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?

Question

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.