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Polyglots around us - do you know one? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| Arti Diglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 6824 days ago 130 posts - 165 votes  Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: French, Czech | Message 1 of 121 30 September 2005 at 1:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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It s very fascinating to read about people who knew about 10 languages even more, but what about reality? Do such people really exist? I mean real fluency at least in 4-5 foreign languages...I do respect such people and I can't understand how they can switch their mind from one language to another, it's like swithing to another channel on TV, they do it incredibly easy....
I know a German man, he works in Russia and he is kind of polyglot: he speaks perfect Russian, Dutch, English and French, besides this of course he knows Hoch Deutch (his native is a local dialect which he prefers to use). Most intresting thing that he speaks with a very slight accent at least russian. Sometimes i forget that he s German. Does anyone know such people? and I wonder if anyone can become a polyglot or only gifted people? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| KingM Triglot Senior Member michaelwallaceauthor Joined 7003 days ago 275 posts - 300 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Russian | Message 2 of 121 30 September 2005 at 5:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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The only people like that who I "know" are right here on this forum. Here in the States I'm always impressed when I meet someone who speaks one foreign language fluently. I can probably count the number of Americans I've known who can speak two on one hand.
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| Sierra Diglot Senior Member Turkey livinginlights.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6936 days ago 296 posts - 411 votes Speaks: English*, SwedishB1 Studies: Turkish | Message 3 of 121 30 September 2005 at 6:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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My Latin teacher knows Latin, Hebrew, ancient Greek, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and English all very well. I think it's incredibly impressive.
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| Shusaku Senior Member United States Joined 6912 days ago 145 posts - 157 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese | Message 4 of 121 30 September 2005 at 7:12pm | IP Logged | ||
I guess it depends on where you live in the US. We have a huge immigrant population here in New Jersey, so there are lots of people who speak at least two languages (English and their mother tongue) as well as a sizable amount of people who speak 3. However, off the top of my head, the only people I know who speak 4 or more would be those on this forum. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| morprussell Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6975 days ago 272 posts - 285 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 5 of 121 30 September 2005 at 7:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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I live in California. I can think of nine people I know who speak two languages, and only one who speaks three. Only a few of these people speak Spanish, the rest speak languages such as Dutch, Egyptian Arabic, Russian, Swahili, Hindi, Punjabi, and Mandarin Chinese. I find it ironic that I know people who speak such a variety of languages, yet I don't have regular contact with anyone who speaks Spanish, my target language.
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| winters Trilingual Heptaglot Senior Member Italy Joined 6856 days ago 199 posts - 218 votes Speaks: Croatian*, Serbian*, Russian*, English, Italian, Latin, Ancient Greek Studies: Greek, French, Hungarian | Message 6 of 121 01 October 2005 at 6:34am | IP Logged | ||
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I am happy to know a lot of people who can be called polyglots. Even at my school everyone is fluent in at least 2nd language (usually English), but the big majority speaks 3rd or 4th language as well. It can be seen not only at foreign language classes, but also in more everyday occasions - for example, when doing on project they find foreign resources as well, etc, and all of our professors are at least bilingual as far as I've noticed, if not polyglots.
Even apart from school I know polyglots, but in real life they don't speak about 10 languages, but closer to 3-4, or even 5. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sierra Diglot Senior Member Turkey livinginlights.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6936 days ago 296 posts - 411 votes Speaks: English*, SwedishB1 Studies: Turkish | Message 7 of 121 01 October 2005 at 9:22am | IP Logged | ||
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Aside from the Latin teacher I mentioned, the other bilingual+ people I know are all at school. Most of them are language teachers (two Spanish and two French), and then another two were exchange students last year like I was (one knows Italian and one Spanish).
Back in Sweden, about ninety-eight percent were at least bilingual, and quite a few trilingual. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| seldnar Senior Member United States Joined 6944 days ago 189 posts - 287 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, French, Greek | Message 8 of 121 02 October 2005 at 12:01am | IP Logged | ||
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When I worked in a museum in Asia, one of my co-workers was the daughter of a diplomat. She spoke fluent--and I'm not speaking lightly here--Spanish, English and Chinese. Although she was Chinese, her father's postings during her childhood were all in Latin America and that is where she went to school. She told me her first words were Spanish. I spoke to her in English and I would have thought she had been born and raised along the East Coast.
I once talked to her while she held two other conversations simultaneously: I spoke to her in English about an exhibit, a curator spoke to her in Chinese about museum gossip, and a Spanish-speaking staff member talked with her about Chinese art. She smoothly switched between all three of us. I cannot recall ever being more impressed. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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