A Tale of Two Language-Learning Countries

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." Well, maybe not the worst, but certainly not great for the Swiss! Switzerland is lagging behind other countries in Europe in their English-language skills. An article by George Mills, posted on thelocal.ch, states that Switzerland placed 12th out of 32 countries surveyed about a series of English-language tests. One of the suggested reasons for this was that the Swiss are taught to speak two languages in primary school, in addition to the possibility of learning four other national languages. Another possible reason is that Swiss people are not exposed to English as much as other countries, like people in Scandinavia. In Scandinavian countries, TV shows and movies include English subtitles, while in Switzerland people have to go look for English-language programming in order to see or hear the language in media. As a response to this, Switzerland has invested in English language education for teachers, and they are hoping to see better results in the future. 

Meanwhile in Taiwan, they are on track to become a bilingual country by 2030. The government is going to be increasing English-language-learning for Taiwanese people instead of just focusing on tourists. The government is concerned about the Taiwanese's ability to compete in a digital market without being bilingual, so the push is motivated by the desire to grow the country economically.

 

References:

Mills, G. (2018, November 7). Why Switzerland still lags behind on English skills. Retrieved November 9, 2018, from https://www.thelocal.ch/20181107/why-switzerland-still-lags-behind-on-english-skills

Nguyen, A. (2018, November 7). Taiwan to become a bilingual country by 2030: NDC proposal. Retrieved November 9, 2018, from https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3570021