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Do you think it should be compulsory for kids in the UK and US to learn a second lang

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Reply 80
Original post by Fango_Jett
Yes, chemistry and physics are used a lot, but only used directly by a minute fraction of the population, and pretty much exclusively by graduates. I'm not sure where you get that idea that physics and chemistry don't take a long time to learn (they do). A Level chemistry and physics is practically useless in the real world, and the only people who will actually take that and use it directly are university graduates. You're holding a huge double standard here.


I never said that physics and chemistry don't take a long time to learn. I just said that learning these subjects (english, maths, sciences), has a bigger reward for the amount of effort invested.

Whether you like it or not, if an english speaking country focuses its education on english and stem subjects, it will grow faster and will have higher living standards. As many people have already said, non english speaking countries teach english as a second language. We're not short of people that can speak multiple languages, we're short on engineers, doctors and IT professionals.

I don't know where you live but a level chemistry and a level physics aren't compulsory.
Reply 81
Original post by kendellex
I disagree with RE.
I feel like there should be more focus on the faiths of the world to avoid the major misconceptions of certain religions (the most obvious being Islam). If each religion was taught in an unbiased manner I feel that hate towards certain religions would lessen.
I come from Northern Ireland so sectarianism is a big thing and j just want a world where we can all live happily ever after 😂


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I can completely understand. :smile:

Religion can be still be taught in Primary School. The most effective way to end sectarianism is to have Secular Primary and pre-schools from the age of 3 that gradually teaches all the major ideologies, non religious like Socialism or Conservatism and religious like Christianity and Islam. Perhaps sending children to schools based on their religion reinforces at a young age an 'us and them' mentality? Are there a lot of integrated schools in Northern Ireland? I read there is basically religious school apartheid.

Religion from year 7 can easily be covered in Philosophy, History, English, Geography and of course Citizenship where we should be funding many school trips to Religious place of worship.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by york_wbu
I never said that physics and chemistry don't take a long time to learn. I just said that learning these subjects (english, maths, sciences), has a bigger reward for the amount of effort invested.

Whether you like it or not, if an english speaking country focuses its education on english and stem subjects, it will grow faster and will have higher living standards. As many people have already said, non english speaking countries teach english as a second language. We're not short of people that can speak multiple languages, we're short on engineers, doctors and IT professionals.

I don't know where you live but a level chemistry and a level physics aren't compulsory.


We're short because everyone goes abroad once they realise they can make a better life for themselves. Most will go to English speaking languages but those who don't will find that language they learnt very useful.

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Original post by Erzan
I can completely understand. :smile:

Religion can be still be taught in Primary School. The most effective way to end sectarianism is to have Secular Primary and pre-schools from the age of 3 that gradually teaches all the major ideologies, non religious like Socialism or Conservatism and religious like Christianity and Islam. Perhaps sending children to schools based on their religion reinforces at a young age an 'us and them' mentality? Are there a lot of integrated schools in Northern Ireland?

Religion from year 7 can easily be covered in Philosophy, History, English, Geography and of course Citizenship where we should be funding many school trips to Religious place of worship.


I disprove of segregation based on religion. Most children in NI go to either Catholic or Protestant school. There are not that many integrated schools that I am aware of. My local integrated school was closed down and all the pupils either changed to another integrated or moved into a Catholic/Protestant one. I think it does reinforce a belief of 'us and them'.
We have loads of programs now that try to get the two communities to mix. Many primary schools from both communities tend to go on trips together but after primary school there isn't that much integration offered from the school.
Most of my generation (that I know) are cool though and don't care about religion but you still get the odd few who are very bitter 👎🏻


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Reply 84
Original post by kendellex
I disprove of segregation based on religion. Most children in NI go to either Catholic or Protestant school. There are not that many integrated schools that I am aware of. My local integrated school was closed down and all the pupils either changed to another integrated or moved into a Catholic/Protestant one. I think it does reinforce a belief of 'us and them'.
We have loads of programs now that try to get the two communities to mix. Many primary schools from both communities tend to go on trips together but after primary school there isn't that much integration offered from the school.
Most of my generation (that I know) are cool though and don't care about religion but you still get the odd few who are very bitter 👎🏻


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Oh I can't believe it, this should not be happening in the UK let alone Europe! Personally I am in favour of schools that do not discriminate on religion, sex, race or gender.

