Foreign Languages: Windows to Adventure! Dear Reader, Do you tenderly lift unknown writings from the bottom of lettuce crates and then call for the astrologers and soothsayers as did King Belshazzar of olden times? (See Handwriting on the Wall in Daniel 5:5-7). Oh, it says "oranges" in Chinese. Have you attended a Russian Orthodox service just so you could get your hands on a Russian text? Or when traveling, have you been reluctant to leave your seatmate's side until you have culled his/her foreign alphabet onto a scrap of paper? I personally became interested in other languages and writing systems when I came face-to-face with peoples of other lands and cultures while tutoring adults in English. I realized that I was illiterate in Georgian (USSR), Vietnamese, Laotian, Chinese, Hebrew, Persian and many other languages. The average American only speaks and reads English, and is annoyed when a word of French, Latin, or Heaven forbid, Greek is mentioned in an article. We have falsely assumed that English is the most 'advanced' or civilized language, and even the one that God spoke in the King James English! Let's enlarge the tents of our mind and learn what is really true world-wide. "Three-fourths of the world's population (2,500,000,000) speaks but thirteen languages. If you spoke Chinese, English, Hindi and Russian, you could speak with approximately 1,600,000,000 people. But you could not speak with those who spoke Arabic, Xhosa, Persian, Tamil, Navajo, and the several thousand other languages." (Fromkin-Rodman, 1974, p.329). Little did I realize what I would bring to light by opening the Alphabet Box. Subjects such as history, archeology, paleontology, anthropology and linguistics became alive to me. Historical facts such as Napoleon's men unearthing the Rosetta Stone struck an interesting response within me. May the 'dry bones' of alphabets and symbols come alive for you, dear Reader. But I warn you, the Alphabet Fever will open windows onto the world that you had never thought about. You could lose your fear of foreign languages and people. Instead of seeing "aliens" you would see them as opportunities to learn more about their culture, music, art, history, geography and even learn basic phrases for communication. While in the airport, instead of killing time by watching the boob tub or doing crossword puzzles, you could glean alphabets and useful phrases from the waiting Eritreans, Cambodians and Indians. People will smile at you if they know you are interested in speaking and writing their language. You can continue to expand your interest, perhaps attending language classes at night school. You might get a pen pal from Russia and end up traveling there. Or how about taking a course in Chinese and then going on an Elderhostel trip to the Great Wall! Or even do such a rash thing as joining the Peace Corps and going to Pakistan so you can greet passersbys in Urdu (Op kaise hain?) and wear a veil? Studying languages keeps the mind fertile... and don't fall for that line - "You are too old." Erase all limiting thoughts about your mental abilities. How do "they" know what you can do? Of all the nerve, putting eager minds down! I just mention all the above as possibilities because I have done them all--and after the age of 55. Psst! Did I tell you about the Georgian Calendar I just acquired which also contains French, Arabic and an unknown language......? Back for more Got a Life!

Ready to learn the Chinese characters