What language do they learn rather than English in SPAIN?????

[RTKangaMummy]

What is the language the children learn as a 2nd language in SPAIN

1. english
   
   
2. portugese
   
   
3. french
   
   Or do they learn 2 lang??????

[NotQuiteCockney]

Lots of Spanish people speak French, so I think it might be French ...

[wobblyknicks]

RTKM - is this vital to your tv guiding abilities?

[PicadillyCircus]

Some might learn Catalan I suppose

[RTKangaMummy]

no WSK

it in answer to another mumsnetter

she has a spanish au pair BUT she doesnt speak english so I was wondering what 2nd language she would have learnt at school?

[wobblyknicks]

I see, you're branching out

[tribpot]

Remember many parts of Spain are bilingual, so the kids will be learning their own language + Spanish (Castillian).

My guess would be a choice between French and English. Many people I know of my age or younger speak excellent English, but Spanish people in general don't speak as much English as I've found in other European countries. Nothing wrong with that - their language is spoken throughout the world after all!

[RTKangaMummy]

she is 26

[NotQuiteCockney]

I think portugese is an unlikely answer, as Portugese really isn't very different from Spanish. I certainly found that even in the very south of Spain, people spoke French. And train stations had signs in French and Spanish.

[marialuisa]

Depends where you are, but at the school near my dad (mallorca) they have their main lessons in Catalan, learn Spanish too (like the Welsh-medium schools here) and then have a choice of French/English/German.

[Pidge]

It would be French or English usually.

But remember - doing it at school doesn't mean very much. How many 26 year old English people can genuinely communicate in another language?!

[Ameriscot2005]

I've received quite a bit of interest from prospective Spanish au pairs recently, and they've all claimed to have either a good or basic knowledge of both French and English.

I don't think it's totally fair to compare English speakers with non-English speakers. We have a lot less exposure to foreign languges than other Europeans have to English/American.

I'm 40 and can speak French - was actually able to use my school French to work in a factory in France between the ages of 23 and 26. Were I applying for an au pair position, I would have happily declared that I could speak half-decent French.

[Beatie]

I worked as an Au PAir in Spain 10 years ago and German was growing in popularity as a third language, english being the second language they learnt.

French used to be the second langauge they learnt until English overtook that. I got the impression the popularity of learning French was dying.

[RTKangaMummy]

I asked DH to ask the Language teachers at his school

He asked the Head of Spanish what is the 2nd Language that children learn in Spain

He was told English

[onlineid]

Message withdrawn

[SenoraPostrophe]

Schools round here teach English as a second language. Sometimes they often French too, but usually just English. The local language academy has about 15 English classes and 2 French ones. No German or portuguese, although portuguese might be more common near the border.

I've read that in parts of Cataluña, some children don't even learn Spanish - their main lessons are in Catalan and they choose English (rather than Spanish) as a second language