Languges

[EthanDC]

My household only speak English & I'm enthusiastic about us all learning a second language together as we have a baby boy on the way & I think it would be great if we could all learn together. Baby included.

What are the most useful languages to help get into a good school & further his education?

Thank you in advance for your help :)

[BackforGood]

I don't think that speaking a 2nd language will "help you get into a good school".

As to which language you'd like to learn, I'd choose one that I could practice most easily - where you live, are there communities that all speak a particular language, that would talk to you and let you practice? If none of you speak anything other than English, I think this will be very difficult in reality.

[eyebrowse]

I think a good mastery of English is better than trying to grasp languages at preschool age and even for secondary school

I think there are some classes for Mandarin in London for little ones. However Mandarin is very difficult for English speaking adults to learn

The problem for English speakers is that everyone else learns English but we need different languages depending on where we travel to.Languages only really work if they are used. If you are thinking of going on holiday to France e.g. summer holidays and skiing then as a family try French. If you or your dp have possibilities for working abroad that might be a way of choosing a language to study.

[corythatwas]

eyebrowse Tue 29-Mar-16 19:37:55

"The problem for English speakers is that everyone else learns English but we need different languages depending on where we travel to."

Other north Europeans (Scandinavians, Dutch etc) don't actually get away with just learning English though: ime a decent command of English, French and German is more or less expected of e.g. educated Swedes.

Where I was at school (admittedly a long time ago) the expected quota in late secondary/Sixth Form, unless you did a science programme, was 3 foreign languages, to which you could add Latin and Greek (talking bog standard comps here, nothing fancy).

I did English, French and Spanish at school (+the Classics) but my parents insisted on my learning German as well. And no, we didn't just get English off the telly in those days: there was very little English on the telly. By the time we got to uni, English was not the only foreign literature on the reading lists: there were French and German books on there as well (and Norwegian and Danish which was less of a problem).

[FrancisdeSales]

I'd choose German as university is free over there. I lived in Germany and the quality of life is much better too, for example housing, unless you live in Munich is very affordable.