The Guardian must be congratulated for its efforts to teach its readers foreign languages with its phrasebooks and CDs. But while you lead on promoting foreign languages, our universities are falling behind. At a time when demand for fluency in global languages is rising, it is ironic that the University of the West of England, Imperial College and the University of Exeter are joining the ranks of universities to have massively cutbacks in provision of foreign languages. A 2007 UCU report revealed a dramatic fall in the number of universities offering modern languages and these latest announcements suggest the UK is likely to fall further behind competitor countries when it comes to modern languages.
Furthermore, the widespread closure of courses means that students face restricted choices if they want to study languages, with no guarantee of a local institution able to offer a suitable course. More and more students are looking to study closer to home because of the cost of university. Any future linguists will find their choices drastically reduced or even unaffordable. Without the students who could become our future teachers, translators and interpreters we will seriously damage not only our civil society, but how we do business with, and interact with, the rest of the world.
Sally Hunt
General secretary, UCU
I am eagerly looking forward to the British phrasebook, CDs, and accompanying diagrams to aid in the deciphering of common British hand gestures. I believe they will prove invaluable to others who, like myself, are vacationing in the UK this year.
Euan Hague
Chicago, USA
15/07/2009
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