- Language classes are usually more fun. You get to talk to each other, rather than listening to the lecturer all the time.
- For some reason, you don’t feel such a geek wearing a Walkman, portable CD or MP3 player if you’re listening to language tapes.
- You no longer suspect that waiters are saying uncomplimentary things about you. You know they are!
- Many people are turned off by those who open a conversation by asking ‘Do you speak my language?’ The French, especially, welcome those who at least make some effort to converse in French.
- If you come across a bunch of your compatriots acting like mooks, you can pretend to be some other nationality.
- You get all the unexpurgated jokes in foreign movies, rather than the watered-down sub-title version.
- Think of all the time you’ll save travelling abroad when you don’t need to seek out magazines and newspapers in your own language.
- You can keep up with the news when away from home without having to rely on CNN.
- You can shop anywhere, rather than confine yourself to self-service stores and supermarkets.
- Of course! You can communicate with people who don’t speak your language!
Yesterday, I logged on to the internet, and my homepage, a news website, carried a blazing headline stating that the US was to ditch the dollar, and adopt the Euro.Good God, I thought, looking out of the window for flying pigs, Hell has just frozen over! Then, I remembered what date it was.!
At this time of year, I always remember the BBC documentary about the ‘pasta harvest’ … with film! Apparently, around Naples, they were in the habit of hanging their pasta from trees to dry it. This was once witnessed by no less a person than Mark Twain, who remained convinced for years that spaghetti grew on trees!
