French and German have been for decades the most widely taught
languages in British schools. However their popularity and
especially that of German is declining and Spanish is now taking over as the second foreign
language. In recent years the government has introduced changes to the teaching of modern foreign
languages (MFL). Pupils at secondary schools have now the choice to drop out of the study of MFL at the age of 14. A large majority of students are now choosing to opt out of MFL studies as they find learning languages hard and lack motivation. Nearly everybody in Europe speaks English and English students do not get much opportunity to practise. On the other hand the British government is introducing MFL teaching in primary schools as it is becoming clearer that in global world the knowledge of a second language is vital for young people. However, MFL teaching in primary schools will not be compulsory for another 5 years and in the meantime a lot of language university departments will be closing down as there will not be sufficient students interested in taking courses in MFL. As a result the shortage of MFL teachers will be even more profound. When it comes to the choice of studying a foreign language I do not believe there is a need to worry about which language is most popular. I do understand why pupils are choosing more Spanish now than German. German is more difficult and then the beaches in Spain are more attractive than the museums in Germany not to mention the rivalry, which exists between the English, and the German dating back to wartime. And then the forces of the market are often determining the choice of the MFL pupils will be taught. While German is in general decline in British schools it is not the case in the Midlands with an industry, which depends strongly on exports to Germany. The first president of the Czech Republic Jan Masaryk used to say. “ You are as many times a person as many languages you speak.” I certainly agree with this statement. Being able to speak and write 6 languages I have been able to take part in so many interesting conversations, which enriched my life not even talking about the interesting job opportunities you have when you speak foreign languages. But I do not agree with the shallow knowledge of 2 or more languages, the so-called taster classes British schools offer. If a person learns a language in depth concentrating on all the grammatical structures it will give him or her better foundations than learning two or three languages only superficially. A person with a deep knowledge of one language will be better equipped to learn a new language from scratch than someone who learned automatically a few basic phrases in different languages. I therefore believe there is no need to worry about which foreign language pupils study as long as they learn the language in depth.