Learning a Foreign Language –
Worth the Effort Post Brexit?
With one year to go before Britain leaves the European Union, those studying modern foreign languages must be wondering what the future is for them. Will there be more job opportunities or less? We have been trying to find out. First, we went to the BBC where news presenter Huw Edwards told us: “I feel strongly that we should be far more serious about learning foreign languages. ”
“Learning languages is a very beneficial thing. It allows us to understand other cultures and, in the Brexit context, it allows us to communicate more directly with people”.
“If we want people to be good trade negotiators and sort out treaties with other countries we are going to need linguists possibly more than we did before”. Then we moved on to the Houses of Parliament and interviewed many well-known figures including Mary Creagh MP and Nia Griffith MP.
Mary Creagh believes that “once you learn one language, it is easy to learn another”.
Stephen Kinnock maintains that: “We have burnt some bridges with our European friends so we need to show them that we still want to listen to them, understand them and communicate with them.”
Tonia Antoniazzi MP said: “It’s really really important that students in Wales need to be prepared by being able to trade with countries all around the world”.
We also took the opportunity to interview Paolo Piana, Chair of the Llanelli Twinning Association and Mr David Williams, Head of Bryngwyn School who both gave their views on the value of learning languages.
Scroll down for our fact file to understand more!
Some Brexit Facts
So what is Brexit anyway?
Brexit is the shorter way of saying ‘UK leaving the EU’. It merges the words Britain and exit to get Brexit.
What is the European Union?
The European Union is an economic and political partnership involving 28 European countries. It was set up so that countries which trade together are more likely to avoid going to war with each other.
A referendum in which nearly all people around the UK of voting age could take part was held on Thursday 23 June, 2016, to decide whether the UK should leave or remain in the European Union. Leave won by 51.9% to 48.1%. The referendum turnout was 71.8%, with more than 30 million people voting.
Some predicted effects of leaving the EU
Importance of languages post-brexit Britain
The British Council indicates that the top languages the UK needs to learn post-brexit are Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, French, Arabic and German. These languages are considered the ‘Languages of the Future’ and identified as the top six languages for the UK’s benefit once the country leaves the European Union, based on economic, geopolitical, cultural and educational factors.
So what is Brexit anyway?
Brexit is the shorter way of saying ‘UK leaving the EU’. It merges the words Britain and exit to get Brexit.
What is the European Union?
The European Union is an economic and political partnership involving 28 European countries. It was set up so that countries which trade together are more likely to avoid going to war with each other.
A referendum in which nearly all people around the UK of voting age could take part was held on Thursday 23 June, 2016, to decide whether the UK should leave or remain in the European Union. Leave won by 51.9% to 48.1%. The referendum turnout was 71.8%, with more than 30 million people voting.
Some predicted effects of leaving the EU
- Energy bills to rise by £500m.
- Millions of jobs could be lost if multinational companies move their production centres from the UK to other EU countries.
- Less free trade with EU.
- More expensive foreign holidays.
Importance of languages post-brexit Britain
The British Council indicates that the top languages the UK needs to learn post-brexit are Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, French, Arabic and German. These languages are considered the ‘Languages of the Future’ and identified as the top six languages for the UK’s benefit once the country leaves the European Union, based on economic, geopolitical, cultural and educational factors.
Our thanks to our host -
Huw Edwards
* Born 18th August 1961 in Bridgend however brought up in Llangennech, Llanelli.
* Languages he can speak: Welsh, French, English, German, Spanish, Italian.
* He is a Welsh journalist, presenter and a reporter on BBC News.
Our BBC News Report Team
We have an awesome BBC School Report team made up of pupils from Bryngwyn School. They are:
- Sophie - Producer and Writer
- Freya - Interviewer
- Maegan - Writer, Interviewer and Producer
- Emilia - Website and interviewer
- Ruby - Website
- Maddy - Writer and Interviewer
- Ellen - Writer and Interviewer
- Rhydian - Presenter and Interviewer
- Chloe - Presenter
- Amy - Editor in chief and Interviewer
- Matthew - Cameraman
- Joshua - Photographer
- Naomi - Researcher
- Marcus - Researcher
- Olivia - Social Media and Interviewer
- Carys - Social Media