HOWMARXLEARNEDFOREIGNLANGUAGESKarlMarxwasborninGermany,andGermanwashisnativelanguage.Whenhewasstillayoungman,hewasforcedtoleavehishomelandforpoliticalreasons.HestayedinBelgiumforafewyears;thenhewenttoFrance.Beforelonghehadtomoveonagain.In1849,hewenttoEnglandandmadeLondonthebaseforhisrevolutionarywork.MarxhadlearnedsomeFrenchandEnglishatschool.WhenhegottoEngland,hefoundthathisEnglishwastoolimited.Hestartedworkinghardtoimprovedit.HemadesuchrapidprogressthatbeforelonghebegantowritearticlesinEnglishforanAmericannewspaper.Infact,hisEnglishinoneofthesearticleswassogoodthatEngelswrotehimaletterandpraisedhimforit.MarxwrotebacktosaythattheEngel’spraisehadgreatlyencouragedhim.However,hewentontoexplainthathewasnottoosureabouttwothings-thegrammarandsomeoftheidioms.Theseletterswerewrittenin1853.Intheyearsthatfollowed,MarxkeptonstudyingEnglishandusingit.Whenhewroteoneofhisgreatworks.TheCivilWarinFrance,hehadmasteredthelanguagesowellthathewasabletowritethebookinEnglish.Inthel870s,whenManwasalreadyinhisfifties,hefounditimportanttostudythesituationinRussia,sohebegantolearnRussian.AttheendofsixmonthshehadlearnedenoughtoreadarticlesandreportsinRussian.Inoneofhisbooks,Marxgavesomeadviceonhowtolearnaforeignlanguage.Hesaidwhenpeoplearelearningaforeignlanguage,theyshouldnottranslateeverythingintotheirownlanguage.Iftheydothis,itshowstheyhavenotmasteredWhentheyusetheforeignlanguage,theyshouldtrytoForgerallabouttheirown.Iftheycannotdothis,theyhavenotreallylearnedthespiritoftheforeignlanguageandcannotuseitfreely.