tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19955853.post615949533153749273..comments2023-10-30T14:11:00.298+00:00Comments on The Great Simpleton: We're crap at languages - so what?Simon Fawthrophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07519464855839416009noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19955853.post-42120288869145482722008-08-24T05:39:00.000+00:002008-08-24T05:39:00.000+00:00Alex,I had in mind what that very point about Hind...Alex,<BR/><BR/>I had in mind what that very point about Hindi, Polich and even Arabic. Certain areas will have specialist resources through immigration. It makes sense for young children to use those languages.<BR/><BR/>FB,<BR/><BR/>As I say French is out anyway, they don't encourage foreigners to speak their language. I'd forgotten about Heath, toe curling. To be fair to Blair he learned the language well enough to address the French parliament.Simon Fawthrophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07519464855839416009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19955853.post-68454056641897482912008-08-23T11:07:00.000+00:002008-08-23T11:07:00.000+00:00"Britain's army of linguists is declining dangerou..."Britain's army of linguists is declining dangerously..." and then goes on to speak about German and French. Do they not think the danger might be in a lack of Arabic or Pashtun speakers rather than German speakers? <BR/><BR/>I agree with your point about starting young and then teaching anything as long as it's fun. All the evidence suggests that any positive effect gained from children starting a foreign language (rather than moving to another country and becoming bilingual) young is due to the positive feelings they get from the experience rather than any particular skills they pick up. <BR/><BR/>I also agree that we aren't going to learn French when there is none of it in the charts, on the TV or being spoken in our neighbourhood. The solution to that is obviously to study Hindi, Polish and Arabic instead. Despite the PC aspect of that suggestion, you won't find Guardian Education suggesting it because a whole load of Guardian reading French teachers and German teachers would be forced to put in a bit more work or even be out of a job to be replaced by native speakers of the languages in question.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19955853.post-80279167219781768282008-08-23T04:11:00.000+00:002008-08-23T04:11:00.000+00:00This is such a difficult issue. On the one hand t...This is such a difficult issue. On the one hand there is little point learning another language if everyone else knows English, on the other it's terribly disrespectful to visit another country and not know enough of their language to get by. <BR/><BR/>Perhaps my own reluctance to visit non-English speaking countries is caused by the memory of Ted Heath's tortured Franglais during his miserable premiership.TheFatBigothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17255526385076528633noreply@blogger.com