Frank Smith — One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.
One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.Frank Smith
Attributed to Frank Smith
A single language is a hallway — you can move, but only forward, past doors you never learned to open. A second language hands you the keys to all of them.
Every English word you gain is another handle you can turn. You are not just learning to speak; you are widening the building you get to live in.
Words that widen the world
A long passage in a building with doors leading off it.
Synonyms: hallway, passage, aisle
One language is a single corridor.
A set of circumstances that makes something possible.
Synonyms: chance, opening, opening
A new language is an opportunity to connect.
Common questions
It means knowing only one language limits your path, while a second language opens many new opportunities and connections along the way.
A psycholinguist known for his work on reading and language learning; the line is attributed to him, so we mark it accordingly.
Carry it with you
In your own words, what does this thought mean to you? Write three or four sentences in English about a moment when it felt true — saying it yourself is how it stays with you.
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