Article on hyperglots - "Babel No More" (Polyglots) Language Learning Forum

Article on hyperglots - "Babel No More"
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Language Learning Forum : Polyglots

IronFist
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Message 1 of 4

10 January 2012 at 6:24pm | IP Logged

Sorry if this is a repost. I didn't see it posted already.

I was looking something up on dictionary.com this morning and saw this on their homepage.

Quote:

How do you learn to speak more than 12 languages?

Have you ever dreamed of being able to speak dozens of languages? A new book, Babel No More by journalist Michael Erard, traces the history of people who can do just that: hyperpolyglots, people who speak 11 or more languages.

Obviously, hyperpolyglotism is a trained skill. No one just wakes up speaking multiple languages, but there may be factors that make it easier. As Erard told the Huffington Post, “Hyperpolyglots are not born, and they are not made, but they are born to be made. There is a finite subset of the human population which has the right neurological equipment for learning and using lots of languages.”

What does this mean? Well, it seems that hyperpolyglots tend to share a few characteristics other than their language ability. Hyperpolyglots tend to be male and left handed, and they also tend to have immune disorders and high IQs. It is unclear how or if these characteristics are tied to language ability or brain plasticity, and Erard makes sure to say these variables may be random or attributed to who responded to his survey. There is no conclusive evidence around what makes someone – physiologically – predisposed to be a hyperpolyglot, but there are some speculative correlations.

How do hyperpolyglot go about learning these languages? They study – a lot. After the first five or so languages, hyperpolyglots acquire a deeper understanding of how language systems work, making it easier to learn other languages. Despite that, it still takes hours of focus and vocabulary drills.

One interesting feature of historical hyperpolyglots are how language expectations have changed over time, particularly in terms of what exactly it means to “speak” so many languages. For example, one of the most famous hyperpolyglots, Cardinal Mezzofanti of Bologna spoke as many as 30 languages, but in his era, to “speak” a language meant to read and translate it, not necessarily to converse fluently. No hyperpolyglots have instant recall of all of the languages in their repertoire. Most hyperpolyglots are fluent in three or four languages and have a store of other languages that they must briefly review to speak with fluency, so called “surge languages.”

What about contemporary polyglots? In October 2011, Sonia Yang, a 10 year-old girl in England, was named http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/10/19/10-year- old-schoolgirl-can-speak-10-languages-and-crowned-one-of-cou ntry-s-top-linguists-115875-23498199/">the best young linguist because she can speak 10 languages: Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese, English, German, French, Spanish, Portugese, Kazakh, and Luganda (the language of Uganda). She is quickly on her way to become a hyperpolyglot.

Learn more about the book here.

Want to get started on your hyperpolyglotism? Even Cardinal Mezzofanti used flashcards to help him hone the many languages he spoke. You can too with Word Dynamo.

What do you think of hyperpolyglotism? Would you want to be able to speak a dozen languages?

Source:
http://hotword.dictionary.com/hyperpolyglot/?__utma=1.144715 5923.1322095279.1325957473.1326216053.45&__utmb=1.4.9.132621 6058261&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1323847826.22.2.utmcsr=go ogleutmccn=organicutmcmd=organicutmctr=not%20provided&__utmv =-&__utmk=157119291

Edited by Fasulye on 22 January 2012 at 1:59pm
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Solfrid Cristin
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Message 2 of 4

10 January 2012 at 6:45pm | IP Logged

IronFist wrote:

Most hyperpolyglots are fluent in three or four languages and have a store of other languages that they must briefly review to speak with fluency, so called “surge languages.”

This is what Ziad Fazah has expressed on a number of occasions, and for which he was ridiculed. I think this is the first time I have seen it explained in an independent text.

I guess it all boils down to our recurring theme: The definition of fluency.

I have mixed feelings about this. I would hesitate to call myself fluent in a language which I would have to review. I used to be fluent (not native-like, but fluent) in Italian. I am not know. I would imagine that two weeks in Italy would bring me pretty close though. Is that being fluent? I am not convinced.
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Iversen
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Message 3 of 4

10 January 2012 at 11:59pm | IP Logged

The article refers to the book "Babel no more", which already has its own thread.

Edited by Iversen on 10 January 2012 at 11:59pm
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Fasulye
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Message 4 of 4

22 January 2012 at 1:56pm | IP Logged

The link to the article "How do you learn to speak more than 12 languages?"

is posted on the website dictionary.com

Here is the link:

Article: How do you learn to speak more than 12 languages?

This link refers to the "Babel No More" book of Michael Erard, see the presentation on HTLAL in the Prof Arguelles Subforum.

Fasulye

Edited by Fasulye on 22 January 2012 at 2:09pm

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