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Answering the survey myself... Legolas Send a noteboard - 24/09/2010 02:04:39 PM
1) Which languages did you learn in school, and for how long?

Dutch (all the time), French (starting in fifth year of primary school, so eight years total, most of that time 150-200 minutes a week), English (starting in second year of secondary school, so five years total, but never more than 100 minutes a week), German (starting in fourth year of secondary school, three years total, but only 50 minutes a week). Plus Latin (starting in first year of secondary school) and Ancient Greek (starting in second year of secondary school), until the end of secondary school. The way our system works, that's the maximum of languages one can have; it is possible in a relatively small number of schools to take Spanish, but that can't be combined with Greek, so five non-native languages is the maximum either way. People in vocational study tracks only have one or two foreign languages, though, French and sometimes English.
2) Which languages would you say you speak with some degree of fluency?

Dutch, English, French and Spanish, and German and Arabic to a lesser degree.
3) Do you think languages get too much attention in the school system you went to, too little, or just about enough?

About enough, in the university-preparing study tracks anyway. Many students in our vocational tracks get very little English, which might become a problem. Putting English in the place of French would be not only politically but also practically difficult, though.
4) What do you think of the remarkable dominance of English that appears in the data?

In a way it's sad, but on the other hand, it's definitely practical to have a single language as lingua franca. Not as much fun, but more practical.
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/Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 24/09/2010 01:37:42 PM 1309 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 01:49:32 PM 723 Views
Answering the survey myself... - 24/09/2010 02:04:39 PM 733 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:10:57 PM 720 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:20:45 PM 858 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:24:01 PM 747 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:14:52 PM 774 Views
We have a similar situation in Belgium. - 24/09/2010 02:32:25 PM 646 Views
It is all double dutch to me - 24/09/2010 02:41:41 PM 725 Views
Hah! - 24/09/2010 06:58:49 PM 804 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 03:32:09 PM 669 Views
That is rather sad to say the least. - 24/09/2010 04:15:32 PM 894 Views
Indeed - 24/09/2010 06:23:52 PM 713 Views
That's just Paris being a city of nasty people. - 24/09/2010 06:32:40 PM 856 Views
I never noticed that - 24/09/2010 07:05:18 PM 749 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 04:00:04 PM 782 Views
I didn't mean just in Sweden, or Scandinavia. - 24/09/2010 04:19:32 PM 776 Views
Well... - 24/09/2010 10:50:09 PM 678 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 05:47:09 PM 748 Views
Interesting. - 24/09/2010 06:04:30 PM 696 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 06:42:02 PM 849 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 07:05:44 PM 756 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 07:21:24 PM 870 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 08:18:30 PM 731 Views
Re: Interesting. - 25/09/2010 08:02:30 PM 801 Views
American who just got a C+ on a French quiz reporting in. - 24/09/2010 06:09:31 PM 804 Views
What was it on? - 24/09/2010 06:22:35 PM 715 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 06:16:22 PM 662 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 24/09/2010 09:38:05 PM 846 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 25/09/2010 05:49:05 AM 832 Views
Real quick - 25/09/2010 12:03:51 PM 809 Views
Self-study can be worth as much as formal classroom study, I suppose - 25/09/2010 03:43:14 PM 802 Views
Certainly it can. - 26/09/2010 12:35:56 PM 802 Views
You know, gen eds typically include a language. *NM* - 26/09/2010 07:28:57 PM 316 Views
Yes, but other things as well. - 26/09/2010 08:08:20 PM 739 Views
Interesting - 27/09/2010 03:14:00 AM 898 Views
Re: Interesting - 27/09/2010 11:04:37 AM 809 Views
You don't have to prove it's economically valid? - 27/09/2010 08:31:46 PM 828 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 25/09/2010 04:54:40 PM 942 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 25/09/2010 07:38:29 PM 866 Views
The amount of German is more surprising. - 25/09/2010 07:55:29 PM 620 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 26/09/2010 12:07:19 AM 881 Views
They should have asked about second languages rather than foreign languages. - 26/09/2010 11:34:27 AM 734 Views
Aye, they should have. - 26/09/2010 12:26:51 PM 840 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 27/09/2010 03:18:30 PM 779 Views

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