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Which foreign languages in your country? | ||
Tags: School Education | Foreign Languages | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5339 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 1 of 55 30 October 2010 at 10:35am | IP Logged |
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I was curious about which foreign languages was taught at what age in your countries.
- In Norway you start with English in year 1 (age5-6) - You can chose between Spanish, French and German in junior high school year 8 (age 13-14) - Then you can take a third foreign language when you start high school (year 11, age 16 - usually one of the above). There will be a few exceptions, I know of one junior high school which does Mandarin, and one high shool which does Russian. - Then of course if you move on to the University you have a very wide choice. What is the situation like in your countries? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Romanist Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5287 days ago 261 posts - 366 votes Studies: Italian | Message 2 of 55 30 October 2010 at 11:12am | IP Logged |
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In England we start with English right at age zero. :-D
(However, that is where most people stay!) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Paskwc Pentaglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5682 days ago 450 posts - 624 votes Speaks: Hindi, Urdu*, Arabic (Levantine), French, English Studies: Persian, Spanish | Message 3 of 55 30 October 2010 at 11:35am | IP Logged |
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In Ontario, the Canadian province I live in, the main thing is like this:
-Kindergarten begins with English. -French is introduced in Grade 3 and is mandatory until Grade 10. -In Grade 10 you can choose to continue French, replace it with another language, or study both French and another language. Depending on the area you live in, you can have a wide range of options for your third language. -Most universities offer the core group of world languages. Larger universities offer more languages. For example, the University of Toronto offers around 55 languages. Edited by Paskwc on 30 October 2010 at 11:36am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| staf250 Pentaglot Senior Member Belgium emmerick.be Joined 5702 days ago 352 posts - 414 votes Speaks: French, Dutch*, Italian, English, German Studies: Arabic (Written) | Message 4 of 55 30 October 2010 at 12:03pm | IP Logged |
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In the north of Belgium, where the Flemish (> 60% of the people of Belgium) live:
General system, so far I know. - The language at home and at school till 9 year (9 included) is Dutch. - At the age of 10 French is added. - At the age of 13 English is added. Two grandchildren were speaking English before learning it at school. - At 15 German is added, not in every school neither for every pupil. Edited by staf250 on 30 October 2010 at 5:57pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| wv girl Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5244 days ago 174 posts - 330 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 5 of 55 30 October 2010 at 1:19pm | IP Logged |
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In my area of the US, there is no mandatory foreign language requirement built into the curriculum. Some
elementary schools may be lucky enough to offer Spanish once a week to their students. Most middle schools only offer Spanish to high-scoring reading students for 1 year. In high school, again, there is no requirement, but students can take French or Spanish. Some will for 2 short years only, as that is suggested to get into university. It's pretty dismal! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| The Real CZ Senior Member United States Joined 5654 days ago 1069 posts - 1495 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 6 of 55 30 October 2010 at 1:28pm | IP Logged |
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When I went to school, there was Spanish in first grade for a select few people. Then in 8th grade, we had to take it for 9 weeks (and trust me, I only remembered words that sounded like English words.) Then, it's optional in high school. Then in university, depending on your major, a foreign language is required (like it is for mine.) The university I go to offers Spanish, German, French, Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| DesEsseintes Triglot Newbie Ireland Joined 5187 days ago 33 posts - 68 votes Speaks: English, French*, Spanish Studies: Croatian | Message 7 of 55 30 October 2010 at 1:37pm | IP Logged |
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In France, you can start with English at age eight, at least in some schools.
Then : LV1 (English mainly, but also either Spanish or German) at age 11 LV2 (the possibilities depend on the size of the city you live in, only Spanish or German where I grew up, but Japanese / Chinese / Arabic / You name it in most urban areas) Looks great, doesn't it? Well, actually, it's quite far from being the case... Poor-quality teaching, overcrowded classes, etc... 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| sm66 Diglot Newbie Australia Joined 5363 days ago 26 posts - 32 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Italian, Greek, German | Message 8 of 55 30 October 2010 at 2:16pm | IP Logged |
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In Australia, there isn't much of a unified system so I can't speak generally, but for me it was like this:
Indonesian from the age of 9 to 11 (it was cancelled for budgetary reasons), then no languages until high school where either Italian or Japanese (not both) could be done for a compulsory 3 years, then after that it could be dropped, which most students duly did. Most high schools only offer Italian, Spanish, French or Japanese, but lately Mandarin is being placed in a lot more schools. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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