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Only gifted polyglots can learn 10+langs? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| tmp011007 Diglot Senior Member Congo Joined 6071 days ago 199 posts - 346 votes  Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: French, Portuguese | Message 25 of 53 28 February 2011 at 4:20pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
there are some gifted people I know BUT it's nothing more than a skill -not a superpower :P. some people might have a hard time and some others, well, a not so hard time (it's just "a matter of practice") confusion plays a role but it's nothing more than normal confusion which slowly goes away through patient language-specific practice edit: I've just noticed doviende's post
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I do agree. yeah, I reckon it's pretty much it Edited by tmp011007 on 28 February 2011 at 5:04pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| tmp011007 Diglot Senior Member Congo Joined 6071 days ago 199 posts - 346 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: French, Portuguese | Message 26 of 53 28 February 2011 at 4:45pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
that reminds me of some Steve Kaufman's and Felix Wang's (loki2504) videos - and they're quite good I can tell IMHO it is pretty normal, particularly if you don't have enough exposure to those languages and/or they're not into "active mode" (in short: use it or mix it :P) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| polyglHot Pentaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5068 days ago 173 posts - 229 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, German, Spanish, Indonesian Studies: Russian | Message 27 of 53 28 February 2011 at 5:40pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
That's not what I meant, of course you are fluent and have mastered your own language. I didn't attend high school or university, so should I say that I don't speak Norwegian? No. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5383 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 28 of 53 28 February 2011 at 5:46pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Let's not forget that to learn 10 languages to fluency, certain conditions need to be present, conditions that have little to do with talent and sometimes a lot to do with coincidence.
Creating an environment where 10 languages can be used regularly is, for most people and for all intents and purposes, virtually impossible. For some people, however, it just happens, over the course of their lives. I have different circles of friends and in some, speaking 3 or 4 languages is the norm because of the types of lives they have led, while in others, speaking a second language is a truly exceptional feat. Very few people get to move to another country to learn another language, and on the other hand, some people grow up in trilingual environments and get to move several times for extensive periods of time to several different countries. I used to live in Burkina Faso where there were loads of trilingual, yet illiterate, people. In Montréal, I used to know bilingual people who were intellectually challenged. Opportunity, not ability, is a decisive factor. Personally, I used to go to university in Montréal where I was exposed to various languages more frequently than now, and I learned 3 languages to fluency in a few years' span. Now, I live in a small city with less immigration, I have a fulltime job with a wife and kids. I've managed to incorporated Japanese in my daily life and I have Japanese friends -- and I have a French-English bilingual home -- but there are hardly any opportunities to use Spanish or German anymore, let alone 5 more languages. Could I learn 10 languages to fluency? I know I could, as I've done it with 4 languages in the past (besides my native language) over relatively short periods of time, and all without moving anywhere. But do I currently lead a lifestyle where that's possible? Realistically, no, not at the moment. Perhaps when I retire, though... Learning 10 languages to fluency requires certain conditions that the vast majority of humans will never encounter. We can -- and should -- celebrate those who have a achieved this feat, but let's not forget that in some people's lives, learning 2 or 3 languages is as great a feat. 11 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| RogerK Triglot Groupie Austria Joined 5077 days ago 92 posts - 181 votes Speaks: English*, German, Italian Studies: Portuguese | Message 29 of 53 28 February 2011 at 7:14pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I was joking, sorry if it didn't come across as intended. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Torbyrne Super Polyglot Senior Member Macedonia SpeakingFluently.com Joined 6097 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 30 of 53 28 February 2011 at 7:58pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
This is very well put. Indeed having the opportunities is a huge part of being able to maintain a larger number of languages. The other thing is making use of those opportunities. This is also not so cut and dried for a lot of people. If you have had a hard day at work, feel down or just don't fancy doing any language work, it is very easy to veg out and watch TV in our home language(s) or do something else non-language related. Then there are the other things that crop up, like family, going out with friends and the rest of your life! ;) I am in a very fortunate position because of the factors I set out in my last post. In addition to that, I also have a wealth of languages on tap here just through the TV. Anything I watch in English has subtitles in Serbian/Albanian or Macedonian. We tell a lot of jokes in Serbian in Macedonia too and every now and then you come across a native speaker who uses that language. Bulgarian is another language I can practice quite a lot because of TV, trips to Bulgaria and, of course, over the Internet. For me, language learning is something I do constantly. I listen to and read a variety of languages throughout the day to maintain my level in some, brush up on others and improves other ones still. The question you have to ask yourself is, why do it? For me the answer is clear - language learning is a fire that burns inside me. It is like the football fan who needs to know about every player, match and league. It is the musician in a band, who thinks only about music. There are people who dabble in lots of things. Language learning has its hardcore element. I think this is what describes me best. Being a polyglot means little, it is a label people attach to people who do what I do. Even amongst those people there is disagreement. The doing is what counts, the label matters not a fig. The fact is this - My name is Richard and I am a lang-a-holic. :) 10 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
 Fasulye Heptaglot Winner TAC 2012 Moderator Germany fasulyespolyglotblog Joined 5849 days ago 5460 posts - 6006 votes 1 sounds Speaks: German*, DutchC1, EnglishB2, French, Italian, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: Latin, Danish, Norwegian, Turkish Personal Language Map | Message 32 of 53 28 February 2011 at 8:08pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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You can easily read all his posts, minaaret, if you click in the profile on his nickname "Torbyrne" and then on "Posts". There all of his ever written posts appear. This method is applicable for every forum user. So, if you are interested in the writings of other polyglots as well, you can do the same by clicking on their nicknames in the profile.
Fasulye Edited by Fasulye on 28 February 2011 at 8:09pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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