History, geography and modern foreign language lessons are enjoying a comeback on the secondary school curriculum, according to figures released today. Overall, though, the number of teachers has fallen for the first time in years – by 10,000 – as councils prune staffing in the wake of schools opting to quit their control and become academies. [...]
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Archive | Foreign languages
History, geography and languages enjoy comeback on secondary school curriculum
Posted on 26 April 2012.
Posted in At School, Foreign languages, History and Politics, Learning, TeachersComments Off
UK economy needs schoolchildren to learn languages, BCC says – Telegraph
Posted on 12 April 2012.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said a language should be required up to AS level to ensure UK companies employ people who are better equipped to secure overseas deals. It said the Government should also consider offering companies tax breaks in exchange for giving their staff language training. “Re-establishing foreign languages as core subjects [...]
Posted in Foreign languagesComments Off
Call for return of compulsory language GCSEs for every child to help the economy | Mail Online
Posted on 12 April 2012.
Every child should have to learn a foreign language at GCSE to help the ailing economy, say businessmen. The British Chambers of Commerce also wants tax breaks for small firms offering foreign language training to workers. A poll of staff at 8,000 firms by the BCC found ‘very few can speak well enough to conduct [...]
Posted in Foreign languagesComments Off
Surge in number of pupils taking Polish GCSE exams as schools seek easy passes | Mail Online
Posted on 25 March 2012.
Schools are ‘clocking up’ easy exam passes to boost league table standings by encouraging the children of Polish immigrants to sit GCSEs in the language, it is claimed. The popularity of the subject has soared in recent years and it is now the fifth most popular foreign language GCSE after subjects such as French and [...]
Posted in Exams, Foreign languagesComments Off
Almost 1m schoolchildren in England speaking English as a second language – Telegraph
Posted on 23 March 2012.
The number of these schools is rising by about one every week as the effects of migration into the UK are showing in the nation’s classrooms. Data now shows that close to one million pupils who attend schools in England do not have English as their first language at home. There are 97 schools where [...]
Posted in Foreign languagesComments Off
BBC News – All children should learn foreign languages, say peers
Posted on 22 March 2012.
All children should learn a foreign language at primary and secondary school, a House of Lords committee has said. The UK’s attitude to languages has prevented its students from studying in Europe, according to the House of Lords’ EU committee. It says the UK has been popular with EU students keen to improve their English, [...]
Posted in Foreign languagesComments Off
School Report – Foregoing French and giving up German: Are ‘new’ languages the answer?
Posted on 15 March 2012.
As a nation, the UK is often accused of being lazy when it comes to learning different languages – relying instead on people from other countries speaking English. And according to a recent study the situation is getting worse, with only half the number of pupils taking a GCSE in a foreign language compared to [...]
Posted in Foreign languagesComments Off
More teenagers to take GCSEs in foreign languages – Telegraph
Posted on 15 March 2012.
Four-in-10 secondary school in England are reporting a rise in the number of pupils taking French, German and Spanish at GCSE, figures show. The move is being put down to the introduction of the English Baccalaureate – a new school leaving certificate that rewards students gaining good GCSEs in core academic disciplines. Experts said the [...]
Posted in Foreign languagesComments Off
BBC News – Specialist language teachers ‘urgently required’
Posted on 14 March 2012.
England’s teacher training agency is urgently recruiting modern foreign language teachers to cope with a surge demand for the subject at GCSE. The number of pupils set to sit language GCSEs next year has increased by 22% to 52%, it said. The rise is thought to be tied to the English Baccalaureate, which requires GCSEs [...]
Posted in Foreign languages, TeachersComments Off
Say “nee hao”: now CBeebies is teaching toddlers Mandarin | Television & radio | The Guardian
Posted on 13 March 2012.
I always wonder how much a pre-schooler can take in of another, very complicated language. The Lingo Show is another flagship moment for CBeebies (following the controversial Rastamouse and the heartthrob Mr Bloom – you’ve got to hand it to it, it’s a far less risk-averse channel than BBC1): in its opening episode, Chop Chop, [...]
