Languages In Schools

Its not that they suck to me, i think they should teach us it when were younger, it would be much easier, teaching us in high school when were like 14 is suspected to be hard because were out of that absorbtion stage where we easily absorb information

 

merci bo coup

 

I wish my parents got me learning languages at a younger age. But out of all the language im learning (French, German, Latin and Japanese), Japanese is easier (doing a GCSE in it privately) because its a one on one tutor and my exams are next year so im feeling confident about it. Also since I like the teacher and the language, that proberly helps too
I bet in May 09 i'll be cursing these words XD

 

my aunt lived in spain for a year and because of that she went from knowing no spanish to speaking it fluently. i've been doing spanish for about a year now and i know almost nothing!

 

I know how you feel Defraction. When I was 15 I only kept doing French for the school trip to Europe in 2006, and in NZ languages are considered by most people to be a waste of time. And when I was 15 (and was in my 3rd year of French) the class was 5 people. Then in 2006 I was the only student taking French at my year level. I had to work out of exercise books which were sent off to Wellington to be marked by someone there.

It was hard, tedious and I gave up completely on the language. However after the school trip for language students to France, Spain and Singapore suddenly I found French great. And collected heaps of French music, signed up to a French gaming forum and made a few friends there who helped correct my errors in French and who I could practice with (in return I helped them with their English homework). I actually managed to pass all my French exams at the end of 2006 despite having done nothing for most of the year, simply because after the trip in September I gained enthusiasm for it.

You say that you like it when you hear French songs and when you hear French people speak it. Well then why not find the lyrics for the French songs you've heard and try translate them. Often that's a good way to learn how to form good sentances since you can just think of the song and use some of the lyrics as examples to remind you of whatever aspect of the language it is. Also if you have a native French speaking friend that would help a lot.

Personally I think enthusiasm is vital for learning a language. The reason I passed French in 2006 and 2007 was not because of the work I did out of the exercise books, but because of the constant use of the language I had from reading the French forum and talking on MSN to my French friends. The key is practice, and I think talking to people and using a forum about something you're interested in is a much more fun way to practice than writing out the same sentance 10 times to remember it.

Sorry for the long post.

 

Completely agree with you. I don't mind learning French (in fact, I WANT to learn it; hence the reason why I took it instead of Spanish). However, my teacher just makes me hate learning the language SO much.

 

I do NOT like languages taught in schools!!!

I;ve gone to Spanish camp for 6 years, and that's soooo much better. It's learning by immersion.

 

USA Schools fail at teaching languages. I'm self-taught in many languages, after growing up learning 2 due to my family being immigrants.

 

I like my language classes. I'm in my sixth year of German and Chinese and I've never had a problem with the way they're taught.

 

I like taking French. It's rather fun for me.

 

I hated learning French in school. I used to go to France all the time, and enjoyed saying the odd word there, being able to communicate in another language, but I really didn't like all the tests and exams in school. My listening was rubbish. Perhaps that experience did take the fun out of it

The problem is, after 6 years of not speaking or learning any French, I seem to have forgotten it all. I actually did well at it too, so I don't know why it's all escaped me. Its a shame as I'd love to understand the lyrics in some of the French songs I listen to, I'd love to be able to speak a little French but I can't be bothered going through the process of learning it all again. I'd be useless if I went to France nowadays

 

they tried to teach spanish in 1yr USA FAILS they should starting teaching a forgien lanuage like in 4th grade. it would be easier then tried to learn it when ur in the 11th grade. meh i fail Spanish 1 so i took it again and cheated thru Spanish 2 so i know some basic Spanish.

but i rather learn jap but there no hope for that. but to be able to understand jap without any english subtitles would be god i could watch RAW eps =)

 

I love French, I get consistently good marks in all areas (listening, speaking, writing and reading) and when I encounter words I don't have to work to remember them or their meanings. I enjoy doing French greatly, I even want to move to France. I like the way it's taught, it makes me learn very easily and I enjoy it. I've been doing French for 5 years now, and I think it really helps to start early.

 

Totally agree- it's the same for me with Spanish. When it comes to
congugating correctly I'm a bit crap. I doesn't matter though, when
I'm speaking in Spanish to native speaker's I'm really in my element
and I can communicate waaay better than anyone who can congugate
"estar" in the post-participle-variable-conditional-irregular-futuristic-
reminiscent-imperfect-whatever tense. If you dump me in the middle
of nowhere in Spain I can communicate better than the best student in
the class(probably). Anyway, my point is the shit we do in class doesn't
interest me, but somehow magically I can still read a Magazine and get
the jist of it, and I can hang out with my mexican friends and they under-
stand me, hell I even speak fast from time to time. I'm also the one who
responds when no one knows the answer in class, so the school system
is messed up. You don't start speaking a language perfectly.

 

i just don't really get on with languages i'm okay at them but find them boring - they are compulsary at my school... so happy though!! Had my german oral today so never have to do another one again... didn't go too badly either

 

I really did not get on with languages at school. But as an adult, I am learning lots of languages, which has made me realise how badly they are taught in UK schools (or at least in my schools :lol: ). But I swear, they're taught completely differently! And crucially, I think, in a useful and non-patronising way, so you actually *understand* what's going on, rather than learning set phrases and not having a clue... Other than learning when you're under 10, I'd definately learn once you're an adult. For me, 11-18 was totally the wrong age to learn a language!! But if you really can't stand them at school, you can try and pick them up when you're older, like I am (although nothing beats learning as a young child obviously).

But I do actually wish I'd tried a little harder. I recall being a little distracted by this one girl in my French class :icon_redf

 

Well, we (most of us) didn't learn English by reading a textbook. Trying to learn that way just doesn't work.

I took 3 years of Spanish and I can speak it well enough for short conversations, but that's about it. Now I'm taking German, and after 4 months of class my peers barely know any (some still can't conjugate "sein" in the present tense), but because I'm motivated by it, I can read, write, and speak it decently. Much better than my peers, anyway. I listen to lots of German music, watch German movies, and I have an IM pal in Munich, plus I'm going to live in Germany this summer. It's a lot of motivation.

 

Language classes in school are pretty fun, at least at the high school level (even though my high school only offered Spanish and French). At the college/university level I don't think it's as enjoyable. I took a beginning Italian class last semester and it was awful. I wanted to drop the class everyday but that was probably because of my teacher (which they dropped the class from the catalog) so my college only offers Spanish and American Sign Language (is that even a language?! Lol) ...Lame!

 

I love different languages but i do agree that it should be taught at a younger age. Since The Spanish population is rising it should be taught like an English class Grammar,Sounds,things etc and every grade would be a different level just like English class They try to throw a foreign language at us in high school.



I took Spanish my last year of high school and i forgot almost everything


I would love to learn Russian