Hebrew language study sees decline among US college students

The Chronicle for Higher Education reports on a new study by the US-based Modern Language Association that finds a general decline in foreign language study among American undergraduates — and an especially steep decline in the study of Hebrew, both biblical and modern.

According to the Chronicle, “enrollment in language courses other than English fell 9.2 percent in colleges and universities in the United States between the fall of 2013 and the fall of 2016.”

The sharpest declines were in Biblical and modern Hebrew, Italian, ancient Greek, and Portuguese programs, “which ranged from 17% to 24% drops.”

Only Japanese and Korean saw growth, at 3.1% and 13.7% respectively.