Dear LPG,

Did you know that today is the European day of languages? The year 2001 was declared the European Year of Languages, and today was nominated by the Council of Europe as a legacy of that year.  

We, the nation of the United Kingdom, are all so busy leaving the European Union at the moment and it has to be agreed that there are a lot of really silly rules and laws that we have been left with, but there is one thing that perhaps should be highlighted and it is a commemorative day such as today.

We are always being told that stretching the mind is a way of preventing the onset of problems such as Alzheimer's Disease and dementia in general, and even though the prospect of a new language can seem so vast at our age, we are not trying to pass any exams so just taking a little look at the possibility could be a ‘fun’ experience that won’t take very long if we attack it with short regular sessions.

In my experience, we English can be a conceited nation.  We English speakers are often the ones who don’t bother to continue with a language after leaving school but who expect to use their language when they visit other parts of Europe or even the world. 

We tend to expect the rest of the world to know English.  When I was working I got involved with bringing education into my workplace and as part of that I got the 650 or so employers to do a survey, and I have to admit that one aspect of the results really surprised me.  One of the questions was ‘how many languages do you speak’ and the findings were that the African employees spoke three or more and the Europeans were likely to be fluent in two (theirs and English) while the British born could only name English as the one language that they really knew.

I have to admit to being one of the many people who complain about being answered on the telephone by someone in a call centre whose accent I cannot understand, or being seen by a doctor who I have to keep asking to repeat himself, but I often forget that they are using the second or even third language they have learned when they are answering my questions.  

This is September, the month when many of the adult learning centres courses are just beginning and you can even learn online these days.

Perhaps today is a day to get started if improving or learning a language is something you have thought about but left at the back of your mind. 

FI, Bellingham

LPG took a look at the internet as ever and can offer the following information on the subject…

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