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"Some people learn different languages, however, in order to speak English better, or farther, or more dominantly—English or whatever their dominant language might be, whatever their language of thought. This speaker does not believe in what another culture is saying or offering; what is learned instead is simply how to say what they themselves already believe, just in another language. It’s theater. The learner learns the words, but not the culture.
The stronger reason to learn different languages, however, is to learn to walk in different geographies, of both place and imagination, the sometimes very different places we inhabit even if we live right next to each other."
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