Drop French, Says Heads And Teach Urdu Instead

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 6-2-2002 | Macer Hall

[blam]

Europeans are determined to 'erase' themselves.

[Diogenesis]

Great idea. They should use Ebonic-urdu.

Then they be workin' on cuttin' those silly numbers.

[kitkat]

Blam, you said it and it only took you six words. I'll have to use a few more.

***People who come to this country find that their foreign language skills are not valued."***

Alwena Lamping, the co-ordinator of the Nuffield Languages Programme, said: "Businesses are short of people with eastern language skills but nobody seems to put the two together."

Do those two sentences seem to contradict each other?

I wish I could make a phone call to a business office and get someone who speaks MY language. English. Charming old language, whatever became of it?

[Celtjew Libertarian]

You should have to learn English first in any English-speaking nation. But, after that, I see no reason why any language, especially if it has its own literature, is better or worse than another. Heck, the way things are going these days, Russian and Urdu are likely to be more useful languages than French.

[Celtjew Libertarian]

Europeans are determined to 'erase' themselves

I wish the French, at least, would get on with it, already.

[bloggerjohn]

I'm all for dropping French.

They don't really like us, you know.

But I would suggest PHP or C++ instead of Urdu, as being more useful.

[Celtjew Libertarian]

But I would suggest PHP or C++ instead of Urdu, as being more useful.

Depends on if you want to be able to write the program or talk to the programmer. 8>)

[mamelukesabre]

If they wanted to teach one of the various forms of arabic, I might see their point. But teaching Urdu is just stupid.

[widgysoft]

Not when its a lovely socialist government!! </sarcasm>

[McGavin999]

Oh yes, it will really come in handy when you're trying to read those great classics written in the native language. You know, like.........hmmmm.........

[Eala]

Head teachers will this week call for schools to teach African and Asian languages instead of French and German in a reform designed to reflect the "ethnic mix" of the British population.

If they really wanted reflect the "ethnic mix" better, and absolve themselves for some of their imperial guilt into the bargain, they'd be calling for the schools to teach Ga\idhlig (Scottish Gaelic) instead of suppressing it. (Well, okay, the active suppression is largely over now that the language is at risk of disappearing, but...) But I guess the fact that Gaelic-speakers are white Europeans doesn't make them sufficiently politically correct.

Suas leis a' Gha\idhlig!

[jimtorr]

Strangely enough, Scottish Gaelic was offered at Foothill Junior College, in Los Altos Hills, CA, when I was taking Chinese Mandarin five years ago. There are lots of what I call scottish "groupies" in central CA. I'm one. I developed a taste for Scottish music and culture when I was there ten years ago after I discovered that my family (on both sides) originated in Scotland.

[blam]

Geez...I remember when they built that college.

[Arkinsaw]

Yeah, Albanian is going to be a really useful language to learn. Here are some good first phrases to learn.

"Sir, my I hitch a ride on your donkey cart?"
"Which way to the latrine hole?"
"How much for the plate of dirt?"
"I will trade this rock for a handful of grass."

[Myrddin]

The immigrants need to be taught English language and English culture so that can be productive members of that society. If they don't want that, they should see a travel agent and return to a place that features the language and culture they prefer. I applaud the French for trying to maintain their language and culture as well. Ditto for the Welsh. It is a colossal error to allow immigrants to arrive in your nation and attempt to overthrow the language and culture. The U.S. seems bent on that stupidity with the Mexican invasion in the southwest.

Teaching French and German as "foreign" languages has value to the English and the immigrants. Scientific papers and quality literature are written on those languages. Is Urdu or any of the African languages referenced in the article in common use in the scientific community, arts or literature? I suspect not. The only purpose for teaching those languages is to placate the foreign invasion and permit balkanization of the country.

[Myrddin]

I've been trying to learn Welsh for 10 years. I can read it and speak it to a limited degree. It is hard to make any serious progress when my only opportunities to interact with a Welsh speaker occur during a few days of vacation. That hasn't happened since April '99. At least the Welsh are trying to keep the language alive. They count over 500,000 speakers today. The Scots may very well lose the language if they don't make an effort. I think the Irish will be able to hold their own. They aren't as heavily infiltrated with speakers of other languages as those on the island co-habited by England, Wales and Scotland.

[altair]

the way things are going these days, Russian and Urdu are likely to be more useful languages than French.

I fail to see the importance of Urdu. Is Urdu spoken anywhere other than Pakistan? Russian is probably more useful than French and I would think Chinese also more important than French.

[bescobar]

Oh, I thought the post said drop kick France...never mind

[Celtjew Libertarian]

I suspect that India is going to be one of the next hotspots for business and a major ally of the U.S. this century. Assuming Urdu is the dialect of India to learn for this -- and I could be wrong with regard to that -- I'd say it's more useful language to learn than French.

[Snuffington]

Assuming Urdu is the dialect of India to learn for this -- and I could be wrong with regard to that -- I'd say it's more useful language to learn than French.

There are literally hundreds of languages in India. People from different parts of India generally cannot communicate with each other in a native Indian language, because they're unlikely to speak the same one. The only language used nationwide is English.