How much do languages matter?

An interesting, relatively balanced programme on foreign language learning on Radio 4′s Word of Mouth – plenty of things I agree with (e.g. decline of languages linked to problematic education policies in recent years), but plenty of other things I disagree with (e.g. PhDs on Proust and/or other canonic authors are still valid and vitally important!). Challenging thoughts re. the ‘market-driven’ approach to language degrees – do students make the right choices or are they not in a position so to do? Should universities subsidise Modern Languages departments? Have education policies created a ‘class-divide’ in terms of language-learning? A range of answers to these questions presented in the programme.

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