Studying Languages

Alright.. so a thought came into my head today (wow.... ) that things are really different for learning languages in the US than in other countries. Why? I know that there are a lot of people here on Mibba from countries that speak many different languages. I also know that plenty of Americans know no other languages than English(and even then, saying they speak English well is stretching it a bit too far!).
Is it because Europeans (and also other countries) put education and learning ahead of much more than America?

Maybe it's just because we are too comfortable with speaking english...
Yes, we are lazy Americans...
Oh, and one last thing- I'm sure there are some Americans that can speak more than English.. just so you know that I'm not saying all Americans are stupid.


That's just my thought on the whole thing...

alexandriaaaa -_-:

Is it because Europeans (and also other countries) put education and learning ahead of much more than America?

Foreign language is only one aspect of education, there are many others. In order to go to most universities or colleges in the US, you have to have two foreign language credits in high school. The problem is, the US is isolated from other languages. You can easily get by with knowing nothing but English. In Europe, different cultures are compacted into a smaller region and knowing multiple languages can be more important. Over here (I say over here because I'm American ) knowing how to speak another language isn't something you need to be successful. Being bilingual isn't something employers looks for as much over here.

I think more so than learning another language, it's important to learn about other cultures, because it's quite easy to not know anything about them in the US simply because we don't have to see them.

I'm from the US, also, but I don't know... I guess maybe I have my own ideas on the importance of knowing more than just English, but that's my view on the whole topic.. It was just a thought I had and wondered what other people thought about it. To me, learning another language is important. I've tried really hard to just learn Spanish, but it doesn't seem to click in my head.. oh, and I was also wondering one other thing- what other kinds ways do Europeans use to learn languages? A lot of people are fluent in English, along with their native language, and it amazes me that a thirteen or fourteen year old can speak English so well when they grew up learning a completely different language. Sorry if I'm being biased here, correct me if I am. :]
I know that if I ever have kids, I am going to try to teach them another language other than English... I just think it's important to see what other people are speaking in the world. Kind of a way to be more open to other people in the world, and not so closed minded.

Sorry if I'm ranting / making no sense.. I need sleep badly. :]

We have to learn a language up until year 9. I dropped it as soon as I could.

alexandriaaaa -_-:

oh, and I was also wondering one other thing- what other kinds ways do Europeans use to learn languages?

They start learning other languages way before we do I've noticed. Some of my friends from Germany said they began learning English in grade school, so that's probably why they're so fluent in the languages they learn in school. Most places here don't start until middle school or high school.

I know in my school district you have to have at least one language credit in order to graduate. That means you take Spanish, French, or Latin for either 2 years in middle school and pass the proficiency exam, or take it for one year in high school. I personally have taken three years of French and one year of Spanish, and I plan on continuing with both. It's really important for me to know at least those because I do plan on traveling to Europe someday. I also think it's important to know them living in America because there are a lot of Spanish speaking people here. Knowing a few languges just makes life simpler.

Maladroit:

In my school, (I'm in the US) you don't need to know a foreign language to graduate. Most kids take it to get the mandatory periods per week and then fail the class since it's just an elective. And my school only offers Spanish and French as foriegn languages.

They're be screwed when they go to college, because most colleges do require some foreign language.

UW schools normally require at least three years of languages... I know that for sure. Some are okay with two, though.

I took language courses afterschool in Elementary school... it's was really cool. High School students came in and taught us. And here, in my town at least, we have a class called FLEX that's mandatory to take in seventh grade. I took German 8th grade and Spanish 9th through 11th. I'm now wishing I would have stuck with German, though, because I know more of that right now than I do spanish. XD

In the UK you have to take French, it's the only foreign language that you have to take in you first years of high school. You can then take on German or Spanish. I would be guessing that the reason why the EU have language courses in schools would be due to the EU, there are so many countries all clustered together that people could want to go and visit or live that it makes more sense to teach them at a younger age.

I go to a school that goes from Prep-Yr12.
From Kindy-Yr6, Japanese is taught. Once you hit year 7, you do a semester of Japanese, and then a semester of French or German. (It changes every year).
Then in year 8, you pick one to do.
And then from year 9, you can continue if you want. You can also do languages from outside of school. My friend does Greek through the board of studies, and has 'free periods' where she is able to study it. It's pretty cool.

I think it's an awesome idea to learn a language. It really helps you understand your own language (which is what I'm finding as I'm learning French) and it's always very interesting

By the way, here is in Australia

AmyPoptart:

I go to a school that goes from Prep-Yr12.
From Kindy-Yr6, Japanese is taught. Once you hit year 7, you do a semester of Japanese, and then a semester of French or German. (It changes every year).
Then in year 8, you pick one to do.
And then from year 9, you can continue if you want. You can also do languages from outside of school. My friend does Greek through the board of studies, and has 'free periods' where she is able to study it. It's pretty cool.

I think it's an awesome idea to learn a language. It really helps you understand your own language (which is what I'm finding as I'm learning French) and it's always very interesting

By the way, here is in Australia

That's so cool! :] I was going to take Japanese, but taking spanish was bad enough, and there were at least some similarities between english and spanish...

And I agree on the helping understand your own language! It really does help, I would know. :] haha

sueno?:

Here -and here being Romania, and all our school curriculums are just crazy and super advanced, academic and rigid XD- you start French, English or Germany in 2nd or 3rd grade, then you take a second language from 5th grade. You also do one year of Latin in 8 grade, and if you go to a humanities profile class in high school, an other 4 years of it.
8 or 7 years in the first foreign language and 3-4 in the second are requiered and you have to take an oral exam in a foreign language when you finish high school.

But most kids take up basic English/French classes in ... kindergarden.
>_>
Yeah it's a lot compared to what most people do.

See, I think that's good, though. I know that if I would have had more structure and possibly more language requirements in my elementary and junior high years, I would probably have better grades now than I do. But here, the only requirement for languages is FLEX, and that's because it's an introductory language class. Plus, it's only one semester.

In my cousin's town, I guess they're starting a program where the 3rd grade kids take spanish, because of all the immigrant workers that live in the area. Sad to think that's what it takes to integrate languages in schools, but it's better late than never...

alexandriaaaa -_-:

AmyPoptart:

I go to a school that goes from Prep-Yr12.
From Kindy-Yr6, Japanese is taught. Once you hit year 7, you do a semester of Japanese, and then a semester of French or German. (It changes every year).
Then in year 8, you pick one to do.
And then from year 9, you can continue if you want. You can also do languages from outside of school. My friend does Greek through the board of studies, and has 'free periods' where she is able to study it. It's pretty cool.

I think it's an awesome idea to learn a language. It really helps you understand your own language (which is what I'm finding as I'm learning French) and it's always very interesting

By the way, here is in Australia

That's so cool! :] I was going to take Japanese, but taking spanish was bad enough, and there were at least some similarities between english and spanish...

And I agree on the helping understand your own language! It really does help, I would know. :] haha

Oh, and I forgot to add something- I would honestly love to learn Greek and Latin! It would be really interesting to learn.

Well it is compulsory here in the UK to take another language up to Year 9, but then it is up to you when choosing your subjects.

I decided to take French and German up to Year 11, then carried German up to A-Level, which is AMAZING BTW (No promotion there, honest! ).

Also I've done limited amounts of Anglo-Saxon and Latin, as well as learning Japanese this September and Italian last year, so yeah you could say that I;m a multi-linguist, slightly xD.

Learning a foreign language is good, because you also get to learn about the culture and history of the country itself, whilst also making it easier for yourself when you go abroad (Obviously xD).