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Tim Doner - hyperpolygot? | ||
Tags: Youtube Polyglot | Polyglot | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| simonov Senior Member Portugal Joined 5592 days ago 222 posts - 438 votes  Speaks: English | Message 25 of 28 11 April 2013 at 2:31pm | IP Logged | ||
If you can talk to people, then you can speak the language. And if you have problems understanding what you read, then you are not functional as far as "reading" is concerned, and you had better concentrate on that, rather than tell other people that they can't "speak" because you can't "read". I think Tim Doner is quite exceptional, don't you? Isn't that why you are so upset? 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4536 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 26 of 28 11 April 2013 at 2:33pm | IP Logged | ||
I agree with basically your whole post, but I would quibble with this one statement. I think lots of people achieve a high level of proficiency with a language as adults. I grew up in Melbourne, and my mother and grandmother were both refugees from Lithuanian. My grandmother and mother both spoke Lithuanian, fluent German (C1+ - my mother was enrolled in school in Germany from 1942-1948) and English. My grandmother also spoke Russian but I am not sure at what level. I grew up with Italian neighbors that had emigrated from a poor village outside of Florence, and they all learnt English to C2+ level. My first girlfriend was Greek and her family likewise had learnt English to C2 level. I guess one aspect of this is that none of these people would have claimed to have spoken English well until they were basically fluent (C2). It's the (bad) reason I didn't grow up bilingual in Lithuanian and English (even German) because immigrants (at least at that time in Australia - 1940s-1970s) wanted to blend in and language ability was a real determinant as to whether you achieved that. I have never really thought about it before, but that's probably why when someone says they "speak" a language, I assume they mean they are relatively fluent if not in the C2 level of my family and my childhood neighbors, but at least at a C1-level. Of course, other people are welcome to claim speaking/fluency at much lower levels if that works for them. Perhaps the big difference between me and some of the others here, is that I an immigrant to Germany attempting to learn German, so just like my family B1 German (or even C1 German) is not the right level for me to function properly. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4536 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 27 of 28 11 April 2013 at 2:38pm | IP Logged | ||
I think you are implying the wrong motivations to me. Really. I am always amazed at good language learners (as I said my grandmother spoke 4 languages, my mother three, my wife 3-4 - not sure if she'd count her Latin). One of my heroes at university up in the early 1980s was Richard Burton and his amazing command of languages. So no I am not upset because I think Tim Doner is exceptional. I would be amazed and delighted if I actually found out he could speak all the languages he claims to speak. Edited by patrickwilken on 11 April 2013 at 2:48pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6382 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 28 of 28 11 April 2013 at 2:49pm | IP Logged | ||
On that note, we can close this thread. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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