Repairing languages education

These are the glittering prizes of languages learning. Money cannot buy them; only mental effort and flexibility, enthusiasm, curiosity, openness and persistence. Aren't these qualities we wish to develop in our children?

We must find our allies in the community, all those internationalists who do reach out through the arts, development and charity work, environmental concern, adoption, interfaith organisations, peace and human rights activists, those involved in international business, tourism and international relations, migrants and all the agencies that assist them, ethnic communities, and more. Very few Australians are unaffected by globalisation. We need a loop of advocacy and promotion of languages studies and the support and involvement of parents and community groups to effect our cultural revolution to equip ourselves to be fit participants in the global community.

The students of languages will be made to feel positive about languages study through a national co-operative, online web of language-by-language events and resources to which students also contribute. The Victorian site Languages Online may be a model. It should have online magazines at various levels with up-to-date brief colourful articles that enrich and fulfill the core national curriculum.

The cultures of target language countries and diverse Australian culture offers endless content. Teachers and students can author such resources. The languages web would also have encouraging articles advocating the benefits of languages study, profiling role models and offering tips on language learning. Video clips made by professionals and students can be a part of the site, in secure websites which already exist. Sister schools and twinned classes will encourage online audio-conference exchanges, e-pals and mutual visits where feasible.

Some school communities will not step up to the mark; some students will miss out. This offends a sense of equity which drives us to hope that all students will be offered foreign languages and even be obliged to learn other languages over a long period for their own good. Unfortunately, some school principals, some parents, some students, sometimes will not get it. There's no public/private school divide here; obstinate ignorance that refuses the philosophy and the benefits knows no class boundaries. We can keep trying but pragmatically, the country must also reward school clusters or special institutions that run sustained high-achieving languages study from early childhood through to Year 12.

Nothing suggested above is new. Indeed, the shocking waste of effort in Australia when great strides in education are made by a government of one colour, only to be jettisoned by a successor of the other hue, is an indictment of our maturity as a nation. Time to grow up. Time to get beside our children and young people and learn languages.

Salut, salam, shalom!