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Only gifted polyglots can learn 10+langs?

  Tags: Hyperglot | Polyglot
 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots Post Reply
53 messages over 7 pages: 13 4 5 6 7  Next >>
Bao
Diglot
Senior Member
Germany
tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5
Joined 5526 days ago

2256 posts - 4046 votes 
Speaks: German*, English
Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin

 
 Message 9 of 53
27 February 2011 at 11:41am | IP Logged 
Splog wrote:
polyglHot wrote:
I don't exactly consider him a polyglot but...


I noticed you are from Norway, which makes me wonder whether you are deliberately being a
Troll.

Odd, I automatically assumed polyglHot made a mistake and was actually referring to him/herself. The tricks my mind plays on me ...
1 person has voted this message useful



Cainntear
Pentaglot
Senior Member
Scotland
linguafrankly.blogsp
Joined 5771 days ago

4399 posts - 7687 votes 
Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic
Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh

 
 Message 11 of 53
27 February 2011 at 2:41pm | IP Logged 
I don't believe in talent. All I believe in is hard graft and focus.

Code-switching is something that you can only really learn by practice, and once you see how useful it is, it comes easily.

Here's my first memory of proper codeswitching:

I was visiting Paris when a group of people asked me to take their picture. As a thank you, they took me to a cafĂ© for a drink. My French was reasonable, and so was their English. I would start a sentence in French, but when I got to the point where I couldn't express something, I'd switch to English -- and they understood! And they would respond in English, but find they couldn't express something and would switch to French -- and I understood!

We had a full conversation about a website they were trying to launch for the tourist board (which the photo was for -- I think I still have a copy of it lying about somewhere on a New Year card I got from them the year after).

I don't recall ever having a proper code-switched conversation before this. The odd word dropped in, yes; changing languages back and forth, no. This experience really kicked it off for me and got me past the first obstacle for the language learner -- the embarassment of running out of words mid-sentence.
1 person has voted this message useful



anothername
Triglot
Groupie
Brazil
Joined 4821 days ago

96 posts - 195 votes 
Speaks: Portuguese*, Spanish, English

 
 Message 14 of 53
27 February 2011 at 4:27pm | IP Logged 
polyglHot wrote:
I don't exactly consider him a polyglot but...
Switching is easy, specially in a video you are recording of yourself, that you have
planned and rehearsed.
Now I'm no polyglot, but ...


Sorry to say, but this is quite a frivolous accusation. If you are not a polyglot, you are not qualified to judge one. Simple as that.

Anyone who has some formal training in performing arts AND language learning knows that if someone is able to speak several languages with the accuracy Torbyrne does it, in non-edited videos, with very acceptable accent and grammar in most of them (if not all), just based on home rehearsing, he is a true polyglot OR he should win the Oscar.

Mr. Torbyrne, it's a true honor to read your post. It gives me the feeling I'm on the right forum.
3 persons have voted this message useful



polyglHot
Pentaglot
Senior Member
Norway
Joined 4826 days ago

173 posts - 229 votes 
Speaks: Norwegian*, English, German, Spanish, Indonesian
Studies: Russian

 
 Message 15 of 53
27 February 2011 at 5:53pm | IP Logged 
And what makes you the expert Mister Monolingual?
1 person has voted this message useful



doviende
Diglot
Senior Member
Canada
languagefixatio
Joined 5746 days ago

533 posts - 1245 votes 
Speaks: English*, German
Studies: Spanish, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Hindi, Swedish, Portuguese

 
 Message 16 of 53
27 February 2011 at 6:35pm | IP Logged 
Wow, so much flaming. Relax people.

Getting back to the topic, I find that switching is dependent on how much actual speaking practice I've had with a language, and somewhat dependent on how well I understand the language, and also dependent on how recently I've used that language.

When I first started Dutch, I would mix in a lot of Swedish words when I tried to say something. That seemed to be due to the fact that I just didn't know a lot of Dutch words yet. As my knowledge of Dutch words increased, I didn't need to work so hard to fill in the blanks, and the mixing problems of Swedish mostly went away.

Now though, since I haven't worked on Swedish for a while, and I've been doing a lot of Dutch lately, I find that Dutch words will slip into my Swedish (but not the other way around). I think this is mainly because I was never really that good at speaking Swedish, so there's no firm ground to stand on. With German, I never mix it up with anything...it feels very firm. When I'm in German mode, only German comes out.

I'd say the biggest thing is to just practice speaking and thinking of things in that language. Once you're really comfortable expressing your thoughts in it, it'll be much easier to switch in and out of. The next most important is regularly reviewing to keep things fresh.



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