Modern Languages Blog

The Education Guardian reports that business leaders are urging that Mandarin should be taught in schools rather than Spanish, French or German. This is ahead of today’s release of Lord Dearing’s review of modern foreign languages. A report by consultants the Hay Group said British business leaders expect sales to China to be worth 10% of their global revenues, equivalent to £200bn a year, by 2009, making the South East Asian country the UK’s most important export market. However, the leaders believe a lack of language skills and understanding of the Chinese market is holding Britain back.

Read more on the Education Guardian website, or check out the MFLE’s Chinese language special for more information on how Chinese is being taught in Scotland. You can also read about current practice at St George’s School, Edinburgh, where Chinese is taught at primary and secondary level.