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Ziad Fazah - does he exist? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| Marc Frisch Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6450 days ago 1001 posts - 1169 votes  Speaks: German*, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Persian, Tamil | Message 297 of 377 02 October 2007 at 3:27am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Wow, that's a really bad performance. Obviously, he doesn't know Finnish, Persian, Russian, and Chinese very well. I would have done equally well on that show!
PS: It's very reassuring though, at least it shows he's human. Edited by Marc Frisch on 02 October 2007 at 3:29am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| asad100101 Diglot Senior Member Pakistan languagel.blogspot.c Joined 6240 days ago 118 posts - 137 votes Speaks: Hindi*, English | Message 298 of 377 02 October 2007 at 3:39am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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His pronunciation in Persian was awful, like a zero beginner was trying to read the text first time. Poor guy!
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Marc Frisch Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6450 days ago 1001 posts - 1169 votes Speaks: German*, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Persian, Tamil | Message 299 of 377 02 October 2007 at 5:15am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I was really shocked when he read that Persian text, I don't know Persian but he read hesitantly and the Persian speaker didn't seem to be very impressed.
Given his native language Arabic, Persian should be one of the easiest languages for him. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| asad100101 Diglot Senior Member Pakistan languagel.blogspot.c Joined 6240 days ago 118 posts - 137 votes Speaks: Hindi*, English | Message 300 of 377 02 October 2007 at 5:22am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I took a close look at that text. It did not contain many complex words to pronounce. I would perform better than him given the chance. As you already know that, our national anthem is written in Persian. So I have a fair bit of idea of how to pronounce those words.
<<<Given his native language Arabic, Persian should be one of the easiest languages for him.>>> Absolutely! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| morphy Bilingual Triglot Groupie France modernerasmus.com Joined 6175 days ago 68 posts - 71 votes Speaks: French*, Arabic (Written)*, English Studies: Spanish, German | Message 301 of 377 02 October 2007 at 6:00am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Well, I know the video is extremely bad, but I believe we should wait for other elements before making a final judgment on Ziad Fazah's linguistic capabilities. First, the video seems to be only an extract of the original show. It was meant to be shown on a 50 years anniversary of the TV station and it looks as if it was only concentrating on the funny and ridiculous side of the interview (which is, I must add, a bit saddening and pitiful for Ziad). I can hardly believe that he did that badly without giving a few correct sentences. Secondly, Ziad appeared on other shows doing well. It would be interesting to see those other videos... Thirdly, some people on this forum stated that they talked with Ziad in their native languages and that he did "ok", which is normal if he's rusty in that language... At last, I must add another thing about the importance of language practicing throughout the years. Ziad learned most of his languages before the age of 20. He probably spoke the other languages only a few times, thus forgetting a lot. I spoke for example a bit of Armenian still a few years ago, but can't remember much of it now. Sure it could get back if I were to speak to some old friends again, but it'll need time. I wouldn't however know how to describe Ziad: as a record holder, or as someone who can speak some 10 languages fluently (which is great by itself) and has knowledge about some 50 others...?! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Walshy Triglot Senior Member Australia Joined 6727 days ago 335 posts - 365 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German | Message 302 of 377 02 October 2007 at 10:24am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Three of those languages Dave claims he speaks excellently, and in the case of Mandarin, "truly truly excellently". Clearly this is just not so.
I'll believe it when I see it. I started off skeptical but gave Dave and Ziad the benefit of the doubt, until I saw this clip.
Most of those people only have a handful of posts to their names, with very few posts, if any, outside this very thread. Mere sock-puppets, perhaps. I don't think a single established member verified more than a language or two.
Again, this doesn't jive with, for example, speaking Mandarin "truly, truly excellently", and an inability to read basic Persian words, a tongue close to his native one, when again, he is purported to speak it "excellently". I find translator2's analysis of the situation a favourable one, that is, he learned some basic grammar and phrases and thought that this would get him by. Again, as translator2 says, the phrase "the emperor is naked" was MADE for Ziad Fazah. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| edwin Triglot Senior Member Canada towerofconfusi&Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6249 days ago 160 posts - 183 votes 9 sounds Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French, Spanish, Portuguese | Message 303 of 377 02 October 2007 at 10:41am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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A reminder that this site has a short description of the guy:
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/guide/ziad-fazah.html
Admins, would you please attach this YouTube clip, just to show how 'successful' he was? Dave, you have failed to deliver what you have promised. We really have enough of your lies. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| apparition Octoglot Senior Member United States Joined 6435 days ago 600 posts - 667 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), French, Arabic (Iraqi), Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Pashto | Message 304 of 377 02 October 2007 at 10:44am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Ouch!
I like the caption "Qué %/$%# Hago Aquí"! I wonder why the producers didn't verify that he was able to handle it beforehand, with some sample sentences, etc. I suppose they knew that while it would be entertaining to see him succeed, it would probably be more entertaining to see him fail! Well, maybe that's a bit too cynical... Edited by apparition on 02 October 2007 at 11:01am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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