NSW Schools and Bilingual Education

When something sounds too good to be true then it really is, don't you think?

The NSW government has indicated that it is going to fund a four-year project to the tune of AUD 2.25 million that seeks to introduce bilingual education into NSW schools. The idea is an excellent one. Simply, if Australia is going to be competitive in the future it needs leaders and business people who are capable in languages other than English. Considering, our geographic location in Asia, then it makes sense that the focus be on Asian languages.

The beef though, is that AUD 2.25 million hardly seems a sufficient investment into the future of language education let alone as an investment into bilingual education. The project is going to initially target four schools. So, the simple math here is that there will be a little over AUD 550,000 per school, which then equates to about AUD 135,000 per year. This is not a lot of cash considering that specialist teachers will need to be employed and the schools set up to be able to teach a bilingual curriculum.

The schools who want to be a part of the project will need to apply and show that they are capable of running a bilingual curriculum. At least, this is what the NSW Minister of Education is saying. The government's view seems to be that our future economic prosperity depends on it. Perhaps they are right, particularly when one considers that the NSW Treasurer is about to hand down a state budget that has some AUD 900 million in deficit factored into it.

The focus languages are going to be Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, and Indonesian. The bilingual curriculum is to be taught by native speakers. These native speakers will also need to hold teaching qualifications.

The bilingual curriculum will start in kindergarten and be about 90 minutes in length. As students progress through the grades this amount of time will be increased as will the number of subjects that are being taught in the second language.

It goes without saying that one of the keys to learning a language is starting young and keeping at it until you master the intricacies of the language. These intricacies are not only technical, such as grammar, but also the use of a language in its natural setting where grammar rules might be more relaxed.

Hopefully, the NSW government will see in its infinite wisdom to get more serious about this project and allocate a considerably larger sum to ensuring its success.

(picture can be found here. The picture highlights that the bilingual debate is one prevalent throughout Australia)

Learning Languages...

I have always had a fascination with learning, and in particular learning languages. I guess this stems from the fact that I have always had a knack for picking up languages easily. I once tried to learn Vietnamese, perhaps tried is the wrong word, and after 16 hours of learning my teacher, a South Vietnamese refugee who ended up re-settling in Australia, could not believe that I had never had a lesson before. He seemed to think I was pretty good at it.

I also learned French for a couple of terms in junior high school. I was pretty good at French too. However, much to my mum's horror, I stopped learning French after a couple of terms because I succumbed to peer pressure. My friends were adamant that only "gay" people spoke French, and at 12 I really did not think that I wanted to be gay. Not that I am really sure that I knew what gay was all about back then.

However, I recently bought "French for Dummies" and I am going to teach myself (or re-acquire the limited skills I once had) French. The reason for this undertaking is nothing more than I want to learn and I am keen to learn at least three more languages. At the moment those languages are French, Welsh, and Arabic. I have decided to start with French.

Maybe my next post will be in bad French :D

Learning Languages

A personal opinion piece!

I think that learning at least one other language in addition to your native language should be compulsory. Therefore, simply the Departments of Education around the world must invest in language education.

I am lucky in that I have an affinity for languages and learn them quickly, just lucky I guess. It was like that when I started to learn French and it was like that when I learned Vietnamese. The problem with language is that if you neglect them you lose them! You might re-acquire them quickly but without continual use and practice the languages slowly disappear.

I have just started to re-acquire some of my previous French and Vietnamese language skills and have started to try and learn some Arabic. I have also decided, for personal reasons, that I would like to learn Balinese.

Why should language be compulsory? Simply, because there is so much of a peoples' culture tied up in their language. Perhaps if we knew the languages of others we could better understand their cultures, the things that make them tick, their views on the world, and their outlook on life, perhaps then through understanding we may find peace in our time!

Forever the optimist :D

A good week to and for all!