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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 1444 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 01:49:32 PM 850 Views
Answering the survey myself... - 24/09/2010 02:04:39 PM 873 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:10:57 PM 865 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:20:45 PM 992 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:24:01 PM 858 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:14:52 PM 891 Views
We have a similar situation in Belgium. - 24/09/2010 02:32:25 PM 771 Views
It is all double dutch to me - 24/09/2010 02:41:41 PM 835 Views
Hah! - 24/09/2010 06:58:49 PM 931 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 03:32:09 PM 791 Views
That is rather sad to say the least. - 24/09/2010 04:15:32 PM 1025 Views
Indeed - 24/09/2010 06:23:52 PM 836 Views
That's just Paris being a city of nasty people. - 24/09/2010 06:32:40 PM 978 Views
I never noticed that - 24/09/2010 07:05:18 PM 877 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 04:00:04 PM 910 Views
I didn't mean just in Sweden, or Scandinavia. - 24/09/2010 04:19:32 PM 899 Views
Well... - 24/09/2010 10:50:09 PM 813 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 05:47:09 PM 902 Views
Interesting. - 24/09/2010 06:04:30 PM 830 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 06:42:02 PM 976 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 07:05:44 PM 883 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 07:21:24 PM 992 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 08:18:30 PM 864 Views
Re: Interesting. - 25/09/2010 08:02:30 PM 922 Views
American who just got a C+ on a French quiz reporting in. - 24/09/2010 06:09:31 PM 924 Views
What was it on? - 24/09/2010 06:22:35 PM 837 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 06:16:22 PM 793 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 24/09/2010 09:38:05 PM 978 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 25/09/2010 05:49:05 AM 979 Views
Real quick - 25/09/2010 12:03:51 PM 941 Views
Self-study can be worth as much as formal classroom study, I suppose - 25/09/2010 03:43:14 PM 929 Views
Certainly it can. - 26/09/2010 12:35:56 PM 939 Views
You know, gen eds typically include a language. *NM* - 26/09/2010 07:28:57 PM 373 Views
Yes, but other things as well. - 26/09/2010 08:08:20 PM 861 Views
Interesting - 27/09/2010 03:14:00 AM 1058 Views
Re: Interesting - 27/09/2010 11:04:37 AM 956 Views
You don't have to prove it's economically valid? - 27/09/2010 08:31:46 PM 963 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 25/09/2010 04:54:40 PM 1074 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 25/09/2010 07:38:29 PM 999 Views
The amount of German is more surprising. - 25/09/2010 07:55:29 PM 745 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 26/09/2010 12:07:19 AM 1015 Views
They should have asked about second languages rather than foreign languages. - 26/09/2010 11:34:27 AM 859 Views
Aye, they should have. - 26/09/2010 12:26:51 PM 958 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 27/09/2010 03:18:30 PM 914 Views

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