Good – It’s embarrassing how poor second language skills are in the UK, and that’s coming from someone who got an E in GCSE German
I’d have probably had more interest in languages if they didn’t sack every other language teacher save the German one in school.
The problem I had with language learning in secondary school was that it was completely remedial and lacking in any kind of incentive. “Write a letter to your imaginary pen pal telling him about a brown dog you don’t own and how much you love your green sweater”. Absolutely no effort to inspire any interest in Germany, its culture, or history. The closest we got to there being a practical use for this language was the teacher putting on a video tape of the movie Beethoven – yes the movie about the dog, not anything to do with the German composer of the same name – that was dubbed into German. Doesn’t help that your exposure to German history at that point in your life is Adolf Hitler going to war with the rest of the world and committing genocide. Why would I have any interest, at that point, in committing to memory the German word for window?
Languages are useful but need to be coupled with something such as business or law and with a career incentive.
There’s also… another incentive but not appropriate for high school students
I can speak a second language but my god am I glad that English is the Lingua Franca pretty much everywhere else.
Makes my life so much easier in foreign countries.
Suppose this is a good thing. In a way. Though I’m more inclined to think it is a giant waste of time to teach French and German given British people are statistically more likely to go places that speak Spanish, if not English.
But even with such low expectations, I still don’t think it will amount to much. But nice to try.
I’m Welsh and my second language is English… I can speak basic English but any big fancy words I have no clue.
Saying that I bearly use English so to me I have not much need/use for it
I wish I’d carried on doing languages longer (now I really like linguistics and languages, though I haven’t seriously put the time into learning a second language yet), but the classes were honestly so shite that I just couldn’t take it any more. We moved at an absolute snail’s pace, learning a few new words or phrases a lesson, and barely learned to string together a coherent paragraph. This effort was further split between multiple languages (2 or 3 depending on the year) so it honestly felt completely pointless.
I think we start too late to make any true progress, unless you’re exceptionally devoted.
Second language acquisition becomes increasingly difficult as your brain loses plasticity, and the area where language develops physically differs in young children versus teens/adults.
We also seem to suffer from a utilitarian mindset when it comes to education. If something cannot be commodified or otherwise exploited for profit, it’s considered useless. Second languages for native English speakers do not serve anything other than, typically, social and hobbyist reasons; you’re discouraged from pursuing it.
My anecdotal experience with hobbyist learning is that other British people have little empathy for it. I don’t think I’ve ever had someone show any interest, they instead often seem bemused or dismissive.
9 comments
Good – It’s embarrassing how poor second language skills are in the UK, and that’s coming from someone who got an E in GCSE German
I’d have probably had more interest in languages if they didn’t sack every other language teacher save the German one in school.
The problem I had with language learning in secondary school was that it was completely remedial and lacking in any kind of incentive. “Write a letter to your imaginary pen pal telling him about a brown dog you don’t own and how much you love your green sweater”. Absolutely no effort to inspire any interest in Germany, its culture, or history. The closest we got to there being a practical use for this language was the teacher putting on a video tape of the movie Beethoven – yes the movie about the dog, not anything to do with the German composer of the same name – that was dubbed into German. Doesn’t help that your exposure to German history at that point in your life is Adolf Hitler going to war with the rest of the world and committing genocide. Why would I have any interest, at that point, in committing to memory the German word for window?
Languages are useful but need to be coupled with something such as business or law and with a career incentive.
There’s also… another incentive but not appropriate for high school students
I can speak a second language but my god am I glad that English is the Lingua Franca pretty much everywhere else.
Makes my life so much easier in foreign countries.
Suppose this is a good thing. In a way. Though I’m more inclined to think it is a giant waste of time to teach French and German given British people are statistically more likely to go places that speak Spanish, if not English.
But even with such low expectations, I still don’t think it will amount to much. But nice to try.
I’m Welsh and my second language is English… I can speak basic English but any big fancy words I have no clue.
Saying that I bearly use English so to me I have not much need/use for it
I wish I’d carried on doing languages longer (now I really like linguistics and languages, though I haven’t seriously put the time into learning a second language yet), but the classes were honestly so shite that I just couldn’t take it any more. We moved at an absolute snail’s pace, learning a few new words or phrases a lesson, and barely learned to string together a coherent paragraph. This effort was further split between multiple languages (2 or 3 depending on the year) so it honestly felt completely pointless.
I think we start too late to make any true progress, unless you’re exceptionally devoted.
Second language acquisition becomes increasingly difficult as your brain loses plasticity, and the area where language develops physically differs in young children versus teens/adults.
We also seem to suffer from a utilitarian mindset when it comes to education. If something cannot be commodified or otherwise exploited for profit, it’s considered useless. Second languages for native English speakers do not serve anything other than, typically, social and hobbyist reasons; you’re discouraged from pursuing it.
My anecdotal experience with hobbyist learning is that other British people have little empathy for it. I don’t think I’ve ever had someone show any interest, they instead often seem bemused or dismissive.