German was compulsory in Poland
Rozpędziłeś się ciupeńko, Lyzko ... :-)
The only compulsory foreign language in Polish schools after WWII was Russian. It was taught seven years, starting with grade five. At the university level this was one of several elective languages; some students chose it out of laziness. So here you go - nine years altogether, almost zero practical conversational knowledge. We hated it, you know.
Elective languages were part of high school curriculum - starting with grade nine, I think. Smaller schools offered only one language (besides compulsory Russian). I started studying Latin but three weeks down the course our management found an English teacher and cancelled Latin lessons.