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Benny Lewis | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| NewLanguageGuy Groupie France youtube.com/NewLangu Joined 4609 days ago 74 posts - 134 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 57 of 164 16 April 2012 at 1:27pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I meant "linguist" in the layman's sense of the word, of course.
Another thing I have noticed is that some of the most vociferous and critical "polyglots" do not post and videos of themselves speaking languages, only talking about learning them. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| irishpolyglot Nonaglot Senior Member Ireland fluentin3months Joined 5635 days ago 285 posts - 892 votes Speaks: Irish, English*, French, Esperanto, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Sign Language Studies: Mandarin | Message 58 of 164 16 April 2012 at 2:40pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Speaking as a layman (or at least an electronic engineer and monolingual until age 21), I've always considered linguist to mean "someone who studies linguistics" or at least a "language scientist".
My feeling is that it isn't academic vs colloquial or vs laymen, but perhaps it's more common in north America to be used in a way many of us don't. Another "fanny"/"fag"/"rubber" that means something completely different across the pond... Anyway, I correct people if they call me a linguist. The same way I would if they call me an astrophysicist. [Signed Benny the Irish polyglot, not Benny the linguist ;) ] 10 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4624 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 59 of 164 18 April 2012 at 3:14pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I don't actually care whether Benny actually learns as much as he says he does within a 3-month time frame, although I have no real reason to doubt him.
But I do find his website a real source of inspiration. He explodes all the myths about this "I can't do languages" mindset that many people shelter beneath. And while he may not be able to discuss complex topics on his current Mandarin mission, he's out there speaking the language in a confident manner with real people. I had always convinced myself that I managed to learn German because my wife is from that country and I have the chance to go there often, but that a Slavic language would be way too difficult because of the "impossible" grammar. But I took heart from Benny's global experiences and threw myself straight into Russian, having coversations (online) from the outset. And it's working. 7 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5383 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 60 of 164 18 April 2012 at 4:02pm | IP Logged | |||||
I think people who insist on using the word linguist, such as Steve, do it because they feel that very few people actually understand the word "polyglot". Multilingual is another common word, but some make a distinction between multilingual people, who know multiple languages because they need to use them in the daily lives, and polyglots, who study languages to expand their horizons, not out of necessity. I might call myself a linguist in some cases, but I DO have a degree in Linguistics... 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5132 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 61 of 164 18 April 2012 at 6:55pm | IP Logged | |||||
On the other hand, it takes two minutes, tops, to describe the two words. When I see/hear people insisting on using the word "linguist" knowing full well that they know and can describe the difference between the two words, it's because they're trying to prove a point, not trying to make it easier for the everyman to understand. R. == 7 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| alang Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7223 days ago 563 posts - 757 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 62 of 164 21 April 2012 at 2:13am | IP Logged | |||||
I saw Christophe's Spanish video and he did not sound like a native speaker to my ears. Maybe a native speaker from Spain can critique his video better, as I can understand the video and do not really care if his accent is native or not. Odd, as he stated in another video, that he was in Spain around ten years. Back on topic. Benny did not reach his intended goal of C1 in Chinese in three months. I think he failed at the objective in the time restriction, but succeeded in progressing, which in my opinion is more important. How I view it, he can only get better if he continues with Mandarin. Edited by alang on 21 April 2012 at 2:16am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| tmp011007 Diglot Senior Member Congo Joined 6071 days ago 199 posts - 346 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: French, Portuguese | Message 63 of 164 21 April 2012 at 3:02am | IP Logged | |||||
which one: http://youtu.be/FvIRzTXpkZA or http://youtu.be/YJ_Yc8JZ5FQ ? btw, what do you think about this guy's Spanish? (I know it's indeed quite unfair but..) http://youtu.be/tsSLollpBwk?t=44s http://youtu.be/JxXNVqufgB8 Edited by tmp011007 on 21 April 2012 at 3:13am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| alang Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7223 days ago 563 posts - 757 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 64 of 164 21 April 2012 at 4:49am | IP Logged | |||||
I listened to the 46 second Spanish video of Christophe. Would you be able to judge his sound and accent? Christophe criticizes other speakers and I am interested in knowing where he is placed. Richard Vaughan sounds native to my ears. Overall accents does not bother me when someone speaks a language, as long as I understand and can communicate fluidly with one another. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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