 German, Spanish, French and Italian. These are just some of the foreign languages students will be encouraged to learn under the latest education action plan launched by the government. The plan sets out an ambitious road map to put Ireland in the top 10 countries in Europe for the teaching of foreign languages by 2026. Speaking at the launch, T. Tugliov-Radker said it was a shame that many people in Ireland can only master one language. A viewpoint that many students in DCU share. Yeah, well I studied French in the Levinsert and I didn't really take to it that much but I was in Germany last week and I definitely think that language, a second language would be very beneficial because, you know, we're so isolated just speaking English, you know. A lot of people speak other languages that aren't English and when I was in Germany I really found it difficult at times. Yeah, I do know another language. Well, I know conversational level of Spanish. I used to live there so obviously I know a good bit. I do think it's important for people to even attempt to learn a little bit of another language. So yeah, I think it's something that everyone should look into learning at least once in their life. I kind of regret not taking up a language at university because I think if you ever want to work abroad it's just really handy to have. And even, you know when you go on a holiday I kind of feel really ignorant that you just know English and that's it and no one knows any other language. So, especially with my course I do, I had the option to take a language and I didn't and sometimes I regret it not doing it because then I kind of widened the scope for possible future careers and stuff like that. The announcement was welcomed by DCU's language school. This is something that the language community in Ireland, the language professionals, researchers, teachers and so on has been waiting for at least 30 years because there is no language strategy or language policy in Ireland. As Ireland and its economy build closer links with Europe, knowledge of foreign languages will be crucial. Companies need to have people who can engage with Europeans and beyond if they really want to export for instance because this idea that the word speaks English so you don't need to speak their language, this is, you know, it is a myth really. The strategy for the teaching of foreign languages is set to change dramatically with 20% of all higher education students learning a language as part of their course by 2026. Shauna Cone, DCU TV News.