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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 1228 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 01:49:32 PM 659 Views
Answering the survey myself... - 24/09/2010 02:04:39 PM 657 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:10:57 PM 642 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:20:45 PM 780 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:24:01 PM 667 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:14:52 PM 698 Views
We have a similar situation in Belgium. - 24/09/2010 02:32:25 PM 567 Views
It is all double dutch to me - 24/09/2010 02:41:41 PM 644 Views
Hah! - 24/09/2010 06:58:49 PM 726 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 03:32:09 PM 595 Views
That is rather sad to say the least. - 24/09/2010 04:15:32 PM 831 Views
Indeed - 24/09/2010 06:23:52 PM 632 Views
That's just Paris being a city of nasty people. - 24/09/2010 06:32:40 PM 783 Views
I never noticed that - 24/09/2010 07:05:18 PM 670 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 04:00:04 PM 711 Views
I didn't mean just in Sweden, or Scandinavia. - 24/09/2010 04:19:32 PM 691 Views
Well... - 24/09/2010 10:50:09 PM 605 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 05:47:09 PM 671 Views
Interesting. - 24/09/2010 06:04:30 PM 622 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 06:42:02 PM 766 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 07:05:44 PM 676 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 07:21:24 PM 803 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 08:18:30 PM 656 Views
Re: Interesting. - 25/09/2010 08:02:30 PM 718 Views
American who just got a C+ on a French quiz reporting in. - 24/09/2010 06:09:31 PM 727 Views
What was it on? - 24/09/2010 06:22:35 PM 634 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 06:16:22 PM 581 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 24/09/2010 09:38:05 PM 769 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 25/09/2010 05:49:05 AM 750 Views
Real quick - 25/09/2010 12:03:51 PM 726 Views
Self-study can be worth as much as formal classroom study, I suppose - 25/09/2010 03:43:14 PM 728 Views
Certainly it can. - 26/09/2010 12:35:56 PM 728 Views
You know, gen eds typically include a language. *NM* - 26/09/2010 07:28:57 PM 285 Views
Yes, but other things as well. - 26/09/2010 08:08:20 PM 668 Views
Interesting - 27/09/2010 03:14:00 AM 830 Views
Re: Interesting - 27/09/2010 11:04:37 AM 732 Views
You don't have to prove it's economically valid? - 27/09/2010 08:31:46 PM 745 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 25/09/2010 04:54:40 PM 869 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 25/09/2010 07:38:29 PM 791 Views
The amount of German is more surprising. - 25/09/2010 07:55:29 PM 542 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 26/09/2010 12:07:19 AM 812 Views
They should have asked about second languages rather than foreign languages. - 26/09/2010 11:34:27 AM 647 Views
Aye, they should have. - 26/09/2010 12:26:51 PM 766 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 27/09/2010 03:18:30 PM 708 Views

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