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Commentators consider the meaning and implications of the declining popularity of language GCSEs.

The of the absence of any foreign languages in the top 10 most popular GCSE subjects. It insists there is a point to learning languages:

"No doubt there are many who would question the need to learn a foreign language. After all, English is so widely used around the world that it is possible to do business almost anywhere without being conversant in another tongue. But while there are compelling practical reasons for seeking mastery of a foreign language (whether they be to advance one's job prospects or facilitate travel for pleasure), this is not merely a utilitarian matter. Learning a language broadens the mind, teaches the rudiments of grammar and gives a student a greater understanding of his or her native tongue."

The the drop in language learning will makes the UK more inward looking:

"A suspicion that the web is more Anglosphere-wide than worldwide fuels a feeling that others are under more pressure to learn our language than we are to master theirs. Within a learn-to-earn educational philosophy, it is then a short step to deciding that our priorities should lie elsewhere. This is a dangerous line of argument, even in its own terms. If the weave of the web is working in favour of English, there is an awfully long way to go. Three in four of the world's people speak no English, which is a lot of people to give up hope of trading with. More profoundly, to forgo familiarity with foreign languages is to forgo the chance to see the world from a foreign point of view."

The that apportioning blame at inward looking children is wrong:

"In many ways, today's younger generation is more internationally aware than any before. No; most of the blame must be placed squarely on the last government for making foreign languages optional after 14, before the supposed quid pro quo - foreign language teaching in primary schools - was anything like in place. Nor has the new Government given any hint of wanting to reinstate compulsory language study to GCSE."

The [subscription required] schools will start employing fewer language teachers:

"It was probably inevitable that enrolment in languages would drop after the previous Government scrapped the requirement for a compulsory language at GCSE. French also feels less relevant these days than Spanish and Mandarin, which have seen small rises in applications. Yet a fall of almost 50 per cent in those signing up for French since 1999 gives cause for concern. Whatever the merits of particular foreign languages, they are among the most demanding subjects in the curriculum. It is important that all pupils have the opportunity to study a foreign language if they wish to: schools must retain teaching capacity as enrolment dwindles."

Political blogger that if he had been elected as MP (he failed to get selected by the Tory party to stand) he would have made languages a priority, but not necessarily French:

"We have never been great linguists in this country, and many take the attitude that we don't need to learn a language because everyone abroad speaks English. That's an incredibly 'Little Englanderish" attitude and one which hampers people who do business abroad. The ability to converse with people in their own language can open many doors. "Perhaps, however, we are also guilty of being too conservative in our teaching of languages. Maybe instead of sticking to trusty old French and German we should be encouraging schools to offer more courses in Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin and Russian."

the fall in language learning to the increase in students taking religious studies, which, he concludes, is because it is easier:

"...GCSE religious studies exams are so easy that an average 8-year-old frozen in suspended animation in the 1950s could, upon being awoken, walk into an exam hall and achieve an A* within 20 minutes.
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"I'm not doing down religion teachers, who do a wonderful job, nor any hardworking pupils, but the exams are clearly not stretching them. It was recently revealed, after all, that a religious studies GCSE paper asked pupils to 'name the two people' standing beside the baby in the nativity scene. Another asks why Christmas is 'an important festival for Christians'."

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