I’m a first generation Kiwi, and, through circumstance, have just rudimentary Dutch-speaking abilities. You’re half Dutch in your ancestry, yet have virtually none of the language and, I would suggest, little more of the culture. Within 50 years the language, and with it, the culture, have been all but lost from your immediate whanau.

Look at Maori and the effort put into Kohanga Reo. They recognise that the language IS the culture – without language, there is no Maori rennaissance, no way of communicating the values, the stories, the essence of ‘Maoriness’.

Which all means that I have to disagree with you. Learning other languages is more than indulgence or pointless – language is the window to a culture. You can get a view from talking with a native speaker who has learnt English, and can therefore give you his/her perspective, but to understand it at a wider perspective, I believe you have to experience it for yourself. Imagine if you weren’t a native English speaker, and the only English-speaking Kiwi you ever conversed with was a neo-con who didn’t believe in human-induced climate change, Maori rights, social welfare, free education…Your view of our culture and country would be far from rounded.

There was a fascinating piece on Nat Radio a couple of weeks ago about mathematics, and the language different cultures have built up around it. There are people (I can’t remember which country) who have no numbers – they can’t sequence any number greater than five, and have no concept of 1, 2, 3… Anything greater is ‘several’. How could you ‘get’ that without understanding their language, and through this their culture?