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Foreign languages

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  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
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  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I was in set 2 for French and i got a C over all, i was so glad to finish with it, i had NO aptitude for it at all. I much prefered Maths, History and Business Studies. Languages i find more difficult then anything, mostly because they dont so much teach you to speak it as they teach you what the grammer and syntax is all about or whatever it is called.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Skive wrote:
    I think Spanish would be generally more useful to Brits than either French or German.

    I don't really think you can generalise. Lots of Brits go to France as well as Spain. And lots of people go skiing in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. And from a business pov after the US I'm pretty sure that Germany is our biggest trading partner. Germany is also very underrated as a place. Tbh whether people do French, German or Spanish it will come in use.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
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  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Bullseye wrote:
    I was in set 2 for French and i got a C over all, i was so glad to finish with it, i had NO aptitude for it at all. I much prefered Maths, History and Business Studies. Languages i find more difficult then anything, mostly because they dont so much teach you to speak it as they teach you what the grammer and syntax is all about or whatever it is called.

    Just about anybody who speaks English has the aptitude to learn a foreign language. But the problem is people don't start early enough, kids need to start in primary school - that doesn't happen in state schools.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well i did some French at Primary school for a few years as there was an after school class and then i went on and did quite well until we got to high school where all we were taught was the need for accents, and the grammer of it and hardly anything at all to do with saying it aloud. So the oral exams were terrible not just for me but everyone outside set 1 who found it easy an natural...lucky im good at other things orally ;)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Does anyone else not think that it absurd that a foreign language is usually optional at GCSE? Although, I don’t even think a compulsory foreign language at GCSE goes far enough. I took a GCSE in French and despite ‘passing’ my French is very poor and I only started learning the language at 12. Given that Belgian and Swiss kids speak a couple of languages by the age of 12 we really need to start much earlier. Learning a language is a lot easier when you’re really young, when kids start learning English they should be learning at least one other European language...

    I’m partly just bitter as I’m trying to learn German from scratch but I think the priorities with regard to languages are a bit messed up. For all the useless intrusions the EU has made surely the EU Parliament could make a useful infringement and stipulate that every child in state education learn another European language.

    Well, my mothers tongue is german, but we get taught english already in elementary school at age ~7. My english isn't really good, but it's far more than enough to live in an english speaking country and get a job there (i reckon).

    English speaking people usually never learn different languages, they already speak on of the most spread and accepted languages spread over the world, but still. I think learning another language and be able to converse in foreign languages and read foreign books is a great thing. I read a lot of english books and use my english fairly often (at least on ze internetz) and it's interesting to understand idioms, humour, sarcasm, timbre and tone in foreign speaking people. Most yugoslavian people I went to school with were able to speak german, yugoslavian, english fluently and were able to speak a ok amount of spanish too (had it in school).

    I think that's excellent conditions and extra-bonuses if you are applying to any high-position job (beside your necessary education for that area of course).

    /edit: german is - i think, objectively seen - more difficult than romanian languages like spanish and french. Spanish is really easy (had it for four years), because the grammar is really easy, you just CAN'T make mistakes with the pronounciation. It's so easy, it's like it's written unlike french.

    english is still the easiest way of conversing and teaching I think for not having composed nouns. I.e. "Theory of relativity" instead of "Relativitätstheorie". English words like "opportunity" and "occasion" are the normal every-day usage words, whereas in german, there are very "easy" and sort of "blunt" words, who are normal in everyday usage, but a bit "clumsy" in uni or other academical circles.

    Whereas anglicisms as "Opportunität" or "Okkasion" (from opportuniy and occasion) sound really out of place, difficult and generally like out of a language only neurotic scientists with white smocks and tousled gray hair.

    so if you want to sound like someone with IQ 260 just learn german and speak in a lot of anglicisms.

    On this note: Gesundheit! my little Kindergarteners, don't forget your Rucksacks.
  • Teh_GerbilTeh_Gerbil Posts: 13,332 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
    Blagsta wrote:
    For once, I agree with you. The British and foreign languages are crap. It should be compulsory in school. Its one of my regrets that I never paid much attention in foreign languages at school.

    Yup. I agree too.

    Nearly every other country teaches it compulsor and from an earlier age. We should too.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't really think you can generalise. Lots of Brits go to France as well as Spain. And lots of people go skiing in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. And from a business pov after the US I'm pretty sure that Germany is our biggest trading partner. Germany is also very underrated as a place. Tbh whether people do French, German or Spanish it will come in use.

    French is a dying language though. Spanish is a much faster growing language globally.

