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Tim Doner - hyperpolygot? | ||
Tags: Youtube Polyglot | Polyglot | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4706 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes  Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 9 of 28 10 April 2013 at 8:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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Afaik he speaks Hebrew, Farsi, Arabic and French very well. The rest varies from okay to
"not much, really". But he's made great strides in those first four afaik. His French is quite good actually. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5008 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 10 of 28 10 April 2013 at 8:40pm | IP Logged | ||
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There is an article about him (probably just translation of the original one) on one of
the Czech news servers. Yes, I find it wrong that there is no mention of what does it mean "he speaks" but I do not expect journalists to write good quality articles any more. Compared to other common flaws, this is just a detail. The cuteness factor sallard mentioned is definitely important here. What I found sad was the discussion under the article. I know I should stop reading them completely. But among the positive feedback or good questions, there were more than a few messages like "why does he learn the useless languages?" or "is he autist?" or "hehe, let him try Czech!", that was really sad and stupid to read. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4532 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 11 of 28 10 April 2013 at 8:56pm | IP Logged | ||
That's interesting. How do you judge this? I read on another language forum I Googled, that people found his Arabic on his Youtube videos unnaturally fast and without proper pauses, so the person suggested that he had probably learnt a few set phrases that he was repeating for the video. This sounded plausible to me, but I would much prefer to find out that he did in fact speak some languages well. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4706 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 12 of 28 10 April 2013 at 9:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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Tim posted an appraisal of his levels here on this forum himself. Richard Simcott has
also posted on this topic on his blog a while back. I am sure he isn't perfect, but I don't understand how speaking unnaturally fast relates to learning a few set phrases. There are also sample Arabic essays on his blog. Edited by tarvos on 10 April 2013 at 9:11pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4532 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 13 of 28 10 April 2013 at 10:00pm | IP Logged | ||
It was the unnaturally fastwithoutproperpau sesbetweenwordthatpeoplefoundstrange, which made them think he had just learnt a script. I am not an expert on arabic so I can't judge. I have just finished reading the 26 page discussion previously about Tim's abilities, and so I'm sorry for starting a new thread. I did do a search for Tim Doner, but only his first name was used in the previous discussion which was why I missed it. So from his own assessment (on the previous thread) he might speak something like 4-5 languages. Personally from what even he said I think that's generous, but personally I have a high standard about what it means to speak/be-fluent in a language, which I fully accept others don't necessary share. Anyway sorry for reposting this, it appeared on the Guardian yesterday, and I hadn't realized that it was in the media last year. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4706 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 14 of 28 10 April 2013 at 10:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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It doesn't even matter. Tim himself has said in various interviews he doesn't like the
word fluent; he says he has "studied" 23 languages. I am very sure he will be quite humble if you meet him in person and ask him to describe his level in language X. 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4532 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 15 of 28 10 April 2013 at 10:37pm | IP Logged | ||
Perhaps. I think he's seems like a nice enough guy who either exaggerates his abilities, or at least does little to correct those misconceptions in the media. I have had enough experience with journalists to know that journalists can certainly misrepresent you, but that if you actually tell them to not say something that they generally won't. If he had simply said to the New York Times I have studied 23 languages, but I don't speak them, there wouldn't have been a story. I have never met Tim so I don't know if this is true at all, but I do know certain scientists whose work gets reported from time to time in the media, and it's always reported in an extreme fashion with exaggerated claims. The sort of claims that other experts in the area immediately know is false. If I didn't know better I could simply blame the media, but what actually happens is that the scientists spin the story (unconsciously perhaps) in a fashion that both they and journalist know will sell. If the same scientist is then confronted about these claims they will immediately back off and offer a much more nuanced and less exaggerated version. I understand you have a different view on this, and I respect that. I am mostly annoyed that we live in an era where even the best newspapers we have left (New York Times, the Guardian etc) feel the need to publish extraordinary claims without even ordinary fact checking. Edited by patrickwilken on 10 April 2013 at 10:43pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5008 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 16 of 28 10 April 2013 at 10:40pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, that sounds more realistic and I find it a great success to speak 4 or 5 languages
at 17 years of age and having studied a lot more. And as some of them are quite less popular languages or unusual ones to learn, I find it the more interesting. Could someone point me to that thread where Tim wrote, please? 5 persons have voted this message useful |
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