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Guardian Article on Alexander Arguelles

 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots Post Reply
31 messages over 4 pages: 1 2 3 4  Next >>
Volte
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Switzerland
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Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese

 
 Message 9 of 31
18 March 2012 at 10:50am | IP Logged 
outcast wrote:
I think it is possible to read a couple dozen languages and more, with years of dedication. Passive understanding and proper pronounciation, once learned, are much more unlikely to be lost or become "inactive", like speaking can.

As for speaking, it may be possible he can speak a similar amount with fluency, but not at the same time, save he has a gift which of course is never to be discounted. But if he does it means virtually no one else could replicate his success just my mimicking his lifestyle.


Here's his Dutch (see minute 28 onward). At 32 minutes in, he asks if he can be counted as speaking Dutch, and after an enthusiastic yes, says that by that criteria he speaks about 20 languages. He also says that it's the first time he's been speaking Dutch in years.

6 persons have voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
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 Message 10 of 31
18 March 2012 at 11:58am | IP Logged 
MarcusOdim wrote:
"Now, I can read about three dozen languages and speak most of them fluently"


Yeah, right, sure he can.
it's a sad day when THIS gets votes at htlal.
22 persons have voted this message useful



Heather McNamar
Senior Member
United States
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 Message 11 of 31
18 March 2012 at 2:25pm | IP Logged 
I've also just been checking out Dr. Arguelles' website. Very, very impressive, though I seriously doubt I
could develop his discipline.
1 person has voted this message useful



lichtrausch
Triglot
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United States
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 Message 12 of 31
18 March 2012 at 4:20pm | IP Logged 
From what I've read and heard of the Professor, there is almost no chance he would say something like "I can speak 50 languages".
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Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6596 days ago
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Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
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 Message 13 of 31
18 March 2012 at 4:57pm | IP Logged 
He might've given a detailed list stating his levels in each language... And they generalized >_<
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palfrey
Senior Member
Canada
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 Message 14 of 31
18 March 2012 at 5:16pm | IP Logged 
The part that I found the strangest was this:
Quote:
Exotic languages can be more of a challenge. I worked as a professor in Korea for eight years and it took almost a decade to get my Korean skills close to native level. We live in Singapore now, and at home I speak French with my sons, unless my Korean wife is there, in which case we'll use English. If we don't want the kids to understand everything we're saying, we use Korean.

Am I understanding this correctly: does he mean that they are not trying to pass on Korean to their children, but opting instead for French and English?

I don't want to stick my nose in another man's domestic arrangements, but... this would mean that the children will probably have great difficulty communicating with relatives on the mother's side of the family. Whether or not Korean is an "important" language in a global sense, it would be important on a personal level for the children and their relatives. I find it hard to believe that someone with his linguistic sensibilities would not see this.

Honestly, I think that either I am misunderstanding the quote, or else he was making a joke which the interviewer did not catch.
4 persons have voted this message useful



montmorency
Diglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
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 Message 15 of 31
18 March 2012 at 5:44pm | IP Logged 
lichtrausch wrote:
From what I've read and heard of the Professor, there is almost no
chance he would say something like "I can speak 50 languages".


I agree. And the body of the text doesn't even agree with the headline.
Typical newspaper cavalier attitude towards accuracy. The Guardian is supposed to be
part of the "quality press", but in certain respects it often descends to tabloid
values a lot of the time.


It was interesting to see his name mentioned in the (more or less) mainstream media
though.


2 persons have voted this message useful



outcast
Bilingual Heptaglot
Senior Member
China
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Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin
Studies: Korean

 
 Message 16 of 31
18 March 2012 at 9:36pm | IP Logged 
Volte wrote:
outcast wrote:
I think it is possible to read a couple dozen languages and more, with years of dedication. Passive understanding and proper pronounciation, once learned, are much more unlikely to be lost or become "inactive", like speaking can.

As for speaking, it may be possible he can speak a similar amount with fluency, but not at the same time, save he has a gift which of course is never to be discounted. But if he does it means virtually no one else could replicate his success just my mimicking his lifestyle.


Here's his Dutch (see minute 28 onward). At 32 minutes in, he asks if he can be counted as speaking Dutch, and after an enthusiastic yes, says that by that criteria he speaks about 20 languages. He also says that it's the first time he's been speaking Dutch in years.


I'll check the link out, thanks.

20 languages is still a ton, he obviously has a skillset that lends to exceptional ability then. I don't think anyone of us could do what he does even if we followed an identical lifestyle, just like no matter if I had followed Lionel Messi's lifestyle to the solitary crossed "t", would I have the same playing skill as he does. And whether it's 20 or 36, the Professor is in THAT category when it come languages as Messi is in football.


2 persons have voted this message useful



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