Compulsory Foreign languages at Primary School?

[JoeP]

An interesting proposal....

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6435885.stm

 

I'm not in favour of it. Whilst I agree there are benefits from it, the time will have to be snaffled form somewhere to teach the subject. I would much rather children left Primary / Middle Schools with the ability to read, write, count, do arithmetic and have a basic understanding of simple science, geography and history.

 

Thoughts?

[upinwath]

I can't agree with you.

I do agree that teaching standards are not what they were in other subjects but that's another issue.

I have many friends from other countries that can speak a pile of languages.

3 to 5 is common and it's down to learning while they are very young.

 

It's our bad attitude in the UK that is the problem.

[JoeP]

I can't agree with you.

I do agree that teaching standards are not what they were in other subjects but that's another issue.

I have many friends from other countries that can speak a pile of languages.

3 to 5 is common and it's down to learning while they are very young.

 

It's our bad attitude in the UK that is the problem.

 

Like I said, I can see the advantages, but I assume that your friends from other countries with language skills are also good with their own language, are literate and numerate and have a basic understanding of the world around them.

 

If that were the case for the majority of kids today, I'd have no qualms at all - but I'm not entirely sure that shoving more stuff in when the basics aren't necessarily being properly handled would be a good idea.

 

Any teachers care to comment?

[upinwath]

I know of many that went to village schools with very limited education but can still manage to read and write in their own language and several others as well.

Perhaps it's our governments lack of investment in education and poor standards of teaching that is the problem.

I know that my old maths teacher in Wath is still at the same school and she was rubbish as a teacher as well as hated by pupils and staff alike.

 

No one could sack her and no other school would want her so the school is stuck with her until she retires are (and this is just hoping) she dies a painful early death.

 

We have a rubbish attitude in this country to languages and education in general seems to be looked at in targets but not in how good a school really is.

We hear of failing inner city schools but what the hell do you expect when you have high school populations who don't use english as a first language and teachers who are bloody useless.

Wath comp. is now a language collage but all I hear is the little brats using bad language.

This will never get any better until we get rid of the silly idea that kids have rights but no responsabilities.

[nuttygirl]

As a languages graduand I find it terrible that kids aren't already being taught languages at what is the prime time of their life to pick them up.

 

They'll never be as adept at picking up a foreign language again than in primary school. I would chose them to learn French, say, over history any day. When does using History have any bearing on a future career?!

[fox20thc]

Well my son started doing French once a week from being 7 years old and loves it. All the primary children in his school learn french.

[KenH]

. When does using History have any bearing on a future career?!

 

 

It helps them avoid the mistakes of the past?

 

The real trouble with Primary schools is that they often divide the day into lessons at all. In the good old days it was possible to mix several subjects up but now many places have an incedibly boring timetable with set hours for literacy and maths.

[mrmist]

From what my wife says most of the Primary schools she has been in teach foreign languages anyway.

 

I think it's good. If you go to most European schools I bet they teach English as well as their main language.

 

I think it would be good to teach some of the more Eastern languages though, this will be where the key skills are lacking in 15 years or so.

[Ousetunes]

Well, I only begun to really know about my own language when I started to learn another.

 

I taught myself Hindi (to read and write it as well as speak it) and until then I wasn't really sure what an adjective was, a pronoun was and quite sure which forms of verb one uses with different tenses and so on.

 

Without a shadow of doubt, my english and particularly my grammar has improved hugely since I started to learn another language.

 

I am therefore in favour of this scheme!

[md25]

Replacing some of the pointless busywork with actual education is a good idea. It's not as if kids are learning too much these days, is it?