Foreign Language Learning
The great myth (“no, that is not a female moth”!), if it may be called as such, is that learning a foreign language is really difficult. Furthermore, will it be of any use and surely STEM subjects are of greater value in terms of job ‘currency’ and pecuniary value?
As a former languages teacher (State & Independent secondary schools in the UK and State secondary & University in France), I naturally decry the misconceptions surrounding foreign language learning; not only has the teaching experience provided a career, but it has opened up a vista of opportunities.
“But we are not a language family” was a phrase that I have faced at the start of various Parents’ Evenings in School; I sense this opening line was either to justify the child’s lack of assiduity or as a veiled penchant for “more useful subjects that [my child] needs”. I so wanted to reply “you seem to speak with little impediment”; I refrained, not least to create a positive professional interface.
I guess one of the great weaknesses in schools/education is that a subject is a means to an end. I would prefer to focus on the inverse, especially focusing on education with the original Latin educare (‘to bring out what is within’). In other words, for all the ‘importance’ of GCSE … and I shall not get into a political debate, nor comment other than to state that Rishi Sunak’s proposal for a broader post-16 curriculum could reignite foreign language learning … in terms of gaining a certificate, or in the case of MFL, to recite verb tables and acquire ‘vital’ vocabulary, there surely has to be much usefulness in having a knowledge of a foreign language.
Let me share, at this point, a few of the somewhat drole GCSE French classroom answers or role-play exam responses:
Mon père cultive des végétables et mon ( ! ) mère aussi dans le derrière ... le mind boggle, presuming that to boggle is a regular -er verb in French
Je voudrais un pull noir, blanc, noir, blanc, noir, blanc ... from the candidate unsure of ‘stripy’
J’étais très chaud!
Placing the masculine definite article in front of a noun, displaying a pseudo-Gallic shrug, and attempting some form of a French accent, in order to suggest vocabulary revision or to avoid silence
The above provided some amusement amidst the maelstrom of a frenetic teaching day. And herein lies the problem: teaching! Learning is a far greater experience. I wish I had realised the latter earlier in my teaching career. Inculcating a love of learning, the ability to question, or a positive learning environment are the challenges, yet rewards, of gardening in a gale of English.
Media reports that proficiency in a foreign language can stave off early dementia are encouraging for the author of this blog. However, possessing the ability to communicate in a foreign language is satisfying per se, indeed fun and satisfying, not least as a transferable skill, valued by universities and employers. Furthermore, other horizons come into view: travel; tolerance; ability to multi-task; understanding of ones own language; memory improvement; acuity of the mind; understanding of others; extension of networking skills; improvement of cognitive functions; and greater self-confidence.
I will be sharing some linguistic borrowings of English words into French in my next blog. In the meantime, un peu d’un petit does not have to sit on a wall; he can get down and communicate un petit peu … on est fées or en effet!
ЯK – October 2023
Fun ‘bite’
Il y a des mots nouveaux (notamment en médecine) qui peuvent contenir au moins 6 lettres A. D'ailleurs le mot "anticonstitutionnellement" a été détrôné par un terme médical. Revenons au mot avec 6 fois la lettre A. Il y a cette pub en ligne:
Bienvenue à Abracadabraland - Chambres d'hôtes dans le Sud-Ouest
What is the only word in the French language that contains the letter A six times?
There are words, especially medical ones, that have at least six vowels, such as 'anticonstitutionnellement'. There is a pub in the south-west of France called Abracadabraland
