Choosing languages (already!) for Year 7
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Re: Choosing languages (already!) for Year 7
[quote="LazyDaisy"]I've just had a letter from ds's new school (which he is going to in September) asking us to express a preference re languages.
I suggest Mandarin. This becomes an very important language in 21st century.
I suggest Mandarin. This becomes an very important language in 21st century.
That's exactly why we have to learn something else! As long as we feel we don't have to bother then why should our children! It really is incredible how we expect everyone to bother learning English just because 'everyone' speaks it!' I'm speechless! This is why there are fewer and fewer language graduates and therefore teachers. There is no Business Chinese..it's Chinese full-stop and language is culture is language. If all our business partners abroad said we can only order a drink in English, ha, ha, ha but we know they we all speak French/ german/Russian in that little old island over there we would be complaining like mad. Latin was the language of the Romas Empire and nobody thought that would ever end, French the language of the nineteenth century and similarly it was considered a vital constituent of an education and we would always only have English and French, and English the twentieth century. My husband is Chinese and believe me it is not part of 'their' culture to not allow others to learn the language..I'm sorry but I find that absurd and quite offensive.
my point about the drink was purely to suggest that one cannot undertake the learning of a language in order to steam in at a later date able to run business meetings.
Having Latin and Greek (and French up to and including that important glass of wine - ditto, Spanish and Italian) I have demonstrated to myself an attempt. I've had a go. I'm just not much good and think it a poor reflection of something - me? teaching practices? that however many years leads to not very much success.
It's a great shame. I think that children should be immersed in foreign languages from a much younger age. My young nieces, 2 and 9, half Italian / half English speak both of these and French (where they live). My nephew (half English / German) is the same. He's 6. My sons (11, 13) have *iss poor French and one has a few lines of German. It's not good.
The most valuable of them all have been the dead languages. It is they which have taught me a love of language per se and a pretty good sense of grammar and sentence construction (please don't use this sentence as a stick to beat me with - "they"? "them"?). Nothing I came across, certainly, in my English lessons.
Having Latin and Greek (and French up to and including that important glass of wine - ditto, Spanish and Italian) I have demonstrated to myself an attempt. I've had a go. I'm just not much good and think it a poor reflection of something - me? teaching practices? that however many years leads to not very much success.
It's a great shame. I think that children should be immersed in foreign languages from a much younger age. My young nieces, 2 and 9, half Italian / half English speak both of these and French (where they live). My nephew (half English / German) is the same. He's 6. My sons (11, 13) have *iss poor French and one has a few lines of German. It's not good.
The most valuable of them all have been the dead languages. It is they which have taught me a love of language per se and a pretty good sense of grammar and sentence construction (please don't use this sentence as a stick to beat me with - "they"? "them"?). Nothing I came across, certainly, in my English lessons.
My son has been learning Mandarin, 3 times a week since year 3 at his school. He has always liked it although found it a little difficult at first - especially the written work. The school also offered Mandarin classes for the parents in the evening (handy for checking up on homework!).
He is not keen to follow it up when in year 7, preferring to take on the challenge of Spanish classes, of which he has always had a preference.
We traveled to Beijing last summer and his basic use of Chinese came in very handy - he did seem to be able to understand more than he could express vocally though. The Chinese were very impressed with his understanding of their culture too - something that is added to the classes at school. He also loves to talk to the guys in our local Chinese restaurant too and orders the takeaways in Chinese over the phone
I expect he will forget most of what he has been taught but I am glad he has had the educational experience of learning an alternative language for a short while.
He always got free prawn crackers too at our takeaway - it had it's benefits
He is not keen to follow it up when in year 7, preferring to take on the challenge of Spanish classes, of which he has always had a preference.
We traveled to Beijing last summer and his basic use of Chinese came in very handy - he did seem to be able to understand more than he could express vocally though. The Chinese were very impressed with his understanding of their culture too - something that is added to the classes at school. He also loves to talk to the guys in our local Chinese restaurant too and orders the takeaways in Chinese over the phone
I expect he will forget most of what he has been taught but I am glad he has had the educational experience of learning an alternative language for a short while.
He always got free prawn crackers too at our takeaway - it had it's benefits
"Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer. Only connect, and the beast and the monk, robbed of the isolation that is life to either, will die." EM Forster
My DD1 trudged through the gerund , dative etc and found herself at Latin AS. On the phone to me the other day she said how she had to translate a piece of Ovid where he wrote a letter to a friend about what he had seen at the forum(no pun intended!). He saw another friend whose 14 year old daughter had died . He wrote how he had observed his friend watching the other fathers laughing and joking with their daughters who were alive and how they were buying their wedding garments and so on. Ovid was moved by the knowledge that his friend would never have this joy . My daughter was moved by Ovid which made me happy . She said that now she saw the point of trudging through the grammar -you could connect with people.
Forget what's useful-only connect.That is the point of language.
My DD1 trudged through the gerund , dative etc and found herself at Latin AS. On the phone to me the other day she said how she had to translate a piece of Ovid where he wrote a letter to a friend about what he had seen at the forum(no pun intended!). He saw another friend whose 14 year old daughter had died . He wrote how he had observed his friend watching the other fathers laughing and joking with their daughters who were alive and how they were buying their wedding garments and so on. Ovid was moved by the knowledge that his friend would never have this joy . My daughter was moved by Ovid which made me happy . She said that now she saw the point of trudging through the grammar -you could connect with people.
Forget what's useful-only connect.That is the point of language.
dinah wrote:"Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer. Only connect, and the beast and the monk, robbed of the isolation that is life to either, will die." EM Forster
My DD1 trudged through the gerund , dative etc and found herself at Latin AS. On the phone to me the other day she said how she had to translate a piece of Ovid where he wrote a letter to a friend about what he had seen at the forum(no pun intended!). He saw another friend whose 14 year old daughter had died . He wrote how he had observed his friend watching the other fathers laughing and joking with their daughters who were alive and how they were buying their wedding garments and so on. Ovid was moved by the knowledge that his friend would never have this joy . My daughter was moved by Ovid which made me happy . She said that now she saw the point of trudging through the grammar -you could connect with people.
Forget what's useful-only connect.That is the point of language.
Oh dinah - That was lovely. I am often having mild discussions with people about how wonderful and useful I found Latin and that is why I am pleased my DS is now studying it. The people have not been convinced when I say 'useful' and cannot possibly see how it can have meaning or be of help in modern day life. I can now quote you - thanks