Posted in Foreign languages, Pre-schoolersComments Off
Can a cartoon really teach our children Mandarin? – Telegraph
Posted on 13 March 2012.
Are you sitting comfortably? Have you got Oliver Bear snuggled on your lap? And a bowl of noodles with chopsticks you can’t work? Good girl. Let the Chinese hot-housing commence! As my three year old, Tabitha, and I settled on the sofa yesterday to watch the much-heralded new CBeebies language programme, The Lingo Show, I [...]
Posted in Foreign languagesComments Off
BBC cartoon Wei’s Mandarin lessons prepare children for a Chinese-dominated economy | Mail Online
Posted on 12 March 2012.
Children as young as four will learn to speak Mandarin thanks to a BBC series that starts today. An animated bug called Wei, who wears rollerskates and a crash helmet, will teach young viewers basic vocabulary such as the words for ‘hello’, ‘thank you’, the names of colours and numbers up to 10. It has [...]
Posted in Foreign languagesComments Off
Chalk Talk: Meet the most multi-lingual student in the country – Schools – Education – The Independent
Posted on 08 March 2012.
Hats off to Alex Rawlings, who has just been voted Britain’s most multi-lingual student of the year. At a time when the UK is widely criticised abroad as the language “dunce” of Europe because of the plummeting numbers that take languages at GCSE, Alex has won the award for speaking 11 languages fluently. Alex, who [...]
Posted in Foreign languagesComments Off
BBC News – Is English or Mandarin the language of the future?
Posted on 23 February 2012.
nglish has been the dominant global language for a century, but is it the language of the future? If Mandarin Chinese is to challenge English globally, then it first has to conquer its own backyard, South East Asia. In Malaysia’s southernmost city of Johor Bahru, the desire to speak good English has driven some children [...]
Posted in Foreign languagesComments Off
PIC AND PUB PLSSint-Pieterscollege: Children at Flemish school in Brussels punished for speaking French – Telegraph
Posted on 16 February 2012.
One father attacked the policy at Sint-Pieterscollege because it threatened to punish children, too young to choose their mother tongue, for a conflict being fought out between French- and Dutch-speaking adults tussling for political control of Belgium. “This is linguistic wickedness,” he told La Capitale newspaper. “It is not fair and affects only French-speaking kids. [...]
Posted in Foreign languagesComments Off
Thai schools urged to boost speaking | Guardian Weekly
Posted on 15 February 2012.
The Thai government has embarked on an ambitious nationwide programme to teach English at least once a week in all state schools as part of the new 2012 English Speaking Year project. The initiative is intended to ease Thailand’s entry into the Asean community in 2015, when southeast Asia becomes one economic zone and a [...]
Posted in Foreign languages, Primary Schools, World NewsComments Off
Exchange students get confused between Ipswich, Suffolk and Ipswich, Queensland – Telegraph
Posted on 02 February 2012.
The pupils who were on a tour of the town were confused when instead of finding landmarks like the Bremer River and Queen’s Park, they came across Ipswich docks and the Orwell River.Eventually frustrated by their failure to work out where they were, the pupils called into the town’s tourist information centre where amused staff [...]
Posted in Foreign languagesComments Off
More teenagers shunning foreign languages at school – Telegraph
Posted on 23 January 2012.
Data published by the Department for Education shows that almost 380,000 teenagers in England failed to take GCSEs in languages last summer. The number of schoolchildren shunning the subjects between the age of 14 and 16 has more than doubled since the late 90s, it was revealed. The drop has been particularly marked in French [...]
Posted in Foreign languagesComments Off
Help! My children have grown up French | The Guardian
Posted on 21 January 2012.
I’m not sure it’s possible to be anything but naive when moving abroad. Nevertheless, when after 18 months in the Netherlands we moved to France for my husband’s work as a marine engineer (me, Scottish; husband, Kiwi; children, indeterminate), we thought we were pretty sussed at this living-overseas business. In my head, I figured we [...]
Posted in Foreign languages, Just for Dads, Just MumsComments Off
Toby Young’s Latin lessons vision could lead to chain | News
Posted on 12 January 2012.
