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AIBU?

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Original poster

which languages to learn and why?

137 replies

JupiterJan · 21/10/2023 06:59

AIBU to say everybody should be able to speak a few words of Mandarin and Hindi? AS these are two of the 3 most spoken languages in the world.

I want to learn another language now, partly for fun, but also for possibly travel and career opportunities. Should it be one of these? Or is there another language you would recommend, and why?

I am expecting people to say no to everyone learning a bit of Mandarin and Hindi, but I am interested in why we don't as it seems logical that we should

OP posts:
Normalsizedsalad · 22/10/2023 09:52

Aaah. Thanks both

23Oct · 22/10/2023 09:56

Normalsizedsalad · 22/10/2023 09:42

It was saying that 75% of people think they should be compulsory in school - like they used to be.
Hold on, are languages not compulsory at UK schools?

I think they get taught to 14, but there's no 'minimum' number of hours they're taught so primary schools is mainly just fun. Plus there's no language teachers, and much harder to do foreign exchange now. So the numbers doing gcse have plummeted

tiglit · 22/10/2023 10:05

If I had to choose I'd learn Italian but it's the only country in Europe I intend on visiting multiple times, it's a beautiful language. I mostly like travelling to North America or plan on doing other countries just once/twice so it's not worthwhile investing too much time in a language.

Language teaching in the UK is shite though. I grew up in Wales so we were taught welsh 4-16, we only had French for a few years in high school, I dropped it as I didn't want to do 2 languages (forced to do welsh). So I could speak welsh pretty well...which was entirely pointless, even if I had stayed in Wales. My son has been taught small amounts of French and Spanish in primary, did Spanish in Y7 and now had to switch to French in Y8 due to lack of Spanish teachers. It's a massive shame because he is really good at languages and picks them up in a way I can't dream of, but the inconsistent, patchy teaching up to this age means a lot of time has been wasted.

Yorkshirelass04 · 22/10/2023 10:09

I've started learning Irish on Duolingo. Mainly because I love visiting Ireland but also because it's a dying language, it will be gone in 100 years they say. I think it's important to keep some languages alive particularly where they have just a rich literary history like Irish.

BIWI · 22/10/2023 11:11

Calling language learning if it's not for work reasons a 'vanity project' is a very odd description, @Simonjt!

It's about keeping your brain working and challenging yourself, surely?

Zonder · 22/10/2023 11:13

I thought that, BIWI.

Robinbuildsbears · 22/10/2023 12:25

If we native Brits laughed at and mocked the broken English and foreign accents of people who grew up speaking other languages, we would get arrested.

And regarding BSL, just because most BSL users can read and write in English, doesn't at all mean that it's not worth learning or teaching. There are plenty of people able to teach, just not enough demand for them. It must be incredibly isolating to only talk properly with a very small group of people, depending on where you are, and that most people feel that you're not worth bothering to learn for. And BSL is not mainly useful for communication with those who have moderate to severe learning difficulties, you're thinking of Makaton.

Normalsizedsalad · 22/10/2023 12:32

If we native Brits laughed at and mocked the broken English and foreign accents of people who grew up speaking other languages, we would get arrested.

No you wouldn't. Hence why many experience it...

Squeezita · 22/10/2023 12:34

Robinbuildsbears · 22/10/2023 12:25

If we native Brits laughed at and mocked the broken English and foreign accents of people who grew up speaking other languages, we would get arrested.

And regarding BSL, just because most BSL users can read and write in English, doesn't at all mean that it's not worth learning or teaching. There are plenty of people able to teach, just not enough demand for them. It must be incredibly isolating to only talk properly with a very small group of people, depending on where you are, and that most people feel that you're not worth bothering to learn for. And BSL is not mainly useful for communication with those who have moderate to severe learning difficulties, you're thinking of Makaton.

Not really the same thing. English is the dominant language, often imposed by Britain on countries it invaded and left in a mess.

Zonder · 22/10/2023 12:36

@Robinbuildsbears there really aren't plenty of people who are able and qualified to teach BSL. I tried really hard to find a place to learn level 2. There wasn't anywhere in or around our city. There also really aren't a huge number of deaf people who can't communicate because nobody uses BSL. As I've said on this post before, I've discussed it at length with professionals who work with deaf children. Technology now means that access to speech and language is so much easier for deaf people and so few rely on BSL. My cousin who is a Teacher of the Deaf works with several profoundly deaf children with speech and language as good as their peers. They're not interested in BSL, despite being exposed to it from birth. They just want to chat with their friends.

DiddlySquatted · 22/10/2023 13:36

Not really the same thing. English is the dominant language, often imposed by Britain on countries it invaded and left in a mess.

Like who ?. Australia, Canada, Singapore the USA ?. Any mess there was was mostly of their own doing.

Papyrophile · 22/10/2023 15:54

Contentious @DiddlySquatted! La Francophonie in the Mahgreb/western Africa is not currently a shining example of peace and prosperity.

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