Re: Compulsory Language Lessons
 

i would have thought that in our current social and political climate urdu would have been the first choice of politicians


but i do agree that it is easier to learn the younger you start.

Re: Compulsory Language Lessons
 

nothing against it,think its great to have a 2nd language, just question where these teachers of this will come from? from what people tell me teachers are a bit thin on the ground as it is?

Re: Compulsory Language Lessons
 

Actually, when you learn the vocabulary and grammar of another language, it may result in a greater interest in one's own language. If I had a child at home, exposusing them to a foreign language at a young age would be part of the plan.

Re: Compulsory Language Lessons
 

does anyone know what this language will be?
I think 7 is a bit young, some have only just started to read proper at that age, some cant!! it should be about 10+

Re: Compulsory Language Lessons
 

[QUOTE=Billcat;397101]Actually, when you learn the vocabulary and grammar of another language, it may result in a greater interest in one's own language. QUOTE]

Possibly Billcat, just learning the grammar first is what I question... remember Je suis, Tu as, il est, Nous sommes, Vous etes, ils sont (proberbly incorrect) .. how boring. :rolleyes: Learning the grammar first was the pits .. could never incorporate it into a conversation, and as you get older your mind is not as flexible to a different structure either as per the popular one of 'La plume de ma tant' being, of course, My Aunt's Pen .. think more about it as an adult because we become more conditioned this way, whereas when younger, more flexible.

Know you agree though about being younger.

Re: Compulsory Language Lessons
 

You learned to speak English when you were little more than a baby. You learned by listening to other people and copying what they said to you. Did you know what a verb was when you were 3? Could you spell caterpillar when you told your mum you'd found one, when you were 4? No, of course not, but you could speak and understand the English language.

The way to teach children another language is first to teach them to speak it. The grammar and spelling can come later, just like your English did when you went to school.

Re: Compulsory Language Lessons
 

While I was 11 when I started taking French, and we were instructed in the way you suggest, it was not a good method for all kids. They were using the ALM (Audio-Lingual method), where only the spoken word is used exclusively for an extended period of time. I had no idea what was being said or where we were headed until the written text of the French was finally shown to me. Once I was able to connect the sounds with the text, I improved rapidly. Certainly a strong emphasis on the spoken language is important, but I think that a teaching method that takes a more balanced approach is better suited to kids with a variety of learning styles.

Re: Compulsory Language Lessons
 

My neice aged ten is being taught French and Mandarin at Westholme.

Agree with others, English should be taught to a higher standard before starting on other languages.

Re: Compulsory Language Lessons
 

Yes, I can understand that, at age 11. I am thinking of the 7 year olds, in fact I'd start them younger than that, as soon as they start school. It needn't be intensive but if a small child can speak and understand simple language it becomes second nature. I had friends where the husband was English and the wife was Dutch. He spoke English to their daughters, she spoke Dutch. The children's English was the better - they heard it all day at school etc. - but they could both converse in simple Dutch.

Re: Compulsory Language Lessons
 

we did french from 11-15 yrs, E.R. verbs je touche tu touche etc etc, was total crap and not a bit interesting, cos felt it had very little value in speaking everyday french. so hardly anyone was interested in learning it, you could opt out after 3rd year and all the class did. that says it all. if they had made it more interesting! who knows?

Re: Compulsory Language Lessons
 

There's a big difference in learning to speak a another language and being made to go into the more difficult part of learning the grammer of that language.. when my kid was 4 he was coming home from nursery talking bits of french.. I loved it.. having half an idea of another language can only be for the good.

And it's plain to see from the spelling here that grammer comes second!

Re: Compulsory Language Lessons
 

Re: Compulsory Language Lessons
 

Don't find this one of your most wisest remarks Garinda .. I stand by my post that there are adequate lessons in English Grammar and Literature in the U.K. in school's curricula, but lots of students come to a standstill with this and cannot move on any further .. why should you anyway if you wish to do a physical job ? Surfeit to requirements for a brickie, isn't it ?

Might as well say .. learn more about History first.

Spoke to my colleague today, who runs the French office of our company and speaks four languages .. amazing. He is Lebonese, so his first language is Arabic, which went hand in hand with French when he was very young, as they spoke the latter at school, and was fluent in two languages from birth onwards.

Studied Spanish when at University in Spain, only 40 mins per week but, of course, was living there, so good opportunity to 'converse' and picked the language up within 6 months. Did some sort of footbally stuff with Real Madrid .. don't suppose mattered how you spelt "**** off Ref." in Spanish, only to get the message across .. :D Married an English lady and moved over here and now fluent in English just from conversing.

Commented that the problem in the U.K. was that most schools taught a foreign language in class in English and not conversational .. just grammar so held them back. From what I heard the powers that be are looking into the way we teach languages in schools and feel grammar/spelling first will be their first line of attack.

Re: Compulsory Language Lessons
 

I can only go by own experience, and hopefully it's better now, but I doubt it. My own early schooling was very liberal, and old fashioned things like grammar and punctuation weren't taught that thoroughly. I never really caught up with others at my school who'd had a more formal foundation in English. That's all I meant, that English should be taught well before embarking on other languages, which do of course also benefit in the understanding of English as well.

As for my self, I speak conversational French. Well, enough to order a meal, get drunk, and seduce someone.:D

Oh, and I know enough Japanese to make someone a shirt and talk about the weather...as long as it's sunny. I never learnt the Japanese for it's raining.:D

Re: Compulsory Language Lessons
 

[QUOTE=garinda;398137]
As for my self, I speak conversational French. Well, enough to order a meal, get drunk, and seduce someone.:D
/QUOTE]

Like to see a guy get his priorities right ... once asked my colleague in which language he made love to his wife ? Somebody said a groan was the same in any language ... :D :D