|
 |
Is This Truth? | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| IbanezFire Senior Member United States Joined 6705 days ago 119 posts - 124 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Russian | Message 1 of 41 24 September 2006 at 12:00pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I stumbled upon this passage in a book from a famous western philosopher, can you guess who it is? Also any truth in the passage?
"Learning Many Languages - learning many languages fills the memory with words instead of facts and ideas, while the memory is a receptacle which in the case of each can take only a certain limited content. Then the learning of many languages is harmful insofar as it invites belief that one is in possesion of complete accomplishments, and in fact also lends one a certain seductive esteem in social intercourse; it is also harmful indirectly in that it stands in the way of the acquistion of thorough knowledge and any ambition to deserve the respect of others by honest means. Finally, it is the axe that is laid at the roots of a feeling for the nuances of one's own mother tongue: it incurably injures and destroys any such feeling. The two nations which produced the greatest stylists, the Greeks and the French, learned no foreign languages. - Because, however, commerce between men is bound to grow ever more cosmopolitan and an efficient merchant in London, for example, already has to make himself understood, in speech and writing, in eight languages, the learning of many languages is, to be sure, a necessary evil: but it is one for which mankind will sooner or later be compelled to find a cure: and at some distant future there will be a new language for all - first as a commerical language, then as the language of intellectual intercourse in general - just as surely as there will one day be air travel. To what other end has the science of language studied the laws of language for the past hundred and determined what is necessary, valuable and successful in each individual language!" 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tmesis Senior Member Mayotte Joined 6659 days ago 154 posts - 146 votes Speaks: English* | Message 2 of 41 24 September 2006 at 12:59pm | IP Logged | ||
|
- Edited by tmesis on 17 February 2008 at 3:35pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| lengua Senior Member United States polyglottery.wordpre Joined 6695 days ago 549 posts - 595 votes Studies: French, Italian, Spanish, German | Message 3 of 41 24 September 2006 at 1:04pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Truth?
None whatsoever. It sounds like the misguided contempt of someone who never put in the time to thoroughly explore other languages, nor the wealth of cultures unique to their speakers. The idea that the knowledge of a foreign language is 'harmful' sounds like something lifted right out of 1984. Regardless of whatever else this philosopher said or did, I will not subscribe to his 'ignorance is strength' approach to language. No thank you. Knowledge is power, and the knowledge of a language is the power to directly communicate with a culture other than one's own. Such power is only frightening to the xenophobe.
Yes! Edited by lengua on 24 September 2006 at 1:10pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Alfonso Octoglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 6872 days ago 511 posts - 536 votes Speaks: Biblical Hebrew, Spanish*, French, English, Tzotzil, Italian, Portuguese, Ancient Greek Studies: Nahuatl, Tzeltal, German | Message 4 of 41 24 September 2006 at 1:49pm | IP Logged | ||
|
That text was surely written by a frustrated polyglot!!! ;o)
One who was impeded for whatever reason (maybe by natural skills) to learn a new language. Edited by Alfonso on 24 September 2006 at 4:12pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sir Nigel Senior Member United States Joined 7115 days ago 1126 posts - 1102 votes 2 sounds | Message 5 of 41 24 September 2006 at 2:05pm | IP Logged | ||
One with terrible English I might add. There's no such thing as remembering too much information. Learning and exercising the mind only helps you to be smarter. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Marc Frisch Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6676 days ago 1001 posts - 1169 votes Speaks: German*, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Persian, Tamil | Message 6 of 41 24 September 2006 at 2:21pm | IP Logged | ||
|
As far as I know, this text is from Nietzsche, who - if I remember correctly - was himself university professor of Latin and Greek (and as an educated man who spend much time in France and Italy, he surely knew several other foreign languages).
In my opinion, his criticism is justified. Learning many languages takes up a lot of time, which could be used to educate yourself or in other sensible ways. Of course, knowing a language is also some kind of education, but if you spend all of your time learning languages, you might just end up as someone being able to speak a dozen languages but not having anything interesting to say... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| alexptrans Pentaglot Senior Member Israel Joined 6776 days ago 208 posts - 236 votes Speaks: English, Modern Hebrew, Russian*, French, Arabic (Written) Studies: Icelandic | Message 7 of 41 24 September 2006 at 2:58pm | IP Logged | ||
|
One of the greatest English stylists, Vladimir Nabokov (have you ever read his "Lolita"?), was a polyglot. He was perfectly fluent in English, French, Russian, and German, and probably in several other Slavic and Romance languages. Just pick up "Lolita"; his command of the English language will blow you away. Pick up his own translation of same into Russian, and it will blow you away too. And I am sure he is not the only one great multilingual author. So much for the "axe laid at the roots" etc.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7026 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 41 24 September 2006 at 4:31pm | IP Logged | ||
I think that modern medicine has found that memory depends on the number of connections made between neurons and not on the actual number of neurons. As such, I believe that a person's memory is limitless which means that it would be theoretically possible to learn a fair few languages and be an interesting person ;-) Now, how much time you'd need is another matter... 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
