What issues do you think are most important

[Munkay]

Bleah. I propose that all people be bilingual, at least spoken. Written, debatable.
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I would actually argue the opposite personally. A professor of mine always spoke on the good fortune of western philosophers writing in German, due to the flexibility of the language.

Granted I don't speak a word of German, and have an extremely limited understanding of the grammar. So maybe that professor wasn't right in that assumption.

But I do know Ancient Greek works very well for expression of ideas in written form. We've been reading Plato and the New Testament in my class, and its amazing. I think more people would have a respect for the bible if they had an understanding of Ancient Greek. Put simply, the new testament is absolutely beautiful.

A close friend of mine is the son of two Mexican immigrants, and was raised bilingual. He orders his buritto's in Spanish at the local taqueria, and occaisionally eavesdrops on conversation. Other than communicating with his bilingual parents, he rarely uses it. At least in comparison to his use of reading Spanish. He reads massive volumes of Spanish poetry, and is adament that there are many more beautiful Spanish poets than English.

Your mileage may vary, and it certainly will. I do not mean to debase the importance of spoken language, nor the importance of being bilingual. By the time I enter grad school I'll [hopefully] have 6 years of German under my belt (Thanks to intensive German courses over the summers), 6 years of Ancient Greek, 2 years of modern Greek, and 2 years of Spanish.

Cheers,

Munk