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Your personal polyglot ideal | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| SamD Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6469 days ago 823 posts - 987 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 89 of 125 01 May 2009 at 3:43pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've heard so many native speakers of English speak it so poorly that I am even impressed when a native speaks it "perfectly."
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| Juan M. Senior Member Colombia Joined 5709 days ago 460 posts - 597 votes | Message 90 of 125 01 May 2009 at 4:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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For me, a genuine polyglot would have full mastery over the languages that he or she knows, even if they be comparatively few. A mediocre knowledge of many languages really accomplishes nothing.
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| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6249 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 91 of 125 01 May 2009 at 4:06pm | IP Logged | ||
That really depends. I have a mediocre knowledge of a fair number of languages, and I use it and benefit from it fairly often. If a newspaper article I want to read is in Spanish, I go ahead and read it; if a book I want to read is in French, I'll go ahead and read it. Nonetheless, I certainly can't speak either language - not even at an intermediate level, much less with full mastery. For me, a mediocre knowledge is enough to accomplish some things. I have to agree with Kato Lomb on this one - "language is the only thing worth knowing badly". Of course, it goes without saying that I'm not a polyglot - but who cares? 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5395 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 92 of 125 21 August 2009 at 4:17am | IP Logged | ||
I completely agree. in my humble opinion, fluency in a language is knowing idioms, slang, and other expressions, while being able to free express yourself and carry on a conversation with native skill. If I'm going to learn a language, I won't settle for basic fluency, I would want to know it all. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Gilgamesh Tetraglot Senior Member England Joined 6052 days ago 452 posts - 468 votes 14 sounds Speaks: Dutch, English, German, French Studies: Polish | Message 93 of 125 21 August 2009 at 11:07am | IP Logged | ||
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My (current) personal ideal:
- Speaking the four languages that I already speak (see left) + Arabic and Greek to a very high level - Meaning that I can speak, read, write and understand Arabic to a native-like level, with a good grasp of at least one dialect (Levantine) - Meaning that I can do the same for Greek, preferably even including Ancient Greek and Katharevousa I'm approaching basic fluency in Greek (it used to be my native language), I'm not nearly there with Arabic, but it's definitely very doable and I expect to be there before I'm 30 (I'm 24 now). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| noriyuki_nomura Bilingual Octoglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 5150 days ago 304 posts - 465 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin*, Japanese, FrenchC2, GermanC2, ItalianC1, SpanishB2, DutchB1 Studies: TurkishA1, Korean | Message 94 of 125 29 April 2010 at 1:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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Personally, my definition of an ideal polyglot is someone who can speak at least 5 languages fluent enough to allow him/her to actively participate in discussions with native speakers in a variety of subjects, such as culture, history, current affaires, economy, politics etc. related to the country that speaks the language.
I aim to master at least 8 languages - the 3 major East Asian languages (CJK) and 5 major European languages (EFGIS). After which, I would then like to explore the languages/cultures of Arabic/Persian-speaking countries, of Thailand (I was mesmorised by the way how Stuart Jay Raj speaks Thai, it sounds so natural and melodic to the ears!), Russia and an African country. Edited by noriyuki_nomura on 29 April 2010 at 2:01pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| MäcØSŸ Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5619 days ago 259 posts - 392 votes Speaks: Italian*, EnglishC2 Studies: German | Message 95 of 125 29 April 2010 at 2:27pm | IP Logged | ||
I think that for a linguist it’s more useful to have a general knowledge of 30 languages instead of a perfect mastery of 5, since the difference is mainly made by vocabulary. Maybe it’s not enough to be a polyglot, but certainly dosn’t accomplish “nothing”. Edited by MäcØSŸ on 29 April 2010 at 2:28pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| obara Newbie India subramanian-obula.blRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5776 days ago 21 posts - 22 votes Studies: Gujarati | Message 96 of 125 29 April 2010 at 2:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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For a Linguist who is to master the IPA symbols representing so many sounds available in several languages of the world, he should have at least a rudimentary knowledge of those languages in which that particular sound occurs for which IPA symbol is provided.
I do not know how many languages one must peruse to be familiar with all the symbols of International Phonetic Alphabet [IPA]. Let some knowledgeable person spell the number of languages one is to experience the modicum of the language. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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