
Language learning across the world: A comparison
From the languages spoken on the streets to the food eaten on the tables, different cultures and countries across the globe do all sorts of things differently - and education is no exception. Each country has its own approach to the teaching and learning of foreign languages in particular: from countries which make it compulsory to learn local foreign languages to those which specifically help bilingual students develop their second language, there are all sorts of ways to do it. This article will compare and contrast the different ways languages are taught in schools across the globe, and on what areas of language learning the focus is applied.
An essential subject?
Some places make it compulsory to learn languages as part of the state education system. In the European Union, for ex...