Is continuing my language to A Level really worth it?

‘English is simply not enough. We cannot understand the world in English...’...we need to be aware as never before of other languages and of the ways in which they identify and represent their cultures’ Footitt, October 2001

English is not enough What other reasons for learning a language are there? Here are some ideas from university and year 12/13 students: ‘It’s fun. You find out about other people and cultures. Knowing a language makes you more employable. They lead you into other subjects. You make new friends. You learn about yourself and your own country. It gives you more confidence. Great for holidays! Gives you more communication skills.’ Still need convincing?

It’s a multilingual world... Did you know there are 6,912 known living languages in the world? Test your knowledge, part 1... How many people in the world speak these languages as their mother tongue? French Arabic a) 64, 860, 000 b) 640, 860, 000 c) 25, 000, 000 a) 150, 000, 000 b) 206, 000, 000 c) 1, 156, 000, 000 a) 341, 000, 000 b) 55, 000, 000 c) 28, 700,000 a) 1, 052, 000, 000 b) 358, 000, 000 c) 874, 000, , 000, 000 including second language speakers 1, 052, 000, 000 including second language speakers How many people in the world speak these languages as their mother tongue? Spanish Hausa a) 102, 000, 000 b) 61, 700, 000 c) 322, 300, 000 a) 60, 000 b) 24, 162, 000 c) 10, 300, 000 What have all these languages got in common? They are all spoken in more than one country and are often used as additional languages to communicate across borders. How many people in the world speak these languages as their mother tongue? EnglishChinese (Mandarin)

It’s a multilingual world... Test your knowledge, part 2 - Languages of the European Union Match the language to the percentage of its native speakers in the EU Français Deutsch Italiano Español English Nederlands All Others Français Deutsch Italiano Español English Nederlands All Others

It’s a multilingual world... Test your knowledge, part 3 - Closer to Home Do you know how many languages are used everyday in the UK? It is difficult to know exactly, but the 2001 Census of England and Wales was translated into 24 languages. One more fact... A recent survey shows that over 50 languages are spoken in Portsmouth schools: Afrikaans - Arabic - Albanian - Amharic - Bahasha Malay - Bengali - Bulgarian - Chinese - Czech - Danish - Dari/Farsi - English - French - German - Greek - Gujerati - Hakka - Hindi - Italian - Japanese - Kikuyu - Kiswahili - Korean - Kurdish - Sorani - Latvian - Lithuanian - Laotian - Malay - Malayalam - Ndebele - Nepali - Norwegian - Panjabi - Polish - Pushto - Romanian - Runyankole - Russian - Serbo/Croat - Shona - Sinhalese - Somali - Spanish - Swahili - Tagalog - Tamil - Thai - Tigrinya - Turkish - Twee - Ukrainian - Urdu - Vietnamese - Yoruba How many languages are spoken in your community, your school, or your college?

Employability - give yourself the edge This is what a top employer said he is looking for in an new employee: social skills ability to work in a team communication skills problem-solving skills confidence experience open mindedness flexibility Learning languages gives you these skills. Speaking another language makes you stand out from the crowd. The top employer also said: Business is global today English is important but not enough You need to get noticed overseas Foreign languages are vital He gave some tips on the social side of business: Listening is a skill Cultural awareness pays off Relationships make a difference Networking is easier in the local language

Your Country Needs You! It was recently calculated that the languages deficit in the UK costs our economy between £7 billion and £17 billion every year! Employers are desperate for linguists to increase trade with other countries

Give yourself the edge - they did! Match the names on the left to the degrees on the right J. K. Rowling Author Paula Radcliffe Athlete Lucy Liu Film Star Jonathan Ross TV and Radio Presenter Rory Bremner Comedian Fiona Bruce Newsreader Chris Martin Musician Nigella Lawson TV Chef Chinese Language and Culture (1990 ish) European Studies (1982) French and German (1985) Modern European Studies (1996) Greek and Latin (1999) French and Classics (1987) Medieval and Modern Languages (1986) French and Italian (1990)

Continuing with languages you can... Join in - it’s a multilingual world Connect with other cultures Give yourself the edge - you need to in the global job market of the 21st century keep your options open Still not convinced?

So why study languages? This is what university and year 12/13 students said: ‘ L a n g u a g e l e a r n i n g h e l p s t o d e v e l o p c o m m u n i c a t i o n s k i l l s w h i c h a r e r e a l l y v i t a l i f y o u ’ r e a p p l y i n g f o r a j o b o r j u s t i n d a i l y l i f e, y o u n e e d t o b e a b l e t o c o m m u n i c a t e ’ ‘ L a n g u a g e s a r e f u n a n d n o t t o o d i f f i c u l t ’ ‘ L a n g u a g e s c a n p r o v i d e o p p o r t u n i t i e s n o w a d a y s i n t h e U K e v e n i f y o u d o n ’ t w a n t t o g o a n d w o r k a b r o a d b e c a u s e o f t h e m u l t i c u l t u r a l s o c i e t y w e l i v e i n ’ ‘Languages enable you to travel to other countries and feel part of the culture, respect the people living there by making an effort to communicate and not feel like a tourist’ ‘A language expands your range of thinking’ ‘A language helps you to realise that there is a world around you’

Thanks and Good Luck! Take a moment to check out our sister project: Linguacast