Re a comment thread where “el Primo” swore blind on the basis of some bad statistics that Spanish was dying out as a second language in Europe, news just in from Scotland:
Figures released this week by the Scottish Qualifications Authority show that Spanish has overtaken German for the first time to become the second most popular language at Higher after French. A shortage of German teachers and a feeling that the language is unfashionable, despite its economic importance in Europe, has led to greater numbers of schools switching from German to Spanish. At the same time, there has been a corresponding pressure from parents who holiday in Spain, in both the independent and state sectors, to offer Spanish, as well as other languages.
Meanwhile, a Spanish girl I know sporadically is making little progress with her English because every time something is said to her in that language she improvises the nearest amusing phonetic equivalent in Spanish. A brief search reveals a minor industry dedicated to this entertaining way of disguising the traditional Spanish lack of interest in other languages. You may prefer the German, the Chinese, the Zulu [sic]…, but my favourites on this page are mock-Arabic:
- beso: saliva-va-saliva-viene
- divorcio: se aleja la almeja
- Señorita, bájese de la moto: Maja, baja la raja de la Yamaha
And so on and so forth. Bite that wax tadpole, people.
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- Spanish, most popular elective extra-curricular language in English higher education
Now ahead of French, while German is being overtaken by Chinese. - Teachers/examiners with less skills than pupils/examinees
Story in Trouw about a German teacher who can’t speak German. This wouldn’t be so freaky in jobs-for-the-boys Spain, where the - Napoleon couldn’t write French
“I am dying before my time, murdered by the English oligarchy and their hired assassin. The English people will not delay - The japanish writer Haruki Murakami awarded with the 23th Premi Internacional Catalunya
We’re talking the front page of the website of a Catalan government whose words consist of endless recycling of the cliché - Home schooling in Spain
God knows there are reasons enough to want to do it: school failure rates, currently 30% and rising; the lack of
This means fuck all. The article doesn’t mention the actual number of students learning Spanish, which could be in fact pretty insignificant given the fact that in Scotland studying a foreign language is not mandatory, as far as I know.
Don’t swear on my blog, bollockbreath.
Just out of interest, do you also refuse to believe that cars are more popular than horses as a means of transport?
Of course not. Why would I do a thing like that?
Do you refuse to acknowledge that Spanish is only the 5th most popular language in the EU, right behind Italian, French, German and English?
And besides, don’t be such a sissy.
Yeah, but you have to account for Newcastlers learning English as a second language.
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/tecnologia/Casa/Blanca/hace/bilingue/elpeputec/20091014elpeputec_2/Tes#
Spanish is now more popular than German in British schools. Spiegel says it’s down to popular culture aka Shakira http://www.spiegel.de/schulspiegel/ausland/0,1518,673525,00.html
5 million Brazilians now learning Spanish, 400% increase in 3 years http://www.brazzilmag.com/component/content/article/81-january-2010/11760-five-million-brazilians-are-learning-spanish-soon-theyll-be-41-million.html