Language
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Re: Language
In the same way everyone says all the Dutch speak English. Having spent time there for work I can assure you that they don't all speak English.Marylou wrote:ginx wrote:No German because, as they put it, more countries speak Spanish than German and most Germans speak English.
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pheasantchick
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Re: Language
We were told that German is useful for business, French, less so.
(An Aussie friend commented yesterday, after hearing some lazy English being spoken, that in the country that invented English, we're the poorest people at speaking it!)
(An Aussie friend commented yesterday, after hearing some lazy English being spoken, that in the country that invented English, we're the poorest people at speaking it!)
Re: Language
Unfortunately there is a bit of a prevailing attitude in this country that 'everyone else speaks English'. It's one of the things which makes us so attractive as a nation, particularly in our capacity as tourists.
As a linguist myself, I can say I have gained an enormous amount from being able to speak other languages, even in countries (Scandinavia) where everyone really does speak English. I am biased towards German and think that for a young secondary child already doing French, German is a great second choice as it is so different and provides a contrast which Spanish doesn't. You have to think a little differently. It's also much less studied - Spanish was the only language GCSE to be taken by more children this year than last- it is definitely gaining in popularity, so for that reason alone, if a child is undecided I would say go for a different one.
As a linguist myself, I can say I have gained an enormous amount from being able to speak other languages, even in countries (Scandinavia) where everyone really does speak English. I am biased towards German and think that for a young secondary child already doing French, German is a great second choice as it is so different and provides a contrast which Spanish doesn't. You have to think a little differently. It's also much less studied - Spanish was the only language GCSE to be taken by more children this year than last- it is definitely gaining in popularity, so for that reason alone, if a child is undecided I would say go for a different one.
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tiffinboys
- Posts: 8022
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Re: Language
Wouldn't Spanish be useful in America & South America too? With growing influence of China, other useful (and different) MFL would be Mandarin.
Re: Language
At my DD's school they are taught French, German, Spanish and Latin, before they take their GCSE choices. Ford GCSE My DD chose German simply because she was best at it, she could have chosen more then 1 language and quite a lot choose Latin as well, but her interests lay in other directions.
I've often heard that Latin is a good choice if you want to be a linguist as quite a few languages derive from it, not sure how true that is though.
Steve
I've often heard that Latin is a good choice if you want to be a linguist as quite a few languages derive from it, not sure how true that is though.
Steve
Re: Language
Very true!SteveDH wrote:I've often heard that Latin is a good choice if you want to be a linguist as quite a few languages derive from it, not sure how true that is though.
Marylou
