Understanding linguistic diversity among London's schoolchildren is key for the city’s future as a 'global player', research shows.

By Eleanor Chute, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Jun. 25--To meet the needs of today's global economy, some states are now requiring that all students learn a foreign language.

By Richard Garner All the country's 250 specialist language schools have been told by a government adviser that they should put Mandarin on the curriculum as "the language of tomorrow".

According to news.gov.hk: Revised teaching medium arrangements for secondary schools will be implemented from September 2010. At least 85% ofSecondary One studentsmust be able to learn through English at schools that adoptthe languageasits teaching medium.

Primary school pupils will say 'Auf Wiedersehen' to German lessons and 'Bonjour' to French next month as part of a scheme to promote modern languages. A Welsh pilot scheme is working to encourage young children to speak a foreign language and give them a head start before they begin secondary school.