Greek Reporter, by Areti Kotseli on March 29, 2012 in EU, news
“Multilingualism is a totally necessary asset, but there is a problem. There are many myths, such as ‘it troubles the mind’, ‘multilinguals can’t learn any foreign language well enough’ and ‘only children can learn a foreign language well’. The latest research has come to break down misconceptions of such kinds”, explains Nick Sifakis, assistant professor at the Hellenic Open University, who had a speech on multilingualism during an event of the British Council in Thessaloniki at March 28.
In Greece we are used to learning ‘major’ languages, such as English at the huge percentage of 86%, followed by German at 6%.
According to the ENIC Network (European Network of Information Centres), more than 90% of Greek people consider English the most useful language after their mother tongue Greek. Despite the bad success percentages (57%) for the Lower Examination – Greece is the 50th country out of 67 – and the Proficiency examination (46%), half of Greeks consider themselves capable speakers of English. Read more...