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

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Should be compulsory to learn 5 languages. Honestly languages are the most brilliant and fascinating things^_^
I speak French, Arabic and Spanish fluently. Hoping to be somewhat fluent in Italian and German over the next 2 years.

Go for italian first, it's a breeze when you know Spanish and French fluently :smile:

I'm going for German soon :smile:

Reply 21

Rhetorical Hips

No, leave it as optional. Sure it's beneficial to learn a second language, I just think you should give people a choice.

Reply 22

The Dictator

I can speak English and understand Spanish and French. I've been learning French for the past couple of months and can understand basic paragraphs when given to me. I've also shown an interest in learning Persian at some point, although I am not sure whether to continue with Spanish or go straight for Persian as I am deeply interested in both languages. I have even considered becoming a philologist.

Yes, it should absolutely be compulsory, instead of teaching useless subjects like Food Tech to children.

Reply 23

JRM3PM

Original post by VotreAltesse

This is the most pathetic and ignorant response ever.

It's not that they don't have enough time, it's because they're too damn lazy, and frankly your negativity in regards to learning language disgusts me.

I lost it after I read that part I've left in italic...

Don't be naive. By making a second language compulsory, you're taking away time from other subjects. Whether students are lazy or not isn't the point - it's irrelevant. Teaching/learning time should be focused on subjects that matter.

Learning a language is simply too much of a speciality to make it compulsory. What language do you want them to learn? French? Spanish? Germany? Mandarin? Japanese? Unless they are directly dealing with these countries, it's not going to help them and it's not like you can make students learn all of them. Most students won't use their second language and those who do, probably would of picked it as an option to learn.

So why not spend extra time teaching students about english and stem subjects. Things everyone is going to use and the subjects that would benefit the country the most.

Reply 24

Moonstruck16

I will admit, the idea of being monolingual makes me shudder. I don't think it should be compulsory but coming from a language filled background means that I really want my kids to be bilingual at least. Preferably in one of the more useful languages to begin with.

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Reply 25

Punkrockfan

Original post by VotreAltesse

Go for italian first, it's a breeze when you know Spanish and French fluently :smile:

I'm going for German soon :smile:

Okay then, thanks for the advice^_^ and good luck w German:-)

Reply 26

Man.bear.pig

Original post by VotreAltesse

I was lucky enough to learn 2 further languages at school. I was futher lucky to be great at linguistics and learning 4 more.

Kids in countries like Denmark and the Nederlands are taught English at a young age. Almost 95% of people in the Nederlands speak English.

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

so another non-english speaking country learns the lingua franca so now the country speaking the lingua franca by default has to learn less relevant languages? bad analogy but making it compulsory is bull****. Languages are skills and I feel if someone wants those skills they need to select it themselves, not everyone be forced.

Reply 27

Maker

Looking at it the other way, if employers wanted people to speak English and another European language, it would be easier to employ a native speaker of say French or Spanish who learned English from a young age rather than a British person with who has only a basic grasp of French or Spanish.

Reply 28

Howard

Original post by driftawaay

Hungary. Its compulsory to start learning a language from age 8 (second grade). In high scool (from 14 to 18) its two compulsory languages for everyone in every school. Also, there are lots of bilingual high schools where you learn every subject in a foreign language, usually English/German/Spanish/French. This doesnt even exist in the UK as far as I am aware, aside from those elit places in London like the Lycee.

You cannot graduate high school without taking a final exam in a foreign language. And according to newer laws, you cannot graduate from university without a B2 language exam either.

You must find living in Norwich difficult. Only about half the population can read or write in English, let alone anything else. That's marginally better than Yarmouth can boast though.

Reply 29

Mamoixen

Whilst being bilingual is a good thing, it's wholly unnecessary. In a world where countries are becoming ever closer, cultures too, will soon converge. With culture comes language, and with a convergence of culture, yields a convergence of language. Of course it's nice to be able to speak different languages, and read books in French, Latin and German, it doesn't do anything at all for the progression of human civilisation.

Language Is just an unnecessary barrier. This barrier will be eroded over-time, maybe not in our lifetimes, but eventually.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 30

Josb

Original post by driftawaay

Yes it should be mandatory like English and Maths etc. It is mandatory to take two languages in my country.

Hungarian... :afraid:

Reply 31

ChaoticButterfly

I speak maths. :smug:

Reply 32

username402722

If they intend to vote UKIP, definitely.

Reply 33

mackemforever

Original post by VotreAltesse

Knowing additional languages, even if you're mother tongue is English is a massive plus in a lot of key and well paid careers.

Spanish is probably the best bet because so many people in the world speak it.

But the vast, vast majority of people don't have a "key" or "well paid" career.

The actual percentage of people in this country who would get any use out of having a second language is minuscule. What good is knowing French going to be to the unemployed guy in Stoke? How id learning Mandarin going to help the binman in Slough? What about that stay at home mother of two in London, I'm sure she's going to get huge amounts of use out of her ability to speak Spanish...

We have an education system that fails to teach huge numbers of kids how to read, write and do basic maths properly. Shouldn't we focus on getting the basics right before we worry about whether or not kids are learning a foreign language?

Reply 34

Muttley79

Original post by VotreAltesse

Presumably you know that every child has to learn a modern foreign language in KS2 ie from the age of 7?

It is also compulsory in KS3 ...

Reply 35

seaholme

Original post by VotreAltesse

I think it boils down to pure laziness.

Kids, and some times adults, who have English just aren't fussed to learn anything else. They think that English is the only language worth knowing and so aren't bothered to go through the process of learning other languages.

It's a real shame because here in France, even though education for English is quite bad, we still learn a fair amount of it. I was lucky enough to get to a higher standard through travelling and exchanges.

Well you say that, but I think you can give people a reason to learn - if nothing else, make it interesting enough to be worthwhile. Maybe some people are lazy but languages are made to seem entirely irrelevant and boring, so all the people who might have been engaged are also zoned out. People around the world 'bother' to learn english because it's seen as relevant to their lives, but people who speak english could easily be made to bother the other way around if they were given some reasons to learn.

I was forced to do languages at school regardless, but only started *enjoying* them when I got to do conversation classes and actually use the stuff I was learning to get a point across. I've since found them super useful.

Reply 36

pinkteddyx64

Original post by driftawaay

Yes it should be mandatory like English and Maths etc. It is mandatory to take two languages in my country.

At least you can sleep easy at night knowing that to be the case, whilst back here, we all foam at the mouth and lose sleep over yet another one of our education system's shortcomings! :unimpressed:

Reply 37

VotreAltesse

Original post by mackemforever

You wouldn't be in those ****holes if you had learnt languages in the first place... true story.

Reply 38

Augvstus

People who know a language are more valued by employers as they can work in more environments, especially overseas. It should be compulsory to learn a second language, as it is not everybody's strong suit, but greatly encouraged. My second language has come in handy before, it isn't a waste of a subject.