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Hi im new :-) and fairly new to gardening :-S
"Martin" wrote in message ... On Thu, 27 Jan 2011 09:22:15 -0000, "Bill Grey" wrote: Nick says people can use a calculator, but I have yet to see anybody doing this in a supermarket, for example. Our two kids did arithmetic using a calculator at school. I don't think they even own one nowadays. If you can't learn tables and can't learn the mathematical tricks, then any sane person would buy one. Regards, Nick Maclaren. It's no great encumberance to learn the times table at an early age - it can only help in future years. There maybe more than one way to skin a cat, but it doesn't hurt to have more than one string to your bow. Children at the age that times tables were taught could readily absorb the information, why deny them such a wonderful experience of learning a technique that could serve them well in their future lives. They can also absorb new languages at the same age. -- Martin Definitely ! Bill |
#2
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Hi im new :-) and fairly new to gardening :-S
Sacha wrote:
Yes, I've always thought it a big mistake that schools wait so long to introduce a foreign language into the curriculum. I started learning French when I was 4 and while no way am I fluent, I speak fairly well for a foreigner. I just don't remember actually learning verbs because we started so young and I was very lucky to have good French teachers at all the schools I went to. The boys' primary school have introduced French, the boys both got Spanish and Urdu (!) sessions when at nursery. |
#3
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Hi im new :-) and fairly new to gardening :-S
In article , Sacha wrote:
On 2011-01-27 11:41:15 +0000, said: The boys' primary school have introduced French, the boys both got Spanish and Urdu (!) sessions when at nursery. Spanish is much useful if they get a choice at any point! Not sure how widely spoken Urdu is! Don't bet on it! Urdu and Hindustani are very closely related and are the native languages of a large chunk of India and most of Pakistan. I think that's LONG overdue - I would have introduced it 20-30 years ago in relevant places, and got the English and Urdu speakers (I mean children) to teach each other. Yes, I know that would have created a weird composite, but so what? English is already one. Regards, Nick Maclaren. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#4
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Hi im new :-) and fairly new to gardening :-S
Sacha wrote:
I take your point but in the past, languages were taught because they were useful in diplomacy or commerce. French is the language of diplomacy and Spanish is spoken in large tracts of the trading world. I don't know if that's the case with Urdu or Hindustani so I don't know if those languages will be useful in a modern child's business life. Given how a lot of UK work is now farmed out to India to get it done on the cheap (see call centres + IT work for the obvious examples), I can see there being a call for Indian languages. |
#5
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Hi im new :-) and fairly new to gardening :-S
Sacha wrote:
Given how a lot of UK work is now farmed out to India to get it done on the cheap (see call centres + IT work for the obvious examples), I can see there being a call for Indian languages. But aren't they supposed to be speaking English to the English customers that call them? There might be a small number of jobs for English people who would need to speak local languages for training purposes but not to an overwhelming degree, it seems to me. Just because they're supposed to speak English, doesn't mean things aren't easier if you have another common language between you. |
#6
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Hi im new :-) and fairly new to gardening :-S
Sacha wrote:
The boys' primary school have introduced French, the boys both got Spanish and Urdu (!) sessions when at nursery. Spanish is much useful if they get a choice at any point! Not sure how widely spoken Urdu is! I think Urdu is probably the 2nd language of the area of London their nursery was in, hence the choice. It was only a short intro. Actually, I think they had French for a term, too, cos Daniel came home one day shouting "ooh la la!" |
#7
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Hi im new :-) and fairly new to gardening :-S
"Sacha" wrote in message ... On 2011-01-27 10:19:28 +0000, "Bill Grey" said: "Martin" wrote in message ... On Thu, 27 Jan 2011 09:22:15 -0000, "Bill Grey" wrote: Nick says people can use a calculator, but I have yet to see anybody doing this in a supermarket, for example. Our two kids did arithmetic using a calculator at school. I don't think they even own one nowadays. If you can't learn tables and can't learn the mathematical tricks, then any sane person would buy one. Regards, Nick Maclaren. It's no great encumberance to learn the times table at an early age - it can only help in future years. There maybe more than one way to skin a cat, but it doesn't hurt to have more than one string to your bow. Children at the age that times tables were taught could readily absorb the information, why deny them such a wonderful experience of learning a technique that could serve them well in their future lives. They can also absorb new languages at the same age. -- Martin Definitely ! Bill Yes, I've always thought it a big mistake that schools wait so long to introduce a foreign language into the curriculum. I started learning French when I was 4 and while no way am I fluent, I speak fairly well for a foreigner. I just don't remember actually learning verbs because we started so young and I was very lucky to have good French teachers at all the schools I went to. -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.com South Devon I spoke Welsh long before I was formerly tought Welsh. Funnily, it was then the trouble starrted. The difference between colloquial Welsh and grammatical or literary Welsh was a bit traumatic. The differences were slight, the pronunciation sometimes, and learning the correct word as opposed to a word distorted by collquialism in another ( eg in English innit as opposed to isn't it, or is it not) Bill |
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