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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 1351 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 01:49:32 PM 760 Views
Answering the survey myself... - 24/09/2010 02:04:39 PM 774 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:10:57 PM 758 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:20:45 PM 899 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:24:01 PM 783 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 02:14:52 PM 812 Views
We have a similar situation in Belgium. - 24/09/2010 02:32:25 PM 684 Views
It is all double dutch to me - 24/09/2010 02:41:41 PM 762 Views
Hah! - 24/09/2010 06:58:49 PM 844 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 03:32:09 PM 706 Views
That is rather sad to say the least. - 24/09/2010 04:15:32 PM 929 Views
Indeed - 24/09/2010 06:23:52 PM 751 Views
That's just Paris being a city of nasty people. - 24/09/2010 06:32:40 PM 898 Views
I never noticed that - 24/09/2010 07:05:18 PM 790 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 04:00:04 PM 823 Views
I didn't mean just in Sweden, or Scandinavia. - 24/09/2010 04:19:32 PM 817 Views
Well... - 24/09/2010 10:50:09 PM 717 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 05:47:09 PM 789 Views
Interesting. - 24/09/2010 06:04:30 PM 734 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 06:42:02 PM 887 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 07:05:44 PM 796 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 07:21:24 PM 908 Views
Re: Interesting. - 24/09/2010 08:18:30 PM 775 Views
Re: Interesting. - 25/09/2010 08:02:30 PM 842 Views
American who just got a C+ on a French quiz reporting in. - 24/09/2010 06:09:31 PM 841 Views
What was it on? - 24/09/2010 06:22:35 PM 753 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe - 24/09/2010 06:16:22 PM 701 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 24/09/2010 09:38:05 PM 887 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 25/09/2010 05:49:05 AM 876 Views
Real quick - 25/09/2010 12:03:51 PM 848 Views
Self-study can be worth as much as formal classroom study, I suppose - 25/09/2010 03:43:14 PM 841 Views
Certainly it can. - 26/09/2010 12:35:56 PM 838 Views
You know, gen eds typically include a language. *NM* - 26/09/2010 07:28:57 PM 332 Views
Yes, but other things as well. - 26/09/2010 08:08:20 PM 776 Views
Interesting - 27/09/2010 03:14:00 AM 938 Views
Re: Interesting - 27/09/2010 11:04:37 AM 848 Views
You don't have to prove it's economically valid? - 27/09/2010 08:31:46 PM 869 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 25/09/2010 04:54:40 PM 980 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 25/09/2010 07:38:29 PM 906 Views
The amount of German is more surprising. - 25/09/2010 07:55:29 PM 658 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 26/09/2010 12:07:19 AM 923 Views
They should have asked about second languages rather than foreign languages. - 26/09/2010 11:34:27 AM 773 Views
Aye, they should have. - 26/09/2010 12:26:51 PM 882 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) - 27/09/2010 03:18:30 PM 819 Views

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