Transcript Why learn a foreign language?

Why learn a foreign
language?
Here are 20 reasons:
• Businesses need languages
• A language broadens your choice of
career
• Languages develop your
communication skills which are vital in
daily life
• Languages broaden your awareness of
different cultures
• Some say that knowing a foreign
language is part of what it means to be
educated
• Knowing a foreign language gives you
an advantage over others in a job
interview
• Learning another language improves
your English language skills
• Other countries don’t learn English
for our benefit
• Learning a second language helps
protect the brain from the effects of
ageing
• Knowing a foreign language is a gift, it
gives you the flexibility to go and work
or live in a foreign speaking country
• Language learning widens your
knowledge of the world
• Language learning helps to develop
your memory
• Language learning helps to develop
your concentration and listening skills
• Languages enable you to travel to
other countries and feel part of the
culture and respect the people living
there by making an effort to
communicate and not feel like a
tourist
• Languages set you free! If you look at
a map, Britain is so small compared to
the rest of the world. You can go out
there when perhaps the person next
to you is just going to be living and
working here for the rest of their lives
• It’s fun! You feel really good when you
can speak another language
• Britain lags behind in learning
languages and we need to catch up
• A language is rewarding. It helps us to
understand our own language and the
cultures of other countries
• Language learning promotes tolerance
and understanding
• If you do a language degree you get to
study and live abroad for one year.
This shows that you have many good
qualities including independence
How many foreign languages can you name?
• Arabic
• Chinese
• Danish
• Dutch
• English
• French
• German
• Greek
• Hungarian
• Italian
• Japanese
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Spanish
Which languages do these famous
people speak?
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Tony Blair
Orlando Bloom
Geri Halliwell
Gary Lineker
Davina McCall
Steve McManaman
Kylie Minogue
Jamie Oliver
Arsene Wenger
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Tony Blair = French
Orlando Bloom = French
Geri Halliwell = Spanish
Gary Lineker = Japanese & Spanish
Davina McCall = French
Steve McManaman = Spanish
Kylie Minogue = French
Jamie Oliver = French
Arsene Wenger = French, German, Italian,
Japanese & Spanish
David Beckham
'I haven't conquered Spanish yet. I'm
learning and understand what's said during
training. I'm progressing little by little.
Spanish is very difficult for me, although I
am getting used to it. I am making an effort.
It's complicated. But if I can conquer
Spanish, it will have been a great
achievement.‘
Diane Modahl
'I know lots of people speak English, but
being prepared to say something in someone
else's language is a way of showing them
that you care, that you're prepared to make
the effort and you don't just expect them
to speak your language. That's quite
arrogant actually, isn't it?'
Gary Lineker
'My wife and I learnt Spanish and Japanese
when I played at Barcelona and Nagoya. We
spent hours and hours in tuition – yet we
could have learnt either language at school.
Modern languages prepare you for modern
life.'