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noodle (Offline)
Wo zhi dao ni ai wo
 
Posts: 1,418
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Paris/London/Algiers
04-11-2009, 11:32 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by ozkai View Post
I think it would need to be termed "official" for people to actually have the chance to learn how to speak.

What I have heard from japanese people over six years is complaining learning for six years but not being able to speak it.
That doesn't make any sense... In Algeria, French isn't even a recognised language, but the majority of people that are educated have an excellent level of French by the time they finish High School (age 18). Whereas Thamazight is a recognised language, but only Amazigh people speak it. Similar situation in Spain with Spanish and Catalan and many many other places/countries in the world.
It all comes down to the way the language is taught and how available it is (i.e. are there any programmes on tv that use English, is English music advertised a lot etc etc).

Not being able to speak a language after 6 years has nothing to do with a languages' status to a country. I put that down to people expecting something without putting in anything. You can't expect to learn a language in 6 years if you only ever study it for 2 hours a week during school terms.

Last edited by noodle : 04-11-2009 at 11:34 AM.
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