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How did you learn languages in school? | ||
Tags: School Education | Foreign Languages | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| tom99 Tetraglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 6144 days ago 1 posts - 1 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Mandarin, French Studies: German | Message 17 of 22 22 February 2011 at 3:55am | IP Logged | ||
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1. What country are you from/were you educated in:
England 2. Native language/language learned in school: 11 - 18: English/French, German, Italian 18 - 22 (University): Italian/Mandarin Chinese 3. How many hours per week (on average) were devoted to teaching this language? And how was it taught? 11 - 16: about 3 hours (2 periods) per week for each language. Taught through a textbook and worksheets, grammar exercises, vocabulary, sentences, role plays. 16 - 18: about 5/6 hours per language. More emphasis on debate and discussion but still (more advanced) grammar sheets, lists of words, listening exercises and class discussions 18 - 22: 6 hours for Chinese, 3 hours for Italian. Chinese was taught from scratch with NPCR textbooks and mainly oral classes where we read passages, made sentences with new words and did grammar/vocabulary questions. For Italian, we did intensive grammar and some kind of tandem learning project together with Italian students learning English. 4. Were any other activities undertaken in the target language? No. 5. What would the general expected level be after this education? 11 - 16: Students had to take a 15 minute oral exam and say something about the weather, hobbies and something in the past tense with a little help from the examiner. Simple reading and listening tests using only a small field of vocabulary learned in classes. Everything done by rote memorization. 16 - 18: another 15 minute oral exam with a presentation on a topical issue such as poverty, war, the media etc. Emphasis placed on debate but still a degree of memorization by the student in their oral responses. Listening and reading tests took the form of news but using simple language, spoken slowly etc. And finally an essay under exam conditions on a current affairs issue. Students are expected to express themselves more freely but a high number mistakes are tolerated. 6. Did you feel confident on completion of your education that you could get and do a job in the target language? 11 - 16: Not at all 16 - 18: Not at all 18 - 22: We'll see 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| etracher Triglot Groupie Italy Joined 5335 days ago 92 posts - 180 votes  Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish Studies: Modern Hebrew, Russian, Latvian | Message 18 of 22 22 February 2011 at 9:03am | IP Logged | ||
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1. What country are you from/were you educated in: USA
2. Native language/language learned in school: Native English/Spanish (primary, middle school and high school) and Mandarin Chinese (high school). 3. How many hours per week (on average) were devoted to teaching this language? And how was it taught? I really can't remember exactly but I think we had no more than 2 or 3 hours per week of Spanish in primary and middle school, while high school was around 5 per week. Lots of songs and 'fun' activities in primary school. Typical school textbooks in middle and high school: some dialogues, vocab lists, grammar explanations and exercises. For Mandarin, once again I think about 5 hours per week. First 2 years we learned basic grammar and did a lot of work memorizing characters and stroke order, as well as pronunciation. Final 2 years we did more of the same, plus listening, reading, basic conversation. 4. Were any other activities undertaken in the target language? (some people do certain subjects in other languages). No other subjects were taught in these languages. We would sometimes do cultural activities in Spanish. 5. What would the general expected level be after this education? (Could students converse easily for final exams). We did not have final exams in these subjects at the end of school. In Spanish I would say that most students could not do much of anything with the language after high school. By the third year of Mandarin, our class had dwindled to about five people (only two years of language were obligatory) and I believe there were only three of us in the final year, so perhaps we received more personal attention. We were definitely motivated and interested in the language. At the end of four years we could have carried out a very basic conversation. 6. Did you feel confident on completion of your education that you could get and do a job in the target language? No Edited by etracher on 22 February 2011 at 9:05am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6273 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 19 of 22 22 February 2011 at 10:25am | IP Logged | ||
I think my own school experience with languages was above average. The biggest problem was the usual Anglophone one of not really accepting any language other than English, therefore mastering any other language is either a sign of genius or a mere nerd affectation that is totally unnecessary. Neither is true, but what people believe is often as important as what is actually true. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| SamD Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6660 days ago 823 posts - 987 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 20 of 22 22 February 2011 at 5:13pm | IP Logged | ||
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1. What country were you educated in? The USA.
2. Native language/language learned in school? English/French. 3. How many hours per week (on average) were devoted to teaching this language? Five (50-minute) hours. And how was it taught? We used textbooks to learn vocabulary and grammar and there was plenty of drill work. Particularly in later years, we used tapes and other audio-visual material. 4. Were any other activities undertaken in the target language? There was a French club, but even some of those activities were in English. 5. What would the general expected level be after this education? It's very hard to say. Many of us would have been at a loss to carry on a simple conversation or to read very much French. 6. Did you feel confident on completion of your education that you could get and do a job in the target language? No, but I don't think that after high school I would have been prepared for many desirable jobs at all. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Laurae Diglot Groupie Germany Joined 5039 days ago 51 posts - 67 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Dutch | Message 21 of 22 22 February 2011 at 7:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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1. What country are you from/were you educated in:
Ireland 2. Native language/language learned in school: Age 6-19: Irish Age 12: German Age 12-19: French 3. How many hours per week (on average) were devoted to teaching this language? And how was it taught? As regards secondary school, approximately 160 minutes per language per week. As for Irish in primary school, I can't remeber! I never had a native speaker teaching me in school, until my final year of secondary school, whereby I had a wonderful Kerry Gaeltacht Irish teacher, enabling me to sit the Honours course with a so-so result of a C1 (my worst grade in the Leaving Cert.). He introduced grammar that I had previously never encountered, and I'm sure if I had him in the previous years, my result would have been better. French was generally a positive experience, though I found that enough work was never given to listening and oral comprehension. Nonetheless I managed a B1 Higher Level with no immersion - I believe the oral examination let me down. 4. Were any other activities undertaken in the target language? No, I never visited France, Germany or the Gaeltacht during my school years. I only became truly interested in languages during my time in university. 5. What would the general expected level be after this education? I believe that I should have a basic fluency in Irish: I certainly don't. My French is fairly good, I have taken some classes and engage in self-study. When I left school I'd describe myself as being 'proficient' and able to handle all holiday-related situations, and read simple books. 6. Did you feel confident on completion of your education that you could get and do a job in the target language? No, definitely not. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Kappa Groupie Japan Joined 5521 days ago 99 posts - 172 votes | Message 22 of 22 24 February 2011 at 6:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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1. What country are you from/were you educated in:
Japan 2. Native language/language learned in school: Japanese / English 3. How many hours per week (on average) were devoted to teaching this language? And how was it taught? Two class hours a week in middle school and one in high (I went to a night high school, so it may be more than just one class hour taught in high school.) Translating English sentences into Japanese (and vice versa), reading aloud, learning grammar and such (once we had a ALT from Australia and all she did was just pronounce every single English word that we came across for us, like she wasn't supposed to actually get involved in teaching in any way. Pronunciation machine, hooray! Sorry, just rambling on.. moving on.) 4. Were any other activities undertaken in the target language? (some people do certain subjects in other languages). None whatsoever. 5. What would the general expected level be after this education? (Could students converse easily for final exams). Not a single student was capable of holding a minute long conversation after three/six years of studies after all, so A1 at best (given we are not so active in class, no participation.) 6. Did you feel confident on completion of your education that you could get and do a job in the target language? Absolutely not. As I said, I can't even hold a short conversation in English (writing is a whole nother thing). Just saying hi is the best I can. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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