Is continuing

my language to A Level

really worth it?

‘English is simply not enough. We cannot understand the world in

English...’

...we need to be aware as never before of other languages and of the ways in which they identify and

represent their cultures’Footitt, October 2001

English is not enough

What other reasons for learning a language are there?

Here are some ideas from university and year 12/13 students:

‘It’s fun. You find out about other people and cultures. Knowing a language makes you more employable. They lead you into other subjects. You make new friends. You

learn about yourself and your own country. It gives you

more confidence. Great for holidays! Gives you more

communication skills.’

Still need

convincing?Still need

convincing?

It’s a multilingual world...Did you know there are 6,912 known living languages in the world?

Test your knowledge, part 1...

How many people in the world speak these languages as their mother tongue?

French Arabic a) 64, 860, 000

b) 640, 860, 000

c) 25, 000, 000

a) 150, 000, 000

b) 206, 000, 000

c) 1, 156, 000, 000

a) 341, 000, 000b) 55, 000, 000c) 28, 700 ,000

a) 1, 052, 000, 000b) 358, 000, 000c) 874, 000, 000

508, 000, 000 including second

language speakers

1, 052, 000, 000 including second

language speakers

How many people in the world speak these languages as their mother tongue?Spanish Hausa

a) 102, 000, 000b) 61, 700, 000c) 322, 300, 000

a) 60, 000b) 24, 162, 000c) 10, 300, 000

What have all these languages got in common?

They are all spoken in more than one country and are often used as additional languages to communicate across borders.

How many people in the world speak these languages as their mother tongue?

English Chinese (Mandarin)

It’s a multilingual world...

Test your knowledge, part 2 - Languages of the European Union

Match the language to the percentage of its native speakers in the EU

Français

Deutsch

Italiano

Español

English

Nederlands

All Others

Français

Deutsch

Italiano

Español

English

Nederlands

All Others

It’s a multilingual world...Test your knowledge, part 3 - Closer to Home

Do you know how many languages are used everyday in

the UK?It is difficult to know exactly, but the 2001

Census of England and Wales was translated into

24 languages.

One more fact...

A recent survey shows that over 50 languages are spoken in Portsmouth

schools:Afrikaans - Arabic - Albanian - Amharic - Bahasha Malay - Bengali - Bulgarian - Chinese - Czech - Danish - Dari/Farsi - English - French - German - Greek - Gujerati - Hakka - Hindi - Italian - Japanese - Kikuyu - Kiswahili - Korean -

Kurdish - Sorani - Latvian - Lithuanian - Laotian - Malay - Malayalam - Ndebele - Nepali - Norwegian - Panjabi - Polish - Pushto - Romanian - Runyankole - Russian - Serbo/Croat - Shona - Sinhalese - Somali - Spanish -

Swahili - Tagalog - Tamil - Thai - Tigrinya - Turkish - Twee - Ukrainian - Urdu - Vietnamese - Yoruba

How many languages are spoken in your community, your school,

or your college?

Employability - give yourself the edge

This is what a top employer said he is looking for in an new employee:•social skills•ability to work in a team•communication skills•problem-solving skills•confidence•experience•open mindedness•flexibilityLearning languages gives you these skills.Speaking another language makes you stand out from the crowd.

The top employer also said:•Business is global today•English is important but not enough•You need to get noticed overseas•Foreign languages are vital

He gave some tips on the social side of business:•Listening is a skill•Cultural awareness pays off•Relationships make a difference•Networking is easier in the local language

Your Country Needs You!

It was recently calculated that the languages deficit in the UK costs our economy between £7 billion and £17

billion every year!

Employers are desperate for linguists to increase trade with other countries

Give yourself the edge - they did!Match the names on the left to the degrees on the right

J. K. RowlingAuthor

Paula RadcliffeAthlete

Lucy LiuFilm Star

Jonathan RossTV and Radio Presenter

Rory BremnerComedian

Fiona BruceNewsreader

Chris MartinMusician

Nigella LawsonTV Chef

Chinese Language and Culture(1990 ish)

European Studies(1982)

French and German(1985)

Modern European Studies(1996)

Greek and Latin(1999)

French and Classics(1987)

Medieval and Modern Languages(1986)

French and Italian(1990)

Continuing with languages you can...

Join in - it’s a multilingual world

Connect with other cultures

Give yourself the edge - you need to in the global job market of the 21st century

keep your options open

Still not convinced?

So why study languages?

This is what university and year 12/13 students said:

‘Language learning helps to

develop communication skills which

are really vital if you’re applying for

a job or just in daily life, you need

to be able to communicate’

‘Languages are fun

and not too difficult’

‘Languages can provide opportunities nowadays in the UK even if you don’t want to go and work abroad because of the multicultural society we live in’

‘Languages enable you to travel to

other countries and feel part of the

culture, respect the people living

there by making an effort to

communicate and not feel like a tourist’

‘A language expands

your range of th

inking’

‘A language helps you to realise that there is a world around you’

Thanks and Good Luck!• Take a moment to check out our

sister project:

• Linguacast

www.linguacast.ncl.ac.uk