British Council: Languages for the Future

[Elexi]

German is definitely on the decline in English schools and universities - less schools offer it at all compared to 30 years ago and a number of university departments have been closed to re-allocate funds elsewhere.

German (and languages in general) is perceived as a hard subject by students hoping to get an A or A* in their exams. As many Russell Group universities require three straight As for entry, and no longer do interviews to make individual offers, students are choosing subjects that increase their chances. In addition the connection between results tables and school status that came about under the previous Labour government mean that schools slowly drop subjects that do not improve their statistics.

In saying that, there are plenty of Germans in London - where I live in South East London appears at times to be a German colony - and there are plenty of adults learning German post school. The problem is in mainstream education, not in the desire of people to learn German.

[garyb]

French being so high was surprising at first, as it can seem like a language that is only popular because it's still riding on the international prestige and importance it had a hundred years ago, but I suppose France is one of our closest neighbours so it's important for trade and tourism. I've heard of a lot of collaboration between British and French businesses in engineering, research, etc.

I know that fewer people in the UK are studying French and German at school, but from what I've heard, this is the case for languages in general.

I'm also surprised that Polish isn't higher. From skimming the report, it seems weighted towards "big business" language needs, so perhaps Polish is less important in that area.

[Brian]

German is dying in the UK. It's barely available for A-Level anymore. Fewer children are doing it for GCSE.

Still widely studied in Scottish schools though. However, overall numbers of pupils choosing to study a language are falling.

I've heard many people say that we shouldn't "waste time" teaching German and French (because apparently everyone in France and Germany speaks amazing English!) and we should look instead to "languages of the future" such as Mandarin and Japanese.

Ok, we currently offer languages with many similarities to English (not least the same alphabet) and we are going to revitalise foreign language learning in schools by replacing them with Asian languages which in many respects will be alien to native speakers of English?

Good luck with that one.

[alexkelbo]

However, overall numbers of pupils choosing to study a language are falling.

Is it completely voluntary to learn a foreign language in UK highschools? That would be surprising.

[Brian]

However, overall numbers of pupils choosing to study a language are falling.

Is it completely voluntary to learn a foreign language in UK highschools? That would be surprising.

I can only speak for Scotland, which has a different education system to the rest of the UK.

Here, all pupils learn a language in the first two years of High School.

Thereafter, pupils are free to drop their foreign language. Sadly, many do.

[Ogrim]

However, overall numbers of pupils choosing to study a language are falling.

Is it completely voluntary to learn a foreign language in UK highschools? That would be surprising.

I can only speak for Scotland, which has a different education system to the rest of the UK.

Here, all pupils learn a language in the first two years of High School.

Thereafter, pupils are free to drop their foreign language. Sadly, many do.

In England learning a foreign language in school was voluntary until 2014, when compulsory language education was brought in for all children between seven and 11 years old. I don't know if it is the case also for Wales and Northern Ireland. Here is an article from the British Council about it, and this is an interesting op ed by Mark Herbert, head of schools programmes at the British Council.

[garyb]

When I was at high school (in Scotland), a language was also required for the third and fourth years, but I understand that that requirement has since been dropped. I don't know of all the reasons, but I believe lack of teaching resource was one of them. In the first two years, there were one or two hours of classes per week, and needless to say we only learnt the very basics.

[Brian]

When I was at high school (in Scotland), a language was also required for the third and fourth years, but I understand that that requirement has since been dropped. I don't know of all the reasons, but I believe lack of teaching resource was one of them. In the first two years, there were one or two hours of classes per week, and needless to say we only learnt the very basics.

On the positive side, languages have now been introduced at primary school, but I believe they just cover basic vocabulary, numbers, colours etc.

[Elexi]

However, overall numbers of pupils choosing to study a language are falling.

Is it completely voluntary to learn a foreign language in UK highschools? That would be surprising.

I think currently either French or Spanish (School's choice) is compulsory once a week (1 hour) between the ages of 7 and 14. Other languages are an option at 13.

In other words language learning in schools in England is a complete joke.

[limey75]

On the positive side, languages have now been introduced at primary school, but I believe they just cover basic vocabulary, numbers, colours etc.

Better than nothing I suppose, but they should really be trying to get them to make simple sentences and teach basic phrases. The earlier you can start learning a language the better, generally, we're told.