i have seen many high school kids, they treat english as a subject and can not put 2 words together. seems like a waste of funds People lean English all over the world and the main aim is not whether they will use it in to discuss their family problems in English.
In Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Lebanon and so on...........the aim goes well beyond this point spreading to many areas of the individuals life.
One of the reasons they introduced English at an earlier level here is the following: many saudi students at the moment are facing problems at universities due to the fact their basis in english was weak. Thus there is a direct link to the education of these individuals.
Apart from Medicine that all syllabus is in English and they also travel to the US and Canada to specialize, there are a number of other courses where few Arabic books are available for them to read. And again.....even in those other courses the official syllabus is English.
Currently the best university in KSA- KFUMP in Shargia teaches all the courses in English and the same pattern will be followed in new univeristies to come, as many of them are working directly with international institutes.
In order for a student to realistically do well in the above context they have to know the language.
Also in most of the jobs here in Saudi Arabia, knowing English is a bonus for someones salary.
Go to King Faisal Hospital in Riyadh. No one can even secure a job if they do not know English. Many people from Saudi Arabia had to train in the laguage for a year in order to re-apply for such jobs.
There is currently no person that aspires to lead in his field from anywhere in the world that does not know English and the society is becoming very competitive.
Even in this forum we would not be able to discuss and exchange ideas with people from all over the world, if we did not know English:)
P.S. Yes your observation has some truth in it, but this will change, give it some time. Currently there are a number of factors that lead to what you notice, but also dont forget that many of them can understand more than they can speak, especially if they are not used to it.
Once I was talking with a girl and I was getting no responses at all. So I asked simply: do you understand me?
and she said yes. Ok then I said show me that you do.
So she took out a small piece of paper and wrote me the answer:) I will never forget it. They won't? They are.
I'm a parent, when I was in school, we got it at first grade. We used it a lot, the country is dense with people from all over and English is the international common language in the majority of situations even at a broken level.
Computers and TV are another area where English would be used, developed or at times possibly corrupted. ;-)
The kids do use it with some shopkeepers, staff at home and at most kindergartens.. Also the video games are another dimension. :-)
The basic reason is, if you teach the kids English later in life, it won't be as well received and established as second nature.
**Edit:
"i have seen many high school kids, they treat english as a subject and can not put 2 words together. seems like a waste of funds"
It seem to you and what you've experienced, my experience is that 'some' not 'many' are not benefiting from their education, regardless of English or the other subjects as the case is in any other environment.. I still don't get your point.. are you saying it's outstanding here, in comparison to the norm? Do you have a credible reference we can examine? Are you suggesting that the effort to improve their English should be improved or abandoned? English not english with capital e. .. i'm glad they are doing that now. When i was in school, i had only arabic and my father was the only person whom i could talk in english... him and CNN so when i came to north america for further studies, i didnt have a hard time but lacked a lot in my speaking ability...
Kids dont just stay in one area buddy, they move on to other places and somewhere, they will use what they will learn.
Education never goes to waste. I'm happy they are applying that in the educational system... If even o-n-e kid finds it easy to speak a different language along with his own mother tounge, you already know he'll be successful in life and his countries name will be among the greater ones that preserve knowledge by passing it down to those who can use it to their benifets. inshallah.
:) you should be proud of this and help to promote it. I know i would be. you are right.That's true I mean. |
