I know I don't need to promote the learning of foreign languages to readers of this blog or visitors to the website, but I've just read a short article on the subject that sums up a few points beautifully.
I've been dumbfounded by some people actually being proud of the fact that they only speak English and have no desire to learn another language. This is actually 'pride of their ignorance.' In this article, there is one comment that mentions that the understanding of languages "... has always been, for the last 2,000 years or so, the hallmark of the educated person.”
In addition, those same people usually mention that 'everyone speaks English, so why should I waste time learning another language?' Everone doesn't speak English. It is foolish to think that way. Another comment in the article says "Thinking that all communication should be in English is a sort of cultural and linguistic imperialism.”Amen.
The article also mentions the advantages and difficulties in learning a few key languages - French, German, Russian, Japanese and Arabic. Read more http://ocolly.com/2008/12/02/now-you%E2%80%99re-speaking-my-language/
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