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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 1469 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe Floffe - 24/09/2010 01:49:32 PM 865 Views
Answering the survey myself... Legolas - 24/09/2010 02:04:39 PM 895 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe Camilla - 24/09/2010 02:10:57 PM 879 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe Legolas - 24/09/2010 02:20:45 PM 1013 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe Camilla - 24/09/2010 02:24:01 PM 877 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe Lordling - 24/09/2010 02:14:52 PM 919 Views
We have a similar situation in Belgium. Legolas - 24/09/2010 02:32:25 PM 795 Views
It is all double dutch to me snoopcester - 24/09/2010 02:41:41 PM 854 Views
Hah! Camilla - 24/09/2010 06:58:49 PM 956 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe Mark - 24/09/2010 03:32:09 PM 811 Views
That is rather sad to say the least. Legolas - 24/09/2010 04:15:32 PM 1041 Views
Indeed Mark - 24/09/2010 06:23:52 PM 853 Views
That's just Paris being a city of nasty people. Legolas - 24/09/2010 06:32:40 PM 996 Views
I never noticed that Camilla - 24/09/2010 07:05:18 PM 901 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe jh - 24/09/2010 04:00:04 PM 928 Views
I didn't mean just in Sweden, or Scandinavia. Legolas - 24/09/2010 04:19:32 PM 929 Views
Well... jh - 24/09/2010 10:50:09 PM 836 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe BlackAdder - 24/09/2010 05:47:09 PM 924 Views
Interesting. Legolas - 24/09/2010 06:04:30 PM 850 Views
Re: Interesting. BlackAdder - 24/09/2010 06:42:02 PM 999 Views
Re: Interesting. Legolas - 24/09/2010 07:05:44 PM 905 Views
Re: Interesting. BlackAdder - 24/09/2010 07:21:24 PM 1010 Views
Re: Interesting. Legolas - 24/09/2010 08:18:30 PM 885 Views
Re: Interesting. everynametaken - 25/09/2010 08:02:30 PM 941 Views
American who just got a C+ on a French quiz reporting in. Ghavrel - 24/09/2010 06:09:31 PM 943 Views
What was it on? Legolas - 24/09/2010 06:22:35 PM 856 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe Macharius - 24/09/2010 06:16:22 PM 824 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) The_Muted_Grimaud - 24/09/2010 09:38:05 PM 994 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) beckstcw - 25/09/2010 05:49:05 AM 1000 Views
Real quick ironclad - 25/09/2010 12:03:51 PM 959 Views
Self-study can be worth as much as formal classroom study, I suppose Larry - 25/09/2010 03:43:14 PM 947 Views
Certainly it can. Legolas - 26/09/2010 12:35:56 PM 961 Views
You know, gen eds typically include a language. *NM* Ghavrel - 26/09/2010 07:28:57 PM 381 Views
Yes, but other things as well. Legolas - 26/09/2010 08:08:20 PM 880 Views
Interesting Larry - 27/09/2010 03:14:00 AM 1074 Views
Re: Interesting Legolas - 27/09/2010 11:04:37 AM 977 Views
You don't have to prove it's economically valid? Ghavrel - 27/09/2010 08:31:46 PM 982 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) (beat.) - 25/09/2010 04:54:40 PM 1088 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) everynametaken - 25/09/2010 07:38:29 PM 1015 Views
The amount of German is more surprising. Joel - 25/09/2010 07:55:29 PM 775 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) Morgawse - 26/09/2010 12:07:19 AM 1042 Views
They should have asked about second languages rather than foreign languages. Tim - 26/09/2010 11:34:27 AM 889 Views
Aye, they should have. Legolas - 26/09/2010 12:26:51 PM 979 Views
Re: /Survey: Foreign language knowledge in Europe (and elsewhere) Stephen - 27/09/2010 03:18:30 PM 936 Views
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