Downpour
8 Jan 2011
UK, Ireland / Interest in Polish language grows in Britain [19]
I believe French, German and Spanish are the most popular language choices respectively in British schools. Most (if not all) people I know who learnt a foreign language at school, never use it or rarely do and most aren't at a decent level that they can talk confidently with someone from the county (apart from how many pets they have).
The number of pupils taking modern languages is also deceasing. However the UK government is trying to encourage people to pick up a second language, e.g. making it compulsory to study at least one language up to a certain level and introducing languages at a younger age. Yet, if a lot of people around the world were learning Polish, there would be less incentive for Polish people to learn another language since there would be a higher chance someone could communicate with you in your native language.
From my own personal experience, I don't think languages are taught very well in schools, nor did the choice between German or French capture my imagination to encourage me to pursue it further. Perhaps if it was taught better and there was a wider range of languages to learn available I would've considered taking a language but none the less, I plan on learning one soon anyway. :D
How widely and well are foreign languages taught in British schools?
I believe French, German and Spanish are the most popular language choices respectively in British schools. Most (if not all) people I know who learnt a foreign language at school, never use it or rarely do and most aren't at a decent level that they can talk confidently with someone from the county (apart from how many pets they have).
The number of pupils taking modern languages is also deceasing. However the UK government is trying to encourage people to pick up a second language, e.g. making it compulsory to study at least one language up to a certain level and introducing languages at a younger age. Yet, if a lot of people around the world were learning Polish, there would be less incentive for Polish people to learn another language since there would be a higher chance someone could communicate with you in your native language.
From my own personal experience, I don't think languages are taught very well in schools, nor did the choice between German or French capture my imagination to encourage me to pursue it further. Perhaps if it was taught better and there was a wider range of languages to learn available I would've considered taking a language but none the less, I plan on learning one soon anyway. :D