Uni talk - Restricted Entry 2009

[Hanne]

a lot of these subjects don't actually lead to anything more than teaching it. not saying they should be binned, but under the current system they get fees subsidised and some manage to get a student allowance to do something that doesn't actually offer anything back to the economy

languages are a good example of papers many people do and never use except maybe for that one trip to the one country that speaks it

Surely in order to negotiate trade deals with foreign nations you need people to negotiate the terms of the deals, facilitate imports and exports etc.
We can't just assume that everyone else will do the hard yards and learn english to make contact with us. In fact such assumptions put us on the back foot. It is to our advantage to have multi-lingual people working in our companies as it opens up all sorts of possibilities to be proactive and make contact with foreign companies ourselves,giving us the competitive advantage.

From a personal point of view it is also to your advantage to be multi-lingual as it allows you greater freedom to work abroad. More choices when it comes to looking overseas to pay off that student loan.

[Ragingrob]

Yep I plan to use all three languages throughout my life both for personal interest and for career choices.

You're spot on there Hanne.

[motorbyclist]

Surely in order to negotiate trade deals with foreign nations you need people to negotiate the terms of the deals, facilitate imports and exports etc.
We can't just assume that everyone else will do the hard yards and learn english to make contact with us. In fact such assumptions put us on the back foot. It is to our advantage to have multi-lingual people working in our companies as it opens up all sorts of possibilities to be proactive and make contact with foreign companies ourselves,giving us the competitive advantage.

From a personal point of view it is also to your advantage to be multi-lingual as it allows you greater freedom to work abroad. More choices when it comes to looking overseas to pay off that student loan.

totally agree

i didn't say it was a dead loss, never said the course was a waste of time, but i did say -

- waste of time if you never actually use it. not everyone becomes a translator, some will only use that 3 years of study for a whole of 30 minutes plus a holiday. this doesn't just apply to languages, and i'm not tarring all students with the same brush here, but i am making a valid point whereby languages/art history/women's studies/*insert personal interest here* will in many cases not actually benefit the student as far as employment is concerned. heck i could do my engineering degree then work at a mcdonalds and be 'guilty' of what i'm talking about here, and i bet you'd all be going "what a waste of time".

- waste of government/taxpayer money if you never use it. ALSO a waste if you use it to go overseas. whether or not you pay your loan they still paid the remaining 75% of the course fees. not just languages either; this is the crux of the 'brain drain' issue with new graduates, along with leaving no skilled workers back home. so by funding your learning a language in order for you to open up opportunities to work overseas, the govt is funding this nation's economic failure. if i went overseas with my engineering degree it would be the same case

- also mentioned that it would be to one's personal multi-lingual advantage anyway, so you agreed with me

so, in summary, unless you actually use your language/art history/engineering/medicine qualifications within NZ in such a way that it increases your taxable income, until you've paid enough income tax to cover your education and health care and your proportion of beneficiaries and govt workers, New Zealand is losing money by funding your university education. i'm talking financial return on investment.

you could try to argue the "benefits to society" of a more learned population.... and i'd probably agree up to a point when we start trying to weigh up the actual societal benefits against the economic loss

[motorbyclist]

lol that was like writing my wall of text to dushi about helmets but sounded much more bigoted; so try not to get defensive about my examples but actually examine the concepts. if politicians did that we would be moving forward so much faster. instead we (needlessly) have a power crisis, shit public transport, generally poor infrastructure and a resultant failing economy.

[Hanne]

lol that was like writing my wall of text to dushi about helmets but sounded much more bigoted; so try not to get defensive about my examples but actually examine the concepts. if politicians did that we would be moving forward so much faster. instead we (needlessly) have a power crisis, shit public transport, generally poor infrastructure and a resultant failing economy.

So when are you standing for parliament?

[Squiggles]

So when are you standing for parliament?

we aim to get in at the 2012 election

[motorbyclist]

see china's growth? it's thanks largely due to being governed by a meritocracy full of engineers

compared to new zealand being run by hippies and the PC brigade with no concern beyond the next election