A free school where Latin is compulsory and teachers wear black gowns could become the first in a chain across London. Author Toby Young, who opened the West London Free School in Hammersmith in September, plans to open a primary school next year and said there were “compelling reasons” to launch even more. The primary [...]
Posted in Foreign languagesComments Off
Skills warning over foreign language assistant cuts
Posted on 15 November 2011.
The number of foreign language assistants in Scottish schools has fallen by 80% in the past six years.
Posted in Foreign languages, LearningComments Off
Foreign language driving tests to be banned
Posted on 15 October 2011.
Ministers are to bar people from taking the driving test in a foreign language after uncovering figures showing about 90,000 tests are taken in other languages every year.
Posted in Foreign languages, Internet KidsComments Off
There’s no ‘slam-dunk’ case for teaching languages to five-year-olds
Posted on 14 October 2011.
Michael Gove is wrong. Our schools lack the resources for these lessons
Posted in Foreign languages, Internet Kids, LearningComments Off
Letter from the i editor: Learning a foreign language
Posted on 09 October 2011.
It’s unfashionable to listen to the head teachers of elite private schools, such as Anthony Seldon, biographer of Tony Blair and head of Wellington College.
Posted in Foreign languages, Internet KidsComments Off
Anthony Seldon: UK must embrace language learning
Posted on 06 October 2011.
The UK risks being cut off from the rest of the world because of a reluctance to learn languages, a leading head teacher will warn.
Posted in Foreign languages, Learning, Special NeedsComments Off
When will we get some fluent policy on modern languages?
Posted on 05 October 2011.
Michael Gove’s call for children to learn more languages is part of a confused narrative that dates back to Labour
Posted in Foreign languages, Learning, Special NeedsComments Off
Teach foreign languages from age five, says Gove
Posted on 02 October 2011.
Every child aged five or over should learn a foreign language, Education Secretary Michael Gove has said.
Posted in At School, Foreign languages, Learning, TeachersComments Off
New teachers are struggling to find jobs
Posted on 27 September 2011.
Newly qualified teachers are finding that there are up to 40% fewer jobs this year. Are we simply turning out too many?
Posted in At School, Foreign languages, Learning, Teachers, TutoringComments Off
Language teaching ‘deplorable’
Posted on 21 September 2011.
Language teaching and learning in England is “deplorable” and declining drastically, a senior Church of England bishop has warned.
Posted in Foreign languages, Learning, Teachers, TutoringComments Off
Japan creates online ‘chat robots’ to converse with language students
Posted on 14 September 2011.
A Japanese company claims to have invented the world’s first artificial intelligence “chat robots” designed specifically to converse with English language students.
Posted in Foreign languages, Internet Kids, World NewsComments Off
Universities follow ‘pathways’ to international students
Posted on 14 September 2011.
An increasing number of universities are linking with private education companies to offer study and language preparation programmes, but pressures to enrol are raising concerns
Posted in Foreign languages, Learning, Tutoring, University and Gap yearComments Off
Estyn calls for more outdoor learning in Welsh schools
Posted on 07 September 2011.
Schools in Wales have been urged to take greater advantage of the benefits of teaching young children outdoors.
Posted in At School, Books and Reading, Foreign languages, Out and about, Teachers, Time OutComments Off
Schools in Pakistan’s Sindh province to teach Chinese
Posted on 06 September 2011.
The government of the Pakistani province of Sindh has announced plans to make Chinese compulsory in schools from 2013.
Posted in At School, Foreign languages, Internet Kids, World NewsComments Off
Want an A* grade: Do Art not French
Posted on 04 September 2011.
Leading headmasters have called on ministers to launch an investigation after A-level results reveal it is harder to get the new A* grade in some subjects than others.
Posted in At School, Foreign languages, Independent Schools, LearningComments Off
UK pupils ‘worst in Europe for learning foreign languages’
Posted on 31 August 2011.
The UK is the worst nation in Europe for the teaching of foreign languages following a dramatic collapse in the subject under Labour.
