I've always looked at the ability to speak more than one language to be far more than an identity issue. Being able to think and speak in more than one language has a profound affect on how we think!

I am somewhat biased about this as in england, learning other languages was not considered of any great importance until very recently. Now we seemed to have lost the basic equipment/resourses and most importantly, the attitude to do so.

Learning someone elses language gives you a slightly different perspective of the world. I'm not talking life changing insights necessarily, but little things like finding out about welsh snow flakes and turkish siblings. These things point out that the whole world doesn't think the same way as you.

I live in London and I'm quite often ashamed that I cannot understand basic questions from tourists. Now I'm not saying I should be able to speak all the languages I encounter ( I'd need a babel fish) but even knowing either just french or german or italian can make a big difference.

The funding of language courses is another matter. Whilst I think that every one should be entitled to learn their own 'native' language, I don't think it should necessarily be the government's responsibility to fund it.

In britain there is quite a culture of evening classes, though subsidised ( in most cases, not all ) those who attend are expected to pay for their course. Looking through the lists of courses available, there are a huge amount of languages in london alone! In the end it comes down to how much you want to learn a language.

TTFN M'Lady P.