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Self-study can be worth as much as formal classroom study, I suppose Larry Send a noteboard - 25/09/2010 03:43:14 PM

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


High School - Two Years of Spanish (9th, 10th grades)

First round of college - Four semesters of Latin, three semesters of German (high intermediate for Latin, low intermediate for German)

Second round of college - tested out of first three semesters of Spanish, then two semesters (high intermediate, advanced) of Spanish classes.

Self-study: Portuguese, Italian, French, Serbian, plus exposure to some Haitian as well.

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


Speak? English and Spanish. Write? Same two. Read? Those two, plus Portuguese, Italian, French, and German.

3) Do you think languages get too much attention in the school system you went to, too little, or just about enough?


My high school graduating class was only 58 and it was in a very tiny rural town (despite me living in a Nashville exurb 15 minutes' drive east), so if any Spanish were really learned, it was a very pleasant surprise. So too little emphasis back in the early 1990s, obviously.

Now for UT's history program, if I had completed my Ph.D. I would have been expected to have at least reading fluency in German and either French or Latin, considering my specialization was German cultural/religious history.

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


Imperialism FTW? :P
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie

Je suis méchant.
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/Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) Legolas - 24/09/2010 01:37:42 PM 1443 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe Floffe - 24/09/2010 01:49:32 PM 850 Views
Answering the survey myself... Legolas - 24/09/2010 02:04:39 PM 871 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe Camilla - 24/09/2010 02:10:57 PM 863 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe Legolas - 24/09/2010 02:20:45 PM 990 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe Camilla - 24/09/2010 02:24:01 PM 858 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe Lordling - 24/09/2010 02:14:52 PM 891 Views
We have a similar situation in Belgium. Legolas - 24/09/2010 02:32:25 PM 768 Views
It is all double dutch to me snoopcester - 24/09/2010 02:41:41 PM 835 Views
Hah! Camilla - 24/09/2010 06:58:49 PM 929 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe Mark - 24/09/2010 03:32:09 PM 791 Views
That is rather sad to say the least. Legolas - 24/09/2010 04:15:32 PM 1025 Views
Indeed Mark - 24/09/2010 06:23:52 PM 834 Views
That's just Paris being a city of nasty people. Legolas - 24/09/2010 06:32:40 PM 977 Views
I never noticed that Camilla - 24/09/2010 07:05:18 PM 875 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe jh - 24/09/2010 04:00:04 PM 908 Views
I didn't mean just in Sweden, or Scandinavia. Legolas - 24/09/2010 04:19:32 PM 896 Views
Well... jh - 24/09/2010 10:50:09 PM 810 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe BlackAdder - 24/09/2010 05:47:09 PM 900 Views
Interesting. Legolas - 24/09/2010 06:04:30 PM 830 Views
Re: Interesting. BlackAdder - 24/09/2010 06:42:02 PM 976 Views
Re: Interesting. Legolas - 24/09/2010 07:05:44 PM 879 Views
Re: Interesting. BlackAdder - 24/09/2010 07:21:24 PM 992 Views
Re: Interesting. Legolas - 24/09/2010 08:18:30 PM 860 Views
Re: Interesting. everynametaken - 25/09/2010 08:02:30 PM 922 Views
American who just got a C+ on a French quiz reporting in. Ghavrel - 24/09/2010 06:09:31 PM 923 Views
What was it on? Legolas - 24/09/2010 06:22:35 PM 835 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe Macharius - 24/09/2010 06:16:22 PM 791 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) The_Muted_Grimaud - 24/09/2010 09:38:05 PM 975 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) beckstcw - 25/09/2010 05:49:05 AM 979 Views
Real quick ironclad - 25/09/2010 12:03:51 PM 938 Views
Self-study can be worth as much as formal classroom study, I suppose Larry - 25/09/2010 03:43:14 PM 926 Views
Certainly it can. Legolas - 26/09/2010 12:35:56 PM 937 Views
You know, gen eds typically include a language. *NM* Ghavrel - 26/09/2010 07:28:57 PM 373 Views
Yes, but other things as well. Legolas - 26/09/2010 08:08:20 PM 859 Views
Interesting Larry - 27/09/2010 03:14:00 AM 1056 Views
Re: Interesting Legolas - 27/09/2010 11:04:37 AM 952 Views
You don't have to prove it's economically valid? Ghavrel - 27/09/2010 08:31:46 PM 961 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) (beat.) - 25/09/2010 04:54:40 PM 1072 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) everynametaken - 25/09/2010 07:38:29 PM 997 Views
The amount of German is more surprising. Joel - 25/09/2010 07:55:29 PM 744 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) Morgawse - 26/09/2010 12:07:19 AM 1013 Views
They should have asked about second languages rather than foreign languages. Tim - 26/09/2010 11:34:27 AM 857 Views
Aye, they should have. Legolas - 26/09/2010 12:26:51 PM 957 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) Stephen - 27/09/2010 03:18:30 PM 913 Views
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