Posted in At School, Foreign languages, Learning, TV, Theatre and FilmComments Off
Quelle horreur! Britain right at the bottom of European table for learning foreign languages
Posted on 31 August 2011.
Schoolchildren in Britain are less likely to learn multiple foreign languages than those in any other EU member state, an international study has revealed.
Posted in At School, Foreign languages, Internet Kids, Random articles, TV, Theatre and FilmComments Off
How being brought up bilingually keeps babies’ brains flexible and gives them the edge growing up
Posted on 30 August 2011.
The vocabulary of babies who are bilingual remains flexible as they grow up and boosts their speaking ability as toddlers, a university study has found.
Posted in Family Health, Foreign languages, Health, Pre-schoolers, Toddlers, University and Gap yearComments Off
Vibrating floors, sign language rappers and aroma jockeys
Posted on 30 August 2011.
Britain’s first club night for the deaf to open at the O2
Posted in Foreign languages, Media and Celebrity, Out and about, Time OutComments Off
GCSE French and German suffer most as numbers studying languages falls to record low
Posted on 26 August 2011.
The number of pupils studying foreign languages at school plummeted to a record low this year, sparking fresh warnings that the subject is in terminal decline.
Posted in At School, Foreign languages, LearningComments Off
Alarm over decline in pupils studying languages
Posted on 26 August 2011.
A further dramatic slump in the number of pupils taking modern-languages GCSEs is alarming exam boards and teachers’ leaders.
Posted in At School, Foreign languages, Learning, TeachersComments Off
A-level results: tough subjects ‘should carry more Ucas points’, says David Willetts
Posted on 19 August 2011.
Students taking traditional A-levels such as maths, science and foreign languages should be given priority in the race for university places, the higher education minister has said.
Posted in At School, Foreign languages, Learning, University and Gap yearComments Off
The primary school where just FOUR pupils out of over 400 speak English as mother tongue
Posted on 07 August 2011.
A School with more than 400 pupils has only four for whom English is their mother tongue.
Posted in At School, Foreign languages, LearningComments Off
Chalk Talk: On science and languages, maybe Gove has point after all
Posted on 21 July 2011.
Kevin Brennan, Labour’s shadow schools spokesman, gave an interesting insight into the Government’s motives for introducing its English Baccalaureate at a Labour party seminar last week.
Posted in At School, Foreign languages, Learning, Maths and Science, TeachersComments Off
‘Mufti day’ dropped at multilanguage school
Posted on 21 July 2011.
A primary school ditched “confusing” words like mufti and inset because its pupils speak 44 different languages – from Afrikaans to Zulu.
Posted in At School, Foreign languages, LearningComments Off
The school where pupils speak 44 languages (… including Zulu)
Posted on 21 July 2011.
For a child with a passion for languages, you could say it’s the ideal learning environment.
Posted in At School, Foreign languages, LearningComments Off
Germany reinvents the au pair by recruiting army of older women
Posted on 15 July 2011.
German au pairs may have a reputation for efficiency, but a Hamburg agency has now gone a step further by adding the ingredients of age and experience to the winning female export by providing a “granny au pair” service for stressed foreign families with young children.
Posted in Foreign languages, Internet Kids, Random articlesComments Off
Online alternatives to language classrooms open up to students
Posted on 07 July 2011.
Free learning content dominates the web but teachers are still in demand
Posted in Foreign languages, Internet Kids, Learning, TeachersComments Off
Bring chaos theory to English language teaching
Posted on 06 July 2011.
By relying on grammar rules in class, learners are in danger of becoming detached from the dynamism of spoken language
Posted in Foreign languages, Learning, TeachersComments Off
Why you don’t need to be worried if your toddler is still struggling to find the right words
Posted on 06 July 2011.
Parents worried that their toddlers are struggling to speak shouldn’t fret, according to researchers.
Posted in Family Health, Foreign languages, Health, Pre-schoolersComments Off
Schools try out ‘vocational baccalaureate’
Posted on 05 July 2011.
A vocational version of the International Baccalaureate is being trialled, but there are fears for its prospects
Posted in At School, Foreign languages, LearningComments Off
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