Warning! Sensitive and irascible souls refrain: this text is deliberately provocative and may cause controversy!
For a year I had the chance to teach Italian to adult beginners the evening classes. Myself starting in the teaching of modern languages (reminder: I am first and foremost teacher of Latin), I sought advice from a more experienced colleague. Which replied bluntly: "Do they ever speak French, still Italian! . What I did. And at the end of the year at 3 hours per week, my students were able to read a newspaper article, to summarize orally and speak on topics of everyday life.
From this experience very rewarding for me, I withdraw the premise that the only valid method for teaching languages is to ban the French language courses, right from the beginning. Language teachers today are they doing their job badly? NO! They merely apply the method imposed on them by ministers, programs, inspectors and advisers (who are not paying!) Teaching. And that the goal is to ensure that our students are bilingual leaving the humanities! What a joke! Only gifted students can accomplish with this method!
But that's not all!
What languages do we teach in the French Community of Belgium? English, of course: it attracts more and more students, but I question their motivations (understanding the songs of their favorite artists?). The English also, beautiful singing language if any (and then there's the Belgian colony in Torremolinos, do not forget!). German is in freefall, as deemed wrongly too difficult. Finally, all our politicians insist on Dutch (while few of them have mastered ... Do as I say, not what I do ...). Without doubting that learning this language is necessary to know the mentality of our fellow Flemish or cultural interest, Dutch is quite useless at the time of European integration and globalization of the economy. Indeed, that weigh about 5 million Flemings and ten million Dutch side to the 80 million Germans, and a half billion Chinese and Brazilians?
learn in our high schools so the Chinese, Portuguese, German, English course, French course. Or as the languages of the new countries joining the Union European. We will train students and capable of facing future challenges of our global society.
insist on Dutch shows the self-absorption, narrow-mindedness and lack of ambition of our leaders in Belgium. Finally opened their eyes to the world!
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