Foreign Languages in Schools SEATTLE, WA (KPLU) - The mastery of foreign languages has never been one of this country's strengths. Only 9 percent of Americans are fluent in a second language, compared with more than 50 percent of Europeans. There is a campaign now underway to make foreign language learning more mainstream. Congress has declared 2005 the year of language learning. In the first segment of a three-part series on foreign languages in the schools, Deborah Wang spoke with Michele Anciaux Aoki, a long-time foreign language advocate and leader with the Washington State Coalition for International Education. © Copyright 2009, KPLU