Winning Words 3/6/13
“You can never understand one language until you understand at least two.”  (Herbert Williams)  A polyglot is able to speak several languages.  Are you a polyglot?  There’s an American scholar who is fluent in 3 dozen languages.  While I’m a monoglot, my study of Greek and Latin has led to a better understanding of the one language I use.  Much misunderstanding happens because of miscommunication.    ;-)  Jack

  FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  I am definitely not a polyglot.  At one time I did speak a little French as we were bicycling 500 miles in Burgundy and in the Loire Valley.  We have three daughters who are fluent in at least two languages.  At the University of Denver Susie and Jeannie learned by the Dartmouth method. Susie spent her junior year at the University of Madrid and is fluent in Spanish.  Jeannie was at the Sorbonne for her junior year and is fluent in French.  Nancy studied in Seville one semester abroad at Gettysburg College and is fluent in Spanish. Her two children are fluent ,too.  BTW it is a very interes ting world we live in  Our son is in France for business this week and I learned how to text. It is amazing how the whole process works so easily.  And it is fun.

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  A Smile is the universal language, always understood.  In my travels when we could not speak or understand the other's language, a hug and a smile was expressive!  I took H.S. Spanish, and college German, but was never fluent in either!  I'll have to trust Herbert W'illiams on this one! People in other parts of the world are much more apt to be bilingual, it seems, mostly out of necessity, than are Americans.