Mr. Donald Ewing:

With regard to other languages, the background is that modern foreign languages like Spanish or Italian are very phonically regular. What you see is what you get. A letter carries a consistent sound at all times. My understanding is that, when modern foreign languages are taught in primary school, it is more about raising interest or awareness but, when they are taught formally, a phonological approach may well be taken. That is a lot simpler with southern Mediterranean languages because of their phonological regularity.