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How rare are polyglots | ||
Tags: Number of Languages | Polyglot | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| Scott Horne Newbie Canada Joined 6026 days ago 34 posts - 38 votes | Message 25 of 28 01 February 2008 at 6:42am | IP Logged | ||
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I want nothing to do with tourists who complain that they cannot speak their language with the people of the country that they're visiting.
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| guto2005br Tetraglot Newbie Brazil Joined 5940 days ago 13 posts - 13 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, GermanC2, Spanish Studies: Swedish, Italian | Message 26 of 28 03 February 2008 at 2:03pm | IP Logged | ||
This is true. The overwhelming majority of brazilians speak only portuguese fluently. I never attended any english classes at private schools and I feel that this has only helped me in life. I see too many people spending years learning english at private schools and after 5+ years they still cannot speak it decently. I attended German classes at a private school for three years and that was enough for me to get a KDS (proficiency diplom). And it was German! I mean, we have here much less exposure, if none, to the German language if compared to the english language. But coming back to the "polyglot: rare or not?" discussion... I am rigourous when it comes to define fluency. I know too many brazilians who claim to speak Spanish fluently, but in fact they merely replace portuguese words for Spanish cognates to get by during conversations. That is not fluency! I think the same happens in Spain and France. I was amazed to hear how terribly they speak english, despite being so close to each other. Nevertheless, we brazilians, spaniards and frenchmen are NOT obliged in any way to speak english. If I had to guess, I would say that less 5% of people in the world would have the ability, time and opportunity to speak more than 3 languages fluently. And I mean fluently.. not the passive understanding of a certain idiom. And I dont mean native level. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Alvinho Triglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 6035 days ago 828 posts - 832 votes  Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Spanish | Message 27 of 28 18 March 2008 at 1:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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I wouldn't say I'm polyglot cos I know to speak two languages....well, within 6 years one more World Cup will be going on....I hope more people are aware that it's important to learn languages so that locals don't have any difficulties to deal with foreign tourists...
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| showtime17 Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Slovakia gainweightjournal.co Joined 5885 days ago 154 posts - 210 votes Speaks: Russian, English*, Czech*, Slovak*, French, Spanish Studies: Ukrainian, Polish, Dutch | Message 28 of 28 29 March 2008 at 7:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well it depends on what place on Earth you are. In the US, polyglots are rare, with most people speaking only English with maybe the immigrants also speaking their native languages. However over the northern border in Montreal, polyglotry is actually the norm, with most people being at least bilingual in French and English and the immigrants also adding in their native language. (also many people study foreign languages there, so knowledge of languages such as Spanish is also high) Then if you skip over to the European continent, you will find monolingualism being the norm in places like the UK, France, Spain and Italy, while in countries such as Belgium or Switzerland even the cleaning lady speaks like 4 or 5 languages fluently. Then there are also countries like the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries where knowledge of English is almost universal. (also German is known to a high degree usually)
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