There146;s always translation

The trouble with Johnny Foreigner, as the British have long remarked, is that he can8217;t understand you. But the trouble with the British is that they can8217;t learn his language: most of them simply cannot get the hang of all those conjugations and gerundives and adjectives that have to agree with nouns. Now, as luck would have it, the whole world seems to be learning English. Problem solved. Moreover, the British government seems to agree. Two years ago it decided to drop the requirement that all British 14-16-year-olds should study at least one foreign language. Of course, the numbers doing so went into free-fall, leading to a twinge of official concern; but a committee of inquiry is likely to advise this week that there can be no going back. Brainy Britons may master several tongues; the others will continue to converse with the rest of mankind in God8217;s own language, English.

The advantages of being able to speak more than one tongue are so obvious that they scarcely need spelling out8230;

Unfortunately, however, forcing children to learn a language does not ensure success. If you doubt this, just stop a passer-by in Japan, where English is universally taught, and in that language ask the way. Moreover, a mastery of languages is not the only accomplishment that every child might like to have when leaving school, or even the only one that society might like to bestow upon those it tries to educate. Physics and chemistry are similarly going out of fashion in Britain, and who is to gainsay the value of knowing the laws of thermodynamics and the place of polonium in the periodic table? A little knowledge of history would be enormously beneficial, especially to would-be politicians who believe they can sort out Afghanistan or the Middle East with a simple invasion or two.

From a leader in December 13 issue of 8216;The Economist8217;