Changes to the National Curriculum for primary schools

From September 2014 languages will become a compulsory subject within the national curriculum for primary age school children in Britain.

Schools will have a certain amount of freedom to chose the language they intend to teach. At present there are 7 on the list to chose from. These include both modern and classical languages - French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Spanish, Latin and Ancient Greek.

It remains to be seen whether schools and teachers are sufficiently geared up to teach languages and if they have the right resources in place. One wonders how many Latin and Ancient Greek teachers and tutors are out there in primary schools.

Britain has always lagged behind our European neighbours when it comes to learning a foreign language, so in principal this must be seen as a great move.

As a language tutor do you feel the list of languages being offered is appropriate? What do you make of Ancient Greek being on the list of approved languages? Are there any other languages that you feel might be more appropriate or should be added to the list?

This desire to get youngsters interested in another language could be a great opportunity for tutors to support them and their parents and with their primary studies.