In the initial posting, I related to the idea of loss [of other languages] as English becomes global. I think a language defines how people think, and I think it's important to have multiple points of view. Although I don't speak Japanese, I have heard that they don't have a word for "bird" because they always refer to the TYPE of bird. This reflects a mode of thought. I am currently learning Italian, and have learned that Italian doesn't have words for "privacy" and "shopping" (although they have recently adopted the English for these). I wish that all English speakers, new or adopted, could make an effort to learn at least one other language to keep the other cultures alive, and thus give depth to our world.

Phoebe
"There is more to life than increasing its speed." Ghandi

learn at least one other language

Welcome a-Board Phoebe. Yes, if we all pusued that laudable aim, we would still only be rejoining the majority - since the largest bulk of humanity takes a bilingual or even multilingual society as the norm!