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Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) The_Muted_Grimaud Send a noteboard - 24/09/2010 09:38:05 PM


1) Which languages did you learn in school, and for how long?


In school, I studied French for 4 years ... I learned nothing. Somehow. :( I know it was partially lack of motivation, and partially bad/changing teachers. (Well, one of our teachers left and just quit on the job her last couple years essentially, the next teacher probably wasn't bad, but she didn't have much to work with with her 3rd and 4th year students because of the first ... )

That being said, I wish (WISH) I had taken Spanish ... here in America I could count the French speakers I've met on one hand, but I've met loads of Spanish speakers, both latin american and europeans.

The only other language I studied at all was Czech, which was a largely academic study. (I listen to a lot of Czech music, Dvo?ák, Smetana, Janá?ek, Martin? (My favorite)). But I did also go the country and used it to get out of a jam with a police officer who didn't speak English. I'd like to study Czech further and develop it, but it seems ... unless I actually study abroad or do something that involves that tiny country it does seem like I'd be better off learning Polish or Russian or another related language. There's also the issue that there is no one in America to speak it with, Polish and Russian would be much better on that front (a little anyway).

2) Which languages would you say you speak with some degree of fluency?
English ...

3) Do you think languages get too much attention in the school system you went to, too little, or just about enough?
In my school, they probably still have French and Spanish, and probably only for high schoolers still. I doubt they've expanded that since the budget's been getting hacked to bits since the latter part of the 90's. My town is kind of poor.

4) What do you think of the remarkable dominance of English that appears in the data?

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/Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 24/09/2010 01:37:42 PM 1308 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 732 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:10:57 PM 719 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 746 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 645 Views
It is all double dutch to me - 24/09/2010 02:41:41 PM 724 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 893 Views
Indeed - 24/09/2010 06:23:52 PM 712 Views
That's just Paris being a city of nasty people. - 24/09/2010 06:32:40 PM 855 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 677 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 05:47:09 PM 747 Views
Interesting. - 24/09/2010 06:04:30 PM 696 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 06:42:02 PM 848 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 07:05:44 PM 755 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 07:21:24 PM 869 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 08:18:30 PM 730 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 714 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 06:16:22 PM 661 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 801 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 738 Views
Interesting - 27/09/2010 03:14:00 AM 897 Views
Re: Interesting - 27/09/2010 11:04:37 AM 808 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 865 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 880 Views
They should have asked about second languages rather than foreign languages. - 26/09/2010 11:34:27 AM 733 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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