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The Forum > Article Comments > Making the case for languages > Comments

Making the case for languages : Comments

By Julie Bishop, published 23/3/2012

English is both a beautiful and a practical language that we all should master, but learning a second language would expose young people to new horizons.

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*If elected to government, the Coalition will work with the States and Territories with the aim of making it compulsory to learn a foreign language from 7 years of age or earlier.*

I strongly disagree with Julie on this one and I think it would be a huge mistake. I say this as somebody who speaks fluent German as well as some French. Teachers spent years trying to force me to learn French out of a textbook. I hated every minute of it, its a great way of putting kids off school completely. Eventually I did learn French, but that was by living in Paris for a couple of years.

Living in Europe, where language can change within a few km, is quite different to the situation in Australia. You are comparing apples with oranges.

Who should learn foreign languages in Australia? Those with a natural aptitude for it and those who will need those languages in their future careers. For the rest it will be a complete waste of time and effort, a great reason for kids to bunk school, because the simply can't see the point or the forced indoctrination.
Posted by Yabby, Sunday, 25 March 2012 9:36:57 AM
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Full agreement from me Yabby.

<< Living in Europe, where language can change within a few km, is quite different to the situation in Australia. >>

Absolutely.

<< Who should learn foreign languages in Australia? Those with a natural aptitude for it and those who will need those languages in their future careers. >>

Again, absolutely!

It would be a terrible mistake to make it compulsory. If you are made to do something when you don’t have the aptitude or the interest and can’t see a lot of point to doing it, it can cause a huge backlash against the system. We could end up disadvantaging some kids who would be prevented from pursuing the studies they wanted to by being forced to spend their time learning a second language.

We need freedom of choice. Not compulsion!
Posted by Ludwig, Sunday, 25 March 2012 9:49:00 AM
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Ludwig,
Ditto !
Posted by individual, Sunday, 25 March 2012 10:06:55 AM
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I too disagree with Julie's thrust for compulsory teaching of another language, for the following reasons:

1. I took my undergraduate learning in the 1950s and am necessarily unilingual.
2. Looking back I don't consider that I have missed out on cross cultural communication effectiveness. I have always had adequate interpreters available for my work and leisure. To me the important dynamism of communication is meaning and understanding, whatever the medium.
3. My understanding is that the most effective period of language skills acquisition is from birth to about six years of age, an absorption process rather than translation process that occurs during the formal education period.
4. Australians don't understand or use English effectively now, so why burden the populace with a second or third language to mishandle.

I do agree with the principle of teaching other language to the populace, as English is far too efficient as an international language and is therefore precipitating the demise of many marginal languages. To extrapolate, it might eventually lead to universal acceptance and usage, to the total exclusion of all others on a practical level.
Posted by deadly, Monday, 26 March 2012 10:16:17 AM
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Yabby says "Who should learn foreign languages in Australia? Those with a natural aptitude for it"... Well, that would be every human since the capacity for language is one aspect which sets us apart from other beasts and fowls... An interesting statistic to ponder 66-75% of the world's people are at least bilingual (roughly 3 out of 4) - monolingualism isn't the norm and we shouldn't be fooling ourselves that it is...
Posted by matjabsa, Monday, 26 March 2012 2:07:22 PM
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*Well, that would be every human since the capacity for language is one aspect which sets us apart from other beasts and fowls*

Ah Matjabsa, but the devil is of course in the detail. There is a huge difference between growing up bialingual as a young child, as I did to learn German and English, living in a country where one is surrounded by another language and learns it from tv, everyday life etc, and trying to learn a language by learning from a school text book and trying to remember it all parrot fashion, often for no good reason.

On average women seem to be better at learning new languages, compared to men.
Posted by Yabby, Monday, 26 March 2012 3:07:34 PM
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