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US high school foreign language program? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| shadowzoid Groupie United States Joined 5683 days ago 76 posts - 85 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian | Message 1 of 15 05 April 2010 at 7:11am | IP Logged | ||
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Compared to Europe and the Middle East, how does America's foreign language program in
high schools compare? I mean, I live in the US and if there is anything I'm sure about is that NO ONE EVER LEARNS their foreign language in high school, which is something the creator of this site points out as well (don't get picky. There of course may be a few school that are successful, but I've never heard of them). Sure some students may say they know their language after Senior year or getting a 5 on their AP exam, but if I put them in their target language's country, I bet they would struggle (again, remember its just a generalization, not applicable to all). So my question is, how about in other countries? Do they have a "failed" foreign language program as well? Do other countries' students actually learn their foreign language in grade school (excluding English since it would be easier due to globalization)? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Paskwc Pentaglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5677 days ago 450 posts - 624 votes Speaks: Hindi, Urdu*, Arabic (Levantine), French, English Studies: Persian, Spanish | Message 2 of 15 05 April 2010 at 8:08am | IP Logged | ||
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I think it's unfair to blame American schools or the curriculum. Rather, I'd attribute
responsibility to a broader cultural aversion to language learning that's found in many societies. Few people see any merit in learning a foreign language and putting in the requisite effort. Consequently, most people are happy to attend class, do homework, and pass tests - all of which have little to do with actually learning and retaining a language. Your second batch of question strikes at something really important: exposure at a young age. However, this doesn't necessarily lead to success. Where I live (Ontario), there are many different French language programs. I believe the more common one is called "Core French" and consists of a few classes a week. Earlier on, when budgets were larger, Core French began at Grade 1. Now it begins at Grade 4. Unexpectedly, the effectiveness of the program changed very little if at all. Edited by Paskwc on 05 April 2010 at 8:11am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| mrhenrik Triglot Moderator Norway Joined 6079 days ago 482 posts - 658 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, French Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 15 05 April 2010 at 1:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't know anyone who have learned a foreign language through the Norwegian
educational system, not counting English for a number of reasons. It's a shame really, I remember my brother starting his Spanish lessons a year ago. He was really motivated and interested in the language and I tried to make him get a few resources to study on his spare time, but he didn't. He obviously doesn't know any more than Spanish grammar etc now. I can recall one friend of mine whom after three years of German lessons was able to hold a basic conversation in German - but his mother is a German teacher and his father lives in Germany. Myself, the only thing I'm completely confident with in the language is "Ich verstehe nicht". I can safely say I know more Japanese and French than German. One issue is that we barely have lectures. Perhaps 2 hours a week. On top of that, we only learn about the language - not the language itself. Combine that with a big group of people so you're almost certain you'll never have the class going in a pace that suits you and you have a recipe for disaster. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sprachprofi Nonaglot Senior Member Germany learnlangs.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6470 days ago 2608 posts - 4866 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Esperanto, Greek, Mandarin, Latin, Dutch, Italian Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swahili, Indonesian, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Portuguese | Message 4 of 15 05 April 2010 at 2:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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In Germany, foreign language education at the Gymnasium-type schools is comparatively
effective. Students can and do learn language such as English, French, Latin, Italian or Russian, though there are always some who don't care about these languages outside the classroom. The main issue is afterwards - if you don't use the language after graduating, you'll forget it more quickly than you learned it. In my personal experience, my English, Latin and Italian classes could be deemed a success (e. g. 90% of the Italian students had reached at least level B2 after 3 years), while my French class could not. It wasn't an issue with how French is taught though, more with the teacher, who was too easily distracted from the topic. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| GauchoBoaCepa Triglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5419 days ago 172 posts - 199 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Spanish | Message 5 of 15 05 April 2010 at 3:29pm | IP Logged | ||
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As Brazilian educational system is getting worse at each day, you'll barely find one school at which a broad batch of languages is taught. They still stick with only English...and few schools have added Spanish to the subject list.
That's why many students to get hold of an effective understanding of a certain language, they'd rather spend their time at language schools. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| shadowzoid Groupie United States Joined 5683 days ago 76 posts - 85 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian | Message 6 of 15 05 April 2010 at 6:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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Ok, so far what I've learned is Germany is the only effective country in foreign
languages. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5453 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 7 of 15 05 April 2010 at 8:16pm | IP Logged | ||
I've met too many Germans who hardly speak English to be convinced of that. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5453 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 8 of 15 05 April 2010 at 8:20pm | IP Logged | ||
Quite a few have learned to speak German in Norwegian schools. French on the other hand... 1 person has voted this message useful |
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