LANGUAGE COLLEGE?
16 02 2008Mr Parker has asked the following questions. “I’m interested in getting your opinion on the range of foreign languages we deliver at UGS. Would you like to see more? If so, which languages would you like to be taught?”
So click on comments and let him know!
I am perfectly aware that alot of students will want to stone me to death for saying this, but if we are going to be a language college should we not teach latin? Just a thought – considering it does provide alot of the basis for the english language, and before we stray off learning all these “MFL”s, should we not have a sound understanding of our own language? Yes, I know it does not seem relevent, but alot of independant and selective schools teach it, so why should we not? Or at least give the oppertunity for it. Besides if we are going to be a pompous, pretentious, conservative Grammar School, we might aswel do it properly! Anyway, sarcasm aside, I think it would be generally worth while.
i think we should learn italian and spanish but i think we should also have the choice of what we would like to learn, like we would have a class vote on the languages and get split into those groups and if there is not many people voting for one group then we dont use that language in that year, if you get me? But i dont think we should be given homework in those lessons and it should just be all oral and vocabulary/spelling.
I would like to see the inclusion of Spanish in the languages curriculum because unlike the languages we can currently study Spanish is the one that we would find most useful especially on holiday – French and German have their place but Spanish is rather more global than either of these.
i think that we should learn spanish. it is more helpful and more people go to spain, etc, than germany! we should have a school vote and then get split up into those year groups.
i think we should learn more languages like eastern ones because they could be useful in case we get a job there.
i think we should have a choice in what languages we learn because if we regulary travel to a certain country and when you are talking to foriegn people it is polite to speak there language
I think we should learn chineese mandarin because its the most widespoken language in the world and we should learn german or french(students should choose)!
i think we shud get to pick wether we want to learn german or french .
we were supposed to be in 7s, learning french, (which i wud have preferd to learn)
but we got swopped in to 7u and now were learning german which isnt that great…
(i hope you hav a nice day: go to france aswell!)
I think we should only learn the basics of each language (french and german) but more if you want to because some people dont go abroad each year but go to places like wales and cornwall. Anyway, MOST peopels parents can speak a diferent language.
i think we should be taught by people that come from the country that the language is from.
I would like to see the introduction of Spanish and Italian. These countries are close to the UK, as are Germany and France! and it will be more beneficial to, therefore, learn languages of countries we will regularly visit throughout out life.
i agree! i think we shud be able to choose what language we want to learn and not be forced to learn one that we dont like!
Thanks for your very interesting and thoughtful comments. I wonder if anyone has thought about languages in the world of work? Should we be thinking of delivering languages which enable students to work abroad? Which language would be important then?
I think that the school should start learning cantonese or mandarin because most schools around the world are learning it and many people are now starting to move to china to start a business there and then expand, because china is quite a easy place to start(unless it’s hong kong) and the taxes are low. ALSO Chinese is the 2nd widest spoken language in the world
Eyak – now there’s a challenge for human resources. And yes, sir, I have considered languages in the world of work – I’m considering a job in the vatican, it includes a rather fetching hat.
Oui, oui.
x
Das ist einen gut idee
I’m such a bod
Anywayy…I think we should get to learn Spainish as well because there is a bigger rate of Britons starting to live in Spain than most places abroad. Howeverrr…I don’t think we should do french, German AND Spanish. Wow. Wayy too much. I think we should have to do at least one language in year 7 and pick which language. The pick up a second language of our choice in year 8.
Any more ideas?…Make it a better plan?
With China growing as it is, that would be a very useful language to have and Spanish and Italian. I understand we can’t have all of these. Possibly have a lunch time class one term for people to learn the basics of other languages. It would be very useful for people going on holidays and expanding general knowledge.
Japanese would probably come in handy for the business world, and a lot of people are into the culture (anime being this decade’s guilty pleasure for the masses).
We need to make languages more fun than just sitting learning vocab for 1hr and 10m.
And then we go home and learn it for another 35. We should have more active lessons and if so i think we will all enjoy languages more.
I think Danielle’s idea of a lunchtime class is a really good idea. Let’s people who are passionate about language learn even more.
