Changes worth celebrating, that have happened in my lifetime

[Notafettler]

The quality of UK housing has risen from a very low base in the 1900's to a much better base by the 2000's
However I totally agree that the quality of housing in the UK is abysmal when compared to other north western European housing stock

Unfortunately every time there has been a housing shortage in the UK, the Government of the time (all parties) have taken the easy route out and built volume not quality, which in turn causes another housing problem 20-30 years down the line.

Hence we have a housing shortage now and no easy way out unless cheap volume housing is knocked up to become tomorrows slums

Legal and general intend and have begun a house building programme with the aim producing homes for rent at affordable rents (20% below the local private rented properties). In the main via housing associations. There aim is that the properties should meet extremely high enviromental standards. They have a factory to build them in. Modular homes. I have a suspicion that other annuity sellers will have to do the same. This could lead to a large increase in quality homes to rent.

 

[PK99]

The flip side of this is that British kids don't learn other European languages to anything like the same level, which places them at a disadvantage, not just in learning one language, but also in developing the skills to learn others later.

D1's colleague studying Engineering at Oxford 10 years ago, stayed with us. His English was perfect. According to him, an interview in Germany with an engineering firm for a professional engineering job would be at least 50% and sometimes 100% in English.

What second language should British children learn?

 

[mudsticks]

D1's colleague studying Engineering at Oxford 10 years ago, stayed with us. His English was perfect. According to him, an interview in Germany with an engineering firm for a professional engineering job would be at least 50% and sometimes 100% in English.

What second language should British children learn?

French, German, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Italian.
It doesn't really matter.

But at least one other - it's a good thing to do for its own sake.

It can help with careers and business, but they're not everything in life anyhow.

 

[Andy in Germany]

D1's colleague studying Engineering at Oxford 10 years ago, stayed with us. His English was perfect. According to him, an interview in Germany with an engineering firm for a professional engineering job would be at least 50% and sometimes 100% in English.

What second language should British children learn?

As @mudsticks says, any is good: it helps development, and it's a handy reminder that there are other languages out there and they are as valid as ours.

Also, if you want to work somewhere at anything less than management level, you need to speak the local language: I speak German all day, every day at work because I work in social care.

 

[newfhouse]

£10 at 1,000 to 1 odds over 20 years.
I'll take you up on that one.
Can you provide a guarantee of payment ?

Place the bet in €, it will likely be worth more over that timescale.

 

[PK99]

As @mudsticks says, any is good: it helps development, and it's a handy reminder that there are other languages out there and they are as valid as ours.

Eually, if you want to work somewhere at anything less than management level, you need to speak the local languge: I speak German all day, every day at work because I work with vulnerable adults.

I would not disagree but that does not answer the question posed:

What second language should British children learn?

 

[newfhouse]

I would not disagree but that does not answer the question posed:

What second language should British children learn?

Latin often allows career progression when all else fails. Why not that?

 

[PK99]

Latin often allows career progression when all else fails. Why not that?

I studied Latin and French at school.

Latin I used every day when working in Garden Design - and would have been able to communicate with Gardeners the world over using the same Latin.

Latin plant names are wonderfully descriptive. One I like I particular is Daphne odora aureo marginata.

French has been useful when in "France profonde" but very difficult to use in Tourist France where English is ubiquitous - and no use at all in Germany etc

 

[newfhouse]

I studied Latin and French at school.

Latin I used every day when working in Garden Design - and would have been able to communicate with Gardeners the world over using the same Latin.

Latin plant names are wonderfully descriptive. One I like I particular is Daphne odora aureo marginata.

I wasn’t actually knocking it. Any language is both useful and good for the brain, but especially one that gives a leg up with many other modern European languages.

 

[Once a Wheeler]

The rise and rise of the English language. As kids we were all forced to learn French or Esperanto as they were going to be the world's lingua franca but now the European Union has English as the default language (despite it not being the official language of any of its members) and English Language schools are ubiquitous.

I would question the assertion that the English language has risen in relative importance during the last half-century. The picture is complex and whilst English has increased its geographical spread and its influence on other languages one of the consequences of that rise is a corresponding fall in the ability of anglophones to communicate internationally.

I am not aware that French was ever widely taught on the basis that it was to be a lingua franca. In my school it was taught on the basis that the French were just across the Channel and it would be a good idea to get to know them. I do not know of any school in which teaching Esperanto is or was a mainstream foreign-language commitment. The fact that other people know your language does not mean that you know them. Rather the reverse: in this circumstance the knowledge of the foreign language becomes an opportunity to gain an advantage over those who speak it and are ignorant of yours. For example, the Luxembourg banks employ many people from neighbouring Belgium, France and Germany and most Luxembourgers are able to do their jobs in French, German and Lëtzebuergesch, the local language of Luxembourg. However, when it comes to promotion, the Lëtzebuergesch speakers get ahead quicker. Ignorance of a language cuts one out of numerous life chances.

English is the perfect native language for the learning of most other European languages. What should have happened in our lifetimes is the use of that fact to make us truly at ease in our European homeland with functional fluency for all anglophones in at least one other European language. It is an opportunity that can still be taken up — but unfortunately the prevalence of English which you welcome has been allowed to feed a mindset that denies anglophones the chance to take their proper place in their European history, homeland and future.

 

[All uphill]

I would not disagree but that does not answer the question posed:

What second language should British children learn?

The language of your favourite holiday destination, the language that appeals to you, the language to which you can easily get exposure. As someone else said learning a second language makes the third and fourth languages much more achievable.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I would not disagree but that does not answer the question posed:

What second language should British children learn?

Ah, I see. I guess my problem is that I don't think it matters, each has advantages:

French is good, as they are our our nearest neighbours and the roots are similar
German teaches us about our own language as English is essentially a dialect of German. Also, as an English and German speaker I can understand a lot of Dutch.
Welsh is beautiful and complex and fascinating.

I could go on, but I don't think it matters where you start, as long as you are taught to speak it well: it opens a new world of literature and cultural understanding, new opportunities and It is excellent for neural development, and once the brain adapts to learning a new language it is easier to learn another (despite this I still haven't learned to speak Japanese)

 

[nickyboy]

I learned to speak Mandarin as it was helpful to my business and I was spending a lot of time in China

Regarding the benefits of learning a foreign language for the sake of it, I take a different view. Native English speakers have an advantage; they don't need to learn another language and thus have more bandwidth for other subjects. As, say, a Croat, it must take a lot of effort to learn English and this must reduce focus on other areas

 

[bitsandbobs]

Apologies if already posted.

The revival in quality beer.

(I well remember a deluded american tourist in a london pub in the late 70s/early 80s looking at a pint of fizz, admiring it,and telling his wife what a great british beer he was about to drink - suppose he'd grown up on bud)

The explosion of the craft beer scene over the last 15 years has been a big improvement - largely driven by US innovation.

(I don't live in the UK, but can easily get hold of great UK beer - Neon Raptor has been a good recent discovery. Will be interesting to see if it's as easy to come by in the coming months)

 

[Andy in Germany]

I learned to speak Mandarin as it was helpful to my business and I was spending a lot of time in China

Regarding the benefits of learning a foreign language for the sake of it, I take a different view. Native English speakers have an advantage; they don't need to learn another language and thus have more bandwidth for other subjects. As, say, a Croat, it must take a lot of effort to learn English and this must reduce focus on other areas

In terms of learning, it can have the opposite effect: Beautiful Daughter has learned to speak English, German and Japanese in parallel and now switches between languages depending on who she is talking to. She shows no lack of abilitiy to learn other things because learning this helps the brain develop and it can then learn other things easily.