So would you say people under 21 are more content/happy with the peace between the UK and Ireland, getting on and so on?. Because the UK News is generally only reporting negative or dramatic stuff. :unimpressed:
Reply 85
Original post by Moonstruck16
We're short because everyone goes abroad once they realise they can make a better life for themselves. Most will go to English speaking languages but those who don't will find that language they learnt very useful.

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If that were the case, then surely teaching them a second language will make this problem worse.
Original post by york_wbu
If that were the case, then surely teaching them a second language will make this problem worse.


I doubt it. They will learn the language if they want the life and money. Anyway, all the foreign doctors and nurses the government loves to import instead aren't exactly well known to have a good standard of english. Our graduates will be fine.

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Original post by VotreAltesse
Should all kids going through school in the UK and US have to learn a second language? Maybe Spanish?


yes, all kids should have been taught secondary language.
And it should be either Spanish, or Modern Standard Arabic or Mandarin Chinese or, Urdu/Hindi. These are (apart from English) the most influential languages.
Original post by Erzan
Oh I can't believe it, this should not be happening in the UK let alone Europe! Personally I am in favour of schools that do not discriminate on religion, sex, race or gender.

So would you say people under 21 are more content/happy with the peace between the UK and Ireland, getting on and so on?. Because the UK News is generally only reporting negative or dramatic stuff. :unimpressed:


Oh i know quite a few schools segregated by gender and religion! I feel it is so much better to be in a school that accepts all genders, all religions, all races... Segregation is teaching us to discriminate from an early age. I went to a co-ed non-denominational school and I'm so glad I went as my views are definitely different to some others who went to a religion based school.

Most young people dont consider religion to be an excuse to discriminate. Obviously Ireland as a whole is very religious (NI still having a no abortion/gay marriage laws) so although religion can be an important part of their lives, most people dont use it as an excuse to hate.

I would take anything you see on TV which a pinch of salt. It is never as bad as you see, ever. Usually its just a few drunken youths who start these so called 'riots'. Not the hundreds and thousands you may see. Most sectarian events die down after July any way. There is a high security threat with some jobs (government officials, police etc) but that is due mostly to IRA like parties.
Northern Ireland is a safe country to be in. I rather live here than many places in the UK :smile:
Although I feel that learning languages is really important, some people with developmental and/or learning difficulties have enough trouble with learning one language. We should be teaching second languages earlier though - studies have shown that language-learning is a skill we need to keep using from when we're little otherwise we struggle.

We also need to change the things children are taught in language lessons too. How often do you need to say 'I have blond hair and blue eyes'? 'I'm allergic to ...' and 'I think he's having a heart attack' are far more useful phrases. My A Level in Spanish taught me all about the Spanish dictatorship and racism in Spain but with my B grade I couldn't tell the pharmacist I had a mouth ulcer when I went on holiday to Spain a couple of months later. I just kept saying 'duele' and 'boca' and pointing at my mouth. I don't think she understood. What I bought did absolutely nothing.

I was disappointed when my friend who did Latin at school said they just translated old texts. I'd hoped kids were learning how to ask for a lemonade and chips in a dead language.
Original post by cole-slaw
In the UK it should be compulsory to get a good grounding in a whole range of languages - I'd suggest about 8.


I'd have sooner spent my last 3 years in secondary school learning basic politics than failing to remember French verbs. Would've been a damn sight more useful too.
Reply 92
Original post by kendellex
Oh i know quite a few schools segregated by gender and religion! I feel it is so much better to be in a school that accepts all genders, all religions, all races... Segregation is teaching us to discriminate from an early age. I went to a co-ed non-denominational school and I'm so glad I went as my views are definitely different to some others who went to a religion based school.

