Date: Mon, 27 May 2002 13:09:23 +0200 From: Brad Knowles <brad.knowles@skynet.be> To: Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@online.fr>, Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com> Cc: pgreen <polytarp@m-net.arbornet.org>, chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Language in danger: Language loss Message-ID: <p05111700b917c2f4ff1c@[137.120.142.179]> In-Reply-To: <20020526225602.GC1562@lpt.ens.fr> References: <Pine.BSF.4.21.0205261510470.28571-100000@m-net.arbornet.org> <3CF16722.F4236AC8@mindspring.com> <20020526225602.GC1562@lpt.ens.fr>
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At 12:56 AM +0200 2002/05/27, Rahul Siddharthan wrote:
>> Your ability to think about certain concepts is constrained by the
>> language(s) in which you are able to think.
>
> We don't think in languages -- we think abstractly. That is why one
> is sometimes at a loss for the "mot juste" -- you know what you want
> to say but not how to say it.
This is not true. You are not a truly fluent speaker of a
language until you think in that language. However, that can have
it's own set of problems. If you speak a half-dozen languages,
trying to find the right word for the right object in the right
language can take quite some time.
--
Brad Knowles, <brad.knowles@skynet.be>
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania.
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