Category Archives: Language debate

Learning Chinese as a second language

Posted on July 21, 2017 by

There has been a fair bit of media attention in recent months about the relatively low completion rates of Chinese language by non background students. We thought we might present a couple of examples offering the alternative perspective. Here are the … Continue reading →

Posted in bilingualism, Chinese, Language debate | Tagged ,

From the archives: The origins of Japanese at the VSL in 1935 Catherine Bryant

Posted on September 13, 2016 by

When I started researching the school’s history for my PhD project, I discovered the fascinating story about the origins of Japanese teaching at the school. The first Saturday Japanese class was held early in 1935 at MacRobertson Girls High School. … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Japanese, Language debate, Uncategorized, VSL Vault | Tagged , , , , ,

Will learning a language get me a job?

Posted on June 3, 2015 by

From the UK, interesting developments in the debate on language learning. The British Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences is undertaking a research project, Born Global, on “the extent and nature of language needs in the labour market and … Continue reading →

Posted in Language debate, policy | Tagged , , ,

Know more than one language? Don’t give it up!

Posted on March 16, 2015 by

If it takes a village to rear a child, then “The bilingual child benefits from being raised by two or more villages!” writes linguist Rebecca Callahan (right), in The Conversation, in an article picked up by the World Economic Forum. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in bilingualism, families, growing up bilingual, Language debate, policy