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Holy smokes, I’m a pentaglot! | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6379 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 1 of 10 12 January 2011 at 10:22am | IP Logged | ||
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I don't know how this happened, but suddenly I find myself a pentaglot. I reached basic fluency in Cantonese quicker than I had ever anticipated. Cantonese was the first language I approached with the dual weapons of grasp of a related language and knowing what the heck I'm doing. Combine that with a native-speaking girlfriend and an immersive environment and I guess it's not strange that it went so fast. I don't normally write these logs but I figured this is a good place to stop and think about what the heck I'm doing with my life. Language-wise, that is.
Well, first of all, I'm soon ending my Chinese expat life. Another month or so here in Hong Kong (by the by, go to Hong Kong. It's the awesomest place ever) and then it's back to Sweden. And then what? Well, I don't think I'll move on to a new language yet. I need to solidify my written Mandarin and really dig deeper into spoken and written Cantonese, by way of the Internet and HK movies. I'll also need to brush up on my French, which is getting seriously rusty. Some French cinema and books will be called for and maybe later a trip to France, since it's the active skills that have really gone downhill. Whenever I try to think in French I get serious interference from Mandarin and/or Cantonese. A period with a full focus on French should help with that. So a period of regrouping and solidifying should take up a lot of my time when I get back to the Old Country. But sooner or later I'll need to think about whether or not I should press on into new lands. If I come to the conclusion that I should (and I suspect I will), I'm going to have to choose a language. So far, I haven't really done much in choosing languages. English and French were chosen for me by the school system and Mandarin really sort of just happened, brought on by an overdose of kung fu flicks. Cantonese was due to being in an environment where it's spoken. When I get to the point of starting on my next language, I'm going to get into it with a blank slate. Nobody will choose the language for me. I have no specific interest in any culture. I'll get to pick a language just for fun. Any language in the world. That is going to be so awesome. I could do Arabic just because it's so difficult. Or Xhosa just because of the clicks. Or Hindi just because of the funky movies. I'm so looking forward to that. But that's in the future, and I'm not going to go into that yet. Just muse about it and look forward to it. And I can also muse about my accomplishments so far. I'm a pentaglot. That's a pretty rad thing to be in and of itself. A diglot is the norm in Sweden, a triglot is being well educated. A tetraglot is impressive. But a pentaglot, that's something else. That's going beyond the practical. Nobody becomes a pentaglot because of circumstances. I've reached the point where people might blink and say "Five languages? That's ridiculous!". And it feels awesome. 9 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| mr_chinnery Senior Member England Joined 5554 days ago 202 posts - 297 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 2 of 10 12 January 2011 at 4:09pm | IP Logged | ||
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Great post, and congratulations.
If I ever speak one language as well as you write English, I will be very proud! You write better than 99% of English people I know (even if your writing is tinged with American-English, but that's just me being a snob!). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| polyglHot Pentaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 4863 days ago 173 posts - 229 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, German, Spanish, Indonesian Studies: Russian | Message 3 of 10 12 January 2011 at 4:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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Welcome to the club. English..? Well he is a Sweede.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Mistral Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 5726 days ago 160 posts - 179 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: Mandarin, German | Message 4 of 10 12 January 2011 at 4:27pm | IP Logged | ||
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Reading your post gave me a little feeling of inferiority ;) Feel kind of jealous of your being a pentaglot while I'm just a humble diglot.
I'm also going to learn Mandarin because (hopefully) soon I will be studying it at university. Same goes for Cantonese. So hope you don't mind if I ask you for advice from time to time ;) Good luck! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| polyglHot Pentaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 4863 days ago 173 posts - 229 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, German, Spanish, Indonesian Studies: Russian | Message 5 of 10 12 January 2011 at 4:40pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't feel inferior but I'm not sure I'm a pentaglot, I just made my profile this way
so it states that I speak these languages. The only other option is to make my profile say that I study them which I don't anymore. Basic fluency... what ever happened to upper intermediate? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| mr_chinnery Senior Member England Joined 5554 days ago 202 posts - 297 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 6 of 10 12 January 2011 at 4:49pm | IP Logged | ||
I think Mistral was referring to the OP... 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| edwin Triglot Senior Member Canada towerofconfusi&Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6261 days ago 160 posts - 183 votes 9 sounds Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French, Spanish, Portuguese | Message 7 of 10 12 January 2011 at 5:08pm | IP Logged | ||
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Congratulations, Ali!
Please continue to promote Cantonese back in your homeland, especially to those Cantonese speakers who are giving up teaching their kids their heritage language. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6379 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 8 of 10 13 January 2011 at 4:03am | IP Logged | ||
This is likely because of my English teachers Mr. Willis and Mr. Skywalker. Also because I lived for six months in the States. And also because of my deep love for Dinosaur Comics, which taught me words like "awesomesauce" and expressions like "I'm tripping so many balls right now". I can't help loving it. T-rex and Ray from Achewood are my linguistic heroes. But not all innovative language comes from the north-and-south of a Sherman. Maybe I need to incorporate some more Cockney slang into my English. I can't decide what's more awesome: "brewskies" or "Britneys" (though the place to ingest them is assuredly best referred to as a rub-a-dub). 1 person has voted this message useful |
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