things my professors say, part of a series (highlyeccentric, you should like this one)

"To be a classical historian, you have to know French, German, Latin, and Ancient Greek. Medievalists can get away without knowing Greek. European historians can get away without knowing Latin. British historians are the ones who don't know French or German, and American historians are the ones who don't meet the English requirement."

(My Byzantine Civilization professor, of course.)

ETA: A decreasing list of requirements, I should add, since it's not entirely clear. European historians wouldn't need to know Greek or Latin, British historians wouldn't need to know any of the four, and...well, American historians. You know.

Uh, and I should note that he was mostly joking when he started insulting people. I think.