My kids’ best friends’ nanny was a lawyer in South America. Many of the Hispanic guys I work with don’t have a lot of education, but they are smart.
I had decent French instruction in high school - all my teachers were native speakers. My kids took Latin - the older went on to AP Latin with a very good teacher. Younger son started all over in college with Arabic and found for him immersion was the key for him to learning a language.
In NY the Advanced Regents requirements call for 3 years of a foreign language and passing the Regent’s Exam. That’s enough to get them into most colleges.