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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 1531 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 01:49:32 PM 921 Views
Answering the survey myself... - 24/09/2010 02:04:39 PM 946 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:10:57 PM 932 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:20:45 PM 1075 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:24:01 PM 938 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:14:52 PM 978 Views
We have a similar situation in Belgium. - 24/09/2010 02:32:25 PM 845 Views
It is all double dutch to me - 24/09/2010 02:41:41 PM 903 Views
Hah! - 24/09/2010 06:58:49 PM 1009 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 03:32:09 PM 875 Views
That is rather sad to say the least. - 24/09/2010 04:15:32 PM 1110 Views
Indeed - 24/09/2010 06:23:52 PM 918 Views
That's just Paris being a city of nasty people. - 24/09/2010 06:32:40 PM 1055 Views
I never noticed that - 24/09/2010 07:05:18 PM 954 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 04:00:04 PM 992 Views
I didn't mean just in Sweden, or Scandinavia. - 24/09/2010 04:19:32 PM 984 Views
Well... - 24/09/2010 10:50:09 PM 891 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 05:47:09 PM 979 Views
Interesting. - 24/09/2010 06:04:30 PM 907 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 06:42:02 PM 1053 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 07:05:44 PM 954 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 07:21:24 PM 1072 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 08:18:30 PM 942 Views
Re: Interesting. - 25/09/2010 08:02:30 PM 998 Views
American who just got a C+ on a French quiz reporting in. - 24/09/2010 06:09:31 PM 1002 Views
What was it on? - 24/09/2010 06:22:35 PM 918 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 06:16:22 PM 875 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 24/09/2010 09:38:05 PM 1056 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 25/09/2010 05:49:05 AM 1060 Views
Real quick - 25/09/2010 12:03:51 PM 1016 Views
Self-study can be worth as much as formal classroom study, I suppose - 25/09/2010 03:43:14 PM 1015 Views
Certainly it can. - 26/09/2010 12:35:56 PM 1011 Views
You know, gen eds typically include a language. *NM* - 26/09/2010 07:28:57 PM 414 Views
Yes, but other things as well. - 26/09/2010 08:08:20 PM 933 Views
Interesting - 27/09/2010 03:14:00 AM 1144 Views
Re: Interesting - 27/09/2010 11:04:37 AM 1028 Views
You don't have to prove it's economically valid? - 27/09/2010 08:31:46 PM 1042 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 25/09/2010 04:54:40 PM 1146 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 25/09/2010 07:38:29 PM 1068 Views
The amount of German is more surprising. - 25/09/2010 07:55:29 PM 832 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 26/09/2010 12:07:19 AM 1099 Views
They should have asked about second languages rather than foreign languages. - 26/09/2010 11:34:27 AM 946 Views
Aye, they should have. - 26/09/2010 12:26:51 PM 1036 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 27/09/2010 03:18:30 PM 994 Views

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