The line chart illustrates how many 13-year-old students opted for French and Mandarin in a school in the UK from 2000 to the present.
Overall, it can be seen that more students have been choosing to study Mandarin, but French is still the most popular language option.
In 2000, the number of students who took French was 150, compared to just under 20 learners who chose Mandarin. Over the next five years, the figure fell considerably for French to 90 learners, but rose dramatically for Mandarin and reached a peak at 75 students. French gained some popularity in 2006, but has remained fairly stable since then at about 90 seniors. So there was a significant difference in numbers at this time. In contrast, the number of students taking Mandarin dipped in 2006 and then fluctuated before it returned to 75.
In 2009, students’ study of French and Mandarin saw slight fluctuations to around 85 and 65 pupils. However, by 2010, the number of Mandarin learners had surpassed those studying French, reaching roughly 80 seniors. Following that, although the students choosing Mandarin has been stable gradually, the number of seniors interested in French has fluctuated since 2010 till the present year.
