British polyglots

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/12/polyglot-language-teaching-demand

The future is not necessarily in language teaching in primary schools, as Ruth Collins suggests, but rather in highlighting the relevance and the context of foreign languages to blinkered islanders. Make school exchanges easier, emphasise fluency and enjoyment rather than grammatical perfection. I think that until the UK ceases to see itself as a superior island, an 'exception culturelle,' languages in the UK will never really catch on.

The BBC could help enormously by showing films in VO, with subtitles rather than horrendous dubbing, and radios in the UK should provide a platform for non-English language music. Gordon Brown could help by ensuring that policies follow on through from primary school to secondary school. Exposure is the key; and exposure to foreign cultures and languages is fairly non-existent in the UK (with the exception of the US), compared with the inter-cultural melange you see and feel on the European continent.

Kinder leicht!