[LMB] International e-book rights

[Ed Burkhead]

The ability to buy e-book copies of books in the foreign languages has 
real potential for improving language education.

After taking a small amount of German, then French, then Spanish, I lost 
them all because there was no practical way to practice them here, in 
the U.S.  (Two moves and limited college requirements conspired to not 
force me to master any of them.)

During my first trip to France, I bought and read Heinlein's "Stranger 
in a Strange Land" which I had half-memorized in English.  By the time I 
was done with it, I had fairly well learned to read French.

I would have liked to do that with German and Spanish, too, but it 
wasn't practical to find and buy paper books remotely.

It was quite expensive to buy the two or three Bujold books I bought in 
French.  As it's been 38 years since my French reading binge, I haven't 
been able to get thorugh Lois's books in French.  I have hope for the 
future, someday . . .

So,

1.  Widespread international e-book rights can greatly foster learning, 
mastering and especially retaining foreign languages.

2.  Widespread international e-book rights might help move us toward a 
world wide language, in itself a good thing I think.

Ed