Education around the globe

[Pat494]

As expected the UK is well down the rankings world wide for useful subjects like maths and science. Back in my day the cleverest students were encouraged to study useless subjects like Latin and ancient Greek. About time the educational establishment and politicians woke up a bit for the kids of the 21st century.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-38131731

 

[sminicooper]

As expected the UK is well down the rankings world wide for useful subjects like maths and science. Back in my day the cleverest students were encouraged to study useless subjects like Latin and ancient Greek. About time the educational establishment and politicians woke up a bit for the kids of the 21st century.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-38131731

Why are Latin and ancient Greek "useless"?

 

[Pat494]

Why are Latin and ancient Greek "useless"?

How many will get jobs with these languages ? Probably only a few academics with few students.
I would suggest adding to maths and science some useful subjects like business, agriculture, craftwork etc. subjects. Too many go on to Uni to study easy options imho which are less productive.
No wonder Asia is powering ahead of the once mighty academics here.
Fun subjects could be privately funded by the people concerned or their rich daddys.

 

[sminicooper]

How many will get jobs with these languages ? Probably only a few academics with few students.
I would suggest adding to maths and science some useful subjects like business, agriculture, craftwork etc. subjects. Too many go on to Uni to study easy options imho which are less productive.
No wonder Asia is powering ahead of the once mighty academics here.
Fun subjects could be privately funded by the people concerned or their rich daddys.

I agree that appropriate study is important for future employment. However, I would suggest that your view above does not recognise the importance of education in the round – there is more to life than just being some kind of geek. I studied Latin at school and it was probably my most valuable training in discipline of the mind and learning how structured things work. I believe it has greatly helped me in my approach to trading – don't they say that once you've mastered the basics, it's the psychology that makes you into a successful trader?

This link provides some very good reasons for studying Latin https://www.memoriapress.com/articles/top-10-reasons-studying-latin/ it's interesting to note that Latin is actually making a comeback in the educational establishment.

 

[tomorton]

Interesting and surprising article on learning Latin, thanks. However, I'm sure a good case for learning French could be made using the same 10 points, just substituting for the various scenarios as appropriate, so I don't fully accept the suggested position of Latin at the top of the language pyramid. It still remains unspoken between populations, even within the specialist professional cases mentioned.

Peculiarly Latin grammar rules are also sometimes applied to English, where they make no sense and obstruct communication - such as, you can't begin a sentence with a preposition such as And..., or But..., - the only reason for this is because you can't do so in Latin.

 

[sminicooper]

Interesting and surprising article on learning Latin, thanks. However, I'm sure a good case for learning French could be made using the same 10 points, just substituting for the various scenarios as appropriate, so I don't fully accept the suggested position of Latin at the top of the language pyramid. It still remains unspoken between populations, even within the specialist professional cases mentioned.

Peculiarly Latin grammar rules are also sometimes applied to English, where they make no sense and obstruct communication - such as, you can't begin a sentence with a preposition such as And..., or But..., - the only reason for this is because you can't do so in Latin.

We shouldn't forget that English is a ba$tardised language (which makes it all the more interesting and difficult) and had history properly applied the few and simple rules of Latin, the teaching of English grammar would have been so much easier and possibly still in practice today?

Now, my suggestion is that all students today should be taught the language of "YuckSpeak" – they should have a good working knowledge of it and how to translate it into conventional languages. For those not in the know, YuckSpeak is the universal and international language of conmen/advertisers/politicians and their ilk. Whereas many years ago some high-minded people tried to introduce Esperanto, this was doomed to failure on account of human nature. Nevertheless, YuckSpeak has gone from strength to strength and is spoken on all continents.

 

[tomorton]

As expected the UK is well down the rankings world wide for useful subjects like maths and science. Back in my day the cleverest students were encouraged to study useless subjects like Latin and ancient Greek. About time the educational establishment and politicians woke up a bit for the kids of the 21st century.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-38131731

The teachers will have to make a decision to settle once and for all what education of children is for.

 

[Atilla]

Interesting and surprising article on learning Latin, thanks. However, I'm sure a good case for learning French could be made using the same 10 points, just substituting for the various scenarios as appropriate, so I don't fully accept the suggested position of Latin at the top of the language pyramid. It still remains unspoken between populations, even within the specialist professional cases mentioned.

Peculiarly Latin grammar rules are also sometimes applied to English, where they make no sense and obstruct communication - such as, you can't begin a sentence with a preposition such as And..., or But..., - the only reason for this is because you can't do so in Latin.

True, not when writing hence reading.

However, one often starts sentences with an and or but when speaking.

Pause... Breath-in... And another thing

 

[Pat494]

The teachers will have to make a decision to settle once and for all what education of children is for.

The world is so competitive these days that those cultures that are doing their own thing are probably being left behind. So education should imho be for people of all ages to fundamentally do something that pays to put bread on the table. When that is a given one can do other perhaps more interesting stuff that doesn't pay much like archeology.
Jobs that employ people are generally useful to the main group generally and generate incomes. It rather has to be this way to get train drivers, lawyers, traders etc. to work in useful employment primarily.

 

[tomorton]

The world is so competitive these days that those cultures that are doing their own thing are probably being left behind. So education should imho be for people of all ages to fundamentally do something that pays to put bread on the table. When that is a given one can do other perhaps more interesting stuff that doesn't pay much like archeology.
Jobs that employ people are generally useful to the main group generally and generate incomes. It rather has to be this way to get train drivers, lawyers, traders etc. to work in useful employment primarily.

I've been trying to think what I took away from school, apart from the qualifications and specific knowledge behind them, that I hadn't otherwise gained by 18 -

1. how to compose an essay pretty well

2. how to yawn with my mouth closed

3. that when you join a big organisation,they are going to be able to make you do things you didn't want to

4. the rules of chess

5. that there were only 6 jobs in the world - doctor, forces, teacher, office admin, farmer (if your father already was one) or behind the counter at a shop if you didn't pass the exams.

Pretty much FA else.