David Tang Quotes

As a matter of fact, a national language which spreads beyond its own confines very quickly loses much of its original richness of content and is in no better case than a constructed language.

That's American English for you: more roots than a mangrove swamp.

I studied French in high school and German in college and I once took a 24-hour Italian crash course. English has by far the most words in it of any other language. Our money might not be worth anything anymore, but the language is.

There are more than thousand mother tongues spoken in our country. This is not just a number but a reason to be proud of.

Multilingualism in our nation extends back to several millennia. This multilingualism is an asset, a heritage we have inherited, and is, in fact, a resource we deeply cherish.

I speak English, obviously, Afrikaans, which is a derivative of Dutch that we have in South Africa. And then I speak African languages. So I speak Zulu. I speak Xhosa. I speak Tswana. And I speak Tsonga. And like - so those are my languages of the core. And then I don't claim German, but I can have a conversation in it. So I'm trying to make that officially my seventh language. And then, hopefully, I can learn Spanish.

In India the odd thing is that English is this almost artificial language floating on the surface of a place with about fifty other languages. The same is true of Nigeria but even more so.

As a candidate, I intend to let everyone hear my message, including the many who can express their love of country in a different language.

Increase your word power. Words are the raw material of our craft. The greater your vocabulary the more ­effective your writing. We who write in English are fortunate to have the richest and most versatile language in the world. Respect it.

English is a stretch language; one size fits all.

As humans we speak one language.

Of course my books are translated into many languages. I have here, in my home, translations on my shelf of my books into forty-five different languages. Almost none of them I can read. I can read only the English editions. But, I know that a translation of a work of literature is like playing a violin concerto on the piano. You can do this. You can do this very successfully on one strict condition: never try to force the piano to produce the sounds of the violin. This will be grotesque. So, different musical instruments provide for different music.

The history of a culture can be determined by its untranslatable words.

And of course the word love has many shades of meaning, as do many, many of the words in our living, breathing language

Every man prays in his own language.

life perpetuated in parti-colored loves and beautiful lies all in different languages.

I can read more languages than I speak! I speak French and Italian - not very well, alas, but I can get by. I read German and Spanish. I can read Latin (I did a lot of Latin at school.) I'm afraid I do not speak any African languages, although I can understand a little bit of the Zulu-related languages, but only a tiny bit.

As a hawk flieth not high with one wing, even so a man reacheth not to excellence with one tongue.

The price a world language must be prepared to pay is submission to many different kinds of use.

I have traveled more than anyone else, and I have noticed that even the angels speak English with an accent.

Having an international voice is not really about whether we speak Persian or any other language.

I am grateful for the 30 years of my work and the way it has influenced humanity, especially all the books that became international bestsellers and were translated into 37 different languages, which means they have gone all around the world.

Plurality of languages: [...] It is crucial 1. that there are many languages and that they differ not only in vocabulary, but also in grammar, and so in mode of thought and 2. that all languages are learnable.

[Armenian] is a rich language, however, and would amply repay any one the trouble of learning it.

The diversity of language alienates man from man