I think that whoever is teaching us the language , should come from the place where the language is from. obviously they need to know english!! This would help because you are getting the language from an actually person who speaks it fluently and precisley
i think that we should focus more on oral work in languages. you are more likely to speak to someone in a foreign country than write them a letter so i think its more important to get speech and pronunciation down as well as we do with spelling and grammar
Latin – Audeamus! No objections from me.
Spanish – Me gusta espanol. Spanish is good. Just it’s one of the more obvious choices for another language.
Turkce istiyorum lutfen! – … I say we learn Turkish.
Japanese – I know there’s many people in school who would be interested in learning Japanese. It’s not as difficult as people claim it is, as long as you stick to it, and don’t start trying to learn how to write in kanji, hiragana or katakana. Best bet is to learn romanji (Using the Latin alphabet, which is the most common used in modern Japan).
What about Gaeilge?
A lunchtime club would be cool, where people could share their basic knowledge of other languages or something.
I did suggest something along these lines when it was brought up that a class wanted to learn Spanish, but the reply was something to do with the lack of staff momentarily.
- Esther Kerrs-Farmer 9R
I think the people who are passionate about learning other languages would only go to lunchtime sessions if their friends went too, or were very secure about how their actions appeared to others. Sadly I found out the hard way, it’s NOT cool to be clever, even at UGS
There is no doubt that Chinese will be the most useful, as they are the next world super power, and our children are more than likely going to have to learn Chinese as there second language when they are at school. But, we would need a lot more stuff, and it is an extremely difficult language to learn. It’s just learning from scratch. At least with European languages we recognise the vast majority of letters, and many words are in fact similar to the English meaning.
Latin would be interesting for a while, but then it would just turn into living hell.
I do however think that we should start speaking our own language properly first, before we even bother moving on to other languages. I’m constantly hearing “NAH MAYTE, CANT CUM OWT NOW GOTA GO TRAF WID ME MUM FOR SUM CLOVES (clothes) OR SUMAT.” Not that I’m complaining, I love the Mancunian accent. It’s just a shame not many other people do. I suppose it could be worse…
Re: Hag
“Sadly I found out the hard way, it’s NOT cool to be clever, even at UGS”
That may be so, but now it’s cool to be so uncool that you’re actually cool. A paradox in terms, if you wish.
-Esther Kerrs-Farmer 9R
Re: establishment
Hasn’t worked for me
A friend of mine is like.. the epitome of effortless cool, and yet nobody really notices it. But I reckon coolness is overrated anyway – if it really matters to you what everyone else thinks of you, then doesn’t that automatically take away any of the ‘effortless cool’ points you might have earned?
I can tell you now that if Urmston Grammar began teaching Italian, the amount of people applying would be sky high.
Most people you ask which language will tell you Italian as it’s so beautiful.
Consider it… seriously. Just don’t take away German!
It is imposible to determine what is cool, and what isn’t as the words meaning changes daily. There never will be a single conclusive defintion for cool, never.
Re: Esther
“It’s cool to be so uncool that you’re actually cool”.
I think you just broke the Universe with that sentence. I understand what you’re getting at though.
Re: Hag
].
Ah well.
I think you’re cool (and isn’t that all that counts at the end of the day? That One person thinks you’re cool?).
Good choice in music, too. [but you use myspace
-Though I don’t actually think that I have ever seen you at school before?
ANYWAY. Back on topic.
I still say we learn Gaeilge ^___^
i think we should have a choice between: Spanish,Italian and Japanese! Just French and German is kinda boring…
Actually, if you want to carry on doing Japanese at a redbrick university, like that of Manchester or Sheffield, then it’s recommended that you learn the hiragana script prior to week one. Otherwise it’s gonna be one helluva beginning.
Having just recently been to Italy and having spoke to Italians, it is pretty pointless to learn both Spanish and Italian, as the languages are both very similar and my snowboard instructor said that they don’t speak Spanish to them, just slow Italian.
And Hag, you’re right. You’re not cool. But if you were, then you wouldn’t fit in with us. =D
x
I think that we should learn Spanish because at my sisters primary school they do it and my mum does it too in an adult class. It would also help alot of people when they go there on holiday
i think we should learn mandarin chinese bcoz it is 1 of da biggest languages in da world an will b vry useful in later life its also easy to learn and mayb we should learn portugese its so eeezzzzy
I know that a lot of Brits live in Spain now so we could learn that.