    I myself, put my own Irish language ahead of any other European languages. I'd rather learn the tongue of my ancestors than some foreign language, including English tbh. Given the chance I'd speak Irish to anyone that could hold a convo back to me.

    Tabhair aire dúibh fein. Go raibh maith agaibhse. :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yerascrote wrote:
    French is a dying language though.

    If French is a dying language what is Irish? :confused:

    You make it sound as if French is on the brink of extinction. It's still got over 150 million native speakers and is the native language in over 30 countries. Anyway they speak French in Paris and Montreal which are two of the coolest cities in the world. :yes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i did my degree in french. it think its a bit of a myth that if you go over to france theres no need to speak the language because everyone can speak english. i have been to loads of places in france and my experience is very different to that. students are good at english because its compulsary up until 18 but the older generations can't speak it. in fact my parents have just bought a listed-house in france and have to apply for planning permission and not one person in the mayors office can speak english. and neither can the locals! i've had to sort everything out for them.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    People go to the tourist destinations, and then assume that because they speak English there (surprisingly) that the whole country must do.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Seems strange that we're considering what language would be most useful based upon where people go for there holidays. I would have thought Chinese or a language from the Indian sub-continent would be more useful in the future - although Spanish wouls seem to be the obvious choice for a European language, given its global reach.

    Although it'd be nice if people could pick whatever they would want, I guess limited resources will restrict that - at the moment though isn't it German and French simply because most of the staff were tought german and french? I can't see those languages as the top picks for the future.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    French is a lot of country's second pick along with english (for whatever reason), I think.

    I think personal preference would make a big difference, as I've said before, I love french and wouldn't ever want to learn spanish. I have reasons to learn german and italian but no real desire to. Chinese-mandarin is probably a good idea in terms of industry.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Jim V wrote:
    Seems strange that we're considering what language would be most useful based upon where people go for there holidays. I would have thought Chinese or a language from the Indian sub-continent would be more useful in the future

    In India English is an official language and a lot of official stuff is done in English because there are so many different languages spoken. I can't really see Urdu or Hindi being chosen over French.
    Jim V wrote:
    at the moment though isn't it German and French simply because most of the staff were tought german and french? I can't see those languages as the top picks for the future.

    French and German are useful and not just taught simply because staff speak them. Britain is after all a European country, after the US we do most of our trade with European countries and European countries are the most popular holiday destinations. And I think it'll be a while until there are more people here working for Chinese firms than European. I'm starting to sound like a proper europhile...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If French is a dying language what is Irish? :confused:

    Did I say Irish wasn't a dying language?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Studying dying languages isn't necessarily a bad thing. I learnt so much more studying latin than I did in many other courses. The older languages teach you history and culture and often deepen your understanding of modern languages.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I took german GCSE and got a B and cant remember how to string a sentence together hardly and i have only been left from school for 4 months or so. We were talking about this in college and a child can learn quicker and easier up to the age of 8 i think it is, i am unsure if it 7,8 or 9 somewhere round there!! So why not start it, most kids like school at this age and are willing to learn. Theres no harm in it, as long as kids arent getting foreign language exams by the age of 10 or something stupid. They should be able to pick it up, and learn it for the fun of it. Get rid of the stupid darn exams!!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    a good idea would be to teach a language in primary school, even if just listening and comprehension, or speaking, in an unassessed fashion, gets kids more into learning things, and help their understanding of english in a odd way
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We started to learn french in middle school at about 10 or 11 I think. I was never any good at langages and dropped French in year 9 and did Spanish for GCSE. I somehow got a C, but I was convinced I was going to fail it. You have to teach the kids a lot younger but their just arn't the teachers or resources to do it. You also have to accept that some people (like me) just arn't very good at them at all.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I agree with the concept of starting younger being a good way to encourage children to learn. When I was about 5, on Monday nights my mum couldn't pick me up from school til about 4:15. Rather than pay a childminder, she signed me up to an after-school French club, 3:30 - 4:30. It was fun, there was no exams (but once we'd completed a certain module we got certificates from the company and sweets from our teacher!) and actually worked out cheaper. I stuck with it the whole way through primary school, and upon reaching high school, I found it really easyv to grasp and move on to the next steps.

    German however, fell on deaf ears. I couldn't get to grips with it, and at the end of year 8, we were asked to pick one. I dropped German straight away.
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
    I don't really think you can generalise. Lots of Brits go to France as well as Spain. And lots of people go skiing in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. And from a business pov after the US I'm pretty sure that Germany is our biggest trading partner. Germany is also very underrated as a place. Tbh whether people do French, German or Spanish it will come in use.

    I suggested Spanish because it's so widely spoken, not because it's where Brits go on holiday.
    Weekender Offender 
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