Nanny's chum, Lord Dearing, has suggested that teachers should offer classes in languages including; Afghan, Somali, Greek, Hebrew, Turkish, Russian and Farsi. Quote:
"We should value community languages."
Nanny's Department for Education said that individual schools would decide what language to teach.
"A school in a Somali community
might decide to teach Somali
because there are people who speak the language
and children would hear it
or read in the community every day.
This might encourage them to learn
other languages as they get older."
OK, here's why the above is utter bollocks:
1 This is Britain, and as such, people should be speaking and learning English.
2 Our primary school children are barely able to speak and write English, why the fark should we teach them Somali?
3 There should be no separate "communities" within Britain, merely local communities of British (black, white, green etc) people.
4 "This might encourage..." in other words, it is another experiment being foisted on our decaying educashun system by Nanny.
Should this policy be enacted, it will be doomed to failure.
I have to agree. What makes more sense: teaching everyone 120 languages, or teaching one to a minority of people?
ReplyDeleteI speak French, Russian, German, Spanish and Japanese, so I'm no xenolanguophobe!
I'm glad I'm not a kid having to go through todays education system. I feel sorry for my son who will be starting primary in September. Will he spend most of his time being fingerprinted, learning Japanese, being told stories with gay Princes, citizenship classes on the forthcoming World Order, how great the EU is and how to drop your parents in it for shouting to loud at you? No Way!
ReplyDeleteHe is not going in a inquisative little boy and coming out a mindless drone, I will make sure of that. Why do these clones in their departmental suites think they know better all the time? Think about it, they probably spend thousands on thinking these schemes up, some people are probably employed to do just that!
I'm only 29 and I'm already going grey. Well the cure for that is not to give a flying about the government. What's the worst they can do ? Kill me? Then again...
I teach English in a Turkish university (as does my old chum Black Sea).
ReplyDeleteThe university at which I teach, in common with many other Turkish universities, has an English-only policy.
Why? Because the Turkish government rightly recognises that, without the ability to communicate in the English language, Turkish graduates will be unable to play any part in business, science, or education anywhere else but in Turkey.
Every primary and secondary school (state or private) gives at least some part of their lessons in English.
This is not because of some airy-fairy notion about 'how nice it would be for our kiddies to understand other cultures', it is sheer pragmatism. No English, no jobs.
I understand that, in most 'developing' countries, the same attitude applies.
Why then, if everybody else in the world understands the value of the English language, are the idiots in power in the UK unable to see the truth. Not only are our kids going to be under-achievers in general education, but soon they won't even be able to fill in their dole applications in their native language.
Grumpy,
ReplyDelete...." but soon they won't even be able to fill in their dole applications in their native language..."
I sympathise with you completely.
I'm a service technician and the illiterate service work orders I get are often completely unreadable.
The time I waste having to call my office and deciphering what the work order actually says is quite frankly shocking.
I actually had a work order e-mailed to me in text message language.
I had to call the young man sending it to explain in English what he meant.
Quote: :UR 2 atnd mJones @ 10 & fx prb.
(You are required to attend Mr Jones residence at 10:00 A.M and correct the service problem.)
I dont want to start a nationalistic pissing match here, but this post made me laugh. I've always referred to the UK as England, even though I know it is made up of Scotland, Ireland, England and and that place where they spell everything with way more letters than need be. (sorry Wales, couldn't resist a cheap shot :)
ReplyDeleteSeems to me like "England" should be teaching its kids "English"
BTW, I thought Canada was bad for the whole nanny state culture, but you Brits have it way worse. I feel for ya!!
I suspect that if you refer to Ireland as a part of the UK, you will undoubtedly start "a nationalist pissing match," or more likely, a Guiness-fueled brawl. I'm sure you meant Northern Ireland.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I'm neither Irish nor of Irish descent, so it's nothing personal to me. My ancestors came from that place where they spell everything with way more letters than need be.
Ha!
ReplyDeleteSo grumpy (and presumbably Black Sea) have been sucked into the devious plot to take over the UK and the USA and turn them into Islamic countries through control of their media and economies. In ten to twenty years only the immigrants will be speaking and writing English coherently and thus will automatically inherit control.
I suspect this is part of the Bliar/Brown master plan.
grant said, "...the devious plot to take over the UK..."
ReplyDeleteOne thing is for sure, if they do take over, they couldn't do a worse job than the present bunch of cretins.