Fast Reading
Seven out of ten people have tried to learn a language at some point in their life and most wish they could speak one more fluently, a survey found. And nine out of ten people want their children to learn foreign languages at primary school, said the poll for the OCR Exam Board (牛津剑桥皇家考试委员会). Languages are no longer compulsory (义务的) for pupils aged 14 and over. But the government wants all primary school pupils in England to learn a language by the end of 2010.
A survey of 1,000 people was carried out, which is organised by the National Centre of Languages. The study suggested people in London were the most likely (78%) to have studied another language, and Scots were next at 74%, followed by the east of England (71%). In the west of England, about six in ten have knowledge of another language.
Barrie Hunt from OCR said, “People are often very negative about Britain’s grasp of foreign languages but in reality the number of people who can speak a second language is impressive. The great joke is that many of these people have no formal qualification to show their families, friends and employers what they can do, whether they are fluent or just able to hold a short conversation in another language.”
He said OCR had set a new language scheme called Asset Languages to encourage people of all ages to learn languages in bite-sized amounts and get a qualification in them.
The scheme also provides assessment for community languages spoken at home, such as Chinese, Urdu and Punjabi.
Isabella Moore from the National Centre of Languages said, “Employers want evidence of good communication skills, confidence and outward-looking attitudes, so a language qualification is an important addition to anyone’s resume.”