Mandarin and Arabic...???

[webbo3]

Our schools are now going to teach 11-16 yr olds Mandarin and Arabic...or as they've said... more relevant subjects.
i thought we were in Europe?, so why not just stick to .....
French,German,Spanish ect...........and maybe now polish or czech.
But Mandarin or Arabic.

[Scylax]

I am 100% in favour of learning a second or third
language, but the priority must be complete mastery
of one's first language.
Noam Chomsky has shown that any language is
easily absorbed by very young children, with no effort
whatsoever. This 'Language Acquisition Device',
present at birth, is genetic, but fades rapidly at about
the age of 11 years.
Logically, ideally, all young children should be exposed
to say, 3 languages, in addition to English.
It is shameful that in the UK so few school-leavers
can read or write flawless English. Nicht wahr ?