How many languages should a well-educated man speak?

I think at least two and one of them should be English. It concerns people from non English-speaking countries of course.

well, #3 languages at least...

That depends where you live and on your profession. If you live in China for example you only need to know your major dialect.

Not in Continental Europe mate !

If you're an active business man or job-migrant you got to speak 3 languages at least!!!

At least one.

Yeah 1 is definately the minimum ;)

One.

I'm not your mate. Get yourself a partner!

Of course it depends on where you live and what your interests are. I can speak one foreign language and read a good many others, but if I didn't have interests that caused me to use them occasionally, I could get along fine just with English (in South Carolina, USA).

Ben Jonson dismissed Shakespeare's knowledge in this area as "small Latin and less Greek", yet I'd consider Shakespeare educated and one of the great geniuses of literature. I suppose it was with the Romans, who usually needed to learn Greek in order to be considered educated, that this idea of knowing a foreign language became identified with education. Then, of course, for centuries afterwards Western Europeans who spoke different languages learned Latin to become educated (adding Greek sometimes after the Renaissance).

Shakespeare and few others, though, show what can be accomplished just with one's native language. With the abundance of translations now (especially into English) there's less need for learning foreign languages (though, of course, knowing them helps). I'm speaking of a liberal arts education. If people have jobs that require speaking foreign languages, then obviously they're going to have to learn them. Most of what's really important in the human intellectual legacy of past ages, though, is available in translation (for English speakers, anyway).

Please don't get the idea that I'm hostile to foreign languages. I like them myself and encourage people to learn them (if they have the need or interest). I just don't believe that it's necessary for an English speaker to know them in order to be considered educated.

>Yeah 1 is definately the minimum ;)

That's what I meant. :-) The question asked for languages, not foreign languages.

'In the human intellectual legacy of past ages' should have been 'in the human intellectual legacy'. The legacy that we have now has to come from past ages (there's not much chance of finding any from future ages :-).

Well, the more - the better, but at least English.

**How many languages should a well-educated man speak?**

Roughly as many as a well educated woman should, I reckon. As someone has already stated, it all depends on your circumstances and location in the world. If in EUROPE, then I guess as many as possible...again depending on location.

In the US you can still get by with just English. But additional languages are useful if you travel to places where they don't speak English like France, Mexico, or California.

what does it mean "a well educated man"? is there any standard? a man can clean toilets but he can also read Shakespeare and know long poems by heart....i know some people without high education who are more intelligent then "white collars" and they could achieve quite a lot.