Most young people dont consider religion to be an excuse to discriminate. Obviously Ireland as a whole is very religious (NI still having a no abortion/gay marriage laws) so although religion can be an important part of their lives, most people dont use it as an excuse to hate.

I would take anything you see on TV which a pinch of salt. It is never as bad as you see, ever. Usually its just a few drunken youths who start these so called 'riots'. Not the hundreds and thousands you may see. Most sectarian events die down after July any way. There is a high security threat with some jobs (government officials, police etc) but that is due mostly to IRA like parties.
Northern Ireland is a safe country to be in. I rather live here than many places in the UK :smile:
Do you feel young people are more less content with being part of the UK? because again the perception I get from on-line messages and the news, it is so hard to read the general mood. Sorry for all the questions but I love politics but know so little about the situation in Northern Ireland. :redface:
Original post by Erzan
Do you feel young people are more less content with being part of the UK? because again the perception I get from on-line messages and the news, it is so hard to read the general mood. Sorry for all the questions but I love politics but know so little about the situation in Northern Ireland. :redface:


My view is going to be bias due to the fact that I've been brought up in a unionist household so I love the UK 😂
I'm not sure about the general view... If you go by the assumption that all Catholics are nationalists and all Protestants are unionists then I would say it's 50/50. I think younger people could probably argue if they want a united Ireland or to stay within the UK. I only know two people who absolutely hate the UK and speak in Irish and fail to acknowledge UK rules. But they still live in Belfast 😂
Basically, I don't know 😂


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The practice itself of learning a language requires discipline and commitment and I think these are skills that should definitely be fostered in the UK and the US, quite apart from the idea of gaining language skills as well. But it is also important, in my view, to be able to speak a language other than just English, for business as well as for cultural reasons. The increasingly multicultural image of modern Britain and America mean that for successful integration and community cohesion, language skills are needed - they can bring people together; it's simply arrogant to suggest that everyone else should learn English and we shouldn't need to learn anything else.

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Original post by Plagioclase
I guess the argument against it is that English speakers simply don't need to learn another language to be relatively successful in today's economy. Having said that, I do completely agree that it would be better if people in English speaking languages were better at learning other languages. It's quite embarrassing how it's completely normal to be bilingual and even trilingual in many European languages, yet people will be visibly impressed if you know anything apart from English in the UK.

I don't really like the idea of forcing everyone to learn another language, it feels a bit brutal, but on the other hand I'm not sure how else you'd change the current situation. As everyone knows, languages are very difficult. Kids just have to deal with it in countries where English isn't the first language but since that necessity doesn't exist in the UK, a lot of people simply won't bother. You've got to get a good pass in a language at GCSE to get the EBacc but nobody cares about the EBacc so this is pretty irrelevant. So unless somebody actually comes up with a carrot method that genuinely works, I wouldn't be surprised if a compulsory second language was the only way to increase MFL uptake.

I just don't know if you can justify forcing people to take a second language when there's no urgent need. Contrary to English and Maths, you can get through life by just knowing English.


So having a compulsory subject at school, like History/Maths/English, is brutal?

It is comulsory to learn a foreign language in most EU countries (if not all of them), are all countries brutal except the Uk? :/
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by driftawaay
So having a compulsory subject at school, like History/Maths/English, is brutal?

It is comulsory to learn a foreign language in most EU countries (if not all of them), are all countries brutal except the Uk? :/


If it wasn't clear, I meant it feels a bit brutal because you can get by in life without knowing a foreign language. Whereas a good grasp of the English language and a basic knowledge of Maths are going to be important for most people's lives, you can get through life with just knowing English (I'm not sure what you mean about History since that's not compulsory, at least not by law). Of course learning a foreign language is a very enriching experience and should be strongly encouraged, but you've also got to bear in mind that it's very difficult and a lot of kids just switch off because it really is a bit of a love/hate thing. As I've said, encourage people to take a foreign language by all means but I just can't think of a rational justification for making it compulsory. It's simply not as crucial to an average person's everyday life as English and Maths are.
Original post by VotreAltesse
You could say that about maths and physics too.

Learning languages is easier.


If you say so.

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