Foreign Language Education in England and USA

Question

People from all over the world are trying to learn English. In high schools and universities, many languages are taught. That is exactly the same for my own country. English,Deutsch,French are ,in particular, being taught in Turkish high schools.I want to learn the situation in England and USA. Do English students learn a foreign language in high schools? Do they need it ?

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

I studied Spanish and German in US high school; Latin and French were also offered, up to a maximum of 3 years.  (That was a long time ago, however: 1956-60).  Students there need it to the same extent that EFL learners need English:  if they are to work or travel in those countries (except for Latin), or study, write or research in those languages.

BarbaraPA · Answer

I was in high school from 1980 to 1984. We could study French or Spanish in junior high and continue it in high school, where we also had Italian. In my final year, they added Latin, which was very helpful for when I studied German in college. (All those cases!)

It depends very much on where you live in the U.S. Some areas are quite poor, and a foreign language is considered "nice" but not necessary, so it's not available for students to study. In other states, you must take a foreign language for at least a couple years to get your diploma. In the school district I live in now, students can take French or Spanish, and probably also Italian and German, as well as Japanese. That would not be the case for a district with less money. I am not aware of the requirements to graduate - whether they need a foreign language or not - but I will definitely encourage my children to start taking a language as soon as it is offered.

Spanish would be a very useful language to know in the U.S. now.

Elmuchacho · Answer

So we must understand there is no foreign languages teaching in secondary school and before???
In addition, I think, even if a foreign language doesn't look useful, it's at least the better way to open his mind to another culture ... what some Americans (not all of course, no manicheism) need seriously...

Janissary · Answer

Yes Elmuchacho. I feel the same thing. I am not only learning German language right now, but also German culture, German literature , German society, which pleases me so much. I had had no information about Bertolt Brecht before I started to learn German.

Regards

BarbaraPA · Answer

ElmuchachoSo we must understand there is no foreign languages teaching in secondary school and before???

How in the world did you draw that conclusion after Mr. M and I both said that we studied foreign languages ourselves?

Pastsimple · Answer

ElmuchachoSo we must understand there is no foreign languages teaching in secondary school and before???
In addition, I think, even if a foreign language doesn't look useful, it's at least the better way to open his mind to another culture ... what some Americans (not all of course, no manicheism) need seriously...

I thought the French weren't keen on studying foreign languages, just like native speakers of English.

I'd like to remind all of you that it's not only about what languages, if any, are taught but also about how they are taught. I've studied English pretty much myself - after four years of compulsory English lessons at secondary school, I couldn't ask for/give directions nor order a meal in a restaurant in English. No focus on real, practical, everyday English. Just grammar and "rules" that, as I found out, didn't work after I'd brought my English to a higher level.

I don't know why but I have the impression that despite Americans aren't thought to be keen on studying foreign languages, you can get better foreign language training in the US than here in Europe. Provided you have the money, of course.

A tip for all of us who like English:

If English is the only foreign language you speak (or you are a native speaker of English), and you want to do something really adventurous, travel to any European country except for the Netherlands, Belgium, the countries in Scandinavia (and maybe Germany). Don't take any dictionaries or conversation books for travellers with you. Then tell me how it went.

Foreign Language Education in England and USA

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