Foreign languages help children decode English

There’s a German word to describe the mood that descends after weeks of rain and a bleak news cycle, Susie Dent says. Fernweh means the longing to be far away from it all — a far-sickness, as opposed to homesickness.

But for the lexicographer and Countdown’s long-standing guardian of Dictionary Corner, the term is more than a pleasing linguistic gem.

“I really wouldn’t know half of English grammar had I not learnt German,” she said. “It was my first love.”

She has claimed the decline of modern languages at GCSE and A-level, with German the hardest hit, has damaged British children’s grasp of their native language.

“It makes me very sad,” said Dent, 61, who read French and German at Somerville College, Oxford, and also speaks Spanish and some Finnish.

Dent argued that learning an extra language can significantly improve pupils’ vocabulary and speaking skills in their mother tongue. She said it contributed to “meta-linguistic awareness”, with bilingual advantages for children being particularly strong.

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“If you have an early exposure to two languages, any child will rapidly outperform a monolingual child just because their brain is sort of firing in different ways,” she said. “It’s that cross-linguistic scaffolding and finding the threads between languages, so we’re able to decode words in your own language because we’ve seen them elsewhere.

“It gives you a huge perspective on human life, travel and history, and how cultures have intersected. Whatever language someone chooses to learn, I cannot imagine any situation where you will regret learning it. It stays with you throughout your life.”

Last year, the government scrapped the English Baccalaureate, meaning schools are no longer assessed on how many pupils take modern foreign languages.

Dent has partnered with Soreen, the malt loaf brand, on a Wordplay initiative aimed at encouraging children to explore new words.

The campaign places words such as hullabaloo and kerfuffle inside lunchbox loaves to prompt curiosity and conversation.

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Susie Dent’s tips for language learning for children (and adults)

Play games: Traditional games such as “I spy” can be just as fun when using foreign words.

Listen to stories in other languages: The vocabulary may not be entirely understood but this kind of immersion in the rhythms and sounds of a foreign language can be really productive.

Similarly, watching a cartoon in another language can start to build connections in the brain. For adults, watching a film — even with subtitles — can help cement the sounds and vocabulary of a foreign language in an indirect and entertaining way.

Reading: Familiar stories read in another language can help a child follow the thread of a book and pick up vocabulary along the way.

Cooking: Follow a simple recipe in a foreign language and enjoy the taste as well as vocabulary of another culture.

Role-play: Imagining scenarios such as eating in a restaurant or going shopping can root a foreign language in a familiar experience.

Harness technology that works for you: Language-learning apps can really help with short bursts of learning that feel visual and achievable.

Research supporting the initiative found that 70 per cent of UK adults believe children use fewer words than previous generations, while 67 per cent said children struggled to express themselves confidently.

She said technology could be “invaluable” for children learning languages, but “balance” is vital.

“I’m wary about trashing technology across the board because Victorians were scared when the postcard arrived because they thought they wouldn’t be so eloquent, and likewise, there was a huge worry over the telegram for similar reasons,” she said.

“It’s something we faced again with text messages and tweets. Research has shown that technology hasn’t been as detrimental as we have predicted.”

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Dent cautioned, however, that the “seductive” lure of screen time can curtail vocabulary, reading, conversation and other experiences, leaving even devoted readers torn between scrolling and reading. “It’s about volume.”

She explained that “incidental” learning can occur in everyday settings. “Parents of teenagers often say they have their best conversations in the car, because it’s non-confrontational. Real-time conversation — that’s not on a screen — is becoming increasingly precious.”

Susie Dent on her first show in "Dictionary Corner" on the game show Countdown.

Dent on her first show in Dictionary Corner in 1992

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A widening vocabulary gap and low confidence among children affected learning, particularly for those with less exposure to rich conversation at home.

She added that the pandemic and school closures have exacerbated the problem, and that factors such as nutrition — including access to breakfast clubs — also played an important role in giving children a strong start to the day.

She suggested that reading to a child, encouraging them to listen to audiobooks or playing word games online can also enhance vocabulary.

On artificial intelligence, Dent said she hesitated to call it the “death of all creativity”.

She pointed to its fallibility, saying: “Sometimes the fact is clearly wrong. If you correct it, it will immediately say, ‘Oh yes, you’re quite right.’ A child is not going to do that and anyone who’s not an expert in the field is not going to do that either. It is always going to represent and recapitulate human biases and human error.

“So I understand the fear. With an optimist hat on, I like to think there are ways in which [AI] can help with vocabulary; it can make things fun. When it comes to language learning, technology can be invaluable.”