Maya Angelou (Polyglots) Language Learning Forum

Maya Angelou
Tags: Female Polyglot \| Actor/Actress \| Travel \| Literature \| Polyglot
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Language Learning Forum : Polyglots

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CaitO'Ceallaigh
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Message 1 of 50

10 May 2006 at 12:15pm | IP Logged

It just dawned on me that our great American poet and author, Maya Angelou, speaks at least six languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian and West African Fante.

I actually just looked this up.

If you get a chance, listen to this interview from 1987. She is one of the most beautiful speakers of English that I have ever heard.

http://wiredforbooks.org/mayaangelou/

Edited by Fasulye on 27 September 2009 at 12:23pm
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Sir Nigel
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2 sounds

Message 2 of 50

10 May 2006 at 12:55pm | IP Logged

I might also add that she's in the movie Madea's Family Reunion that came out recently.
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Niall Gallagher
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Message 3 of 50

10 May 2006 at 1:18pm | IP Logged

Her voice is quite similar, and as pleasantly engaging, as that of Morgan Freemans, who also speaks fluent French.
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CaitO'Ceallaigh
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Message 4 of 50

11 May 2006 at 11:11am | IP Logged

Something that struck me about Maya Angelou is that she was a self-described mute from the age of 8 until she was a teenager due to severely tragic event. In the interview mentioned above, she talks about this, and the interviewer suggests that this is now what we call autism. And I can't find the quote, but she said during that time, when she was a mute, it was as if all her other senses became hyper-aware. I'm paraphrasing. But her brain changed, she says, and she could only listen. It was in this time that she developed a love for poetry and Shakespeare. I am only drawing the conclusion that this awareness also heightened her ability to learn other languages. I heard her say in a television interview once that she loves the sound of the human voice. She may not like what it says, but she loves the sound of the human voice.

I think this is interesting in light of other discussions in this forum of polyglotism and autism.
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Thomaskim
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Message 5 of 50

08 August 2006 at 10:18am | IP Logged

[QUOTE=CaitO'Ceallaigh] It just dawned on me that our great American poet and author, Maya Angelou, speaks at least six languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, Italian and West African Fante.

Where did you look it up?

I count 5 after subtracting one Italian from your list.
Could it be that she spoke German?
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Jhorer Brishti
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Message 6 of 50

08 August 2006 at 10:33am | IP Logged

Thomaskim wrote:

According to Wikipedia, the missing language is actually Arabic..Quite impressive indeed...!
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CaitO'Ceallaigh
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Message 7 of 50

14 August 2006 at 12:34pm | IP Logged

I think I had typed Italian twice when I meant Arabic.

Here's what Maya Angelou has to say about travel:

Maya Angelou on the necessity of travel

Quote:

A tourist, browsing in a Paris shop, eating in an Italian ristorante, or idling along a Hong Kong street, will encounter three or four languages as she negotiates the buying of a blouse, the paying of a check, or the choosing of a trinket. I do not mean to suggest that simply overhearing a foreign tongue adds to one's understanding of that language. I do know, however, that being exposed to the existence of other languages increases the perception that the world is populated by people who not only speak differently from oneself but whose cultures and philosophies are other than one's own.

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Sinfonia
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Message 8 of 50

14 August 2006 at 4:37pm | IP Logged

CaitO'Ceallaigh wrote:

Here's what Maya Angelou has to say about travel:

Maya Angelou on the necessity of travel

Quote:

I do know, however, that being exposed to the existence of other languages increases the perception that the world is populated by people who not only speak differently from oneself but whose cultures and philosophies are other than one's own.

No one can deny that, but her view certainly reveals her wealthy, middle-class background. With the amount of travelling (especially by plane) she's done over her lifetime, which she encourages her fellow Americans to emulate, you have to wonder how someone of her intelligence can continue to turn an apparent blind eye to global warming.

Global warming, indeed, is going to wipe out quite a lot of cultures and languages over the next century, which means quite a few will die by the 'sword' of the Great American Tourist.

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