Madrid, May 30 (Reuters): The Spanish government, fed up with the national reputation for not speaking foreign languages, will give young people up to 1,000 euros ($1,300) each to study English.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero homed in on his country’s linguistic failings in his annual state of the nation address to Parliament today, in which he announced the subsidy for people aged from 18-30. “I have set myself the task of overcoming our traditional shortcomings.”