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Which foreign languages in your country? | ||
Tags: School Education | Foreign Languages | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Hello Diglot Groupie Canada Joined 5425 days ago 40 posts - 45 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: Spanish | Message 33 of 55 05 November 2010 at 1:59am | IP Logged |
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In Quebec, language education starts, of course, with French. Then, until recently, English started in Grade 3. I did, and I'm almost sixteen, but now it starts in Grade 1.
As for other languages, you pretty much have to wait till high school, where Spanish is sometimes offered. I was in grade 8 by the time I started having Spanish courses, and unfortunately, with the teacher I have, there's no chance I learn to be fluent in Spanish soon! For the fourth language, which is German in most cases, but it can vary, you have to wait until you go to college and university, except if there are high schools offering something else than Spanish, which would surprise me. Edited by Hello on 05 November 2010 at 2:00am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| nebojats Triglot Groupie United States Joined 5201 days ago 89 posts - 120 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Thai Studies: French, Arabic (Written), Mandarin, Italian | Message 34 of 55 25 November 2010 at 9:55am | IP Logged |
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This is from an article by Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education, in the latest edition of Foreign Affairs magazine:
"In many developed countries, college students are fluent in two or more languages. In the United States, foreign-language instruction is inconsistent and on the decline. (The study of Chinese and Arabic languages is expanding but froma very small base.) Only one in four elementary schools in the United States currently offers foreign-language instruction of any kind, and foreign-language study is a requirement for high school graduation in only ten states. Low-income and minority students in the United States particularly lag behind their peers abroad in their knowledge of languages, geography, and culture. Even if public schools sought to offer foreign-language courses, a dearth of qualified instructors would hinder their efforts. During the 2007-8 school year, three-fourths of U.S. states reported shortages in foreign language teachers. Teacher preparation programs at post-secondary institutions are failing to train enough new foreign-language instructors. In 2007-8, only 136 bachelor's degrees, 188 masters degrees, and 14 doctorates were awarded in foreign-language instruction nationwide." 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| weshdim Senior Member Australia Joined 5204 days ago 19 posts - 31 votes Studies: Mandarin, Arabic (Levantine) | Message 35 of 55 27 November 2010 at 4:19am | IP Logged |
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I'm from Darwin, Northern Australia.
From observing my son's options as he went through the educational system, nothing was offered until upper primary school. Because of the large Greek population here (nearly all of them from Kalymnos), basic Greek and also Bahasa Indonesia was offered. In grade 7 and into unversity they can study: Bahasa Indonesia, Yolngu (one of the main aboriginal languages of the Northern Territory) Mandarin, and Modern Greek 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6914 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 36 of 55 27 November 2010 at 1:30pm | IP Logged |
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When I went to school, we learned English in third/fourth grade in school (at 9/10 years of age). Now it is taught from first grade (I think).
In 7th grade (13 years old) we could (but didn't have to) choose a foreign language - German or French. 10 years ago when I did some teaching, the kids could take foreign langues from grade 6, and Spanish was one of the options. When I went to high school (grade 10, 16 years old), four languages were offered: Spanish, French, German and Russian. In the language program, one could study Latin and/or Ancient Greek. Nowadays, students can take anything from Spanish, Italian, Latin, Greek, Chinese, Russian, and possibly Arabic and a couple of other languages depending on the school. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Theta Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5225 days ago 1 posts - 1 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French, Sign Language | Message 37 of 55 27 November 2010 at 7:41pm | IP Logged |
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My school in England introduces French and German in year 7 (ages 11-12), but those who have real problems in
other subjects would only do French. In year 8, teachers then decide which students were good enough at languages to do both. Those who did only one language did not have a choice in which language they would learn. Instead of doing extra lessons of the language they do, they get extra lessons in another subject they need more help with. In year 10, the time comes to drop some subjects, but the subjects are split into groups, and if someone doesn't choose a language, they must choose Business and Communication Systems instead, and so a language is usually taken. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| divexo Groupie Australia Joined 5196 days ago 70 posts - 74 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Latin | Message 38 of 55 27 November 2010 at 9:07pm | IP Logged |
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Our foreign languages that are compulsory change so much depending on the school, some have Chinese, French,
Latin, and so on.. Grade 2-3: Italian&Chinese Grade 4: Japanese Grade 5-9: French 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Nature Diglot Groupie Canada Joined 5242 days ago 63 posts - 80 votes Speaks: English*, French | Message 39 of 55 27 November 2010 at 9:53pm | IP Logged |
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I go to English school in Quebec and we had a lot of French, I must say. That can't be said for the English in French schools however, where they were learning, according to my sister who went to French school till the fourth grade, "de cat is blu."
French starts with us in Kindergarten and we pretty much have it all the way until University. In elementary school we also had History and Music/Art in French. And even in University, I'm pretty sure you need to take French classes :S Edited by Nature on 27 November 2010 at 9:57pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Lianne Senior Member Canada thetoweringpile.blog Joined 5120 days ago 284 posts - 410 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, Toki Pona, German, French | Message 40 of 55 27 November 2010 at 9:53pm | IP Logged |
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I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. French is mandatory in elementary starting around grade 3 or 4 (I forget), and junior high (grade 6-8). After that French is offered, but optional. I think a few high schools might have other language classes, but not the one I went to. Also, my elementary school had a Ukrainian program so we got a little bit of instruction in that, because my area has a high Ukrainian population.
As an aside, in first year university I took Introduction to Italian but ended up dropping it. The professor wasn't even a trained language teacher. He was an engineer, who happened to be from Italy. So I think that made it harder than it would have been with a prof who knew about teaching languages. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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