I made a little survey among secondary school pupils and university students at POTE and JPTE. I tried to get answers to the following questions: which languages are the most popular, how many opportunities the students have to study foreign languages and how they can use their knowledge. In my essay I will sum up the responses I got from the 16 students. Most of these pupils have learned English, German, Latin ; all of them have learned Russian. A few students have studied French, one of them Dutch, and another person can speak Swedish. Usually these people started to learn a foreign language at the age of fourteen, or at the university at the age of about eighteen. Only a few of them began learning earlier, in the primary school. Of course Russian is an exception, because it was obligatory in primary schools, but teaching it was not very successful. Our generation did not have so many opportunities for learning languages at the time we attended primary school. Today the situation is different. Every child has to learn at least one foreign language already at the primary school or even earlier: in the kindergarten.
Most students learn the given language at the institution where they are studying. A few of them take lessons with a private teacher. Pupils use cassettes in learning, they listen to radio programs, watch TV and movies in a foreign language. Satellite programs are very popular: half of the students watch them regularly. Only 2 of the 16 answered that they never read books in a foreign language. The others read such books, magazines or newspapers every week, some do it every day. The magazines seem to be more popular according to these students. Only 3 students were not satisfied with their teachers. It was a bit surprising, because a lot of pupils are not contented with the knowledge and methods of language teachers in general. (Maybe these students themselves are lucky.) According to these pupils' opinion the pronunciation of some teachers is not satisfactory, the schools do not have proper equipment for teaching languages.
The students also claim that the number of teachers is not enough, which is why there are too many students in one group. They would change the basic coursebooks (especially those which are used in secondary schools), the organization of the lessons, and they would like to have more opportunities for speaking during the class. The answers given to my question about the books and tapes available in Hungary are quite different.
A few students are not satisfied with the books which can be used in language learning. Half of the pupils mentioned the high prices of these textbooks as a negative thing . Only a few people can obtain books from abroad. All students agreed that both diligence and gift for languages are important in learning. Some of the pupils maintain that hard work is slightly more important. Another fourth of the students insists that sense of language is vital.
Generally the pupils are satisfied with the opportunities offered in their hometown or at the institute where they are studying. They can learn a foreign language at their school or they have the chance to learn with a private teacher (if they have enough money). They learn the foreign languages with the following methods: reading and writing exercises, translations, listening to tapes or radio programs, watching movies in the given language, talking with native speakers, having pen friends, travelling abroad and spending there as much time as possible.
The students agreed that the basic vocabulary and grammar can be learned here in Hungary, with a good teacher. Then the next step should be practising and speaking a lot. Most of the pupils suggested living abroad for a longer time as the most effective method for mastery of a language. These students were quite successful in learning foreign languages. All of them have at least one language exam (intermediate level), and a few of them have more language exams, some of these taken at the advanced level. Some pupils have already taught other persons a foreign language, and they have been quite successful in it.
All these interviewed would like to learn further languages, for example Spanish, Italian, French or a Scandinavian language. The students are interested not only in the language itself, but in the culture, history, literature, geography of a certain country as well. They would like to get acquainted with the customs and the way of living of the people who speak that given language. The pupils could use their knowledge in various situations. They could understands native speakers, they could show tourists the way to certain places. With the help of a foreign language they can enjoy programs on different radio and TV channels. Some of the students could get a summer job, because they could speak fluently in one or two foreign languages. Of course the pupils' purposes with these languages are quite different. For some people language is only a means and not an end: they would like to use it in their work (for example in reading scientific works in the original). Others want to make themselves understood abroad, they would like to make friends with people from faraway countries. Some would like to spend a longer period of time abroad and find a job there. One group is interested in the language itself, and would like to teach it to others. These students believe that learning foreign languages becomes more and more important and popular in Hungary. According to them especially English and German is taught for a great number of pupils. Today French, Italian and Spanish seem to become popular as well. The students also agreed that they could make themselves understood abroad most easily by speaking in English. They think that German can be used very well in Europian countries. They maintain that learning foreign languages is necessary.
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