Language teaching booming in Spain

MADRID - Spain's economic downturn is sending jobless workers flocking back to school to learn other languages, mainly English, to boost their appeal to employers, providing a boon for language academies.

With an unemployment rate of over 21 percent, the highest in Europe, many of those with a job are also brushing up their languages skills in the hope that this will help them keep it or lead to a more secure position.

"The deeper the crisis, the stronger people's desire to develop their skills," said Antonio Murillo Isidoro, 37, the director of expansion at English Connection which runs Spain's largest network of English language schools.