From: dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr. Dimitri Vulis)
Date: Sat, 30 Mar 1996 05:31:04 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Why Americans feel no compulsion to learn foreign languages
In-Reply-To: <Pine.SV4.3.91.960328182624.8987G-100000@larry.infi.net>
Message-ID: <4uyJLD6w165w@bwalk.dm.com>
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Alan Horowitz <alanh@mailhost.infi.net> writes:

> Certainly, I believe TCM's proposition that there is no "economic need"
> for an American to learn a second language.
>
> On the other hand, I haven't seen any demonstration of the "value" of
> learning history. Yet, who would argue that ignorance of history is a
> good policy to follow?

Likewise, Tim says there's no value in learning about "traditional" crypto.
I say there is.
There's a value in convinving a child to learn a second language (at least 1)
or history or geometry: it improves his/her thinking process in general.
Sure beats baseball (one of the things I dislike most about the U.S.)
As someone pointed out, most monolingual Americans can't use English properly.

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Dr. Dimitri Vulis
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps