One of the major factors which contribute to the existence of human kind is communication. Communication, whether verbal or written, is made possible through languages. There is a huge amount of languages in the world. The use of some is facing a rise, whilst some are on the way of extinction. In this era of globalization, it is no longer wise to restrict oneself to only one or language apart from the native language.
Why should the learning of foreign languages be encouraged?
There is a frequent interaction with people of overseas for business purposes, marketing, vacation schemes, further studies, employment, settlement or simply conversing via the several networking sites which exist. Consequently, in the first instance, being multilingual eases communication. It also adds to the pool of experiences acquired. For students, they will have a wider career prospect in this global labor market. They will be more able to face the competition. Many organizations, like for example T.J. Max has hired many foreign workers to be able to run the company smoothly. As stated in the Cultural and Language Barriers In The Workplace document “T.J. Max relies on its international workers to meet the company’s workforce needs and production demands”. Similarly, many other companies had to resort to hiring foreign employees. It can thus be deduced that knowing multiple languages make job seekers gain a sort of competitive advantage since they will be possessing some language competency.
Furthermore, as far as the cultural aspect is concerned, multilingualism helps in bridging the gap between different cultures. It helps in discovering and understanding other people and cultures. People nowadays are increasingly travelling or immigrating. Knowing multiple languages provides room for a better and fast adaptation. It is no longer advisable to depend on the fact that English is the official language for many countries thus knowing English is enough. This thought no longer holds. Going towards other languages may even help people in understanding other languages. In a programme by the BBC, someone stated that if ever someone knows German, it is possible for him/her to understand Dutch or some other Scandinavian language. So the effort invested in learning a language is never wasted.
Some reforms which could be adopted for Language Teaching in Mauritius
Some languages like Mandarin, Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, and Arabic are taught. German and Spanish are also offered in few schools only. A solution could be making some foreign languages compulsory in the school curriculum. Since all languages cannot be done simultaneously, a list holding all the languages can be produced. The student then can choose which language to do: one language per year. Some people now may argue that it is too much. In that case, a threshold of 3 languages can be considered. Of course, with this reform, the staff should be reconsidered too.
Impact of technology on foreign language learning
With the progress of technology, learning languages is not restricted to school hours only. Several websites, blogs and software are available to fuel the learning process. One of the popular sites is BBC Languages which facilitates the task of beginners through multimedia materials. However, one feature which may be considered as being advantageous for some and disadvantageous for others is the creation of translation applications compatible with mobile phones, as mentioned on the Wall Street Journal. Since it is reliable and ubiquitous and it will be portable anywhere, people may find it very practical and thus does not find it a need to learn additional languages. Therefore, it depends entirely on the individual, how he/she makes efficient use of technology to enhance his/her learning.
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It is in fact true that learning different languages has been of huge benefit to individuals. What is most interesting is the cultural aspect. Bridging the gap between different cultural groups may initiate unity. People will be much more able to communicate among themselves, thus reducing the risk of misunderstandings which are usually followed by conflicts.
ReplyDeleteNowadays, thanks to new technologies, we are able to learn more languages at odd hours. We do not depend on school curriculum to enhance our knowledge.
That was an interesting topic to discuss about and you have tackled with interesting points.
Learning foreign languages is an enriching task as it broaden knowlegde in several languages. It is an advantage when we have to settle abroad, or just if on holidays, say for example, if someone going to China, and if the person knows Mandarin, he/ she can communicate well with the chinese people, as their standard language is Mandarin. But in mauritian context, I feel young learners are penalised, because at CPE level exams, the students have to choose only one Asian language, that is, if someone is good at two Asian languages, he/she cannot take part in two Asian languages exams! There are many students who are willing to learn other foreign languages, but they feel discouraged,when they know they cannot give two exams! I think giving the opportunity to learn languages when still at primary schooling is advantageous, as they get a wider choice about how to proceed in their studies later.
ReplyDeleteThe learning of foreign languages is an important thing. It allows people to learn a lot more about foreign countries’ cultures and the way of life of people. By knowing a language for a particular country, it becomes easier for a person to interact with people of that particular country. It is true that many people learn a language for a particular country because a person might go there for studies, business purposes, for settlement or even for a holiday. Therefore it becomes a personal experience for that person. There are a lot of resources where they can learn the language, for example multimedia, the internet or even a personal tutor. In China for e.g., students who come from foreign countries learn the language first before they are initiated to a medicine course. It is also true that in Mauritius, many people are learning foreign languages. There are many tutors who specialize in giving courses in several languages such as Spanish, Italian and German. It is very important because nowadays, the number of tourists who are visiting the island is increasing and there are many people who are in hotel industry. Hence it becomes easier for waiters, receptionists and other people who interact with tourists. Also many companies in the BPO are encouraging their employees to learn foreign languages because they deal with people from foreign countries. Hence, interaction between the employees and the potential clients becomes easier and it becomes an advantage for the companies also in terms of marketing strategy and profit making.
ReplyDeleteTolsy Pillai
ReplyDeleteLearning foreign languages is useful when making worldwide friends, emigrate, work with foreigners, doing research and development, traveling, studying abroad and the list goes on.
To join a culture, each person must learn the shared language of that culture. Social web enable people to have conversations. In fact learning foreign languages seek to aggregate, amplify the global conversation online- shining light on places and people. Foreign languages help people to network by developing tools, sharing information and relationships that help all voices everywhere to be heard and understand. People sharing the following relationships need to learn each other languages so that better communication can take place: making friends, doing business, online teaching and learning and others.
Related social networking websites for learning foreign languages
• Provide a platform for sharing free open-source language learning materials
•Providing a space for people from around the world to experience and learn about other cultures
•Enable to make friends online while learning a new language.
•Giving language learners the ability to communicate online in text, voice, and even video
The italki.com is an online destination for learning foreign languages which connects people from around the world in a friendly community to learn from each other and to do free language exchanges
Learning foreign languages is an enriching task , as it broaden knowledge in several languages. It is an advantage when we have to settle abroad, or just if on holidays, say for example, if someone going to China, and if the person knows Mandarin, he/ she can communicate well with the Chinese people, as their standard language is Mandarin. But in Mauritian context, I feel young learners are penalised, because at CPE level exams, the students have to choose only one Asian language, that is, if someone is good at two Asian languages, he/she cannot take part in two Asian languages exams! There are many students who are willing to learn other foreign languages, but they feel discouraged, when they know they cannot give two exams! I think giving the opportunity to learn languages when still at primary schooling is advantageous, as they get a wider choice about how to proceed in their studies later. Furthermore, learning different languages is advantageous because while using social networking sites, the users of different cultures can chat, share ideas, communicate well. Language barrier does not occur. Next, many social network sites provide multilingual access to the users, which offers a language choice to the users, hence he/she is not obliged just to use English, here knowing different languages is a must, so personally I think children must be encouraged to learn foreign languages, if not face to face, why not online? Knowing a language more is always an advantage!
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