Do your children learn a second language in Primary School?

[SorryImKnew]

I'm Irish, so we obviously study Irish alongside English from Baby Infants (your Reception I think). It's an obligatory subject with some exemptions, much like English and Maths.
I'm just curious whether schools in England/Scotland/EU/US/Aus/NZ/Rest of world study a second core language and what it is? I think Welsh is probably a core subject in Wales?
Just idle curiosity!

Welsh medium school, so English taught as second language, but they have done bits of French and Chinese too.

Mistigri I think there is an argument that studying a second language at a young age develops a part of the brain required for learning languages or something (not how it was phrased obviously, but you get the drift). So on that point I would be all for endorsing at least some study of a second language from a young age. Yes, it might appear pointless, but at the same time, it might mean that they can pick up a language easier when they go at it seriously at a later age.

Mine definitely seem to have a talent for and confidence with other languages. They do well in French at secondary and now one is teaching herself korean and the other teaching himself japanese! I think being bilingual just makes them feel at ease switching from one language to another in a way I never really did.

It is a bit of a head fuck helping my eldest with gcse French work that's in welsh though.

It is a bit of a head fuck helping my eldest with gcse French work that's in welsh though. PMSL, that would obliterate my tiny brain cells!

Yes. French from year 2

In Sweden you learn English from Primary and all the way until you finish upper secondary. You also study a third language but that can be German, French, Spanish and probably some others. The only one that is not optional is English.

Yes, it might appear pointless, but at the same time, it might mean that they can pick up a language easier when they go at it seriously at a later age.

Oh I'm all for learning languages at a young age (given i have bilingual kids) - but only if they are taught correctly.

But you have to be realistic about the resources available. Who is going to teach languages in British primary schools, when only a handful of students do MFL A levels these days and you are discouraging Europeans from working in the U.K.?

If you have limited resources better to use them wisely, and IMO that is at high school and university.

Basic French from year 3. Colours, counting, introductions, members of the family, that sort of thing.

French and some Mandarin.

But you have to be realistic about the resources available. Who is going to teach languages in British primary schools, when only a handful of students do MFL A levels these days and you are discouraging Europeans from working in the U.K.?

Good point re resources. I liked the pp who has one dedicated language teacher who floats around the classes. We occasionally got an actual French person to come in for a few weeks to teach us French at secondary, but mainly it was our Irish people who had studied French.

Yes, French. Ds got quite good by Yr 6. He could order a meal, give directions, greet people etc.

Mine started French in pre school (before Covid stopped external visitors) and will continue now in reception

My DC went to an English speaking school in Wales, so had to do Welsh all the way through, then continued for a few years into comp, too.

None left school with any great fluency or even competence in Welsh!

DD taught at a summer school in China last year. Her class of 8 year olds had all their lessons in English, and had a debate about Brexit in one of them. These were bright children from affluent families, but it's still shocking how different things are elsewhere.

I learned French from reception age.

Ds (now in y2) has done French since Reception. They have a dedicated French teacher who does 1 lesson per class a week. He can count to 20 very well but not sure he has learned much else!

Mine did basic french in the uk. We moved to France and they do 4 hours a week English, plus Latin as an optional extra class.

Yes, I envy the Eastern Europeans as they often tend to have their native language, Russian, possibly a neighbouring country's language and excellent English!!

Please think about your sentence here.
Do you really think all those Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Poles, Ukrainians, Hungarians, Czechs etc etc etc wanted to grow up speaking Russian?

From someone Irish, speaking in English?

OP im bilingual French English (from studying and living and working in French) so I have no problem helping with homework in French except for my pronunciation which is not always perfect. My 9 year old corrects me

England. Spanish from reception and French also from year 3.

What would be far more useful than a scattergun approach in primary would be to put some more resources into teaching MFL at university - I don't mean to language students but other undergraduates esp in STEM and business subjects.

My son is at engineering school in France, on a 5 year masters level course, and he has two compulsory MFL. He can not obtain his degree without a validated C1 level.

French/sign language at my DCs primary school

Ahh missed off the school in in England, BSL from reception & French from Yr 3

German at ours, not sure why but nice to have something a bit different!

I agree with Mistigri both on the woeful MFL provision generally and the relative uselessness of doing a L2 at a young age.
Here in Italy I don't take anyone for private lessons until they're 11 and my mantra when parents ask me to take their 5 year old is that in 27 years in the business I've yet to meet a 16 year old who started at 5 and a 16 year old who started at 11 and been able to see the difference.

CLIL teaching and L2 medium for teaching in general is different but anybody who thinks the fact that Johnny can count to ten in German and he's only 6 will get him into the LSE is mistaken.

It's of course a throwback to my day (70s and 80s) when Johnny Foreigner was expected to speak English, and then subsequently the abolition of a language throughout senior school leading to the vicious circle of not enough people wanting to do languages at university, leading to departments closing leading to not enough incentive for people to become language teachers etc.

DD is bilingual and also studies German and Chinese at school. She does private Spanish lessons because that's what she did at middle school. She's teaching herself Norwegian.

She'll go to university in the UK but has no intention of studying languages. Go figure.v

My DS is learning french at primary and started when he was in the nursery/preschool part of the school