See they are doing it all wrong they are only rote learning...

Another media report comparing East Asian education to our Australian education system. Killer report is from Dr Ben Jensen, School Education Program Director of the Grattan Institute.

There are  killer facts from this article (some of which we have seen somewhere before);

• Money is poured into Oz education

However it is certainly not encouraging or increasing the number of our students learning an Asian LOTE. Asian LOTE study is at an all time low in Australian schools. 

• Rhetoric between policy and reality of what is going on in the classroom does not match. Lot of talk and little implementation.

There was 44% increase in spending on education in Oz schools between 2000 and 2008. Yet we are falling behind. This is most embarrassing. 

• In East Asia teacher status is high.  Perception is that they are doing an important job preparing youth for for the future. As they are respected these teachers are given time and resources to prepare awesome lessons to teach their students. 

Australian teachers on the other hand...

 "In modern Australia it is a different story. Teachers are certainly not given this status; indeed mention the word status and Australians immediately equate this with salary and perks. Too often our schools are treated like repair shops as the community dumps more and more of its social problems on them. Nor are teachers the proper focus of government rhetoric in the so-called education revolution."

More here; When it comes to status, the teachers get less than top marks

There is a perception that when we compare our Oz Education system to East Asian education systems that it is like comparing apples to oranges.  Learning by rote: why Australia should not follow the Asian model of education

Here comes a very oversimplified generalisation which many in the Ed. business and Oz media like to believe.  East Asian studentS only learn by rote, whereas our Ozzie kids are learning problem solving abilities and higher order thinking skills.  Taking this one step further Oz Education is doing it right....whereas those East Asian systems are doing it wrong. After all those killer facts and figures are based on a European tests and league tables.    We can dismiss the fact that a 15 year old student in Shanghai, China is performing at a level two or three times above an Australian student of the same age. Apparently we in Oz can dismiss that three out of the top four education systems are in East Asia.Sigh.....

See they are doing it all wrong they are only rote learning...

East Asian students years ahead of Australian counterparts: report 

Audio here

Speak the Language fast track ways to become a Polyglot

Speak the Language


Here is something interesting from a polyglot called Andrew Eli. Speaks Russian, Kazakh, French and Chinese.  He has some sound advice for language learners.

"Follow these easy steps to get on the fast track to Polyglot City."

1. Make the commitment
2. Take a hard class with lots of grammar
3. Open your mouth
4. Buy a ticket
5. Go on a date
6. Get a job
7. Don't lose it

The author of the article goes into details on each of the points above. I agree with most of what is written. It does have some practical advice and good strategies for language learning. 

Speak the Language

Foreign languages to be compulsory from age seven - Telegraph

Meanwhile in England...

The trend to teach languages from an early age is news in England. Article also cites the declining uptake of languages in primary schools and high schools. A negative trend we also have in Oz.

Highlights from the two articles include;

"Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, will say that subjects such as French, German, Spanish, Mandarin, Latin or Greek will be made a compulsory part of the primary school timetable for the first time."

Foreign languages to be compulsory from age seven 


Michael Gove, the Education Secretary wants;

"...a foreign language compulsory for pupils from the age of seven."

"...under his plans, primary schools could offer lessons in Mandarin..."

Children will learn to recite poems by heart from age of 5

Is Sydney doing enough to attract Chinese tourists?

It seems that some in the tourism industry are preparing and encouraging Chinese tourism and business tours by having staff learn Chinese language and culture.   Is it worthwhile doing this? It is!

"...events estimated to be worth more than $90 million to the NSW economy. These events will attract about 18,500 visitors who will spend a combined 91,700 days in Sydney. About one in three of the events is from China."

"Sydney's events and tourism industry is making efforts to become ''China ready''. An increasing number of hotels, attractions and suppliers are providing Chinese language or cultural study lessons for staff, integrating Chinese language tours into their programs and rethinking menu and media options."

"On the supply side, we are working closely with industry partners to improve cultural awareness, language skills and support to service visitors' needs better."

Is Sydney doing enough to attract Chinese tourists?

Never too early to learn Chinese?

Meanwhile in Naselle, Washington...

"Instead of “Dick and Jane” and “See Spot Run,” the morning curriculum at Naselle for kindergartners next fall will be entirely in Mandarin Chinese ..."

"The district is considering implementation of dual-immersion education to kindergarten students whose parents choose to participate in the Mandarin Chinese program next year."

"If adopted by the school board, the program will be taught by a teacher from China and the students who voluntarily enroll will speak nothing but that language exclusively during their morning classes..."

I find "the sooner the better" trend being reported often across the globe. It is interesting that our opposition government in Oz has seized on this and made an election promise  Preschoolers to learn a second language .  While many places are implementing it is schools immediately.

In my humble opinion it is never too early or too late to learn Chinese Mandarin.

Never too early to learn Chinese?

Unemployed American Airline Workers Should Learn Chinese

This is bound to cause some controversy with airline workers in America. This is a controversial idea from an article in Forbes.

"Unemployed American Airline Workers Should Learn Chinese"

"To the hundreds of young and unattached American Airlines workers threatened with lay offs: consider taking some classes in basic Mandarin Chinese."


Unemployed American Airline Workers Should Learn Chinese 

Langauge expertise isn't there in Australia

"AUSTRALIA doesn't have the expertise to fulfil Tony Abbott's grand plan to have 40 per cent of students studying a foreign language in 10 years.
Thousands of teachers may have to return to university to get qualifications necessary to teach a second language, costing the nation millions."

Well this is an alarmist report adding fuel to the languages in school debate.  There are already at least two programs for teachers to gain accreditation and qualifications to teach Chinese.

