And the point is not that it is more useful to know this language or that, use is quite irrelevant. The point is anyone who has completely mastered 2 other languages and those known for their intricate cases and grammar, will be a rigorous conceptual thinker. There is simply no way to succeed at it without training the mind to exactness. You can learn a modern language passably to talk to someone else without any such exactness. It is the difference between knowing analysis at the level of proof and knowing the times table to calculate a tip. One is theoretical knowledge and rigorous training and the other merely isn't. And no, the point is not that moderns know nothing by the time they actually get a hard science degree. The point is we accept as normal that children *entering* college have learned practically nothing, and certainly have not learned how to think clearly and rigorously. Despite a dozen years of formal schooling.
We are surrounded by mediocrity because we accept it. No other reason. Individuals can excel anyway, but they have to do it themselves. As a society we are providing nothing. We live in a cultural wasteland, and there is no denying it or evading it. And that is a self inflicted lobotomy, compared to our entire past.
“The point is anyone who has completely mastered 2 other languages and those known for their intricate cases and grammar, will be a rigorous conceptual thinker.”
So true. When I learned French, I mastered English. Yes, I know I write in fragments and I comma splice on FR. I write conversationally because I find formal English to be pretentious on casual forums.
Anyway, that’s my purpose in teaching my kids German. I don’t assume they are going to live or work in Germany or Austria. I just want that part of their brain well developed. Plus it is fun.