On 03/11/2019 22:04, Richmond via use-livecode wrote:
I'm not sure if in some countries kids learn languages more easily
than in others.
But, I do think:
1. In English-speaking countries there is an unconscious feeling that
learning a foreign language is not 100%
serious as "all the world learns English."
No, it's surely simpler than that.
For an English speaker, a rational analysis shows that the Return on
Investment for learning *any* other language is much lower than the RoI
for anyone else thinking of learning English.
Learning another language is (for most of us) difficult - it takes a lot
of time, energy and effort; so it's a legitimate question whether or not
it is worth that investment ?
Although Mandarin and Hindi are spoken by more people than English, the
great majority of those people are very unlikely to be encountered by
any English speaker.
Spanish has some claim - but outside of South America its numbers are
much smaller - and the percentage of those outside South America who
don't also speak English is (I suspect - can't find reliable numbers to
back it up) probably low.
There are many good reasons to learn another language, ranging from the
well-proven neurological benefits of multiple languages to the simple
common courtesy of doing so - but in straightforward "increase in
ability to communicate" I'm unconvinced that an English speaker gains
enough to justify the effort.
Better to put the time / money into supporting EFL / ESL for others :-)
Alex, only partially tongue in cheek.
P.S. hmmm does that argument also apply to Livecode ??
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