I am very interested in learning foreign languages, especially those originating from Latin, for example French and Spanish, but it does not mean I ignore my own languages--Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesia's national language) and my two important Timorese languages, Uab Meto (Dawan language) and Tetun. In my opinion, learning other foreign languages besides English, which is globally recognised and spoken, is an excellent idea. However, indigenous tongues should be given space to survive.
To the best of my knowledge, the mastery of a language is a boleto gratis (free ticket) to have a closer touch (contact) with its culture and society. In addition, mastering a foreign language, especially English and French (I hope I am not mistaken), will help you enter the sources of knowledge -- books, internet sites, etc.-- which are mostly written in foreign tongues. It will enable you to read and understand both scientific and non-scientific books or any source of information in the original language -- the language of the authors. Not always, but generally, reading an original piece of work is better, fresher, more satisfying, and easier to understand rather than reading a translated one.
To help language lovers with language information, I have linked this page to hundreds of language links (sources), where they will find any languages they want to learn or know more, and to some multilingual newspapers that will help them enrich their knowledge of the languages. I hope you and I will be able to get the free ticket.
Good luck!!!
Copyright @ 2002, John Manhitu
Yogyakarta, 19 January 2002