[nekokami]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

I wouldn't think the ability to read old books was a compelling reason for humanity to keep a variety of languages. The benefits of a common tongue would greatly outweigh such a loss imho.

We have billions of years ahead of us, the sacrifice of a few centuries' cultural tradition seems a price worth paying . A common language would remove a significant cause of division between peoples in the coming millennia.

I can't agree with this. We may or may not have billions of years ahead of us-- we know we have millennia of history, and as the adage goes, "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it."

Originally Posted by astra

I definitely agree with you but can you imagine of how good your English must be in order to understand the book better than a professional translator can do it? Can you imagine the amount of time one must contribute/invest to achieve this level?

I'm not yet able to read Chinese or Japanese with fluency, but I can follow a fair amount of conversation in both languages. I routinely watch videos in both languages, sometimes with subtitles in English, sometimes with subtitles in Chinese (which helps quite a bit-- I can get a lot of the meaning of a Chinese word, even if I don't know the precise meaning or pronunciation, just by knowing how characters work). I know that I vastly prefer watching videos in their original language, with or without subtitles, especially in languages I'm familiar with, because I get a much better sense of what was meant in the original. Perhaps it's because translations are often so over-simplistic.

A good example is the various forms of politeness in Japanese. I may not be able to carry on a complete conversation in Japanese, but I can spot which forms of address and verb forms are being used, and I know enough of the language to be able to understand a fair amount of what that says about the relationships between the speakers. I don't think I've ever seen or heard an English translation that really captured those nuances (except the ones that simply adopt Japanese terms and expect the English speakers to keep up).

Originally Posted by astra

Ah, just more question
Is there a difference between:
Hug me
and
Give me a hug?
If, yes, what is a difference (it is a serious question, I am not trying to be funny)

I think there is a difference, but it's subtle. The use of "Give" in the second statement softens the meaning, implying that the other person has some choice about responding, whereas the first is a simple imperative, and could easily be perceived as rude. However, the prior relationship between the two people, the tone in which the statements are uttered, and the context would have a lot to do with how the two statements would be interpreted.

Originally Posted by GeoffC

What do multi-lingual members say. Is it an aid or a confusion to think in another language.

I find it very helpful. Again, while I'm not fluent in Japanese, I do think in Japanese for certain functions, especially politeness terms and forms of address, as they have no real equivalents in English. When I am speaking Chinese, I think largely in Chinese (unless I get stuck-- my vocabulary still isn't very large). I have dreams in both languages, though more commonly in Chinese.

For reference, I studied Japanese for two years at university and I watch quite a bit of anime in the original language. My two daughters are Chinese and were not infants when we adopted them, so I learned Chinese to be able to speak with them, and was their primary translator for their first six months or so in the U.S. We have often watched Chinese videos together, as well.