I'm a retired Industrial Chemist, who has for a long time been interested in Etymology, and the history of the English language, and also more generally in Philology (historical Linguistics), particularly of the Indo - European languages. I first developed this interest via Archaeology, on reading Ernst Doeblhofer's Voices in Stone. I can follow with some difficulty French, Spanish, Italian, German and Russian if they are spoken slowly. I find it difficult to master a language to the point of being able to think in it, but have set myself the challenge of learning Cornish in my retirement, to get a Celtic language under my belt. I would also like to get some knowlege of Lithuanian or Latvian (the Baltic group), and one of the Indo - Iranian languages. My hero in linguistic matters is Mario Pei, who was fluent in 300 languages, and could make himself understood in another 1000 or so.