Did you learn any foreign languages at school?.........

August 17, 2009 6:09am CST
When I was at school we had to learn French and German up until the age of 14 at which time we could opt out and do only one of these for our exams. I enjoyed learning another language and it has certainly helped me communicate with my European neighbours. Now at school kids can opt out completely and are not required to study any language at all. Did you learn a language at school? Was it a good experience? Do you think languages have a plave on the curriculum?
1 person likes this
14 responses
• Indonesia
17 Aug 09
In my country, we have to learn Mandarin and English. It's a new rule,,but I get Mandarin when I'm in junior high school. You're right, it really nice to learn other language and we need it too! In this era, we need to be able to communicate with many people from different counties and thanks to my English teacher, I can type here in mylot Waw, it must be nice to learn French and German! I wanna learn French, but the course tax really expensive here
• Indonesia
17 Aug 09
Online course! How can I forget about it?! I will try to gain information about it! Thanks for make me remember about online course
17 Aug 09
you're welcome good luck!
17 Aug 09
It is great that you have learnt two other languages. It is especially good as you can communicate and make friends like the people here on mylot!! We can learn so much from communicting with others, we can learn to be more tolerant and open minded. It was good to learn french and german but our teachers were not very good so we didnt learn as much as we could have! But, I have enough to get by. It is a shame that it is so expensive for you to learn French. Have you looked at online courses? thanks for comment
@zoey7879 (3092)
• Quincy, Illinois
17 Aug 09
I took Spanish class in school, however, I barely passed it. Now I've learned a bit of Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Dutch on my own through the years since. :)
@zoey7879 (3092)
• Quincy, Illinois
17 Aug 09
Through reading, through the internet, and through my friends abroad teaching me as I went along. I lived in very diverse areas for a while now. What's amazing is that I knew a girl when I was younger. At age 15 she was fluent in: her native English, Spanish (Mainland), Mexican Spanish, French (Mainland), French (Canadian), Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, and I think German. I was so proud back then to say that she was my friend.
17 Aug 09
wow now they are a broad range of languages to know! I also admire people that can speak other languages. thanks for comment
17 Aug 09
Wow you have learnt an array of languages over the years! Good for you. How have you learnt them? Through books, internet or travel? thanks for comment
@stvasile (7306)
• Romania
17 Aug 09
In school I had to learn French from the 2nd to the 8th grade and Russian from the 6th to the 8th. When I went to high school I had to study English for students that have been studying it from the 2nd grade, and French for students that have been studying it from the 6th grade... That's because most schools are teaching English from the 2nd grade and French from the 6th... During college I studied English during 2 years. I still know how to read and write Russian, even if I don't know too many words. I understand French, but I can't speak it easily, because I lack exercise. If I spend a bit of time between people that speak French, I also start speaking pretty good. As of English, I've learned it all by myself, and it's the language I understand and speak the best.
@stvasile (7306)
• Romania
18 Aug 09
I think some people are inclined to learn foreign languages. I was a very good student generally, and learning foreign languages was only a part of it. I also know some Spanish and Italian I've picked up from TV (both languages are similar to Romanian, my native tongue).
17 Aug 09
Wow considering your education etc your english is very good! Its also great that you can pick up the other languages that you were taught. I think that some people are just a natural when it comes to learning languages, what do you think?
1 person likes this
@playapal (894)
• United States
17 Aug 09
I took four years of French in school but really didn't learn anything we didn't learn anything conversational, just verb conjugation. As I result I hardly remember a thing. I think all school kids should be required to learn another language. I wish I had learned spanish since I live in Mexico now and struggle with it daily.
@playapal (894)
• United States
18 Aug 09
Well it is for me, of course I am being forced to learn, unfortunately I am having a hard time with the tenses. Everything I try to say is about now, not tomorrow or yesterday! But I am learning a little everyday.
18 Aug 09
I think conversational language teaching is the most important aspect. It is certainy the most useful in later life. I had bad French lessons similar to you it is a real shame. Is Spanish difficult to pick up? thanks for the comment
• China
18 Aug 09
hi pushkin , we learn english until 8 years old , but we still cant exchage with english speaker flutely , mostly our writting is good even better than the native english speaker. for our spoken english , we have no circumstance of english speaking but we try hard to practice it from moives ,music and mtv etc. thanks
• China
19 Aug 09
yes. the situation is very often . i am come from China . thanks
18 Aug 09
Hey there. I taught English in Korea for a year and I noticed the very same thing. Very ofen the kids would have an excellent understanding of the grammar and their written work was always very good. This was not to be said of the converstaional skills. Very often they don't have the confidence and until me had no converstaional teaching at all. thanks for the comment.
