Teaching foreign language?

[goddess40]

The US is notorious for our arrogance when it comes to teaching foreign language. Our district would love to start a K-12 instead of the lame 8-12 we now do. We just don't know how to fit it in the day and I was wonder if someone out it the real world could send be some examples of their school day schedules.

Edit: to clarify the grades/ages

K is kindergarten students are five when they start
1st 6 years old
2nd 7....

8th 13 years old

12th 17 years old

[non sociopath skin]

1. Hi Goddess.

I'm not quite sure exactly the help you need - US educational terminology and ours tend to differ a lot.

It would be helpful if you could clarify a "K-12" and "8-12".

Hoping to help.
The Skin

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. "K-12" is Kindergarten to 12th grade

ie the full 13 years of school. So I think this means "we start teaching languages in 8th grade", ie the year in which the children are about 13 at the start of it.

In 2007, the government said a 2nd language would be compulsory from 7 to 14, starting in 2010: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2007/mar/12/schools.uk

Whether that's still the plan, I'm not sure.

On edit:

June 26, 2008

The number of children learning foreign languages, including Japanese, at primary school has doubled in six years, government figures suggest.

Children learn to speak the languages of France, Germany, China or even India, before many know how to find the countries on a map, at eight in ten primary schools in England.

The number of primary schools teaching a second language is up from 70 per cent last year and 44 per cent in 2002.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article4218502.ece

Primary schools are up to age 11, for Americans wondering.

[LeftishBrit]

5. Very surprised (favourably) - I know that's the ideal, but I thought it was pretty unusual

I do research on primary maths education, so spend quite a bit of time in primary schools (though admittedly not in connection with languages). Of the 5 or 6 schools that I know best, one teaches Italian; the others don't seem to teach foreign languages beyond a few words.

[goddess40]

4. no problem

sorry, I should know that from the Harry Potter books.

K is kindergarten and the students must be five years old to enter.

12 is our senior year for 17-18 year olds

8 - eighth grade the students are 13.

[LeftishBrit]

2. Unfortunately Brits aren't good on this issue either

Mostly children don't start learning foreign languages till the age of 11 or 12 - which is just the age when it becomes more difficult to pick up the sounds and accent of a different language.

Other Europaean countries mostly do a better job, at any rate about teaching English as a second language.

ETA: judging from Muriel's post it looks as though things may be improving in at least some parts of the UK. There is certainly room for such improvement!

[non sociopath skin]

6. Here's the current National Curriculum Guidelines

http://curriculum.qca.org.uk/key-stages-3-and-4/subjects/modern-foreign-languages/index.aspx

In my experience, we've deteriorated.

When I first started teaching in a Northumberland Middle School in the late 80s, the kids started learning French in Year 5 (9-10 years). When the Tories introduced the National Curriculum, we were pressurized to remove the first two years in order to accomodate the other areas of the new curriculum.

I'd agree that both countries are pretty philistine about language teaching. There still seems to be a lot of crap about "Everybody speaks English nowadays so why bother".

The Skin