"It is always in season for old men to learn." (Aeschylus)

.....The other day someone told me that they had a friend who could speak 12 languages. I didn't tell him, but to myself I said, "baloney". Perhaps someone might be mensable enough to speak a smidgen of 12 languages, but I don't think they could speak them fluently. In fact I think that even speaking a smidgen of them is chimerical. I had sufficient trouble trying to learn French in high school and four years of Spanish in college. Oh, if I went to France for a year or so, or to Spain perhaps I could speak those languages fluently to a native speaker. But if one cannot live in a country or a section of one's city, for at least a year, where the language is spoken every day, I don't believe you can learn the language. Period. It's difficult enough for immigrants to speak English fluently even if they have lived here for a good length of time. And English is not an easy language to learn. My son, Joel, worked for the government and was stationed in Panama and in Okinawa for more than three years, with his wife and two kids, and I do not think any of them is able to speak fluent Spanish or Japanese. And as far as I'm concerned, teaching a language in school is a waste of time if the purpose is to have students speak it fluently. At least, I never heard anyone who succeeded. I think it much more enriching to expose students to a classical language such as Latin or Greek. But I don't think they do that anymore.

.....For years and years and years teachers in high schools have been teaching English grammar without knowing that they have not been teaching English grammar at all. I say this as a Structural Linguist which was a second major in college. The proper way to teach a language is to teach how the structure of the language conveys meaning. English, for example, is a "word order" language. Its meaning is conveyed by the order of the words and its sounds. (Language is not writing. Language is speech). "Henry brought his mother some flowers" (Noun/verb/pronoun/noun/adjective/noun.) That is the structure of English. But "Henry his mother some flowers brought" is not English. On the other hand, "Henry brung his mother some flowers" is NOT BAD GRAMMAR; it's a dialect of English. "Brung" is a verb, and it is in the correct place for English grammar. It's only bad FOR THE COMPANY IT KEEPS! It is not "standard English". "Brung" is not spoken by educated people.

.....On the other hand, Latin is not a word order language. You can put the words in any order you choose and the meaning would be the same. In the "Canterbury Tales", the Prioress wears a charm which has the lettering "Amor vincit omnia"; love conquers all. But in Latin "Love Conquers All", may be spoken or written "omnia vincit amor, amor vincit omnia or amor vincat omnia". So much for the language lessen, but I have tons more to say about language which does not follow the traditional ways--but is left of center....as usual.