Ok Thomas, but learning other languages allows one to have access to lots of knowledge otherwise inaccessible. And also it improves one's mental capacity and memory, and it even gives ability to understand better the mother language and its mechanisms.
Probably learning more than a certain number of languages becomes counterproductive because it takes too many time that could be spending on focusing on some subjects.
I think this is like the old debate of whether it's better to be a polymath or a specialist. I think the virtue is somewhere in a middle balance: not too dispersed neither too focused.
The same with languages, nowadays with things becoming so universal through technology, fluency in 2 or 3 languages (being one of them English, obviously) is more than enough to be well informed, self-reliant and have access to a broader spectrum of knowledge.
And by the way, I think the majority of the best writers and philosophers of all time knew more than one language.
Probably learning more than a certain number of languages becomes counterproductive because it takes too many time that could be spending on focusing on some subjects.
I think this is like the old debate of whether it's better to be a polymath or a specialist. I think the virtue is somewhere in a middle balance: not too dispersed neither too focused.
The same with languages, nowadays with things becoming so universal through technology, fluency in 2 or 3 languages (being one of them English, obviously) is more than enough to be well informed, self-reliant and have access to a broader spectrum of knowledge.
And by the way, I think the majority of the best writers and philosophers of all time knew more than one language.