Thread: Arson Threat Forces Kindergarten To Axe Arabic Lessons.

Why is it, as soon as the debate about teaching kids another language comes up, people always trot out the same one ones.

I my personal opinion, if we are going to teach a language other than English, then it should either be Aboriginal studies, or Auslan.

As was mentioned, Aboriginal studies would possibly lead to further social inclusion, and for that matter, so will Auslan.

For those not familiar with Auslan, it is Australian Sign Language for the deaf or hard of hearing.

I recently had a "discussion" with the Principal of our youngest's school, and this led to a survey being sent out to all the parents regarding this very topic. The results were mixed, but many wanted the current taught language of Italian to remain, this being despite a slant being put on the survey letter, angling it towards something else.

FWIW - it is part of the compulsory school curriculum, in primary schools at least, that a language other than English (LOTE) be taught.

auslan - good idea I reckon.

Shaking my head and the intolerance and ignorance on display in this thread.

Someone threatened to burn a kindergarten because they didn't like a language trial taking place there. That's Team Australia, right there. Ignorant morons hopped up on their own self importance spouting nonsense they cribbed from the comments under an Andrew Bolt blog article and threatening children. Hooray for you.

I would love my kids to be exposed to another language, any language, at pre-school. There is ample evidence that kids with language skills do well across the board. For those who say "I learned another language at school and it's done me no good", based on your posts in this thread I totally agree - it has done you no good.

maʿ al-salāmah

Originally Posted by Basil135

I my personal opinion, if we are going to teach a language other than English, then it should either be Aboriginal studies

i dont know about all schools, but my primary school taught aboriginal studies.
i dont think it did me much good.

As has been hinted at, not all Arabic speakers are Muslim, in fact with the recent troubles in the middle east it is the non-Muslim Arabic speakers (and Shia Muslims) who have been suffering most and like it or not, it will be those people who will form a large proportion of our refugee intake over the next decade at least.

We want new arrivals to integrate into our country and there is no better way than to have children learning multiple languages in their pre-school years when they learn languages much faster than at any other time of their lives. It will be the English ability of migrant children that will teach their parents English.

We use the Arabic number system every day of our lives and if it comes to it, we even want our future soldiers to be able to understand the language of the countries they are fighting in.

Migration from non-English European countries has almost ceased, and those who do migrate frequently already speak English. IMHO, the only logical languages that our children should be learning is an Asian language, Arabic or Persian. It has nothing to do with Islam.

akelly
That is a very large brush you are painting with.

Just some numbers to inform debate: 1% of the Australian population speak Arabic, while 1.2% speak Cantonese (Chinese if you like). There are about 22 countries in the world where Arabic is the official or a major language. Most of those countries are in Africa. And as Lotz-A-Landies said, many Arabic speakers are not Muslims. Indeed some are good old Christians.

Cheers
KarlB

Originally Posted by KarlB

Landies said, many Arabic speakers are not Muslims. Indeed some are good old Christians.

a quick google say about 90% of arabs are Muslims of any kind with Christian arabs making up about 7%.