At Thursday, March 28, 1996 12:32 AM, Timothy C. May wrote:

My point is not against the learning of a foreign language, just that economic considerations _must_ play a role.

Q: What do you call an American company that ported its internet software to 22 different langauges in order to compete in the world? A: Microsoft

My European friends usually study the language of their direct neighbors and important trading/scientific partners. English, German, French, typically.

So the question is: Who do you want as a neighbour and/or trading partner?

(One person communicated with me in private about this, saying that the international nature of the Internet is an ironic counterpoint to my point. So I promised this guy I would learn Hindi and Polish to better be able to use the Internet.

Actually, you promised me that you'd sign up to learn "Swedish. No, wait, to learn Polish. Or is it Japanese, or Greek, or Hindi, or...." But why bother going to all that trouble. Everything you need to be able to encounter another language is right in front of you. http://www.branchezvous.com could be one place to start. But perhaps my point is misdirected. Even those who speak English and share a similar culture can find it hard to communicate sometimes. Ciao, James jbugden@alis.com