So many teenagers believe French, German and Spanish are irrelevant that continued low take-up for courses will see subjects sidelined to save depleted funds.
A senior Labour education figure said the unfolding trend would underline the British reputation as the 'language dunces of Europe'.
Graham Lane, leader of the 150 local education authorities in England, said youngsters should feel embarrassed when compared with their French peers, who have to master at least one other language before university.
'It's not just an education issue, it's a cultural issue to do with British attitudes towards languages. We speak a world language, people don't feel the necessity to learn a new language as in other countries,' said Linda Parker, director of the Association for Language Learning.
Business leaders are particularly frustrated. They claim one in 10 British companies is losing contracts because of employees' inability to speak a foreign language.
Headteachers and linguists believe schools will take advantage of the Government's plans to take foreign languages out of the compulsory curriculum from the age of 14.
The association, which represents language teachers, warns that hundreds of schools could drop subjects in the new school year, which starts this week.
Tamsin Caffrey of the National Centre for Languages, which works closely with Government on policy development, agreed such concerns were valid. She warned of the potential for a 'blanket' decision by schools to drop French and German.
'Potentially we could have no schools doing them, but that isn't going to happen,' she said.
Teachers are aware of schools allowing teenagers to drop foreign languages from age 14 -before the proposed Government reforms, which are due next year.
The number of children taking GCSE language courses could fall by more than 50 per cent in some schools in the next five years, warned Parker.
The situation is so dire that language teachers are hoping the example of England footballer David Beckham, who is attempting to master Spanish after moving to Real Madrid, might be enough to galvanise interest in that language.
John Dunford of the Secondary Heads Association admitted it had identified modern languages as subjects 'at risk' of falling by the wayside because of the funding crisis, blamed for the redundancies of hundreds of teachers. 'Schools are taking advantage of the new flexibility to drop modern languages.'
The latest GCSE results saw the number of entries to modern languages at a record low. Religious studies is now more popular than German.
Grades also deteriorated significantly, particularly in French and German.
The Government says it aims to give seven-year-olds the right to learn a language by 2012. However, if modern languages disappear from secondary schools and universities, critics ask where the teachers will come from.
Falling demand at degree level is likely to lead to fewer teachers in the specialisms. One university offering 230 places on a language course a decade ago is now struggling to fill just 65 places this year.