Learning a 2nd foreign language at secondary - advice please

It isn’t that difficult. DD learnt French and Italian together. Obvious similarities. Dc really can master both. Some Dc find MFLs easy enough.

I learnt French at school, then Spanish as an adult once I was at uni doing French.

Spanish is a far more useful language tbh and if my kids got randomly selected for Spanish I’d be pleased. It’s also definitely easier.

I’d just go with it tbh- once she does have a decent command of Spanish she will find French not too hard- but learning both at the same time could be confusing.

I lived in the states and Europe and it is more useful than french.

Interesting. I lived in Europe and French was more useful than Spanish, given that I was in France. I have only ever needed Spanish in Spain.

@Feetache
Most Brits travel without knowing any MFL! They also do business with exactly the same limited knowledge of MFL. Turns out many other people speak English. Gcse mfl is too basic for business so a degree gives an edge.

Australia has a very different position in the world. Few people here learn Japanese, Korean or even Mandarin up to a working level. Russian will now be limited due to the year abroad. I think it’s a huge shame schools don’t offer 2xMFL for all who are interested as it severely limits university options. They should maybe pool lessons with another school? However Dc here see MFL as too difficult so don’t bother with the hard graft of grammar. Duolingo will do! Sadly.

Spanish is spoken in far more countries than French.

Not true.

My views, from someone who has been learning languages on and off for most of her life:

• so much easier to learn languages when you’re younger, so if she’s agreeable I would definitely go for it now
• if a few of her friends want to learn, that would be a great idea though problems might arise if they get fed up at different rates
• I use Duolingo. It’s good for repetition but I have no idea how anyone learns any grammar from it, and the vocabulary can be a bit off the wall
• if you’re in London you should have no problem finding a tutor, but I was studying Spanish when Covid hit and we switched to Zoom. Horrifying at first, but once we got used to it (and I am old) it just became so much easier in terms of not having to travel quite long distances to get to class. Most language schools now offer online courses which have the advantage that they can use teachers from anywhere in the world so doesn’t tie you down to what is available locally, and obviously if you enrol via the school (I use Instituto Cervantes but no doubt there is the French equivalent) then you would expect them to have access to a good standard of teachers.

@ImPickleRickSpartacus
Because she hasn’t been offered two foreign languages at school, as per the original post!

most people near us do two languages at high school here (Australia) but as far as I’m aware it’s rarely two European languages. I did French and Chinese at one school and French and Korean at another, people did German and Japanese etc etc. that makes much more sense than French and Spanish i think.

Why would she need a tutor if she's bright?
I did 2 foreign languages at school.

I studied French, German and Russian at secondary school and loved russian classes so much i studied russian at university and then moved to Moscow until my mid twenties. As pp have said, its has a such a different base to the romance languages. Plus i found the history and culture of the russian nation very interesting to study alongside. Opportunities to visit would be potentially harder given current world events though.

Impossible to know what subject a Yr7 might want to study at uni. They will have no idea. Language courses are less and less sadly too.
Imo a language that's wildly used and will give you skills to be able to travel & do business in was the basis of my comments.

@Feetache
we are talking about academic subjects at university. Not chatting to the local Puerto Rican or Mexican. Young people should not be pushed into a language by merely thinking who speaks it. There’s so much more to discover and learn.

At some point, fluent Russian is going to be a very useful language.

www.russiancentre.co.uk/

Russian Language Centre offers beginning and more advanced level classes.

No I don't mean holidays to brit resorts for two weeks!!!
Spanish is much more widely spoken worldwide. I lived in the states and Europe and it is more useful than french.

@Feetache
As an academic subject, there’s no difference between them. How do you define “useful”? Having a chat on holiday? Or do you think Spanish is more useful when working in France? Or Brazil? Or n Switzerland? Or Canada? All languages have value for all sorts of reasons. For most DC it’s the academic stretch that matters. Not a holiday in Majorca.

Spanish is much more useful than french

Our top set pick up second language in yr8. Speak to school

Mandarin is very difficult, but there are many weekend schools in London teaching it. DC are learning it. I don't know about Russian.

My mum managed to get my sister switched from Spanish to French, asked politely, pointed out three of my family lived in France. Any chance of a long lost relative being there?

@DorritLittle
People just look at holidays and how many people speak a language and then declare Spanish more useful. It’s not if you go to Italy a lot! My DD did French and Italian. There’s so much more to language learning than how many people speak it. Look at culture, food, history, politics, art, literature, theatre and other things that make countries tick.

@purpleturtle1 MFL availability at many state schools is awful. Why talented linguists should be limited to one MFL is beyond me when other groups of subjects are offered.

No, Dc don’t get confused by two Romance languages. Yes, there really are Dc who need more than one MFL. We don’t restrict scientists to one narrow science but many linguists are restricted in this way and it doesn’t help when they want to look at MFL degrees.

Lots of people say Spanish is more useful. Why is that? Surely the most useful language is the one for the country you most often go to? I love Spanish but DD chose French because we go on holiday there. If I were looking for a European job, Germany has more opportunities.

I'd advise against starting French and Spanish at the same time because they are similar both in terms of grammar as well as vocabulary. I'd look for German, Russian or Mandarin lessons to stretch your DD.

The point with Duolingo is about structure and how to form sentences as well as vocab. I am using it to learn German and I am finding it really helpful.
I have never needed to know where the library was in any country I have visited but learning it in French and Spanish in Y (now) 7 helped me with structure