Primary school children are learning six different languages from the age of nine under a pioneering new plan.
The idea is to give them a taste of all six so they can then decide for themselves which language to opt for when they transfer to secondary school.
The scheme is being piloted in three local education authorities – Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Derbyshire – and is being backed by secondary school headteachers. The children study French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Punjabi and Latin for a term each before they leave primary school. The project is being evaluated by the University of Manchester with a view to promoting it nationally if it is successful. The report will be published by the end of the year.
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(Source: The Independent, UK)
(23 June 2007)