Langauge expertise isn't there in Australia

It's adieu to the French language at schools as experts advise a shift of focus from European languages

Actually it was adieu (or au revoir) to French in the 1970s in Australia.  During the 1970s Indonesian was the popular language learned in schools. During the 1980s and 1990s it was selamat tinggal to Bahasa Indonesia and konnichiwa to Japanese. Japanese (and other LOTEs) was supported and funded until 2002 when most funding from the federal and state governments was discontinued. Languages have been largely unfunded and unimportant for many schools for a decade.The past decade  has seen a rapid decline in LOTE learning in schools and universities.

So the leader of the opposition has made an election promise.  To return languages to the curriculum. Quotes from the article include;

"Mr Abbott would focus on languages of key regional partners like China, Japan, South Korea and India (see the story at right).

 UNSW school of education Professor Chris Davison said anyone considering a career in business would have a competitive edge by being fluent in Mandarin, the most widely spoken language in the world."

Mandarin becoming the language to study

Meanwhile in New Zealand.

"The time is fast approaching when schools will chose to offer Mandarin instead of more traditional languages such as French, Latin or German."

There is an interest by some schools to teach students Mandarin.



When will Australian Schools start doing this?


Mandarin becoming the language to study - National - NZ Herald News

Language lessons languish in Aussie schools

An Australian Broadcasting Corporation report about the current state and decline in    Asian languages in Australian schools. It highlights our former Prime Ministers goal for Asian language learning and makes comparisons to the current apathy and lack of interest in language.
 
I really wonder how much longer schools in Australia are going to ignore Asian languages. The report makes some very astute observations; lack of investment in Asian languages, now more students study Latin than Chinese, our nation is stubbornly monolingual, SE Asian history was not is is not taught in schools, education departments are unable to stream Chinese students into appropriate classes, there is a growth in private schools teaching Mandarin, Australians remain disinterested in our Asian neighbours.

We seem to be going down the very same path as schools in England.  There schools are seeing rapid declines in French and German Lack of languages in schools concerns unis

A very brief report that says it all. Watch the report or read the transcript here
Language lessons languish in Aussie schools

Study More Chinese

Visit Study More Chinese

Is it worthwhile learning another language?

Great podcast from the BBC that asks "Is it worthwhile learning another language?"

BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - You and Yours, 31/08/2010

Hyderabad, India - Chinese in School Now

Meanwhile in Hyderabad, India

Business Line : Industry & Economy / Economy : Chinese in school now

Building an Asia – Literate Australia

This report is about three and half years old now. It was written as a post 2020 Australia Summit report and recommendation. The summit was held in April 2008 and the report was presented about one year later in 2009. I find the report interesting as it sets out many recommendations that are still being discussed and debated now. It seems our current federal and state governments have failed to act on any of the advice and recommendations that were obvious about four years ago.

This quote is a good summary of what the report aims were;

“This Report is not intended as a criticism of the Rudd governments National Asian Languages in Secondary Schools policy; we applaud it for resurrecting a national program to promote Asian language education. We intended to promote discussion of the need for a more comprehensive and extensive program of Asia literacy. “

Alas the funding for the resurrection of National Asian Languages has run out. There seems to be very little action taken on the advice of the report. The full report can be read here Building an Asia – Literate Australia

Associated Reports

We should be teaching languages in Australia, yet we are not teaching languages

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) this week released some plans for language learning The Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Languages. In this document there are some very broad plans for the future of language learning in schools across Australia. The good news is that Chinese Mandarin and Italian are the first languages to be rolled out nationally under the new Australian curriculum

Within days the NSW Education Department is resisting any change. At present NSW schools are not required to teach any language other than English. Alarm bells have gone off in the NSW Education system and they are crying teacher shortages and over crowded curriculum as a reason not to teach LOTE. More information about current policy and comparisons to VIC education policy can be read here Primary school languages plan hits resistance with a letter to the editor response here Learning a language opens young minds .

This week there was also a response to the revolutionary idea to send youth to Asian countries to learn language and culture, that I posted about recently Radical Ideas . The response No quick fix in any language highlights many of the currrent problems with langauge learning in Austrailia, however it does not propose any solutions. This article like so many discussions in the current debate of LOTE in Austrailia shows facts and figures about the decline of language teaching and learning across all schools and universities. The common repetative theme discussed and debated in many articles and forums can be summed up as;

“We should be teaching languages in Australia, yet we are not teaching languages”

Radical Ideas

I recently read an article recently about the lack of connection Australia has with Asia and in particular China Minding our languages. The article states that our language learning progress is and has failed for a number of years now. At primary, secondary and tertiary level we have failed to learn Asian languages. The main reason is too few teachers and too few students willing to learn languages.

To address this problem the idea is to stop spending money on language learning in schools and universities and send students to live and learn in Asia. This plan would be government funded. The proposal is to send 10,000 students a year. This may address the deficit we currently have in Asian literacy.

This is indeed a radical idea. However, for me it seems like something that might work. It is better than the stagnation and lack of interest in Asian languages and culture we currently have from many in Australia.

A similar news article, We must invest to latch on to the Asian century, also states very clearly that we must engage with Asia by investing in training and teaching Australians in Asian languages. The article has many facts and figures about the decline of Asian languages in Australian education. Apparently we are at the lowest point in Asian literacy since 1970.   

An alternative and ambitious plan from the Victorian state government to reverse the decline in language learning sounds similar to what I have seen before. Grants for Teaching Languages outlines the offer $ 1 million in grants to schools to halt the decline of language learning in primary schools. I am keen to follow the progress of this plan. It would be good if other state governments also implemented similar grants.