Ode to the joy of Je t’aime franglais | Letters
The quote from Schiller’s poem Ode to Joy (Letters, 30 March) should read “der stehle weinend sich aus diesem Bund” and not “der stehe weinend aus diesen Bund”. Apart from being grammatically...
View ArticleAlarm raised over modern language cuts at Manchester University
Senior academics warn about impact of cuts to the numbers of linguists and cross-cultural experts employed at Britain’s largest universityPlanned staffing cuts that will hit modern languages teaching...
View ArticleAfter Brexit, fluency in German will be a vital tool for success | the big issue
Numbers learning a modern language have plummeted in the past decade. The situation needs to be urgently reversed to boost links with EuropeIt was inspirational to read John le Carré’s timely piece on...
View ArticleJust speaking English won’t get us very far in the world | Letters
Language learning is inextricably bound up with history, culture, business and economics. It is also a mental exercise that delays dementia – and many children find it fun, too. Readers’ responses to...
View ArticleOxford University releases new round of interview questions
Candidates asked to consider the purpose of law and the morality of air travel in latest batch of sample interview materialEfforts by Oxford University to elucidate its interview process and soothe...
View ArticleUK risks mass exodus of EU academics post-Brexit, finds report
One-third of languages and economics teaching staff are from EU, who need more clarity about their status, says British Academy studyThe potential risk to UK universities from post-Brexit academic...
View ArticleCold facts about foreign languages | Letters
The claim that Inuit people have many words for ‘snow’ is controversial and the truth is complicatedI thoroughly enjoyed Tobias Jones’s article on bilingualism (“Two languages good”, Comment). But the...
View ArticleExam board 'sorry' for audio mix-up in French and Spanish A-levels
Students still have to apply for ‘special consideration’ to have mark adjusted, says EduqasAn examination board has apologised to A-level students and their teachers after a mix-up in recordings made...
View ArticleA-level results: foreign languages suffer further slump
Number of people studying German fell 16%, while French also experienced steep decline A-levels in traditional foreign languages have suffered a further slump, with the number of people taking German...
View ArticleIrish language still resonates powerfully | Letters
Colonisers used Ireland as a testing ground, says Brendan Kelleher, as Jane Foxworthy detects English admiration for foreign language abilityAdaobi Tricia Nwaubani’s piece on the consequences of an...
View ArticleUK schools are turning to foreign governments to fund languages
Some primaries would be unable to afford specialist language teaching without the money they receive from overseas schemesIn Holly class, Matilda, aged six, calls the register. “Ciao, Tyler,” she says....
View ArticleLanguage exams: how hard are they and is there a crisis?
Why modern language GCSEs are in decline and what the government is doingResearch by Suzanne Graham, a professor of language and education at Reading University, shows that even though many students...
View ArticleOfqual is killing off modern foreign language education | Letters
Exams that are too difficult and unreliable grading are among the problems driving demoralised learners and teachers out of the subject, say 152 university language teachersThe education secretary is...
View ArticleModern language teaching ‘under threat from tough exams’
Academics say regulator is ‘killing’ subjects as GCSEs and A-levels are marked too harshlyThe exams regulator in England, Ofqual, is “killing off” modern languages by failing to address the excessive...
View ArticleUniversity subject profile: modern languages and linguistics
Includes French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, south Asian, African, Australasian, modern Middle Eastern languages, and literature and linguisticsWhat you’ll...
View ArticleWe need languages graduates to steer us through our post-Brexit troubled...
Languages departments are closing as undergraduate numbers fall. This must change to protect the UK’s international relations Just after the first world war, the UK produced its most comprehensive...
View ArticleAmerica’s origin myth, and its reputation at risk | Letters
Contrary to popular belief, the Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci has little to do with the name of the modern-day continent, writes Colin Moffat. Plus Patrick Billingham says Donald Trump has...
View ArticleFrench and German GCSEs to be marked less harshly, Ofqual rules
Regulator responds to students being put off foreign languages due to grading severityFrench and German GCSEs are to be marked less severely from next year amid concerns that students are being put off...
View ArticleWhy are British people such nervous linguists? Shame | Adrian Chiles
I have failed at French, German, Croatian – and now I’m learning Welsh‘No other subject,” says my language teacher, “is the cause of so much shame. You might struggle with other subjects, but you’ll...
View ArticleSoas survived the end of empire but can it recover this time?
London’s School of Oriental and African Studies was already struggling as modern language study declines in UKSoas to slash budgets and staff as debt crisis worsens in pandemicFor more than 100 years,...
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