An interesting article on learning languages on Yahoo news today. Apparently French is still the most preferred 2nd language studied in the UK ... why is this ? is it due to the close proximity of France to the UK (geographically speaking) ? is it old hat to think French should be the 2nd language chosen ? or is there a good reason for doing so ?
Also the UK ranks pretty low on the scale of youngsters taking up a language when they move to their final years at school and are given a choice of whether to learn one or not........51.4% dont learn a second language at this point!
In addition Russian seems to be the second language to English in terms of its use now .... Spanish isnt mentioned whereas I thought the numbers of worldwide spanish speakers was way higher than many other languages ?
Its also interesting that the top two Countries for residents speaking more than 2 languages are Slovakia and Slovenia !!! Two Countries that are supposedly way behind many EU Countries in terms of educational systems and standards! Just goes to show you .....
Sue :ranger:
One in two UK pupils in their final years at secondary school are not learning a foreign language, according to EU data released Thursday.
French is the most common second language studied in Britain
The data, published by the Eurostat statistics agency ahead of the European Day of Languages on Saturday, put Britain far ahead of the EU average of 6.4 percent of upper secondary students who do not learn another language.
The figures were 51.4 percent in Britain, and 18.8 percent in Ireland.
All such students in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden are learning a second tongue, with English the most studied language.
French is the most common second language studied in Britain.
An average of 36.2 percent of adults aged 25 to 64 in the 27-nation EU claimed to speak no foreign language at all, led by Hungary with almost three in four people (74.8 percent), and one in two in Portugal (51.3 percent).
By contrast, an average of 28.1 percent said they can speak two or more foreign languages, led by Slovenia (71.8 percent), Slovakia and Finland. Apart from English, the best known foreign language overall is Russian.
In an effort to track down interpreters working in French and fill a hole expected over the next decade as current staff retire, the European Union launched Wednesday an Internet campaign on the Youtube video site.
The number of interpreters working in English, German, Italian, Dutch and Swedish is also expected to drop significantly due to retirement.
The EU has 23 official languages. More than 700 interpreters work on around 50 daily meetings at the European Commission and other institutions. That number is virtually double if the European parliament is taken into account.
Also the UK ranks pretty low on the scale of youngsters taking up a language when they move to their final years at school and are given a choice of whether to learn one or not........51.4% dont learn a second language at this point!
In addition Russian seems to be the second language to English in terms of its use now .... Spanish isnt mentioned whereas I thought the numbers of worldwide spanish speakers was way higher than many other languages ?
Its also interesting that the top two Countries for residents speaking more than 2 languages are Slovakia and Slovenia !!! Two Countries that are supposedly way behind many EU Countries in terms of educational systems and standards! Just goes to show you .....
Sue :ranger:
One in two UK pupils in their final years at secondary school are not learning a foreign language, according to EU data released Thursday.
French is the most common second language studied in Britain
The data, published by the Eurostat statistics agency ahead of the European Day of Languages on Saturday, put Britain far ahead of the EU average of 6.4 percent of upper secondary students who do not learn another language.
The figures were 51.4 percent in Britain, and 18.8 percent in Ireland.
All such students in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden are learning a second tongue, with English the most studied language.
French is the most common second language studied in Britain.
An average of 36.2 percent of adults aged 25 to 64 in the 27-nation EU claimed to speak no foreign language at all, led by Hungary with almost three in four people (74.8 percent), and one in two in Portugal (51.3 percent).
By contrast, an average of 28.1 percent said they can speak two or more foreign languages, led by Slovenia (71.8 percent), Slovakia and Finland. Apart from English, the best known foreign language overall is Russian.
In an effort to track down interpreters working in French and fill a hole expected over the next decade as current staff retire, the European Union launched Wednesday an Internet campaign on the Youtube video site.
The number of interpreters working in English, German, Italian, Dutch and Swedish is also expected to drop significantly due to retirement.
The EU has 23 official languages. More than 700 interpreters work on around 50 daily meetings at the European Commission and other institutions. That number is virtually double if the European parliament is taken into account.