The Diploma in Languages and “International Communication”
Friday, 17th April 2009
During my work experience at Cactus, I was overwhelmed to have the opportunity to go the Royal College of Physicians to attend the monthly steering group meeting for the Diploma in Languages and “International Communication”.
You may wonder as to why the words “International Communication” are within speech marks, well it’s because they were only recently added to the title Diploma in Languages. It was agreed by a large majority of people that the title has been improved by the addition of these two meaningful words. ‘International’ suggests all the different languages that the diploma offers, and ‘communication’ suggests that by learning languages you earn the ability to communicate these words to people worldwide.
When I arrived at the Royal College of Physicians, I immediately became aware of how committed the members of the steering group were towards the Diploma, and as they started to introduce themselves, I saw that these people are 100% dedicated to making the Diploma in Languages and International Communication the best it can possibly be. The chairman and DDP of the Diploma, Terry Lamb, had this to say, “The new Diploma represents a unique opportunity to raise the profile of language learning in schools and colleges, and to encourage more young people to take up and continue the study of languages.”
After the steering group meeting, we were treated to a delicious buffet which gave me the chance to chat to the steering group members one on one and give my opinion on the Diploma and how it could be improved. These people have the ability to change things such as the learning curriculum, which in my opinion is in desperate need of improvement, otherwise people aren’t going to be interested. For example, in my French lessons at secondary school, since year 7 we have continuously gone over and over the same insignificant elements of the syllabus, and I believe that this is a large part of what’s preventing people from studying foreign languages.
For more information on the Diploma in Languages and International Communication, go to the website where you can get a further insight on the courses and the people involved.
www.diploma-in-languages.co.uk
Tags: spanish, french, german, languages, cactus, language learning
Posted by Jack Garrigan under Attitudes to Language Learning,
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