1,000 Euros for English?

The cliché of the monolingual American is very well known. Now Spaniards are apparently suffering fro the same “disease.” To redress the situation Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has decided to give young people up to 1,000 euros (680 pounds) each to study English. Although the study of English is mandatory in Spain, only 20% of Spaniards can speak the language, according to a study of the European Union. Spain is one of the “weakest” countries in the knowledge of foreign languages. “Weaker” still are English-speaking Britain and Ireland.