Question

In Mrs. Harrington’s history class, 80% of the students speak English and 60% speak German. There are 30 students who can speak only one language. What is the maximum number of students who may speak both English and German in her class?
so I think i'm supposed to start with finding the total, but i don't know where to begin. can you please show all your steps and why.

Answer 1

I doubt there any students who speak no language, so since (80+60) = 140%, 40% speak both English and German.

So, 40% speak only English and 20% speak only German.

That means that 60% of the students speak only one language.

So, if there are x students,

.60x = 30
x = 50

40% of 50 is 40 who speak both.