1.1. Learning a language means becoming part of a speech
community. I can think of two good reasons you are not going to
learn any Chinese. Probably the most obvious reason is that
although you hear plenty of Chinese being spoken, you have no
way to find out what anything means. The second reason is
closely related to the first. It is, I believe, more basic. You
cannot learn Chinese because you have no relationship of any
sort with anyone who uses Chinese. - 1.1.1 No relationships--no
language! - 1.1.2 Doing unto others, with others also doing unto
you Language implies relationships. The great philosopher Ludwig
Wittgenstein reasoned that there can be no such thing as a
private language, meaning a language which belongs to a single
individual (Wittgenstein 1953). His reasons are rather
philosophical, and his claim has been, like everything in
philosophy, rather controversial. But I have my own
(nonphilosophical) reasons for agreeing with Wittgenstein. A
language is a means of communication between people. Sup