French was also looked on as a very aristocratic/educated sounding language, which held a certain appeal. I'm not familiar how popular German was, but I know latin/greek were taught in american private schools and universities for as long as such have existed.
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Was just about to say this. Really grew w/ Germany & it’s scientific contributions in 19th century. I was wrong about the founders: many knew French, German not so much. But German did take off shortly after our founding for obvious reasons.
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Replying to @SelimSeesYou @ClarenceBoddic3 and
I will try to find source but I once read somewhere German was the second largest language in US among newspaper publications in the early 20th century. Once WW1 got underway, it fell out of favor. And then Hitler did the thing (allegedly), and German was stamped out of the US.
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Indeed. Quick grab from Wikipedia. Among the plebs German had been the second language of America (via immigration) from before the founding right through til WW1.pic.twitter.com/jvpM7azr2f
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Replying to @SelimSeesYou @ClarenceBoddic3 and
Will try to find data on actual Americans study habits throughout time, not just migrants bringing their language.
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I'd do research, but am only on a phone for a few more weeks, and data is running out, ha
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HS & college enrollment. Data only goes back to 1948 & 1960 respectively. Would love to know what it looked like previously.pic.twitter.com/5HjFx94eA9
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Replying to @SelimSeesYou @AR_Maximum and
And this from just before the turn of the century.pic.twitter.com/5DnipjDQ4n
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And this for the long view. After WW1 happened, German was quashed & French/Spanish had a duopoly as languages studied in US.pic.twitter.com/qxRDj8i6LJ
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