The challenge of the new
Mind your language Lyndon Jones asserts the educational benefits of studying Modern Languages at school and a conversation with Andy Hartley shows what this can lead to in life and in a career Modern Languages learning in senior schools, the benefits of which should be self-evident, has eloquent detractors, though what motivates them to air these views beyond fear, ignorance and prejudice, seems elusive. When, in 2004, it became optional for schools to prescribe languages as compulsory subjects pre-GCSE, what had previously been a commonly acknowledged faith in their value began swiftly to be eroded. This was a myopic concession to ease. Since then, their position in the curriculum has grown ever weaker. Articles in the press have spoken portentously of ‘The death of modern languages’, or of ‘Degree courses in freefall’, so that, were it not for a few obdurate voices in the wilderness, not least that of Richard Dawkins, who speaks of our ‘monoglottish disgrace’, one might be forgiven for inferring that we had thrown in the towel and relinquished our aspiration to belong to a better world because it all seemed too difficult. What has been filling the void has not strengthened the position of young people in their preparations for the modern world and its dangers. In a climate of conflicting entrenched Frankfurt
42
Autumn 2019
certainties, in which a foolhardy contempt for expert judgement defines the prevailing mood and all forms of peril are a mere click away, the need for disciplines in school that encourage young people to listen, to read and above all to think with openness, agility and honesty seems clear. What better source of confidence than a resourceful mind? Language study has an important healing role to play amidst the tensions of this troubled world and it needs its apologists. In search of reassurance I therefore sought out Andy Hartley, with whom I had studied Modern Languages at University, and who now lives and works in Brussels. LJ: Where did it all start? AH: As an all Yorkshire lad, I had never been abroad, other than on one of those pioneering package holidays to the Balearics, but I was intrigued by our Dutch neighbours, whose house, identical architecturally to ours, contained all manner of different things and smells, which struck me as interesting and exotic. I thought languages would open up ways to explore different places - and cultures, though this was not really a
