Extract

The goal of this publication is to monitor the situation of the German language and other foreign languages in Visegrad countries. The monitoring was based on a standard educational biography of each person: from kindergarten, through elementary school, high school all the way to tertiary education, lifelong learning included. All of the Visegrad countries share borders with at least one German speaking country: Poland with Germany, the Czech Republic with Germany and Austria, and finally Slovakia and Hungary with Austria. Since Germany is the largest trade partner for all four countries and Austrian companies are also well represented, one of the chapters is dedicated to the position of German language in the Visegrad economy.

The publication introduces legislative documents, which impact the language politics of the countries. These documents go beyond the national level, since the Visegrad countries are members of the European Union, and national levels are clearly affected by European dimensions. Further, current studies and research papers on related topics were evaluated, as were articles documenting practical examples. The publication also contains the authors’ study results, i.e., research on foreign language learning carried out among parents of children attending kindergarten and elementary school, and among students of elementary and high schools, as well as studies documenting the foreign language needs of 150 companies in each country.

It was determined that the German language has a strong position in all Visegrad countries. In terms of number of students, it is the second most often taught...