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Tim from the US (PolyglotPal) on YouTube

 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots Post Reply
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tarvos
Super Polyglot
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China
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Joined 4704 days ago

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Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans
Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish

 
 Message 185 of 204
24 October 2012 at 7:23pm | IP Logged 
Even if they have "more talent" (wtf?) then they still applied it. Talent without
application is nothing.
3 persons have voted this message useful



hrhenry
Octoglot
Senior Member
United States
languagehopper.blogs
Joined 5127 days ago

1871 posts - 3642 votes 
Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese
Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe

 
 Message 186 of 204
24 October 2012 at 7:26pm | IP Logged 
fabriciocarraro wrote:
Midnatt wrote:
I'm really curious why he's learning Arabic
in Brazil, but to each his own.


Actually, he explained it at his blog and in his 1st "Arabic Misson" video as well.
Basically, he said that he had a bad time in China at the beginning of the last
challenge (like 1st month or so), because he could not speak the language, he had no
friends, so basically he had nothing to do at all other than study-study-study.
On the other hand, he has many friends in Brazil, he speak the language and he can take
classes and talk to Egyptian people via Skype just like he was doing in China in
person, the difference being that would be a lot less stressful because he can also go
out or grab a bite with friends to relax and things like that.

I think the explanation's simpler than that. Benny travels, and has said a couple times
that he follows the sun. He's also said many times that Brazil is his favorite place.

This isn't the first time he's done a "mission" learning a language not spoken in the
country he's visiting. He did it in Colombia.

R.
==
1 person has voted this message useful





jeff_lindqvist
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 Message 187 of 204
24 October 2012 at 7:41pm | IP Logged 
justonelanguage wrote:
Some languages ARE harder than others depending on your native language(s). You really think that Italian is going to be as hard for a Spaniard as Mandarin is for an English speaker?


While I think that a native Spaniard will find Italian easy, I'm not sure that all learners will find it helpful if two languages are related. Some will always mix them up.
1 person has voted this message useful



justonelanguage
Diglot
Groupie
United States
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98 posts - 128 votes 
Speaks: English, Spanish

 
 Message 188 of 204
24 October 2012 at 10:27pm | IP Logged 
Really? I can't really argue with opinions like that.

Spanish is my only foreign language that I've studied in depth but I have a superficial understanding of Portuguese, which will hopefully be my second foreign tongue. If I just remember the main rules regarding similarities and differences between the two, I can understand a lot of words. Heck, the grammar and conjugations are very similar, even the subjunctive is very similar. Just looking at bbcbrasil (mind you, I only did like 2 months of "light" Portuguese study), I can literally read and get the entire gist of every article. There are false cognates, sure, but I can understand a lot of written Portuguese with mostly just Spanish knowledge. Yes, spoken Portuguese will be much harder than reading/writing because of the different sounds but the language discount will be immense.

Yes, the fact that two languages are similar may trip me up, but it's a LOT easier than learning a language from a different language family like Japanese or Chinese.

In a similar vein, let's say that I am a professional baseball player. Wouldn't it logically be easier for me to transition to...say, cricket than something like professional cycling? Both baseball and cricket have a lot of similarities, the fast-twitch muscle requirement, hand-eye-coordination, and the use of bats. Cycling requires a completely different body-type and muscle fiber requirements.


jeff_lindqvist wrote:
justonelanguage wrote:
Some languages ARE harder than others depending on your native language(s). You really think that Italian is going to be as hard for a Spaniard as Mandarin is for an English speaker?


While I think that a native Spaniard will find Italian easy, I'm not sure that all learners will find it helpful if two languages are related. Some will always mix them up.

2 persons have voted this message useful





jeff_lindqvist
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 Message 189 of 204
24 October 2012 at 11:16pm | IP Logged 
Of course, I know exactly what you mean (I've experienced the exact same thing with Spanish and Portuguese) and personally, I prefer seeing similarities rather than emphasizing differences whether it be languages/sports/musical instruments/whatever... However, at the same time there will be people who can't keep two related languages apart even if their life depended on it. I did Spanish and French at the same time in high school (no problem). Others kept mixing them up, all the time. I'm not suggesting that those would have succeeded better if they did German and Latin, but what you and I find helpful, might other people find confusing.
1 person has voted this message useful



Wulfgar
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United States
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 Message 190 of 204
25 October 2012 at 1:13am | IP Logged 
tarvos wrote:
You can go further and burn him down if you want to. If you really want to find
something to criticise because you can't do what he can, be my guest. I am not gonna
play the jealousy game, haters gonna hate.

Solfrid Cristin wrote:
What I do not get, is the need to tear down, rip up and bully people

I didn't "burn him down, tear him down, rip him up or bully him". I answered Solfrid's Christian's question. I guess it
was a trick question. You win again Solfrid :)

Personally, I think the guy is awesome. But let's stay truthful, ok? And move the Benny stuff somewhere else please
- this is a thread about a serious polyglot.
1 person has voted this message useful





Iversen
Super Polyglot
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Denmark
berejst.dk
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Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian
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 Message 191 of 204
25 October 2012 at 1:16am | IP Logged 
Midnatt (and Tim) wrote:
"I've been translating mentally everything you've said so far in Persian and German."

Arekkusu wrote:
Actually... I'd be really interested in hearing from Tim on this matter. There is no doubt that this is a great exercise... but doing it while you are being interviewed on TV? I was very skeptical when I heard him say that. Not to mention that being interviewed by Carolyn is enough to make you lose your concentration ;)


If you are used to do it I can't see why you should stop just because you are interviewed for national television ... well, maybe I can't tell - it doesn't happen that often to me. But Tim seems to be quite unfazed by the situation, and the reporter Carolyn seems duly impressed.

PS: and yes, let's not make this into one more thread about Benny. For some reason that usually ends in an acrimoneous quarrel.

Edited by Iversen on 25 October 2012 at 1:20am

4 persons have voted this message useful



Never
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5 posts - 7 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: Mandarin, Japanese, Afrikaans

 
 Message 192 of 204
26 October 2012 at 5:08pm | IP Logged 
Tim doesn't sound sincere or even remotely genuine. Every time I come across clips of him on television shows or
YouTube videos, all I hear is "I want attention. Look at me everyone, I speak X amount of languages!" Of course
many of you will disagree, and that's totally fine. I'm not looking to impose my opinion on anyone. However, he
simply promises more than he can deliver. Benny is no different, though I perhaps have less tolerance because he's
a grown man, not a teenager, and he shouldn't be making the mistakes Tim has and will continue to make.

On top of that, Tim has an annoying nasally voice and this carries into the other languages he "speaks".


2 persons have voted this message useful



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