It takes a while to read a thread, this long- twenty pages. I am reminded of the Buddhist koan
Chinese Buddhist monk Linji Yixuan wrote:If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.
This doesn't mean that if you see the actual Siddhartha Guatma (which would be a miracle or time travel) to kill him. The monk was talking about killing the
idea of the Buddha proffered by various people who feel that they have the "one, true answer" as to Buddha. Those who are seeking enlightenment must find it on their own, make it a part of themselves.
"Six languages an educated person should know" reminds me of "the great books". This was popularized by
Clifton Fadiman around 60 years ago in the US as "
The Lifetime Reading Plan". I found the old book in a dusty used book shop when I was in university, bought it and read it. I was inspired. I've read about a quarter of the books on the list. I intended to finish it, but I was also intrigued by modern literature. The modern literature was more about what I was experiencing. It was good, well written and fascinating.
Over time, and with the advent of the internet and the realization of diversity, I knew I needed to read more about the background of the situation in my own country. Fadiman's list left out a lot of great books written by people all over the world who weren't "western", or male. Towards the end of his life in the 1990's, Fadiman made an attempt to rectify this and came out with
The New Lifetime Reading Plan. He had a co-author for this project. Still, whether one person's opinion or two, regardless of Fadiman's intellectual credentials.... "who died and left him boss"?
The study of "Classic literature" is certainly worthwhile... but so is the study of Latin American literature, French literature, Caribbean literature, African Literature, Asian literature, etc. I've gained wisdom from reading Trinidadian author V.S. Naipaul as well as Jane Austin and Charles Dickens. Who is to say that Voltaire's "Candide" is more valid than Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide" trilogy? A case can be made for both. Is "Cien años de soledad" by Gabo more worthy than "El amor en los tiempos de cólera"? I enjoyed the second more than the first.
The idea of being "well educated" today encompasses any of the many diverse disciplines, all of which are worthy. There's a reason universities require engineering students to take some humanities classes in addition to their field of study.
I would love to be able to read Homer, Virgil Plato, Aristotle, Aurelius, Goethe, Voltaire, Kafka, Tolstoy and Thucydides in the original. When I chose to learn languages, I wanted to be a better citizen of the Americas by learning Spanish, Portuguese and Haitian Creole. I could keep going with Mayan, Quechua, Guarani, Sranan Tongo, French and Papiamento, but my interests lead me to Djudeo-espanyol and Catalan. I have read Tolstoy in four languages that aren't Russian... including Catalan and Haitian Creole.
Granted, we know here that translations can be a poor substitute for an original. Still, with a life, a business and a family... having learned a few languages to a high level, I
know how much work is involved in getting to a point where one can master a language enough to be able to read with ease. My hat is off to anyone who can do this in six languages.
Had I chosen to follow Prof A's list, I wouldn't have discovered the beauty and wonder of Haitian Creole. I would not have known the pleasure of reading Djudeo-espanyol from right to left in Rashi and Solitreo and discovering the Sephardic people. I would have never known the amazing literature and humor of Portuguese- from Africa, Brazil and, yes, Portugal. I would have never have met some of my friends.
Yeah, we all make our choices. It is simply not possible to learn every language on the planet. Reading the best of world literature in the past 6,000 years would take many lifetimes. On a more frivolous note, I can't even watch all the deserving tv series that are available now in the era of "
peak tv" in English, let alone in Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan. Heaven help me if I learn Russian, Mandarin, and Arabic!
All this being said, if I can paraphrase Goethe, it is the struggle that has meaning. Fadiman's flawed lifetime reading plan is still worthy (especially if diversity is added). Is my reading 25% of the books on his list "enough"? This is highly subjective. Are Prof A's six languages more valid than my choices? Maybe for him, but not for me. I am happy with the languages I have chosen.