English-speakers and foreign languages...

It's a bad way to learn the second foreign language before we have not trained our first very well.It's better to learn a language by all of you brain's ability.The government languages of UN,like French,Chinese,etc,are the first choice for you. What a pity if a kid wasted a lot on one language and never use it!

The reason you given is actually right for the problem. In mordern world,english is the most popular luaguage.All the nations both in english-speaking and non-english country,they learn english as the communication tool with other country.So man in the not english-speaking country has the stress of learning english or other languages to keep their live in the aggressive world. On the other side,the english-speaking coutry has no stress of it,they do not have many time in learning other languages.So they often not learn other languages well.

I often wonder why English speakers are so poor at learning languages. For people in non English speaking places English is an important language to learn because it is popular and spoken in many countries in the world. The UK is a country most people have heard of and they may get English from television as American programs or even British ones might be shown. I lived for four months in the Netherlands. The people that live there are well known for their excellent language skills. The children picked up English from television then learned it at school. I spoke to 10 year old that were fluent in English. Yet most 10 year olds in the UK have no knowledge of a foreign language or have a basic grasp of French, German, Spanish or Italian. Yes, they may study say French just to pass exams at GCSE or A level standard. It is looked onto as being just another pass along with, perhaps, English, History and Geography. So which language should British children learn? My primary school didn't teach me a foreign language. My secondary school taught me French for 5 years. Some students studied German as well but only if they seemed very good at French. Luckily things are different these days with some 7 and 8 year old learning a foreign language. I think the key to becoming fluent in a foreign language is to introduce it to toddlers. The brain is like a sponge and could learn very much at home before joining school with some input from the parents. But not all parents are masters French or another foreign language to begin with. Most English people lack confidence speaking a different language. Then the primary school would have to continue teaching the same language. I am a keen traveler. French was useful for me in France, the French speaking area of Belgium and French Polynesia. I used basic German in Germany, the German speaking area of Switzerland and Austria. Italian would have helped me in Italy and Spanish would have helped me in Spain, Mexico and Guatemala. I am going to try to learn to speak Spanish I wish I had studied a language from age 2 to now. Then I would be really fluent in it now.

You are very right that the English -speaking countries are poor at learning another language... The primary reason what you can say is... English is now the Global Language.. Many people know english...People of other countries know English, because the British had ruled most of the countries and thereby they spread English... Thus English has become the Global Language. So, when there is the Global language, where is the neccissity for learning a new language for the English-speaking people. But ofcourse sometimes You also have to know a new language, if you are travelling to some part of the world, coz not everyone knows English. Moreover, studies have shown that in the English-speaking countries, they dont even know how to spell any new word just by listening to the sound of the word.. They can spell the word correctly only if they are familiar with the word.. like...their names, or city names or places.. etc.., whereas the people who have English as the second language are good in spelling the words... only the pronunciation part is difficult....an accent is there. But they can learn the pronunciation also later on.

Hello lauradl, English is my primary language, but I would love to learn others as well, I would like to learn French and an African language. I was in the United States military and it is an organization of many multilingual people. I would hear people conducting conversations in Thai, Phillipino, and other languages and wish I could speak a second language. When I was in high school in Florida, it was required for students to learn Spanish. I did not do well learning Spanish; but now that I am older with dreams of traveling and having traveled; I want to learn more languages. I think a lot of people from places where English is the primary language just do not have the time, the need, or the interest to learn, so they don't. I want to see more countries and learn more languages this is a lifetime goal of mine. Take Care.

I'm terrible at languages, which is something I regret. On a blame laying front I'd say to an extent (though not exclusively) that the education system is at fault. One of the main problems with languages is all the grammar starting with the the lack of knowlegede of English grammar. Then there's the way that we studied no language until secondary school where I had 1 year of Spanish, 1 year of Spanish, Latin AND German, then 2 years of Spanish! What on earth?! Then there's my brother who is a few years younger than me, and he did not have to take a language at GCSE whilst it was a core subject for me. I have studied to degree level in Wales and I was very surprised when I encountered people from England who did not know about the Welsh language! To my detriment I only learnt a little Welsh such as 'Sorry I don't speak Welsh'! I would dearly love to study further but language has become a barrier again as many academic journals are in French and German plus there's learning local languages if I want to do field work. Therefore I am on the look out for evening courses. If I ever have kids, they are certainly going to be taught at least one foreign language even if it means going private.

I love your topic lauradl! Personally I think English and other Western languages such as Spanish,French,and German,the basic element are letters.Different letter combinations can make new words.But most Estern languages, for example,my primary language Chinese,is quite different from Western languages.Chinese are formed with complex elements:meanings,shapes,writting combinations and so on.So for the foreign learners,Chinese are hard to learn and to understand.

I think the economy and the power of the country makes its language very important all over the world. But today even if the English countries will also learn another foreign language.

English is very easy language and its grammar is not complicated.I am an INDIAN and my mothertongue is marathi.I studied in convent so i am good at english.In india our national language is of course coplusory for school.But we have other options too.I learn GERMAN,and found it as easy as my mothertongue because its grammar is same as marathi. We learn foreign languages just for communication.That's not really hard. being good at languages is hard & its a gift of god.

Language is more lax in some English speaking countries (well its starting to unhinge a bit -_-). Non English speaking nations do teach English and many times at younger ages/primary school. Most of it is because of the so-called language of success and needing to communicate with investors/businessmen speaking that language(which is true, but could change...). On the other hand English speaking nations have no real incentive to teach foreign languages and especially at primary school. At secondary schools foreign languages are offered but many times the options are limited, in other instances the classes are bypassable. Maybe there could be a system as you described (it already exists for other countries and English). Make it more of an ongoing and longer process so the person has more confidence. Of course depending on the country in question, resistance may occur and other parents/students may not place importance on learning a foreign language.

I think people don't need to learn a second language until it's necessary. English is widely used in many regions, so English-speaking people can manage in most cases, but it's unconvenient for non English-speaking people to study or live abroad, so they usually learn English to deal with the challenge of launguage. Of course, it's better to learn as many launguages as possible if one has interest.

I am english and am often disappointed that I only speak poor french having studied it for 5 years at school, I studied spanish for a year and can't remember a word, because at that point I was only learning it because I had to. Kids should be given the choice to learn languages outside of school, the teaching you get in school is of little use, I have yet to be stranded in Paris and felt the need to ask someone what colour their pencil case is. Kids need to learn that knowing more languages isn't just a handy skill, but in a world that is getting ever smaller due to transport and opportunities its a useful skill to have, I intend on not only brushing up on my French but also learning a new language in the near future.

Well I live in a country where English is not the native language but there many 'English Medium Schools' which follow the brittish corriculum and are under the 'Brittish Council'.From there the students go on to give the O'levels and many students in these schools being used to English speaking, know the language better than there own mother toungue(i am one of them:D). SO we aleady know two languages and many people take in German or French as another option(I took German:D)....

I think that is very important to learn other languages.For example,I was born in Brazil and I speak Spanish, English, Italian respectively. And now my children who had been born in the United States, speak English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese obviously. When they go to work, I believe they'll have a better chance to be succesful. There are many languages Institutes and Schools around the world and maybe there is one near our work or home. I luckily have an italian mother, Brazil is surrounded by Spanish speaking countries and I emigrated to USA many years ago,therefore, as you can see I have many sources from where I learned these four languages. But answering your question, many English speaking countries, think that English is enough, but nowadays if you learn more than your native languages is a MUST. Luiz www.liquidagora.com/forums/index.php - freelancers www.globrazil.com/forums/index.php - architecture and construction