|
 |
How fluent to be a Polyglot? | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6867 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 41 of 49 25 October 2006 at 5:46pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Personally, if and when I ever learn a dead language, I'm going to take pains to see if I can learn to speak and "understand" it as well. I merely think that if I learn it, I want to go the whole nine yards, partially because languages are/were normally spoken, and many of the texts that are read one were passed down word of mouth. In many cases I'm sure it will be approximate guess-work, but I feel like I might be missing out if I limit myself to solely reading/writing skills.
But that doesn't mean that I think a person isn't fluent in a dead language if they can only read/write it. This is just my personal goal. Regarding fluency overall though, I think that if the spoken language can be learned (or the written one, if such is the case)...Well, one can be fluent in one or the other, but why not both, if there's time/resources? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| x-man Newbie Romania yahoo.com Joined 6519 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes | Message 42 of 49 31 January 2007 at 3:57pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I really agree.You ar eall perfectly right
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| x-man Newbie Romania yahoo.com Joined 6519 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes | Message 43 of 49 01 February 2007 at 3:48pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Is there here someone interested in Slavic languages?
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| zorglub Pentaglot Senior Member France Joined 6999 days ago 441 posts - 504 votes 1 sounds Speaks: French*, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: German, Arabic (Written), Turkish, Mandarin | Message 44 of 49 20 February 2007 at 3:39pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Ahem !
I'd call such a person an oligoglot ! WHich in itself is not bad !
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| furrykef Senior Member United States furrykef.com/ Joined 6471 days ago 681 posts - 862 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, Latin, Italian | Message 45 of 49 09 March 2007 at 11:28am | IP Logged | ||
I strongly disagree. Just as people can accurately imitate other accents in their own language -- I never knew Bob Hoskins was British until I saw him speak using his normal voice -- they can accurately imitate other accents in other languages. Perhaps not everybody has the knack for it, but to say that nobody can do it is way off. I'm sure it's very rare among people who have "only just learnt the language", but you can get the hang of it eventually. I wonder how many people who believe this have actually tried it -- not just trying it, but really practicing it. It's only a matter of shaping your lips and positioning your tongue. Easier said than done, but doable it is. Of course, it's not really necessary to have a perfect accent, but I think everybody should at least try hard enough to get a half-decent one. Thick accents can be hard on the ears. EDIT: I just now noticed that the original post was over a year old... now I kinda feel silly for replying, but oh well... - Kef Edited by furrykef on 13 March 2007 at 12:21pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 7145 days ago 1152 posts - 1818 votes Speaks: English*, German, French, Afrikaans, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch Studies: Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Modern Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 46 of 49 13 March 2007 at 4:05am | IP Logged | ||
Thank you. I enjoyed your answer. I have changed my own mind somewhat since I wrote the message. I was pleased when I lived in Germany that people asked what my regional accent was. If I spoke the local dialect then it was very difficult for an outsider to pick my Australian accent. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| furrykef Senior Member United States furrykef.com/ Joined 6471 days ago 681 posts - 862 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, Latin, Italian | Message 47 of 49 13 March 2007 at 12:49pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Thanks for your response :) I wish I had some idea of how strong my Spanish accent is. I know it's much better than some other people who try to speak Spanish, but I can't imagine it's very native-like yet. I do have a tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent, or at least something like it, of people that I hang around, so I'm sure I could master it eventually.
Studying accent in Japanese will be harder, no doubt, because they stress words differently than we do. In English, you can indicate stress in multiple ways -- volume, vowel length, and pitch -- but in Japanese, you only use pitch. If you don't know where the accent goes, or if you vary your pitch too much, it won't sound natural. Going back to the original topic... I think everybody has their own definition of fluency, and I don't think anything is wrong with that. Right now I usually wouldn't say that "I know Spanish", even though I have a pen-pal in Mexico who speaks Spanish natively and we have no problems communicating. (I'm only good with the written language, but I'd say the same thing if my speaking skills were on par with my writing.) But I don't necessarily apply the same standards to other people... it's a matter of what your goals are. Are your goals to master each language, or just to know enough to get around? Me, I'd like to master both Spanish and Japanese, so I'm probably not going to become a hyperpolyglot, because I'll be investing time in those languages that I could invest in others. Learning 2000 words of a new language, or even 1000 words in two languages, could be very useful, but if you add 2000 words to a language you already know well, it's "just" another 2000 words toward the large vocabulary you need for true mastery. Which is better? It depends on your goals. Meeting your goals is much more important than meeting some standard that somebody else sets for you. So I think the answer to "Am I a polyglot?" is "You are if you think you are." - Kef 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| winters Trilingual Heptaglot Senior Member Italy Joined 7043 days ago 199 posts - 218 votes Speaks: Croatian*, Serbian*, Russian*, English, Italian, Latin, Ancient Greek Studies: Greek, French, Hungarian | Message 48 of 49 16 March 2007 at 4:09pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I am ready to accept as polyglot any person who can speak 3 or more languages to the extent with which they can fully function in society in which any of those languages are spoken - from everyday life issues (e.g.reading newspapers, conversing with people in the street and shops, etc), private life issues (e.g.knowing language to an extent of being able to raise your children in it - even if you choose not to, it is about being theoretically able to - and speak the language in the circles of family and close friends; being able to read literature, joke in that language, etc), AND professional life (depending on your profession, being able to fully function within your field, with clients and whatnot; being able to attend school/university in that language; use it for formal correspondance and writing, etc).
Basically, if you could live in a country where any of the 3 (or more) languages are spoken more-less the same way you do in your country, only in different language, I consider you to be fluent, and I consider you a polyglot (even if all 3 of the languages are your native ones - in my view, being a polyglot is not neccessarily connected with having actually formally learnt languages as your foreign ones). My view only, though. 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
