DEBATE ON FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING IN SPAIN

If I were the education minister I would cancel the budget for Citizenship education and

religion to increase the foreign languages budget, because in my opinion these things have to

be learnt at home and in church. With this money pupils aged 14-16 could go to other

countries to learn languages. For younger students there would be an immersion language

programme of at least 1 week every year.

If I were the Education Minister, I´d create the "Week of the Foreign Languages" for all

those pupils whose parents haven´t got enough money to afford a Private Bilingual School. I´d

suggest to the language teachers that, once a month, all the subjects should be taught in the

second language chosen by the pupil. In my opinion it´d be a funnier and more interactive way

to improve the almost forgotten skills of Listening and Speaking at the State Schools.

I think that something is going on, I mean something is already changing. Little by little

young people are getting earlier in contact with foreign languages. Nowadays youngsters can

apply for a bilingual school. Also at state schools they learn English from 3 years old on and

even in many nursery schools are teaching English.

About TV, I have to say that some cartoons are shown in English, although it´s true that not

dubbing all the programmes would be a great idea. Last but not least, If I were the education

minister I would create a school of languages, as the one we belong to, but just for children.

If I were the Education Minister I would give grants to spend some time in an English

speaking country. Not only should we study English but we should also be immersed in the

language. Actually, something we can do in Spain is reading, watching TV, listening to the

radio (Vaughan radio in Murcia), etc. I recommend speaking English as much as you can; not to

be shy, and above all, enjoy it.

I strongly agree with the idea of not dubbing programmes on TV.

As Antonio said, the current situation is that kids have been learning English since, let's say,

babies. I've spent 50€ on English books for my two-year-old son. To me it's amazing because

he can't read or write, he can hardly paint! At this age, I think the right way to teach them is

talking to them, singing songs with them, watching cartoons... but of course teachers must be

fluent in Ënglish, otherwise it is impossible. Many teachers are always in touch with English, so

that it doesn't get rusty but some others don't. The system`s been changing so quickly and

many schools become bilingual and there aren't enough teachers to support this situation.

And of course if I were the education minister, I'd make sure that all politicians (me, first) could

speak English properly so that they managed not to look ridiculous in front of everyone on TV,

as it happened not long ago. And I would make teaching degrees last longer, just to make sure

that teachers become teachers because they like teaching, just teaching.