Language studies are hot for students at all levels—not only in traditional tongues like French and Spanish, but also in less common ones such as Ojibwe, Swahili, and Vietnamese. Kids not yet in middle school but enrolled in foreign language classes have doubled in the past decade, while their college-age counterparts have swelled by 7.5 percent since 1998.

A record 1.4 million students are enrolled in foreign languages at U.S. institutes of higher ed, according to a new study by the Modern Language Association (MLA)—reflecting the fact that 85 percent of Americans believe that foreign language skills improve job prospects. Western European languages, especially Spanish, remain the most popular. But world events clearly influence linguistic trends: The MLA finds that enrollment in strategic languages such as Arabic and Biblical Hebrew is up 92.3 and 59 percent, respectively, since 1998.

Rosemary Feal, executive director of the MLA, notes the growing interest in so-called heritage languages. Many immigrants who once shunned their native tongue in an effort to assimilate now take pride in speaking with younger relatives and neighbors. Private lessons are increasingly popular as well. Patrizia Saraceni Corman, who grew up in Italy, couldn't find an Italian school in New York City for her young son. She founded Italian for Toddlers with half a dozen students, which soon grew to 160. For many, foreign language lessons are as de rigueur for American youth today as music instruction was for their parents.

The Washington International School (WIS) in the District of Columbia has offered a full-immersion curriculum for elementary-age children in French, Spanish, and Dutch since the 1960s. Demand for Spanish has increased dramatically, and middle schoolers can now add a non-Western language to their schedule. Though most WIS graduates are fluent in at least two foreign languages, few choose to major in the field in college. They don't need to, maintains WIS deputy head David Merkel. Instead, "most pursue an international degree of some sort, such as economics, law, or government," in which understanding of both language and culture are important for success. But many do choose to pick up a third or fourth language, such as Japanese—and do so without much effort. Feal confirms that cognitive research shows that "once you learn one foreign language, it's pretty easy to do it again."

Many Asian and European countries have encouraged multilingualism for generations. Harriet Barnett, an educational consultant for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, says the United States is deeply in need of people who are proficient in other languages and who understand other cultures. "Starting young gives one the opportunity to achieve a high level of proficiency in the language," she explains. "And it opens minds to other ways of doing things before they feel that only their way is the right way."