this post was submitted on 12 May 2025
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You're not completely wrong, as many in East Germany learnt russian. However, West Germans were (and all Germans nowadays are) able to choose their foreign languages as well. English is just the default, but I had a nerd in my class who chose Latin for first language. Schools usually offer at least three choices for first and second foreign languages.
Latin as first (second) language sounds so phenomenally weird to me. How late in school did you start learning? For me it was third grade in primary school, I can still remember that first sheet with pictures of "tree" and "umbrella" as it felt so alien to me for things to suddenly be called differently.
There was a choice for second (third) language in sixth class, I chose Latin there as well (there were only 2 choices, Latin and French). Unfortunately had to change school 2 years later and they only had French, so now I can't speak either. 🥴
English however never was optional (your post make it sound like it was for you, pretty sure no state does it that way though…?). In fact for all I know it's one of the primary classes everywhere in Germany, together with German and math.
We started it in the 5th year. It was mandatory to learn a foreign language and English was default. The guy who took Latin had to specificly request it. Everyone else didn't have to do anything and ended up in English lessons.
Same here. We could choose french, or if we did not bother to choose ended up in english... So I reckon either it changed in the early-mid 2000s or it is "Ländersache" and some have a choice option, others don't.