• Belgium
17 Aug 09
At school normally we are taught 3 languages. Punjabi (my mother tongue), Hindi (national language) and English. I think it is good that I was taught English alongwith Punjabi and Hindi in school as it has helped me a lot in my career. We should not neglect our own languages but it is good to learn other languages also as it helps a lot in life. Anyways I love to learn languages. Currently I am learning Tamil and French.
18 Aug 09
I think it is amazing that you are taught those three languages at school. It is important and as you have stated has helped you in your career. I think its great you are learning more languages now. How are you learning these? Slef taught or course? thanks for the comment
• Belgium
18 Aug 09
Yes you never know when you will need these new languages. I am learning these new languages by myself. As curretly I am in Belgium and French is most widely spoken here so it is bit easier to learn as everyday I can hear people speaking French. I can get to learn new words just be listening to them carefully. But the other language, Tamil, I am just learning out of my interest in that language. That too I am learning by myself.
@med889 (5941)
17 Aug 09
When I was in school, I learnt French and today I can speak french fluently and thanks to the teachers in school, I learnt Hindi with my grandmother who is an Indian, and then I am learning Mandarin now with the help of some friends in mylot itself.
17 Aug 09
You must have had some good teachers in school to be able to speak it fluently. Our language teachers were always changing and we never had consistency. They seemed to not really care if we passed or nor and so the level of teaching was pretty poor! Is Mandarin difficult to learn? I would love to learn a new language. I started to learn Korean when I lived there, but found it quite difficult!
• Philippines
17 Aug 09
In our school we were taught english, spanish and french. I hated it and got bored with french and spanish. I traded the subjects to become a varsity player for our school soccer team.
17 Aug 09
Clearly your english is still good as you are able to communicate very well here on mylot! Some people just dont take to it I guess, and you are like many others who just not big fan of learning laguages. thanks for your comment
@Downwindz (2537)
• Netherlands
17 Aug 09
In Denmark we have to learn obligatory English, starting in 3rd grade, which i cerntainly understand why as we are only about 5.5million people in Denmark, so i guess max 6million out of the worlds 6billion can speak danish to some extent, not practical if you want to trade or do other international things. Then in 7th grade you can choose if you want to learn German too, its useful if you want to get a longer extended education such as upper secondary highschool which is needed to attend the university, some colleges and academies. In 8th grade you can choose to start learning French also, i never had french, and i do pretty fine in both Danish and English fluently, and certainly understand German, though my speak aint the best. Currently im working on learning Dutch as i recently moved to the Netherlands.
17 Aug 09
I think its amazing how other countries learn and perfect English from such an early age! The fluency of the people from Scandanevian countries always astounds me. I wish our country did place more emphasis on languages, not just for communication but also understanding. It helps us to become more tolerant and open to other cultures in my view. thanks for the comment
@Downwindz (2537)
• Netherlands
17 Aug 09
I certainly agree with you that learning other languages gives you a bette feeling about the countrys culture. I find German such a harsh language, but that doesnt mean that the Germans are a harsh culture. Most Germans i find really polite, and no matter how awful your German pronouncation is im confident that they will praise it, because alot there can only speak thier native.
@colydf (913)
• China
28 Aug 09
At school, I learn English as a foreign language. And from junior middle school, I have learned English for about ten years. What is more, I also learn Japanese as a minor in college. Have a nice day!
• United States
18 Aug 09
I studied French and Spanish also some Russian. My Russian is always heavily accented (we have trouble with the r), I speak Spanish fluently and I read well in French.
18 Aug 09
You are very lucky that you have succeeded in communicating in all those languages. Do you find it easy to pick up languages? thanks for the comment
@JamesKYTan (1605)
• Malaysia
17 Aug 09
Hi, In Malaysia we learn English as a compulsory second language in schools. There is no other foreign languages for us to learn in government schools. I am not sure whether foreign languages are taught in private schools. However, in universities we can choose to study another foreign language. Usually the scope of foreign languages is limited depending on the availability of the foreign language lecturers. The popular foreign languages offered by tertiary institutions are Japanese,Korean,German and French. Mandarin and Tamil are not considered foreign languages as they are mother tongues.
17 Aug 09
Hello there. Its interesting to find out what the policies are around the world. thanks for the comment
• United States
17 Aug 09
When I was in school, I learned 3 years of Spanish, and I'm Asian! Now I can understand what my "homies" are speaking every now and then. Learning Spanish is really fun. The only hard part of it is that I can't roll my toungue when you say a spanish way that has the letter R in it. I think languages should stay on the ciriculum because not only is it interesting, it could help you later on in life. You run a business and all the guy speaks if French. You can visit foreign countries and have a good time. etc. etc. etc.
17 Aug 09
Hey there. Wow thats awesome that you have learnt to speak Spanish! I can imagine it is very difficult to pronounce some of the words. I agree with you about languages being on the curriculum, it can bee so beneficial in so many aspects of life. thanks for the comment
@mequan (141)
• United States
17 Aug 09
actually we did