Why study languages?

What language is Marc speaking? Any ideas? (click image to start movie clip)

“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 communication skills… Still need convincing?

English is not enough Here are some more ideas from some year 9 students who are learning Chinese and recently went on an exchange to China: You learn how to deal with people from another country, not just raise your voice and shout at them in English You share your experiences with other people You learn how to cope with things

English is not enough Here are some more ideas from some year 9 students who are learning Chinese and recently went on an exchange to China: Learning one language makes it easier for you to learn another If you go to another country and you need help, you can ask. If they need help, then you can help them It makes you much more open-minded to people and their culture

It’s a multilingual world… Did you know there are 6,912 known living languages in the world? Test your knowledge, part 1…

It’s a multilingual world… How many people in the world speak these languages as their mother tongue? FrenchArabic (all varieties) a) 64,850,000 b) 640,860,000 c) 25,000,000 a) 150,000,000 b) 206,000,000 c) 1,156,000,000 a) 64,850,000b) 206,000,000

It’s a multilingual world… How many people in the world speak these languages as their mother tongue? EnglishChinese (Mandarin) a) 309,350,000 b) 55,000,000 c) 187,000,000 a) 1,052,000,000 b) 358,000,000 c) 876,000,000 a) 309,350, ,000,000 including second language speakers c) 876,000,000 1,052,000,000 including second language speakers

It’s a multilingual world… How many people in the world speak these languages as their mother tongue? SpanishHausa a) 102,000,000 b) 61,700,000 c) 322,300,000 a) 60,000 b) 24,162,000 c) 10,300,000 c) 322,300,000b) 24,162,000

It’s a multilingual world… What have all these languages got in common? They are all spoken in more than one country and often used as additional languages to communicate across borders

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 24% 16% 11% 6% Nederlands Español Italiano Français English Deutsch All others Deutsch Français Italiano English All othersEspañol Nederlands

It’s a multilingual world… Test your knowledge, part 3 – Closer to home Do you know how many languages are spoken by young people in 8? 19? 39? 98? 104? 144? 251? 300? England… Scotland… Wales… 300 languages 104 languages 98 languages

It’s a multilingual world… Test your knowledge, part 3 – Closer to home A recent survey shows that over 50 languages are spoken in Portsmouth schools: Afrikaans Arabic Albanian Amharic Bahasa 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

It’s a multilingual world… Test your knowledge, part 3 – Closer to home How many languages are spoken in your community, your school or your college?

Employability: give yourself the edge 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 This is what a top employer said he is looking for in a new employee:

Employability: give yourself the edge 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

Give yourself the edge… they did! Match the names on the left to the degrees on the right: J. K. Rowling Author (Harry Potter) Paula Radcliffe Athlete Lucy Liu Film star Jonathan Ross TV and Radio Presenter Rory Bremner Comedian Fiona Bruce Newsreader Chris Martin Musician (Coldplay) Nigella Lawson TV Chef Chinese Language and Culture (1990) European Studies (1982) French and German (1983) Modern European Studies (1996) Greek and Latin (1999) French and Classics (1987) Medieval and Modern Languages (1983) French and Italian (1986) J. K. Rowling Author (Harry Potter) French and Classics (1987) Paula Radcliffe Athlete Modern European Studies (1996) Lucy Liu Film star Chinese Language and Culture (1990) Jonathan Ross TV and Radio Presenter European Studies (1982) Rory Bremner Comedian French and German (1983) Fiona Bruce Newsreader French and Italian (1986) Chris Martin Musician (Coldplay) Greek and Latin (1999) Nigella Lawson TV Chef Medieval and Modern Languages (1983)

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 need convincing?

Why study languages? This is what university and year 12/13 students said: “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” “Another language helps you to realise that there is a world around you”

Why study languages? This is what university and year 12/13 students said: “Language learning helps to develop communication skills which are really vital if you're applying for a job or just in daily life, you need to be able to communicate” “Languages can provide opportunities nowadays here in the UK even if you don't want to go and work abroad because of the multicultural society we live in” “Languages are fun and not too difficult”

And now, a message for the lads… (click image to start movie clip)

Learn languages because its fun… (click image to start movie clip)