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Feelings about being a polyglot | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6871 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 1 of 36 11 September 2006 at 2:46pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm not yet a polyglot, but my goal is to reach a sufficient level in a number of languages, hopefully by the time I graduate from college, to perhaps qualify as one. With the resources I have in my house, I should be able to learn eight more languages, in addition to speaking my native English. And I have a whole list of other languages to add when I finally learn those.
However, I doubt I'll ever be very open about my skills, mostly because of the public's perception about people who are multilingual. If for example I say I speak Norwegian, and someone says, "Oh, well then how do you say XXX in Norwegian?" and I don't know, they would think that I'm making things up. I know my Spanish isn't as good as I want it to be, I frequently misspeak, and frankly I have a hard time speaking in general due to lack of practice. But unless there is a reason to bring it up, like for a job application, or someone asks me if I can speak a certain language, I don't think I'll mention it. I mentioned this to a friend of mine, and she said that most people feel this way, regarding how they do something vs. how everyone else on the outside thinks it should be done. She likened it to musicians who, if they can't play a certain piece, or play it well, or something like that (I don't remember her exact words) according to some general set of standards they have failed to be the musician they claimed to be. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| apparition Octoglot Senior Member United States Joined 6653 days ago 600 posts - 667 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), French, Arabic (Iraqi), Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Pashto | Message 2 of 36 11 September 2006 at 3:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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I feel the same way, Journeyer. When pressed, I say I am 'functional' in four languages other than English and I'm studying them to get better, since I will probably never be comfortable saying 'fluent.'
If they're describing me to a friend, however, they'll say "he KNOWS four languages" and immediately there's a test. Luckily, they usually keep it easy or just joke around, but there's a real sense of embarrassment, almost, when someone asks me to prove what I know. I agree with your friend's sentiment. We're usually much harsher on ourselves than anyone else is. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6871 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 3 of 36 11 September 2006 at 3:27pm | IP Logged | ||
It's nice to know other people feel this way.
Too true. But the musicians/polyglots/etc also flunk in the public's opinion if we fail to pass their test. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7018 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 36 11 September 2006 at 4:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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I generally keep quiet about knowing other languages precisely because I can't be bothered to deal with jealous idiots who find themselves needing to justify their pathetic existences by ridiculing my hard work. If pressed, then I always say "I only know a bit" and it's usually OK.
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| Sir Nigel Senior Member United States Joined 7107 days ago 1126 posts - 1102 votes 2 sounds | Message 5 of 36 11 September 2006 at 5:15pm | IP Logged | ||
Just in what way do they try to ridicule you? What idiots indeed! When people ask me what language I speak (as they've obviously found out I understand some French and Russian for example) I usually respond with "I speak a little". Edited by Sir Nigel on 11 September 2006 at 5:19pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| lengua Senior Member United States polyglottery.wordpre Joined 6687 days ago 549 posts - 595 votes Studies: French, Italian, Spanish, German | Message 6 of 36 11 September 2006 at 5:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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Definitely a topic I can agree with. I noticed, interestingly, that with the exception of patuco, all of the posts thus far in this thread have been from people based in the US. I imagine there's a significantly higher detest/jealousy of foreign language abilities here than in many parts of the world, simply because we're so damned monolingual. Of course, jealousy has no borders, but here in particular, the result of that "distrust" is often a barrage of quizzes in the vein of "say this" and "say that" and "how can you speak X if you've never lived in Y?" and so forth. It's a very interesting matter. I think it's shared whenever someone in a large group can do something that the majority of people in the group (think they) cannot do. In the case of learning multiple languages, this is something most people would do if it were easy. But since it isn't, when people come across other people who allegedly have done this "impossible" thing, people will react in different ways. Some will be full of admiration. Others, disbelief. Still others, respect. And others - unfortunately - with envy, spite, and bitterness. The trick is to do what you do, and keep your mouth shut about it when you can. You can't stop people from being jealous - but you can't let them keep you from doing extraordinary things, simply because they'd condemn everyone to their own levels of mediocrity if they could.
If asked by the average person if I speak x language, I will respond with "some" - as in, "I speak some x". That, or "a little" - the way we learn to say it in the first lesson of every Pimsleur course :^) If I'm in a conversation with a fellow language enthusiast, I (and s/he) can both be more frank about our abilities, in the way none of us have to justify our languages or achievements when conversing with each other on this site. It's a matter of knowing who you're talking to, and lifting or lowering the veils appropriately. If I may use a Superman analogy, Clark Kent doesn't reveal his superpowers to just anyone. If Superman can appear mild-mannered to everyone he meets in daily life, we can afford to tell people we know 'a little' or 'some' of a language we might know almost as well as we do our native tongues. If you're in a conversation with someone who simply wants to cut you down to his level (I say his because it's almost always guys who act this way), don't get flustered, but don't turn into a braggart. Just remain polite, and if you find the conversation turning into a "say this" and "say that" and "recite Emily Dickinson in x language"-type quiz, just change the subject - or tell him you've got to go study. Remember: you aren't learning a language to turn tricks for people who don't believe you can speak it. Remember what you're doing it for, and it won't matter what the jealous ones say. Edited by lengua on 11 September 2006 at 5:38pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| cadomniel Groupie Canada senseandsanity.com Joined 7198 days ago 88 posts - 90 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Esperanto, French, Italian | Message 7 of 36 11 September 2006 at 11:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't tell people tell people I can speak any foreign languages...well, because i can't :D I tell people my hobby is learning foreign languages. Most people here don't give me a quiz on my German grammar on the pot, and the majority of people don't really know what to say because its such an unusual hobby I suppose. At least, in this part of the world.
It is more annoying whem family and friends are telling everyone how many languages I speak or so on...when in fact, i feel I barely know any languages...i try to keep quiet about what I can do, but I guess its such an unusual thing to have a fascination for languages. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6871 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 8 of 36 12 September 2006 at 1:34am | IP Logged | ||
I know *exactly* what you are talking about, and that's another reason why I prefer to be quiet. One the one hand I like the attention (or used to), but on the other hand I feel a bit...repelled, maybe? Most people are very kind and a bit impressed when I say I know even a little bit of German or whatever, but some people have referred to me as a language genius or something, and although something tells me I should be pleased with that, part of me shys away. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I think other people have more faith in my abilities, or maybe I'm being too modest. As was already sagely mentioned above, we are hardest on ourselves. Edited by Journeyer on 12 September 2006 at 1:35am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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