![]() Yet recent Asia New Zealand Foundation research shows that more than 90 percent of us believe learning other languages is valuable and more than eight in 10 believe New Zealand children should learn a language other than English. As a country, we also have a record of taking pre-schoolers who speak languages other than English into our education system and turning them into monolingual English speakers. If someone with the profile of a former Prime Minister can be negatively affected by a lack of language skills when competing on the international stage, what does that mean for the rest of us? What opportunities would be open to New Zealanders if we had better language and intercultural skills? And how can we turn around our woeful language-learning statistics and make sure Kiwi kids are well-positioned to seize these opportunities in the future?Įighty percent of New Zealanders speak only one language and rates of language study in schools and universities have been declining significantly since 1993, according to the Ministry of Education. Of the 12 candidates for the role, Clark was the only English native speaker and the only monolingual. In an article on Stuff, Clark stated that not being able to “speak French or Spanish” was a factor in her losing out to Portuguese António Guterres as UN Secretary-General. For all the attention paid to gender and behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing as reasons for Helen Clark missing out on the top job at the United Nations, the former Prime Minister revealed in an interview last weekend that a lack of language skills was also to blame. ![]()
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