Quote

It is very difficult to work in another language, and it is also very challenging.

My scientific career has developed on three continents: Asia, Europe and North America.

I've never been in any country for more than four years, and I'm learning different languages all the time. It gives you a different attitude.

Few things are more painful than being a successful writer born in a small country with an impenetrable language.

I wanted to learn a few foreign languages, and therefore I had to go abroad.

I'm pretty good with languages. I know a bit of French and actually want to live in France some day so that I can get fluent. I think it'd be tragic to go through life only knowing one language.

It's hard to have a career.

But I just know from experience that accent wise, even if you're an accent genius, crossing the Atlantic is the hardest thing in the world either way.

Due to these various circumstances, when I entered the Catholic University of Louvain in 1934, I had already travelled in a number of European countries and spoke four languages fairly fluently. This turned out to be a valuable asset in my subsequent career as a scientist.

I think that one of the main privileges of what I do, which I am just starting to learn, is to have the ability to travel all over the world and experience different cultures.