Quote:
Originally Posted by kazbates
The language barrier can be very frustrating. My only thought would be that if I were moving to a foreign country where the majority speaks a particular language, I would make every attempt to learn that language. There are many people who move to the US who don't believe they should learn English. Whether it is the "official" language or not, it is the "unofficial" language of the country. I would prefer that my tax dollars not be spent to replace road signs, etc. in multiple languages. I wouldn't expect a non-English speaking country to replace their signs if I moved there.  |
I would have to agree with your thoughts on this subject Kaz.
I did take 4 years of German, two years in high school and two years in college, but without the opportunity to use it, I can only recognize some words when I hear them and speak only the most basic phrases. I do think that I could pick it back up again fairly easily, if I tried to relearn it though. I was planning on teaching my daughter Spanish and learning it along with her. I purchased the Rosetta Stone software for that purpose. My daughter, her BFF and I just recently took an introductory course in ASL (sign language), which we really enjoyed. It doesn't start up again until the fall, but we will be continuing on with it when it starts back up. If you consider this a language, I am most disappointed that after six years of playing a musical instrument, I can no longer read music anymore. I'm not terribly upset that I can't play the instrument (never did play it very well), but more so that I can't read sheet music.
All that said, I can't wait until they invent the Universal Translator
, and as I said in another thread, I truly admire those that can speak multiple languages!