Deputy of the State Duma of “United Russia” Sultan Khamzaev proposed to exclude the compulsory study of English from the school curriculum. According to him, the language only became internationalized because it was “necessarily put on the curriculum”. Russian media found out what they thought about the initiative of the deputy in the State Duma.
Yana Lantratova, First Deputy Chair of the State Duma Committee on Education
“I am convinced that learning foreign languages is very important for the overall development of our children, our schoolchildren, and the knowledge of one or more foreign languages may not be the main one, it is the ‘one of the indicators of the level of education,’” Lantratova told Russian media.
As for the obligation to study abroad certain foreign languages, it is a complex and complex question. It is primarily a question of personnel policy and a sufficient number of teachers.
Moreover, the study of English in schools was due to the great economic influence of the countries in which English is spoken and used.
It’s hard to argue that education is for our children, at least for today, it’s additional opportunities and prospects for career and professional growth.
At the same time, it is also evident today that in the conditions of the changing world order, the role of other economies and their national languages is increasing. In this regard, I believe that the issue of compulsory learning of certain languages is relevant, but requires careful and detailed discussion and elaboration, mainly with the parent community and teachers.
Anatoly Wasserman, member of the State Duma Committee on Education
30 years ago, there was a question about the brain game: which language, according to the British, is the most spoken in the world. The answer is broken English. It became the most common in the world, not on a whim, but because for most of the 19th century Britain was the world’s leading industrial producer. In the mid-20th century, this role was taken over by the United States; as a result, the English language has proven to be most needed in other countries to negotiate purchases.
“Now China is gradually assuming this role, and I don’t rule out that after a while, Broken Chinese will become the most common language in the world. But so far, even the Chinese themselves are much easier to negotiate with partners in this very broken English,” Wasserman said in an interview with Russian media.
The role of the school teaching this language does not depend on the will of a deputy, but only on the objective circumstances, the objective course of world development. Naturally, if the proposal is accepted, the English teachers will be contacted privately, they will all turn into tutors overnight and their income will also increase. I’m not talking about the fact that a very important layer of culture, created specifically in English, is better to read in the original than in the translation.
Russian civilization is the most fundamentalist of all that has ever existed, that is, we perceive the cultural achievements of others more easily and willingly than anyone else, master them and develop them more like our own. It is our very important dignity, we must not forget it, and even more so we must not erect artificial obstacles in its path.
(This is a personal initiative of Sultan Khamzaev, it was not discussed in the faction), but I don’t see anything wrong with that: if there is a demand, then it will be discussed in society. We have freedom of opinion.
But I don’t think we will come to the abolition of the study of the English language. Let me remind you that during and after the Great Patriotic War in the schools of the USSR they both studied German and continued to study it. You must know the enemy’s language.
“Of course, it is impossible to exclude the study of English in schools, it is the language of international communication. At the same time, it would be useful to diversify the study of foreign languages, an important part of the world speaks Chinese, Spanish, but it should be the right of choice for children,” Smolin said.
I am against the exclusion of English from the school curriculum, but I am in favor of diversifying the study of foreign languages. I want to remind you that during the Soviet period, two or three languages were usually studied – English, German and French, as well as Spanish much less often.
A foreign language is included in the compulsory curriculum. Now English is studied almost everywhere and the second language is optional. I would return to practice when I had the choice: to study English at school, or the same German or French, or Spanish, which is spoken by a significant part of the population, or Chinese, although much harder to learn. No need for extremes, but variety really helps.
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