New language

I was interested to read James Richards' response (March 15) to my letter (March 12) regarding the Indonesian language. I accept that my letter made several sweeping generalizations and did not address many common obstacles to learning a new language.

I have also had some experience of the fallibility of the human memory. As a fellow (albeit more recent) classical scholar of a college not half a mile down the road from Richards' own Alma Mater, my memory saw fit to erase all of the Latin and most of the Greek from its bank three days after my final exam. Perhaps it is the ensuing void that has been filled with Indonesian, along with a fair amount of less useful information.

However, the real purpose of my letter was merely to provoke a little expatriate soul-searching as to the extent of our individual contributions to our adopted country. I also suggested that some knowledge of Indonesian can greatly affect the degree and quality of the contribution. Richards feels he has proved himself in this regard and I would not presume to criticize his lack of Indonesian -- if indeed his Indonesian is as bad as he makes out, which I suspect is not the case.

But I take great exception to his claim that, at the tender age of three score years and ten, he is old enough to be my grandfather. My real grandfather will be four score years and fifteen in July. Mind you, he doesn't speak a word of Indonesian, and he's doing just fine.

BEN DOWSON

Jakarta