i know i can say, for instance, "i know a little Russian" but can i use it like in the question above? Just, *knowing* languages?
2007-03-15 08:27:33 · 5 answers · asked by Did i just say something silly? 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Of course you can. Just be clear about which kind of "knowing" you mean. There is "knowing that", which means having identified that something exists. And, there's "knowing how", which means you are skilled at taking a certain kind of action. To know a language means that you are able to speak it, to some degree. (The usual scale for skill in a language is from 1(=a little) to 5 (= fluently) ). To make an abstract statement like yours, "Knowing foreign languages is important in order to see the different ways different people think about the same thing" does not require that you know how to speak any foreign languages yourself. It only means that you have discovered that people who do speak other languages are able to think about something from more than one perspective. (Here's an example: In English we say, He is coming here in the next hour. In Russian (if translated literally into English), they say, He is arriving here in the next hour. The difference is that in Russian, there is no verb for "traveling over the distance between two points" such as "come" in English. In Russian, the perspective is only from the point of view of the finished action, arriving. )
But, one could question how you know the advantages of knowing foreign languages, if you, yourself, do not speak any.
Anyway, it helps to know that there are two kinds of knowing, as stated above.
Keep asking questions like this and you will become clearer and clearer about the world around you and the way people try to put what they think they know into words.
A writer in English who teaches you how to discover those kind of mind-clearing questions is the novelist and philosopher, Ayn Rand.
Best of luck to you.
2007-03-15 08:41:32 · answer #1 · answered by Paul B 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
...in order to communicate with all the illegal aliens! You may have to plead with them not to kill you or rob you some day! Or others who aren't willing to learn English. Seriously, on the other hand if you intend to get a job in a foreign country, best you learn their language first. If you want to learn any language, definitely go for Spanish!
2007-03-15 08:35:29 · answer #2 · answered by MMM 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can and you may.
2007-03-15 08:30:21 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Of course you can...it is perfect!
2007-03-15 08:31:59 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sure:)
2007-03-15 08:34:50 · answer #5 · answered by Renee 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