As a teacher and a linguist, I feel that the classical...

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Reply to Msg 1373

As a teacher and a linguist, I feel that the classical languages such as Greek and Latin helped me tremendously in the acquisition of a universal culture through the learning of the modern languages such as French, Spanish and English.

The mind is a very flexible instrument.

As one learns English one encounters counteless of cognates from Latin that coincide and interelate with all the "Romance" langages.

The goal is not to be monolingual speakers of Creole or French - for pseudo-patriotic reasons that will perpetuate our geographic and cultural isolation - but plura-lingual, a polyglot.

In so doing we will merge into a larger world - a new universality.

Since we, as Haitians, belong to Latin America and living in close proximity with the United States and at the same time wish to retain the sophistication of the French language and culture, we must become multilingual.

English is essential due to not only the economic and cultural importance of the United States but equally for being the international language par excellence.

If we had been a spanish-speaking country our fate would have been entirely different for; we would have achieved a symbiotic cultural relationship with our neighbors that would have trenscended the barriers of race.

Such a compromise may affect our sense of pride and alter our heritage but it's the only way to avoid our impending obsolescence.

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