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Your personal polyglot ideal | ||
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 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 49 of 125 24 May 2007 at 6:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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Right Iversen, I think then we are on the same page. :-) For me, I don't need to really find a "stopping point" in a language, but rather a point where I feel comfortable enough to move onto another one.
Japkorengchi, you also bring up a good point. An ideal I admire is when people are not overly boastful and arrogant, at least in the sense where they have to show off. However, I think that an amount of pride is helpful and healthy, as long as it isn't a stepping-on-others-to-feel-good type of pride. I'm proud of the work I've put into German and Spanish, but I have a long ways yet to go, and I'll be the first to admit it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| reineke Senior Member United States https://learnalangua Joined 6446 days ago 851 posts - 1008 votes Studies: German | Message 50 of 125 07 July 2007 at 1:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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A lovely question, let's bump up the thread a bit. My personal ideal?
Sir Richard Francis Burton. Explorer, writer, translator and linguist. What use of all this polyglottery to humanity if all you do is flaunt your near-perfect accent? Mr. Burton's gift was not wasted. Please do remember we're discussing ideals here :) When it comes to a perfect accent I consider it very desireable but not indispensable, not even for the ideal polyglot. I do consider Conrad's gift at writing in a foreign language more valuable and a near-perfect accomplishment than someone's accent. It's a pretty thing for sure, but rather vacuous and something that will ultimately die with the person. If you were to sing in a foreign language, and share your gift with the world, then I'll allow it :) Let's try bumping Burton's thread as well. The old man deserves it :) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Aritaurus Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6573 days ago 197 posts - 204 votes Speaks: Cantonese, English*, Japanese, Mandarin Studies: Spanish | Message 51 of 125 09 July 2007 at 11:08am | IP Logged | ||
I can second that. I've met a German guy who grew up in Germany but spent the most of his teenage years in Japan. Surprisingly, he fooled me by being able to speak English like an American. He told me that he hung around many American expatriates so the accent eventually caught on to him. He also neglected his father's accent and was determined never to speak with a German accent. If you heard him speak, you'll think he's a native English speaker from the USA. It's definately is possible to find people who learn a second or third language and speak it like a native. As for people who have no native language at all, I know a Chinese person born and raised in Canada like me but he has a non-native accent for English and attended ESL (English second language) even in high school. He does have a native accent in Cantonese but he cannot read or write and doesn't have a strong vocabulary. I still think this is extremely rare. Back to the polyglot discussion, my expectations are not very demanding. As long you're able hold a conversation with a native speaker in three or more different languages, you're a polyglot in my eyes. I still think an accent is a reflection of who you really are and shows your character. If you don't sound like a broken record to native speakers, I honestly don't see a problem with having a foreign accent. Edited by Aritaurus on 09 July 2007 at 11:27am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| el topo Diglot Groupie Belgium Joined 6759 days ago 66 posts - 71 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: Dutch | Message 52 of 125 18 July 2007 at 4:38am | IP Logged | ||
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For me you are a polyglot if you are fluent in 4+ languages. By fluent I mean that you can manage yourself in most situations: converse with native speakers, watch TV, read books and newspapers, write an official letter, etc. Passing for a native speaker is not absolutely necessary. I have nothing against an accent, if it's not very heavy. If the language has a very complicated grammar (e.g. a lot of cases), I would tolerate minor mistakes in this department too.
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| vientito Senior Member Canada Joined 6337 days ago 212 posts - 281 votes | Message 53 of 125 19 July 2007 at 12:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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i will never agree that a person is a true polyglot until he or she steps outside of a particular language group and get in touch with a language so radically different from all the languages that they have learned so far.
A person who's fluent in Russian ,Tibetan and Italian would be far more accomplished than one who knows French, English and Spanish. I believe learning a language is very hard but learning a language that has little share in vocabulary and cultural aspects is even harder. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| sergiu Diglot Senior Member Romania freewebs.com/invata_ Joined 6438 days ago 105 posts - 108 votes Speaks: Romanian*, English Studies: German | Message 54 of 125 19 July 2007 at 11:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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As long as you can speak with a person in natural speed ,without having to think the words out in any 3+ languages
regardless of the language group they are in,and with a complete understanding of what he has to say,you can be considered a true polyglot. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Lemus Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6380 days ago 232 posts - 266 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Japanese, Russian, German | Message 55 of 125 20 July 2007 at 9:13am | IP Logged | ||
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I agree with vientito. As much respect as I would have for someone who speaks French, Italian, Spanish, and Portugese, I would value someone who spoke French, Italian, and Arabic alot more. The hard language has to be learned, not one you grow up with.
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| 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 56 of 125 20 July 2007 at 1:53pm | IP Logged | ||
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I disagree that language families or whether or not the individual grew up with several native languages determines who is a polyglot.
For me, a person who dominates a few languages (in my opinion, more than four languages, although that is more of a reflection of my own standards for myself) in the Romance language family, or the Germanic, or Slavic, or whatever, counts as a polyglot. I don't care if the person learned them all as second languages, or grew up in a multilingual environment. Like I've said before, being a polyglot (in my opinion) is a description of the person, not a reward earned by the person; it's similar to being an athlete or musician. It's not a question of how much the person has worked to learn French and Arabic and Chinese, I don't think. I don't want to go into degrees of "who's the best polyglot and by how much" because certainly some people have more aptitude than others, but to me that's not the point. Two people: one who plays just baseball, and one who does the decathalon, they are both still athletes. Edited by Journeyer on 20 July 2007 at 1:55pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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