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How many languages to be a polyglot? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6703 days ago 4250 posts - 5710 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 41 of 123 31 December 2005 at 8:11am | IP Logged | |||||
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Repeating what many others here have said, both many "many" and "fluent" are vague. For some reason it seems that the more languages you know, the higher "fluency" is expected (in every possible topic). I'd say that speaking a foreign language "without having to think" is fluent enough, but my aim is to improve the pronounciation.
I'll vote for four languages, but three would be OK. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| boaziano Triglot Newbie Italy Joined 6754 days ago 21 posts - 21 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Italian*, Sanskrit, English Studies: Hindi, Tibetan, Tamil | Message 42 of 123 02 January 2006 at 6:00pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I joined this - marvellous - family following the Mezzofanti's footprints so I have to vote more than 10... at least! :)
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| lengua Senior Member United States polyglottery.wordpre Joined 6478 days ago 549 posts - 595 votes Studies: French, Italian, Spanish, German | Message 43 of 123 10 September 2006 at 2:23pm | IP Logged | |||||
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An interesting topic. Personally, I'd be satisfied with a fluid knowledge of three, but there are no hard and fast rules in this. I am sure, however, that I'd be less than impressed, upon meeting someone, if the person announced himself or herself as a polyglot - regardless of how many languages s/he could speak. There's something to be said for modesty, after all.
2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6662 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 44 of 123 12 September 2006 at 1:54am | IP Logged | |||||
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Well, now that we've opened this up, I think I'll jump on! :-)
There's nothing wrong with being proud of your accomplishments as long as you don't flaunt it in people's faces. In other words, lengua, I agree with what you say about modesty. A couple of years ago we had a visiting speaker at my university, and he talked about in his travels having learned Portugese, among other languages. After his presentation I went up to him and asked him how many languages he spoke (not to test him, I was just curious, and hoping for advice perhaps) and he responded, a bit dismissively, I thought, "Oh, many!" Maybe he was being truthful, but I did learn something: downplaying your skills might be better than boasting them. It's a fine line, I think, and sometimes I think I'm too modest, to the point where I actually don't believe in myself enough and don't give my own self enough credit. This individual did not impress me, although I wonder if maybe he was trying to. That said, I don't really blame people for being impressed by others who have learned foreign languages. To many people, especially where I'm from in the USA, there is something admirable about it: either it being apparent magic of some kind, or the willingness to take on so much work that is required, or a bit of both. Of course, to many others, I'm sure they wonder why we do it at all! ;-) 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 6809 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 45 of 123 12 September 2006 at 7:22am | IP Logged | |||||
I think that if he was really trying not to show-off, then he could have said "I've picked up a few here and there".
Definitely! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| el topo Diglot Groupie Belgium Joined 6554 days ago 66 posts - 71 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: Dutch | Message 46 of 123 12 September 2006 at 8:46am | IP Logged | |||||
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I couldn't care less about the precise definition of a polyglot. For me a polyglot is someone who speaks many languages, but how many is a matter of opinion. Back in Russia, I would consider everyone speaking two foreign languages a polyglot, simply because I didn't know anyone personally who was fluent in even one foreign language. Here in Belgium speaking three languages is absolutely normal, something that is not seen as a big achievement.
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6662 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 47 of 123 12 September 2006 at 1:15pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I don't see why geography nor how the individual was brought up should have any impact on whether or not s/he is a polyglot. To me, a polyglot is a person who speaks several languages (I'm my view four or more, but that's more or less beside the point I'm making here). A polyglot defines *how many* languages a person speaks, not *how* they learned them. I don't care so much if the person lives in the middle of an environment that is primarily monolingual for hundreds of miles in every direction (like where I live) or if they are from a country where it's normal to have several languages learned. If in Belgium it's normal to speak three or more languages, then in my view Belgium is a nation of polyglots. :D
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| el topo Diglot Groupie Belgium Joined 6554 days ago 66 posts - 71 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: Dutch | Message 48 of 123 13 September 2006 at 4:14am | IP Logged | |||||
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Journeyer, I didn't mean to say that whether you are a polyglot or not depends on your upbringing and place of birth. All I wanted to say is that in different parts of the world the number of languages spoken by someone that impresses people may be different. You yourself said that in your view it's four or more, probably because speaking 4 languages is impressive to you. Others may have a different criterion, because for them being able to speak 4 languages is not that big a deal. And this does depend on afore-mentioned circumstances.
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