Shocking figures reveal only 17 percent Spaniards read the language, 14 percent understand it, and 11 percent speak it.

MADRID - What's the definition of a Spaniard? The answer: Someone who spends their whole life learning English. And, you could add, who never actually manages to learn it.

Bulgarians, Hungarians and Turks are the only ones who admit to speaking less English than Spaniards: 65 percent of people in Spain say that they aren't capable of speaking, reading nor writing the language. Why do the Spanish speak it so badly?

If you look at the statistics, the real problem is that the percentages have not changed over the years," says Ramon Aspa, the executive director of the Esade language school.

The numbers are shocking. A total of 70 percent of Spaniards recognize that English is important, but just four percent are learning it, according to a study by consultancy firm Ipsos.

The report says that 17 percent of Spaniards can read English, 14 percent can understand it and only 11 percent can speak it. "It's the Latin of the 21st century," says Aspa. "Why don't news programmes let us hear Obama's voice? Couldn't they subtitle him instead of dubbing him?"

But it's also a question of money. In 2006, 105,000 Spaniards travelled abroad to study - 94 percent of them to learn English. Another 45,000 took a government grant to travel abroad, with the majority heading to England or Ireland, according to the Spanish Association of Promoters of Courses Abroad, which estimates revenues for the sector at EUR 300 million. A four-week course abroad costs between EUR 2,500 and EUR 3,000, putting it out of the reach of many families.

Even though it is the eighth-biggest economy in the world, Spain is failing at English - or perhaps, it's failing at a second language. Neither the English nor the North Americans are experts in second languages, and it's attributed to a theory: countries whose language is spoken by a large number of people, such as France and England, don't feel the need to learn other languages.

But even for those that do, the standard in Spain is often not high enough. Isa has decided that the classes her kids attend in high school are not sufficient. As such, she has decided to bring in a private teacher, who gives them an hour of class a week. In July, they're off to a summer camp organised by their own school. The total cost? EUR 3,000 a year.

"The education system should make a jump in quality - stop teaching English as a foreign language and implant it in the system instead as a basic skill,” says Miquel Berga, the president of the Teachers Association of Catalonia. The problem, according to Berga, is that mechanisms exist in the school system that guarantee young people come into contact with English, but they are not there at university level.

Recent electoral promises fuel optimism over the future, although neither the prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero nor opposition leader Mariano Rajoy can speak English.

 In fact, only one of the five prime ministers who have governed since 1975 spoke English fluently: Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo. Zapatero wants all young people to speak English well within a time frame of 10 years. In four years, those same young people will have to spend 15 percent of their study time for being taught English.

The reality is that 100,000 people take the Cambridge ESOL test each year in Spain, which certifies their level. Of the students who took the First Proficiency test in 2006, 70 percent passed. "The level of English in Spain has improved considerably over the last 10 years," says Chris Hickey, director of the British Council in Spain.

There is more good news, from the guru of English and author of the book English Next by David Graddol.

"Historically, Spain has been one of the countries with the lowest level of English," says Graddol. "However, we've seen a huge change since 2005, and in two years we're going to see more of the same thanks to the effect of having more English teachers in Spanish schools. Having different subjects taught in English will have a multiple effect."

[El Pais / Ana Pantaleoni / Expatica]