Why study languages

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Why study languages?
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What language is Marc speaking?
Any ideas?
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English is simply not enough. We cannot
understand the world in English
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we need to be aware as never before of other
languages and of the ways in which they identify
and represent their cultures
Footitt, October 2001
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English is not enough
What other reasons for learning a language are
there?
Here are some ideas from university and year
12/13 students
Its fun you find out about other people and
cultures knowing a language makes you more
employable they lead you into other subjects
you make new friends you learn about yourself
and your own country it gives you more
confidence great for holidays! gives you
communication skills
Still need convincing?
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English is not enough
Here are some more ideas from some year 9
students who are learning Chinese and recently
went on an exchange to China
You learn how to deal with people from another
country, not just raise your voice and shout at
them in English
You share your experiences with other people
You learn how to cope with things
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English is not enough
Here are some more ideas from some year 9
students who are learning Chinese and recently
went on an exchange to China
Learning one language makes it easier for you to
learn another
If you go to another country and you need help,
you can ask. If they need help, then you can
help them
It makes you much more open-minded to people and
their culture
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Its a multilingual world
Did you know there are 6,912 known living
languages in the world?
Test your knowledge, part 1
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Its a multilingual world
How many people in the world speak these
languages as their mother tongue?
French
Arabic (all varieties)
a) 64,850,000 b) 640,860,000 c) 25,000,000
a) 150,000,000 b) 206,000,000 c)
1,156,000,000
a) 64,850,000 b) 640,860,000 c) 25,000,000
a) 150,000,000 b) 206,000,000 c)
1,156,000,000
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Its a multilingual world
How many people in the world speak these
languages as their mother tongue?
English
Chinese (Mandarin)
a) 309,350,000 b) 55,000,000 c) 187,000,000
a) 1,052,000,000 b) 358,000,000 c)
876,000,000
a) 309,350,000 b) 55,000,000 c) 187,000,000
a) 1,052,000,000 b) 358,000,000 c)
876,000,000
508,000,000 including second language speakers
1,052,000,000 including second language speakers
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Its a multilingual world
How many people in the world speak these
languages as their mother tongue?
Spanish
Hausa
a) 102,000,000 b) 61,700,000 c) 322,300,000
a) 60,000 b) 24,162,000 c) 10,300,000
a) 102,000,000 b) 61,700,000 c) 322,300,000
a) 60,000 b) 24,162,000 c) 10,300,000
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Its a multilingual world
What have all these languages got in common?
They are all spoken in more than one country and
often used as additional languages to communicate
across borders
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Its a multilingual world
Test your knowledge, part 2 - Languages of the
European Union
Match the language to the percentage of its
native speakers in the EU
All others
Español
Français
Nederlands
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11
Deutsch
6
Italiano
Español
Deutsch
24
Italiano
16
English
Nederlands
All others
16
16
Français
English
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Its a multilingual world
Test your knowledge, part 3 Closer to home
Do you know how many languages are spoken by
young people in
England
300 languages
Scotland
104 languages
Wales
98 languages
8? 19? 39? 98? 104? 144? 251?
300?
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Its a multilingual world
Test your knowledge, part 3 Closer to home
A recent survey shows that over 50 languages are
spoken in Portsmouth schools
Afrikaans Arabic Albanian Amharic Bahasa
Malay Bengali Bulgarian Chinese Czech
Danish Dari/Farsi English French German
Greek Gujerati Hakka Hindi Italian
Japanese Kikuyu Kiswahili Korean Kurdish
Sorani Latvian Lithuanian Laotian
Malay Malayalam Ndebele Nepali Norwegian
Panjabi Polish Pushto Romanian
Runyankole Russian Serbo-Croat Shona
Sinhalese Somali Spanish Swahili Tagalog
Tamil Thai Tigrinya Turkish Twee
Ukrainian Urdu Vietnamese Yoruba
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Its a multilingual world
Test your knowledge, part 3 Closer to home
How many languages are spoken in your community,
your school or your college?
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Employability give yourself the edge

• This is what a top employer said he is looking
  for in a new employee
• social skills
• ability to work in a team
• communication skills
• problem-solving skills
• confidence
• experience
• open mindedness
• flexibility

Learning languages gives you these
skills Speaking another language makes you stand
out from the crowd
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Employability give yourself the edge

• The top employer also said
• Business is global today
• English is important but not enough
• You need to get noticed overseas
• Foreign languages are vital

• He gave some tips on the social side of business
• Listening is a skill
• Cultural awareness pays off
• Relationships make a difference
• Networking is easier in the local language

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Give yourself the edge they did!
Match the names on the left to the degrees on the
right
J. K. RowlingAuthor (Harry Potter)
Chinese Language and Culture(1990)
J. K. RowlingAuthor (Harry Potter)
Chinese Language and Culture(1990)
Paula RadcliffeAthlete
European Studies(1982)
Paula RadcliffeAthlete
European Studies(1982)
French and German (1983)
Lucy LiuFilm star
Lucy LiuFilm star
French and German (1983)
Jonathan RossTV and Radio Presenter
Modern European Studies(1996)
Modern European Studies(1996)
Jonathan RossTV and Radio Presenter
Rory Bremner Comedian
Greek and Latin(1999)
Rory Bremner Comedian
Greek and Latin(1999)
Fiona Bruce Newsreader
French and Classics(1987)
French and Classics(1987)
Fiona Bruce Newsreader
Chris MartinMusician (Coldplay)
Medieval and Modern Languages (1983)
Chris MartinMusician (Coldplay)
Medieval and Modern Languages (1983)
Nigella Lawson TV Chef
French and Italian (1986)
French and Italian (1986)
Nigella Lawson TV Chef
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Continuing with languages you can
Join in its a multilingual world
Connect with other cultures
Give yourself the edge you need to in the
global job market of the 21st century
Keep your options open
Still need convincing?
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Why study languages?
This is what university and year 12/13 students
said
Languages enable you to travel to other
countries and feel part of the culture, respect
the people living there by making an effort to
communicate and not feel like a tourist
A language expands your range of thinking
Another language helps you to realise that there
is a world around you
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Why study languages?
This is what university and year 12/13 students
said
Language learning helps to develop communication
skills which are really vital if you're applying
for a job or just in daily life, you need to be
able to communicate
Languages can provide opportunities nowadays
here in the UK even if you don't want to go and
work abroad because of the multicultural society
we live in
Languages are fun and not too difficult
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And now, a message for the lads
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Learn languages because its fun
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