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Are You A Polyglot And Why (Not)? | ||
Tags: Scientific Research | Polyglot | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6702 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes  Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 25 of 32 22 March 2009 at 6:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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If you like Fasulye's definitions then you should go for all four:
1) A polyglot uses actively many languages 2) A polyglot is motivated intrinsically (= out of oneself) for language learning 3) A polyglot is dedicated to lifelong language learning 4) A polyglot is able to think in his/her languages and can distinguish them well I might add my personal adaption of a criterium given by profArguelles: 5) A hardcore polyglot learns language families rather than single languages I personally don't mind quantification, and I don't feel that it destroys the pleasure and meaning of learning learning. But the question of measuring the linguistical skills of a persons is simply too complicated to be resumed into one number which without further ado can be compared to other people's numbers. We can set an arbitrary lower level as a preliminary criterium, but only because it really doesn't matter to anybody where the exact border is - you won't get an automatic pay rise just by learning a few languages that aren't relevant for anybody but yourself. If being a polyglot really meant something for your status and salary then it might be worth finding a specific formulary for weighing the different aspects of knowing languages. ad 5: when I left home for my first interrailtour in 1972 at the tender age of 18 I knew Danish, English and maybe German reasonably well, French, Spanish and Italien at least well enough to perform simple touristical tasks, and I could read Latin. I felt just as much a polyglot then as I do now, even though I have doubled the number of my languages. If I had to feel 'more polyglottic' I would have to add some languages from other corners of the Earth, - more of the same thing isn't enough. Edited by Iversen on 23 March 2009 at 10:22am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ChiaBrain Bilingual Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5807 days ago 402 posts - 512 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish* Studies: Portuguese, Italian, French Studies: German | Message 26 of 32 23 March 2009 at 12:32am | IP Logged | ||
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I think I am more of a "wanderglot" as i find myself curious about all kinds of
languages. Of course gaining any level of proficiency does require some dedication so I am regular with Italian and every now and then some Portuguese. But I love to scour the net for samples and learning materials for whatever language interests me at the moment. I can't help but think I'd like to be a "jack of all trades and master of a few". Edited by ChiaBrain on 23 March 2009 at 1:08pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 6033 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes 5 sounds | Message 27 of 32 23 March 2009 at 1:42pm | IP Logged | ||
Master of a few is not a bad outcome but keep in mind Jack is master of none :> Edited by Sennin on 23 March 2009 at 2:08pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| GibberMeister Bilingual Pentaglot Groupie Scotland Joined 5807 days ago 61 posts - 67 votes Speaks: Spanish, Catalan, Lowland Scots*, English*, Portuguese | Message 28 of 32 30 March 2009 at 12:40pm | IP Logged | ||
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1. Would you describe yourself as a polyglot, and if so, why?
I'm not sure. You tell me! I'm a native Scots and English speaker. I am fluent at native level in Spanish and Catalan and able to mimic southern Castilian accents. I can speak Portuguese reasonably well at intermediate level, but I have difficulty understanding it due to lack of exposure I suppose. I can get by in French, Italian and Scottish Gaelic and understand most of what I read. I speak 'emergency German' a bit like Manuel from the TV series Fawlty Towers. I can read and understand around half of what I read in Scnadinavian and Dutch newspapers. I'm also a bit of a 'wanderglot' at times and am currenlty studying some Basque and Welsh as I like to be able to read in other languages. I'm unsure if I'm a true polyglot or not or even as to a definition of it. I leave it to the forum to tell me what I am! Please be gentle...! Edited by GibberMeister on 30 March 2009 at 12:42pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Lingua Decaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5575 days ago 186 posts - 319 votes Speaks: English*, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Danish, French, Norwegian, Portuguese, Dutch | Message 29 of 32 22 August 2009 at 9:43am | IP Logged | ||
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The short answer is that I would not refer to myself as a polyglot simply because I think the word sounds ugly. I would rather refer to myself as multilingual. For me the word polyglot also has the connotation of knowing a little of this language and a little of that language without really being very proficient in them.
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| Noir Bilingual Hexaglot Newbie Sweden Joined 5755 days ago 20 posts - 22 votes Speaks: Portuguese, Belarusian*, Russian*, English, Spanish, Norwegian Studies: Japanese, Korean, Armenian, Kazakh | Message 30 of 32 23 August 2009 at 12:24am | IP Logged | ||
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I do not consider myself a polyglot at all. I would like to think it is a person who learns many language in various language families. The languages I speak are are in the same families.
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| ennime Tetraglot Senior Member South Africa universityofbrokengl Joined 5903 days ago 397 posts - 507 votes Speaks: English, Dutch*, Esperanto, Afrikaans Studies: Xhosa, French, Korean, Portuguese, Zulu | Message 31 of 32 23 August 2009 at 2:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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1. Would you describe yourself as a polyglot, and if so, why?
No, I don't consider myself a polyglot (yet) 2. If you do not see yourself as a polyglot, why not? I speak both Dutch and English pretty much native fluent. I have basic fluency in Afrikaans due to my Dutch, required only a little study, so I don't count it. Esperanto, well somehow I don't count it either (personally, not making a statement here). So two and a half is not polyglotish, that's mediocre for someone growing up in Belgium. 3. If you do not see yourself as a polyglot, how would you describe a polyglot: A Polyglot is someone who speaks multiple languages, for this purpose I'd but it at more than 3, ergo 4, not including mutual intelligible languages. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Xenoguy Triglot Newbie Taiwan Joined 5636 days ago 16 posts - 28 votes Speaks: English*, French, Mandarin Studies: Arabic (Written) | Message 32 of 32 26 August 2009 at 3:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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Whenever the discussion about knowing a language comes up, and I hear the phrase "I speak X language", I always mentally remind itself that it means "I speak X language well enough for the task at hand." Go ahead and count the language if you can do what you want with it, even if that task is a humble or repetitive one.
When I was 18, I had a job in a Migros supermarket in the German-speaking part of Switzerland selling fruit. Did I speak fluently back then? Nope. But I did my job, sold fruit, got paid, and came back the next summer for more. In short, deep down I believe that the question to count a language or not depends on the task you have in mind. It's hard to have a rational cookie-cutter, pigeon-hole discussion about such a fluid topic. But I, like all polyglots, still love the futile attempts to bring order to it all. To answer the thread's question, I am a polyglot because my lifestyle proves it, but I also wish that being a polyglot weren't so intimately tied up with my ego--I'd probably learn more and take more chances. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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