, retired professor of French, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champlain"

Percentages of students that take a foreign language:
"Grades K-5: Ohio 3 percent; Kentucky less than 1 percent
Grades 6-8: Ohio 19 percent; Kentucky 2 percent
Grades 9-12: Ohio 54 percent; Kentucky 67 percent
Source: Ohio and Kentucky Departments of Education"

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090924/EDIT03/909270306/Can+you+read+this?