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Price of Polyglottery - New Prof | ||
Tags: Polyglottery | Alexander Arguelles | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Lessons in Polyglottery |  | |
| Josquin Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4836 days ago 2266 posts - 3992 votes  Speaks: German*, English, French, Latin, Italian, Russian, Swedish Studies: Japanese, Irish, Portuguese, Persian | Message 49 of 90 04 October 2013 at 1:08pm | IP Logged | ||
I beg your pardon for being aggressive, but I still don't understand why the usefulness of a degree depends on the age of the books that have to be read for it. A language-related degree is never directly useful, unless you study translation. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4699 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 50 of 90 04 October 2013 at 1:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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Also a good book is a good book no matter the
age or how classic it is. Furthermore if classic means flowery and overcomplicated language then I rather read modern literature. I will have no truck with this it is old and complex so it is classic business. That is pointless elitism. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Josquin Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4836 days ago 2266 posts - 3992 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Latin, Italian, Russian, Swedish Studies: Japanese, Irish, Portuguese, Persian | Message 51 of 90 04 October 2013 at 2:49pm | IP Logged | ||
This may come as a shock to you, but art is not democratic. Only because you can't appreciate a work of art doesn't mean it's bad. There's a difference between entertainment and art. Edited by Josquin on 04 October 2013 at 3:11pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4699 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 52 of 90 04 October 2013 at 3:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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I can appreciate art just fine. Flowery just
isn't necessarily art. There is plenty of modern literature that is just as good. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Josquin Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4836 days ago 2266 posts - 3992 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Latin, Italian, Russian, Swedish Studies: Japanese, Irish, Portuguese, Persian | Message 53 of 90 04 October 2013 at 4:18pm | IP Logged | ||
I didn't say you couldn't appreciate any art at all and I certainly didn't mean to say that modern literature was not art. Well, obviously not all literature is art. A lot is simply rubbish, but that includes old as well as new books. Anyway, this all boils down to questions of personal taste, so calling people who like "flowery" language and complex books "elitist" is a bit unfair and insulting. You're judging other people by your own standards! I certainly wouldn't call people who like e.g. Harry Potter "proletarian" (because I have learned to appreciate other people's opinions), so why is it okay for you to call me "elitist" and even "pointless"? Of course, debating this topic in detail would include the question why our society detests any kind of "elite" so much, be it only intellectual. I'm afraid this topic doesn't really touch the question of language learning, so this is all I'll say. Edited by Josquin on 04 October 2013 at 4:24pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6431 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 54 of 90 04 October 2013 at 5:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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The "Great Books" are generally not particularly flowery, unlike many old and contemporary books. They are often considered "Great" for the impact that their content had on the development of ideas, rather than their style. It's an entirely different classification system from any of those used for 'good' books; perhaps the terminology is unfortunate.
Tarvos is absolutely correct that some older literature has aged poorly, and much of it wasn't that good to begin with. However, flowery styles aren't confined to one era, and plenty of what is written today is also rather poorly done. Still, I think the idea that it's reasonable to prefer to read a book which is well-written and enjoyable (by the reader's standard), rather than one which is neither, is a rational stance. Would polyliteracy be a useful degree? Probably, in the same way that a good degree in philosophy, or a St. John's degree after a 4-year program studying the Great Books would be. That is, it wouldn't instantly get you a job, but would rather finely hone your ability to discuss ideas that you have thought about a significant amount, which is quite crucial across a range of fields. The graduates of such a program would likely end up in some quite interesting places. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6431 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 56 of 90 04 October 2013 at 5:15pm | IP Logged | ||
He's written a bit in various places. I'd be surprised if he hasn't read everything on his lists in languages he knows to an adequate level (a number in the low two digits), given that he appears to habitually learn languages, read extensively in them, and then devour their Great Books. He has written about the role they played in his formal education as well. Edited by Volte on 04 October 2013 at 5:18pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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