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Hyperpolyglot Article in the Economist | ||
Tags: Hyperglot | Press Article | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| Michael K. Senior Member United States Joined 5731 days ago 568 posts - 886 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Esperanto | Message 1 of 8 31 December 2011 at 6:45pm | IP Logged | ||
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http://www.economist.com/node/21542170
Titled: "The gift of tongues" Mezzofanti and Prof. Arguelles are mentioned in the article. The last sentences: The conclusion? Hyperpolyglots may begin with talent, but they aren’t geniuses. They simply enjoy tasks that are drudgery to normal people. The talent and enjoyment drive a virtuous cycle that pushes them to feats others simply shake their heads at, admiration mixed with no small amount of incomprehension. 9 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Kyle Corrie Senior Member United States Joined 4831 days ago 175 posts - 464 votes | Message 2 of 8 31 December 2011 at 7:10pm | IP Logged | ||
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Interesting read.
If I remember correctly, I thought Richard Simcott (Torbyrne) had mentioned on his blog that he was interviewed by the Economist about language learning at some point. I wonder if that had anything to do with this production or not. On a side note: I don't know if anyone noticed the mention of the name Simon Baron-Cohen in the article. It may sound familiar because I believe he's actually the cousin of Sacha Baren-Cohen, the man that played Borat. I think he was also interviewed in the Daniel Tammet special. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| nway Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Vic Joined 5417 days ago 574 posts - 1707 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean | Message 3 of 8 31 December 2011 at 8:28pm | IP Logged | ||
I immediately thought of Sacha Baren-Cohen when I first read that part of the article a few days ago. At first I thought it meant I was uncultured, but apparently it just means I have excellent intuition. XD That said, I kind of want to watch The Dictator, so perhaps the former is still true after all. I personally thought the part about (autodidactic) polyglots being introverted was a particularly noteworthy comment. Since it's essentially an academic pursuit, I'd venture to consider it true, thought some here may disagree. Edited by nway on 31 December 2011 at 8:34pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| seldnar Senior Member United States Joined 7134 days ago 189 posts - 287 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, French, Greek | Message 4 of 8 31 December 2011 at 11:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, interesting read. This is a review of a book that was first mentioned by Professor
Arguelles in this thread in which the book's author also contributes. http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?T ID=15918&PN=1 Sorry, I couldn't make the link work properly. edit: It seems the link doesn't work still. In the Lessons in Polyglottery section there is a thread devoted to the book "Babel No More" which is the book under review in the article cited. Edited by seldnar on 01 January 2012 at 11:53pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| SmilingStraw Diglot Newbie United States Joined 4912 days ago 35 posts - 37 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Arabic (Written) | Message 5 of 8 01 January 2012 at 1:25am | IP Logged | ||
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Cool article. Thanks for sharing.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| amethyst32 Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5651 days ago 118 posts - 198 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, French | Message 6 of 8 01 January 2012 at 10:11am | IP Logged | ||
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I like the conclusion; hyperpolyglots are just super-nerds. :-)
Happy new year. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6013 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 7 of 8 01 January 2012 at 12:34pm | IP Logged | ||
I don't think it's just about it being an academic pursuit, but about practice time. An extreme extrovert wouldn't be able to practice without being in an external environment in which to use the language. An extreme introvert can practice for hours in an empty room, and without ever opening his mouth. So the extrovert stops learning when he leaves the classroom, but the introvert never stops. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| daristani Senior Member United States Joined 7146 days ago 752 posts - 1661 votes Studies: Uzbek | Message 8 of 8 01 January 2012 at 5:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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Here's the website for the book in question, which has some additional information and other commentaries on it:
http://www.babelnomore.com/ 1 person has voted this message useful |
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