Languages Education
I’m interested in the requirements for languages in education in different countries.
In England (There are minor variations in Wales/Scotland, I think, that I’m not overly familiar with) compulsory schooling is from aged 5-16. Currently a language is compulsory from age 11 -14, and optional from then on. Most children will learn only one language, the more able/inclined may get the opportunity to start a second but this is school specific.There is a move towards starting younger, from 2010 a language must be offered from aged 7 to 14, although because of the school system, a child may learn one language from 7-10 and a different one from 11-14. there are liable to be lots of problems with the introduction of languages earlier as it appears a lot of things haven’t necessarily been thought through (from my own point of view, as a qualified languages teacher for 11-18). At the moment the most commonly taught language is French followed I believe by Spanish, which seems to have overtaken German in recent years. Languages like Mandarin and Japanese are slowly starting to show, and a lot of schools also offer the languages of the local community, for example Panjabi and Urdu in certain areas of London.
If you could keep each country to a separate thread of comments, I’d like to know:
Ages of compulsory schooling
Ages when languages are compulsory
How many languages, at what stage are second/third languages introduced?
What languages are the most common?
Any other comments/opinions on recent developments/future developments/issues in languages education in your country.
I’m predominantly interested in state education i.e. what is prescribed by the government. This isn’t a homework assignment or anything like that, just something that I’m quite interested in, given my profession. I hope it’s considered appropriate for the community.
Many thanks.
In England (There are minor variations in Wales/Scotland, I think, that I’m not overly familiar with) compulsory schooling is from aged 5-16. Currently a language is compulsory from age 11 -14, and optional from then on. Most children will learn only one language, the more able/inclined may get the opportunity to start a second but this is school specific.There is a move towards starting younger, from 2010 a language must be offered from aged 7 to 14, although because of the school system, a child may learn one language from 7-10 and a different one from 11-14. there are liable to be lots of problems with the introduction of languages earlier as it appears a lot of things haven’t necessarily been thought through (from my own point of view, as a qualified languages teacher for 11-18). At the moment the most commonly taught language is French followed I believe by Spanish, which seems to have overtaken German in recent years. Languages like Mandarin and Japanese are slowly starting to show, and a lot of schools also offer the languages of the local community, for example Panjabi and Urdu in certain areas of London.
If you could keep each country to a separate thread of comments, I’d like to know:
Ages of compulsory schooling
Ages when languages are compulsory
How many languages, at what stage are second/third languages introduced?
What languages are the most common?
Any other comments/opinions on recent developments/future developments/issues in languages education in your country.
I’m predominantly interested in state education i.e. what is prescribed by the government. This isn’t a homework assignment or anything like that, just something that I’m quite interested in, given my profession. I hope it’s considered appropriate for the community.
Many thanks.