Also a lot of people speak Chinese, but that would be confusing so i think Spanish would be good
Wow! Thanks for all these comments – I’ll summarise them for SMT, soon. The favourite here is Spanish but there is also a clear interest in the Chinese languages and in Italian and Japanese. Latin was an interesting suggestion – thanks Talia. My son is currently in Japan studying Japanese with Leeds University; it’s a fascinating and very complex language, with many different modes of speech which are determined by who you are speaking to and where you are saying it. I know there is a WORLD shortage in English speaking Japanese teachers….
Soon the whole school survey will be out and everyone (including parents and teachers and pupils) will have a chance to say what languages they prefer. In the meantime, many thanks for all your comments – please KEEP POSTING and I’ll keep reading your points.
If we’re serious about teaching languages, get rid of those stools in the language lab.. and the science rooms for good measure.
How many of you teachers has sat on one of those things, for a full hour and ten? If you’ve got long legs like me it’s worse than airline seating!
we should do japanese because its really cool!
Re: jordan8u
You need to learn to speak English properly before you even think about learning to speak Mandarin.
Jordan, you just got served!
On topic, I would enjoy learning Dutch. I adore the whole culture of the Netherlands and also the inhabitants. Also, with Amsterdam being one of the most popular holiday destination points with school leavers, it would be very handy.
WOW. i never thought japanese but that sounds like it would be fun
i still think that we should do chinese though, and obviously spanish, I’ve always liked the idea of speaking Italian too 
I’d say that we should learn Turkish and Chinese.
Many people have commented saying how learning spanish would be good because many people holiday there, but when your on holiday, most of the spaniards speak english anyway, and you usually only say the very basics. ^o)
With China’s development rapid, learning Chinese will soon become compulsary anyway, so we may aswell get a head start.
… I don’t wanna learn Chinese.
D:
We should be taught to speak L337. What say you, Dave?
- Esther 9R
i’d love to do Japanese. ^_^
Although Gaelic sounds interesting, though it’s not widely used, and i heard it’s really difficult. xD
I’m not so sure – while most people enjoy a good chinese meal, our cultures are very different. While the US took over the known universe and made English the standard language of the internet, and became the centre of the movie industry, European culture soaked this up because we are very similar to America, culturally.
China meanwhile has very different social standards, entertainment forms, music – anything you care to name. While China will become very important in the next 20-30 years, I don’t think we’ll be seeing their fast food chains, TV series and films cropping up in Europe so much as McDonalds, Starbucks or The Simpsons.
You want 1337 speak? Try http://www.4chan.org.
It has no place outside of the Internet. And even then, it’s sparcely used. Meme’s are far better to use. However, use them only where permitted. I.e. Not here.
Hag’s right. Although, Chinese films are coming in to play much more these days, although I couldn’t see the entire culture catching on, what with the Communism and compulsory national service…
Me? Taught to speak L337? I could TEACH L337. I wonder if there are any posts open…
In regards to Chinese, I agree with Hag. After having thought about it some more, I realised just how hard it would be for Chinese to over-take English as the worlds dominant language. I think it will become very important in business terms, and in the business world, but in everyday living for citizens like us, I can’t see much changing. Except for our children and grand-children suddenly having random outburts of Chinese whenver they get home from school.
To all these people who are proposing learning East Asian languages:
Do you enjoy the written segments of French/German?
If your answer to this question is “no”, then you will seriously despise the written segments of Japanese, Chinese etc. if any Asian language should be taught then I will propose one that nobody has proposed: Thai.
What about Swahili, everybody would enjoy that.
chinese, japanese, german, hindi, and swahili – just for DG
I would say personally, I don’t really think Languages will play much part in the future of the world. Already we have developed sophisticated Voice recogonition software, and soon that technology will be married up with language conversion programmes. That will lead to person A speaking their own language, It getting translated, and then read out by a computer to person B. As well as this we are lucky enogh to have the worlds number one language as our native tounge. Realistically, one could phone up a large coorperation anywhere in the world, and someone there would speak good English. Apart from maybe French, I think no other language is that widly spoken.