>>> Mark Boyd <[log in to unmask]> 01/26 11:08 AM >>>
>>Could you imagine a classic studies department recommending that a student
who could speak and write Greek and Latin should take up Spanish?

>Absolutely.  My third grade daughter is currently learning Latin.  When
she's proficient in that one, She'll move on to Italian, Spanish, Mexican,
French and then Greek.
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You know, that's just great--more power to people who learn all these different languages at an early age, as long as they have a talent for it.

My concern is that, we in the United States, learn to speak English or American or whatever you want to call it.

A few years back, I was amused by an ad in "The Computer Shopper" which declared proudly:

"Our people speak English as a first language!".

Remembering the survey, reported on MSNBC, that the average 14 year old in 1950 had a vocabulary of 25,000 words and today's 14 year old has a vocabulary of only 10,000 words, isn't it possible that if we don't start putting some effort into learning our own language, might we not be in danger of having it go the way of Latin, but perhaps without the persistence Latin has had because of its association with Science and Medicine?

Imagine: English--a dead language... Except in England!

Sort of like MARK IV. [Oh, sure, the computer language of choice is PowerBuilder!]