New campaign urges everyone in the UK to learn at least 1,000 words of another language
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| | TimWindhof (X) 
United States
Local time: 00:49
English to German
| Odd Approach | Sep 25, 2013 |
Let's just assume the "group" would be right that 1,000 words allow you a simple conversation. But how exactly would that help the UK economy. I might be able to have a simple conversation in Spanish, but don't see how that could boost my English German translation business...
| | | | Michele Fauble
United States
Local time: 21:49
Member (2006)
Norwegian to English
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| Simple conversation | Sep 25, 2013 |
Simple indeed.
| | | | | | Helen Hagon
Local time: 05:49
Member (2011)
Russian to English
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| It's a start | Sep 27, 2013 |
As I understand it, it's not intended to make people fluent in a language. Rather, it's just an attempt to sow a few seeds and get people interested in languages in order to very slowly counteract the traditional British attitude towards all things foreign. When working as a language teacher in secondary schools, I encountered so much resistance towards language learning - not only from pupils but also parents and other adults who do not see the point in learning languages. Maybe this project mi... See more As I understand it, it's not intended to make people fluent in a language. Rather, it's just an attempt to sow a few seeds and get people interested in languages in order to very slowly counteract the traditional British attitude towards all things foreign. When working as a language teacher in secondary schools, I encountered so much resistance towards language learning - not only from pupils but also parents and other adults who do not see the point in learning languages. Maybe this project might just be a teeny-weeny step in the right direction. ▲ Collapse
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| Brilliant idea | Sep 27, 2013 |
Brilliant idea - I've always wanted to learn to swear in Ndebele.. can't see much other use for 1,000 words.
Steve K.
| | | | Mark Thompson
Brazil
Local time: 01:49
Member
Portuguese to English
| It is indeed a start | Sep 27, 2013 |
I agree with Helen. Definitely a step in the right direction - the UK badly needs to do something - and I like the psychology of it - 1,000 words doesn't sound too daunting, and those who really get bitten by the bug will just continue anyway. There's an interesting website on the campaign:
http://www.speaktothefuture.org/
I'm all for it.
| | | | Neil Coffey
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:49
French to English
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| Agree with Helen, and in fact it's even more basic than that... | Sep 27, 2013 |
Helen Hagon wrote:
As I understand it, it's not intended to make people fluent in a language. Rather, it's just an attempt to sow a few seeds and get people interested in languages in order to very slowly counteract the traditional British attitude towards all things foreign.
I think that's the key thing. It doesn't really matter whether or not learning a few words in another language actually has any practical purpose (though in the best case, it might do) -- it's more about much broader concepts such as becoming aware of what it means for a language to be different to English and overcoming psychological barriers.
The claim that you can have a simple conversation with 1,000 words is slightly ambitious with a small grain of truth behind it. It's true that a large percentage of vocab in everyday conversation comes from a relatively small proportion of vocabulary. For sake of argument, let's say that 90-95% of words we use on a day-to-day basis are from the 1,000 most frequent words in the language.
But on the other hand, if you think about it, that also means that on average, if your vocab is restricted to those words, every sentence or two will contain a word that you don't know. The notion of what constitutes a "word" is also problematic. In order for the notion of conversation to be realistic, you're really talking about 1,000 words plus good knowledge of at least the very basic grammar of those words (so e.g. in a Romance language, being able to conjugate 50 or so verbs in 3 or 4 tenses, being able to form plurals of all of the "basic" nouns and adjectives). Or in other words... pretty much the material that you have to learn for basic level GCSE in the UK. And we know that in reality, many students in the UK struggle to reach basic level GCSE after several years of study at school!
[Edited at 2013-09-27 19:33 GMT]
| | | | | A small, yet very positive step in the right direction | Sep 27, 2013 |
As Helen has said, this new campaign will really change attitudes more than anything else. It's not as if Brits are incapable of learning a new language - some just lack motivation.
Yet I think this campaign may impact business more than you would believe. From personal experience, I have seen speakers of another language warm to me a lot more when I demonstrate I can say hello, nice to meet you, thank you, etc. in their own language. It doesn't really matter if the conversation is ... See more As Helen has said, this new campaign will really change attitudes more than anything else. It's not as if Brits are incapable of learning a new language - some just lack motivation.
Yet I think this campaign may impact business more than you would believe. From personal experience, I have seen speakers of another language warm to me a lot more when I demonstrate I can say hello, nice to meet you, thank you, etc. in their own language. It doesn't really matter if the conversation is mainly in English. Those few words in the foreign language go a long way towards winning someone over and maybe clinching an all-important deal. ▲ Collapse
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 06:49
French to English
Felicity Sadler wrote:
As Helen has said, this new campaign will really change attitudes more than anything else. It's not as if Brits are incapable of learning a new language - some just lack motivation.
Yet I think this campaign may impact business more than you would believe. From personal experience, I have seen speakers of another language warm to me a lot more when I demonstrate I can say hello, nice to meet you, thank you, etc. in their own language. It doesn't really matter if the conversation is mainly in English. Those few words in the foreign language go a long way towards winning someone over and maybe clinching an all-important deal.
Helen I quite understand that you might now be happier translating than teaching foreign languages in the UK!
When I went to visit my in-laws for the first time in the Middle East, I was truly touched that so many people made the effort to say at least something to me in English, even if it was just "Welcome" or "How are you?". They couldn't then hold a conversation with me, but we had a warm moment. Some had clearly just rehearsed their little sentence.
Number of people (of any nationality) who made the effort to say something in their language to my in-laws when they came over here: 0.
As a schoolgirl in England, a modicum of effort propelled me to the top of the class in French, whereas for other subjects I could sweat it out and still just get average marks. Most of the others viewed language lessons like singing: an opportunity to rest their brains in between Maths and Biology.
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