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The cult of the hyperpolyglot

 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots Post Reply
9 messages over 2 pages: 1 2  Next >>
JimC
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United Kingdom
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 Message 1 of 9
21 February 2012 at 3:59pm | IP Logged 
BBC Article
Cult of the hyperpolyglot
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kanewai
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 Message 2 of 9
21 February 2012 at 11:37pm | IP Logged 
It's a nice article, but the title confuses me. In the US "cult" has mostly derogatory connotations. Is it different in the UK, or is this just an editor trying to make the story sexier than it really is?
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jazzboy.bebop
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 Message 3 of 9
22 February 2012 at 2:20am | IP Logged 
kanewai wrote:
It's a nice article, but the title confuses me. In the US "cult" has mostly derogatory connotations. Is it different in the UK, or is this just an editor trying to make the story sexier than it really is?


I think we tend to hear "cult" used more over here in relation to say a film having a "cult following"; somewhat underground but the fans it does have are very enthusiastic about it. Do you use the phrase " a cult following" very much in the US? Perhaps the UK has a more relaxed relationship with the term as cults are not talked about much in the media here and we have less cults out there, especially ones who do some horrific things. We will say it in a derogatory way but we often use it in a light-hearted way.
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kanewai
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 Message 4 of 9
22 February 2012 at 7:27am | IP Logged 
ah yeah, we have that - cult movies, cult bands, etc. I think the new context threw me.
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Iversen
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 Message 5 of 9
22 February 2012 at 2:20pm | IP Logged 
If cult means that there is a great interest in language learning in the population at large then I can't see it - not even in my own country, where it is common to know at least two languages and often three or four. Let's face it, polyglotism is never going to become a big sport or musical fad which will earn the top players lots of money.
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Fasulye
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 Message 6 of 9
22 February 2012 at 2:45pm | IP Logged 
Iversen wrote:
Let's face it, polyglotism is never going to become a big sport or musical fad which will earn the top players lots of money.


I agree with this statement and my own life experience fits in well.

Fasulye
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vonPeterhof
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 Message 7 of 9
22 February 2012 at 3:12pm | IP Logged 
Iversen wrote:
If cult means that there is a great interest in language learning in the population at large then I can't see it - not even in my own country, where it is common to know at least two languages and often three or four. Let's face it, polyglotism is never going to become a big sport or musical fad which will earn the top players lots of money.
I'm pretty sure that something having a cult following means precisely that there isn't a great interest in it among the population at large - it's something that's ignored, despised or not considered a big deal by the mainstream but beloved and ardently followed by a relatively small fandom.
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Cavesa
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 Message 8 of 9
24 February 2012 at 7:47am | IP Logged 
I was slightly dissappointed by the article because, as Kanewai said, the headline is
just trying to make it sexier than it is. Yes, those people mentioned are great, I don't
want to underestimate their achievements, but I expected something more general added to
it. Not news about mass interest in learning languages but news about "the cult". Such as
interesting rise in sells of courses for self-teaching learners, a language con being
held somewhere, publication of a new guide for learning several languages etc.


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