The Maltese may pride themselves on their knowledge of English, taught as it is from an early age, but they should not be complacent about it - continental schools are starting to catch up.

A study of 30 European countries has found that schoolchildren are learning foreign languages earlier and earlier, and English is by far the predominant one.

English is the most taught foreign language in schools at all levels in virtually all countries and is getting even stronger, especially in central and eastern Europe, says the study, published earlier this month by the Eurydice European Unit with the support of the European Commission.

Besides the strong presence of the English language in Malta for historic reasons, Malta is still ahead when it comes to teaching it to schoolchildren. It is only in Malta and Norway, for example, that all primary school students learn English, in both cases starting from the very first year. In only 10 countries is the language taught to half or more of the pupils.

But the study found that the percentage of pupils in primary education learning at least one foreign language has risen almost everywhere in recent years. And the growing tendency is to insist on pupils learning English. In Italy, for example, English has been compulsory from the first year of primary education since the beginning of the last academic year.

In secondary school, the proportion of European pupils learning English has reached close to 90 per cent, not far from Malta's 100 per cent. It has become compulsory at this level in 13 countries, and in some countries it is even obligatory in post-secondary education.

It is at this level that Malta's advantage has been eroded the most. In post-secondary schools the proportion of European students learning English remains at around 90 per cent, whether or not it is compulsory, while in Malta it drops to below 80 per cent.

"... this is no doubt partly due to the fact that in the one or more final years (at post-secondary level), foreign language teaching is no longer compulsory," the study says about Malta and two other countries with similar figures.

However, when it comes to the learning of foreign languages in general, Malta can still hold its head high. It joins Estonia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Finland at the top of the list of European countries with more than 15 per cent of students in secondary school learning three or even more languages, according to the study.