Until 2004 it was also national policy but since September 2004 a modern langauge is no longer a statutary requirement within the National Curriculum with the result that more than 1 in 3 teenagers no longer study a modern foreign langauge over the age of 14.
And that is the crux of the matter, IMO, You're not going to be able to do much with the "older" generation unless they are prepared to pay for lessons or have a computer/library and the commitment, and not forgetting that the older you get, it seems harder to retain the information because you can read every Spanish book available, but unless you get to grips with the verbs and the pronunciation, then you will be struggling for months/years, and the only way to overcome this problem is to hear it spoken. day in, day out"¦.this is how some people employed in the tourist industry obtain their English.
Children on the other hand are like sponges, they soak up the knowledge and IMO learning a foreign language should start before the age of 11 years old and be compulsory.....so yes, IMO the fault is clearly with the Education system/Government and when people come out with statements that we are a "lazy nation" and blame anybody except the Government, then they are doing exactly what most Governments would like you to do...that is, blame anybody, bar them.!
Some mature waiters have never been to school to learn Spanish, never mind English, because before the tourist boom a lot of them were peasants living and working on agricultural land, but they can understand snippets of several languages because over a period of time the tourists have requested the same thing.
The younger generation are taught English at school, they are exposed to the English language from the tourists and listen to English spoken pop songs every day.
You tell me the last time you heard a pop song sung in Spanish played on British radio.? apart from Shakira incorporating snippets of the Spanish language into her "hits""¦you can't.
I wish I had a penny for the number of times I've sat in front of my computer and had this silly American talking "Hispanic Spanish" back at me (that's because the CD was produced in the USA)"¦...I'd be rich.
The verbs (los verbos) in the Spanish language are a pain to learn and it took me a very long time to get my head around them, they are the most boring thing to learn, but vital to learn if you want to talk in a different tense, otherwise you will always be struggling.
I sometimes wonder if learning snippets of the language is really beneficial, except a few polite words like gracias, por favor, hola, buenos dÃÂÂas, buenas tardes/noches ( thank you, please, hello, good morning, good evening/night) because I've been through the stage where you rehearse in your head a sentence and you feel really proud of yourself, then they fire back at you at break neck speed in Spanish and you don't understand a word they say, so you say "Lo siento, mas despacio por favor, soy Inglés" (I'm sorry, more slowly please, I'm English) and nine times out of ten what do they do.?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
They immediately switch to English"¦it might be broken English, but English it is.!
Sanji
