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Tim from the US (PolyglotPal) on YouTube | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| fabriciocarraro Hexaglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Brazil russoparabrasileirosRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4715 days ago 989 posts - 1454 votes  Speaks: Portuguese*, EnglishB2, Italian, Spanish, Russian, French Studies: Dutch, German, Japanese | Message 113 of 204 16 April 2012 at 7:36pm | IP Logged | ||
On the other hand, don't you agree that I might (and usually will) be able to talk in a better way, even with a more sofisticated vocabulary, about something I talk about more frequently (i.e. the thing is among my interests)? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Pisces Bilingual Pentaglot Senior Member Finland Joined 4622 days ago 143 posts - 284 votes Speaks: English*, Finnish*, French, SwedishC1, Esperanto Studies: German, Spanish, Russian | Message 114 of 204 16 April 2012 at 8:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, your point is certainly valid.
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| Wulfgar Senior Member United States Joined 4671 days ago 404 posts - 791 votes Speaks: English* | Message 115 of 204 17 April 2012 at 7:33am | IP Logged | ||
Moses/Laoshu may not be making the claims you mentioned, but do you really think he belongs in the company you mentioned? Talent wise, I'd put him with the other group. 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Torbyrne Super Polyglot Senior Member Macedonia SpeakingFluently.com Joined 6095 days ago 126 posts - 721 votes Speaks: French, English*, German, Spanish, Dutch, Macedonian, Portuguese, Italian, Swedish, Czech, Catalan, Welsh, Serbo-Croatian Studies: Sign Language, Toki Pona, Albanian, Polish, Bulgarian, TurkishA1, Esperanto, Romanian, Danish, Mandarin, Icelandic, Modern Hebrew, Greek, Latvian, Estonian | Message 116 of 204 18 April 2012 at 10:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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There is a lot gong on here on this thread and I'd like to just add my two cents...
First of all, from my own personal point of view...I don't make videos about global warming or other such topics in any language because I am not an expert on the field and there are enough wannabe know-it-alls out there on the Internet, professing some kind of wisdom. Sadly their words only serve to highlight their ignorance in their chosen field. I do not wish to add to that confusion. I prefer stick to what I know best in my public videos and that is languages and language learning. I can at least claim some knowledge of the subject as I have had some degree of success in my studies of foreign languages and I use them in practical ways every day (for life and work). That is not to say that I can't enjoy learning about and conversing in lay terms on a number of subjects in a variety of languages in my own free time. Personally I prefer to hear from people who know more than me about any given subject as I stand to learn something instead of being exposed to "blah blah blah". At university I was forced to talk about things I knew little about to display my knowledge of the language for exams and I found it tedious then too. Though I do take on board the point that it is nice to see if someone has the ability to tackle these topics, it is simply not my aim to prove anything now I have completed my university studies. I think I did my bit then. That said, chances are I will have to go through the same process now with my Turkish studies and exams. If I do, then I may end up making something on a different topics to demonstrate the new level I reach in that language as part of my Turkish CEFR levels series. In terms of YouTube polyglots, well they are as varied as people claiming to speak different language are in real life. I have seen some who are extremely proficient in a number of languages and other less so. Both types have something to offer as we don't all have to reach C level fluency in all of our languages. It is simply not necessary to get a feel for a language, use it for communication. It is a very big time investment and for those who want exposure to multiple languages, why not take a lot of them to A1 level if that's your thing? Obviously the thing here on HLAL is keeping it real. I understand that some serious language learners who try to keep their claims in check find it frustrating to see others playing up their abilities. Whilst I couldn't personally care a fig if X says he/she speaks X languages fluently because it doesn't directly impact on me, I can see why others may not appreciate it. My own view on it all is that it is not a competition. Besides many of these people are called to task on their claims in the end anyway. Regarding Tim in particular, well I have been there myself with media. I have been misquoted and asked if I would be happy to be quoted as "speaking x languages". To my mind, Tim had his hand forced a bit on the US TV show when the presenter mentioned the number. I am not sure that at 16 I would have felt able to make that correction on national TV. It then seemed to carry on and I can understand how that may have happened. The fact is that Tim himself has written down here how well he feels he speaks the languages and I see that as his way of correcting some quotes out there (including ones he may have been asked to say for brevity on news stories). Tim's passion and enthusiasm for languages are infectious and I think he is an interesting, bright young man on a big language learning adventure. My goal with all of this (YouTube, my blog, Facebook page, Twitter account and writing on this forum) is to encourage language learning and having a good news story with Tim in it is a big help to get more people interested in the topic. It brings our passion to the fore and that cannot be a bad thing for the general public, can it? 21 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Rob_Austria Heptaglot Groupie Austria Joined 5002 days ago 84 posts - 293 votes Speaks: German*, Italian, Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, Japanese Studies: Croatian, Mandarin, Russian, Arabic (Written), Turkish | Message 117 of 204 18 April 2012 at 10:36pm | IP Logged | ||
I wholeheartedly agree with your words. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Midnight Diglot Groupie Czech Republic Joined 4639 days ago 54 posts - 111 votes Speaks: Czech*, English | Message 118 of 204 09 May 2012 at 6:24pm | IP Logged | ||
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Tim's tenacity admirable. I've had my doubts, but he seems to be really proficient in many of his languages. I also like the idea he hasn't chosen only the "Pop Pack" (English,French,Spanish,Italian,German, Chinese, Japanese) and began studying some rarer languages.
On the other hand I think most of HTLALers are curious and doubtful, because media tends to exaggerate skill no matter if you're cocky or humble as monk and therefore an average joe who spends 10 years studying and perfecting his 3 languages can be thrown off by a newspapers' article : "16 yo old boy speaks XX languages and has learned it in just one year" " I mean I woke up and spoke Spanish, I immediately called Consuela and she was like: "!!!AY DIOS MIO!!!"" Of course there are some ppl who will break you down no matter what. I saw some comments sullying our Vlad's English which is native-like (after 6 ys in the USA), just because he's really good at polyglottery. Anyway I wish Tim and other language learners good luck. 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4707 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 119 of 204 11 May 2012 at 12:35am | IP Logged | ||
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Tim's doing fairly well for a 16 year old, wouldn't you think???????
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| jdmoncada Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5034 days ago 470 posts - 741 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Finnish Studies: Russian, Japanese | Message 120 of 204 11 May 2012 at 5:16am | IP Logged | ||
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I saw a New York Times article/video with him in it. Someone had posted the link earlier today. He seems personable and enthusiastic.
My only "criticism" is not of Tim himself but of the reporting saying that he "learned" a language. We all know that it's a lifelong endeavor. I would have preferred that it was "started learning". That better reflects that it is all a work in progress for Tim (and for the rest of us). 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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