“The language is misogynistic as hell, but at least it lets you know.”

And of course excellent take on the concept of loser…

Is it so bad to learn German to book a hotel room instead of read poetry? We must start somewhere. I can certainly book hotel rooms in Mandarin easily enough but it will be years before I read Mo Yan in the native language. In the meantime the practical well get me there slowly and even if it doesn’t get me there it’s still been good for my brain right?

As for the topic at hand, I’ve met a few Mandarin bums but I think (I hope) most of them eventually get to do something more useful eventually. It still however surprises me when I meet someone who can recite Confucian dialectics and yet even *I* make more money than him.

Also, the Japanese WWII lesson. Though Nihongo isn’t an international language, they were obviously very wrong to be so callous to believe no foreign devils could ever learn! For the most part Japanese don’t even want to be so international, soft power notwithstanding they like their island mindset. Chinese might have more of a goal of being a global tongue, but I agree East Asian languages probably cannot ever get there.

I’d like to learn more about this Phil, seems like an epic story.