The Daily Mail website recently published an article called “Why do the English need to speak a foreign language when foreigners all speak English?” The author – David Thomas – argues that students in the UK who choose to not learn a foreign language at school are making an entirely sensible choice. Learning foreign languages is no longer compulsory in schools in England after the age of 14 and the numbers choosing not to study a language has been steadily decreasing. Last year the numbers of school students studying French and German was the lowest ever, and many university departments teaching modern language are threatened with closure. Apparently 380000 teenagers leave school every year without studying a language.

So, why does David Thomas thing it’s a waste of time? His argument is simple really – he claims since English is the language the world uses and increasingly so there is simply no justification for spending any time on foreign languages – unless you want to know a few phrases when you go on holiday. He says “there’s absolutely no need to learn any one particular language unless you’ve got a specific professional use for it.” Since everyone in the world is learning Enlgish – why bother? Of course this flies in the face of the argument that employers like to employ people who speak languages – not necessarily because they need to use the languages, but because the way they think (whatever kind of mind a linguist has) makes them good and creative employees. There is also the fact that a significant amount of our business is done within Europe and it is clear that our trading partners prefer to work with people who speak their languages. So seeing the numbers of students learning languages at UIC who learn foreign languages increasing once again this year, we’d have to say that Mr Thomas has got it completely wrong.

Did you know that in 2009 the number of Chinese speaking English was more than in all the rest of the world, or so claims Jay Walker. Although a second language, the pressure on Chinese Children to learn English if they want to be successful is greater than ever. If you’ve ever wondered how so many people could learn a language – have a look at this clip showing English language teachers drilling students in huge stadiums.

The presenter is literally screaming at the students who in turn are screaming back – an unlikely way to be successful! By the 3rd grade Chinese children have to learn English by law and by 2009 over 80 million Chinese High School children had taken the standard English language exam. And the reason why? Jay Walker suggests it is simply the opportunities it offers. The opportunity to be successful, to travel, to meet other people and to make new relationships. That is all good business. Research in the UK continually throws up the same story – being able to use many languages is a good thing, and something the UK is in danger of falling behind in compared to other countries. A recent talk by the Business Secretary reports UK business leaders have said that, unless young people are encouraged to broaden their horizons, the UK risks falling behind. “These employers deem knowledge and awareness of the wider world more important when recruiting than degree subject and classification. In fact, businesses for whom trade with people from other cultures is all important are finding it hard to recruit staff – confirming an earlier survey by the CBI.” So why not start the new year with a bang and learn a language at UIC in London!

It’s that time of year again – resolutions to do something new, change your life and here is one of the easiest ways of doing something not just something interesting buut something that really might change your life! -  learning a foreign language. Students at UIC are re-learning languages studied at school, brushing up for a holiday or getting skills up to a high level for work.

You may find some of the comments made in a recent debate in the House of Lords on learning modern foreign languages interesting …. And you can see some of the comments in a recent debate in the House of Lords (3 December 2009) completely reinforcing the importance of this. Baroness Coussins reported ….. “CBI surveys have highlighted the frustration of UK employers. Sixty per cent are dissatisfied with the foreign language skills of school leavers.” ……. “Over a third of UK businesses want people specifically for their language skills, but increasingly are forced to recruit overseas to meet their needs.” ……. “Seventy-two per cent of UK international trade is with non-English-speaking countries, but only one in 10 of us can speak a foreign language and only 30 per cent of us say we can even understand a conversation in another language.” …….. “a finding of a survey of earnings three and a half years after graduation, which showed that modern linguists earn more than graduates from any other discipline except medics, architects and pharmacologists.”

Even President Obama thinks it’s a great idea – see him here talking about the advantages of speaking a second language

It may be a surprise for our international visitors to know but it is not compulsory for British schoolchildren to study a foreign language after the age of 14. This change to the national curriculum was made by the last labour government in 2004. It led to a massive decline in the numbers of children studying foreign languages. It is not clear whether the government thought it was a good thing because so many people in the world spoke, but unsurprisingly there was huge criticism of the move. At UIC London we have seen a steady increase in people learning foreign languages over the years, our evening classes in modern foreign languages are regularly full. Not quite the same story in secondary schools but then perhaps those are two sides of the same coin. Earlier this week the current Education secretary Michael Gove announced a new review of the national curriculum and the signs are that he will reintroduce the compulsory study of a modern foreign language up to the age of 16. 

When Mr Gove was asked whether he was “leaving the door open” to making modern foreign languages compulsory at GCSE, he responded with an emphatic “yes”. For the full story read it on the BBC website.