In another recent competitiveness report Thailand ranked 54th out of 56 countries globally for English-language proficiency, the second-lowest in Asia.

ECONOMIST: Education in Thailand

Since then, he has played down his language proficiency, bolstered during childhood summers spent at his mother's family estate in Brittany.

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Differences in access persist, especially in terms of adults who have high-speed broadband at home, but they have become significantly less prominent over the years -- and have disappeared entirely when other demographic factors (including language proficiency) are controlled for.

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Fifty-five percent of New York students met the English Language Arts proficiency standards in 2012 by scoring at least a 3 on a scale of 1 to 4, and 65 percent scored at least a 3 on the math tests.

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The plan aims to create brigades better equipped to operate in specific regions by establishing language and cultural proficiency programs in their assigned territory.

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For starters, the two-year degree is housed at the Fletcher School, which specializes in international affairs, not business. (Tufts doesn't have a business school.) All students have previous international experience and they are required to demonstrate proficiency in a second language.

WSJ: Teaching Global Business

Another is the 2008 executive order requiring city agencies to implement language access for New Yorkers with limited English proficiency.

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