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Alternative Polyglot Academies | ||
Tags: Polyglot Academy | Alexander Arguelles | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Lessons in Polyglottery |  | |
| Kugel Senior Member United States Joined 6338 days ago 497 posts - 555 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 7 05 February 2008 at 12:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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From my high school days I remember there was an average of 5 assigned books per semester. Your study plan obviously has more than 5 books per semester, but would 10 or 15 make a huge difference? In my personal experience I found it edifying to read these great works, but I found that in the end all I could show for was an updated list of passive vocabulary and some entertaining plots. I figured it would have been better for me if I knew a survey of World Literature. Knowing even 30 works of literature in a timespan from 3000 BC to the 21st Century would be not enough. Does one benefit more by reading a weaving of 500 year of Western Culture by authors such as Jacques Barzun? For the average language hobbyist such as myself I found Jacques Barzun's final paragraph very insightful:
After a time, estimated at a little over a century, the western mind was set upon by a blight: it was Boredom. The attack was so severe that the over-entertained people, led by a handful of restless men and women from the upper orders, demanded Reform and finally imposed it in the usual way, by repeating one idea. These radicals had begun to study the old neglected literary and phonographic texts and maintained that they were the record of a fuller life. They urged looking with a fresh eye at the monuments still standing about; they reopened the collections of works or art that had long seemed so uniformly dull that nobody went near them. They distinguished styles and the different ages of their emergence - in short, they found a past and used it to create a new present. Fortunately, they were bad imitators (except for a few pedants), and their twisted view of their sources laid the foundation of our nascent - or perhaps one should say, renascent - culture. It has resurrected enthusiasm in the young and talented, who keep exclaiming what a joy it is to be alive. J. Barts Edited by Kugel on 19 May 2008 at 9:24am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Kugel Senior Member United States Joined 6338 days ago 497 posts - 555 votes Speaks: English* | Message 2 of 7 10 February 2008 at 4:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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I would hope that these polyglot graduates would be trained mainly in foreign language pedagogy, hopefully resembling the teachers who are carrying on where Michel Thomas left off. If all these future teachers could offer were the same language learning methods with an emphasis on discipline, then what would make them any different than teachers from our current universities? As far as I know, the main teaching method used in this academy would be living like a monk. Not only is this very unpractical for a young adult, but it could be socially and psychologically damaging.
I hope I don't sound arrogant in saying somebody knowing 12 or so languages academically will be at a major disadvantage to someone concentrating on 1 or 2 languages with near native fluency; and in addition, any technical subjects that are outside of languages. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ProfArguelles Moderator United States foreignlanguageexper Joined 7056 days ago 609 posts - 2102 votes | Message 3 of 7 10 February 2008 at 5:48pm | IP Logged | ||
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I am very happy to read that my proposal for an academy of polyglottery has stimulated interest in such a program even among those who do not like the structure of my program at all. I do not expect my program to appeal to everyone, and in all honesty I rather actively do not even want it to appeal to most people. The program I envision is not intended “for the average language hobbyist,” but rather only for those who feel a true scholarly vocation. My program is certainly not intended to “manufacture” polyglots, but rather to form an intellectual caste with broad, holistic, encyclopedic minds instead of the fragmented, hyper-specialized, extremely confined mindset produced by the existing educational establishment. I see the learning of languages as the key to the continued acquisition of knowledge via expanded cultural horizons, not as an end in itself. If there were other academies for polyglots, academies whose goal was purely and simply to impart knowledge of large numbers of languages in an environment that was freer and more “fun” than the atmosphere I propose, then this would be to the enormous benefit of everyone involved. My academy is intended for those who find that serious study, far from being a painful burden, is the greatest source of fulfillment. The environment I wish to create does indeed resemble that of a monastery more than it does that of a typical university, and I would not want to force this lifestyle upon anyone. If my academy comes into being as the only institute of its kind, it will attract many who just want to learn languages without sharing the other ideals I am proposing. Thus it is that I felt compelled to make the first year so formidable. It would be wonderful if this did not have to be the case, if those who simply want to learn lots of languages and have fun while doing it had a place to go do that instead. There is no reason on earth why there could not be a program incorporating much more active language learning through conversation and other forms of socialization. So please, do continue outlining alternative programs for other polyglot academies, for I would be very happy to read many such proposals.
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| Kugel Senior Member United States Joined 6338 days ago 497 posts - 555 votes Speaks: English* | Message 4 of 7 18 February 2008 at 9:54am | IP Logged | ||
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Couldn't a student study to be a polyglot at any major university? What benefit would one have by going to a newly created polyglot academy?
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| ProfArguelles Moderator United States foreignlanguageexper Joined 7056 days ago 609 posts - 2102 votes | Message 5 of 7 24 February 2008 at 8:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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Couldn't a student study to be a polyglot at any major university? What benefit would one have by going to a newly created polyglot academy?
No, at present students cannot really study to be polyglots at any major universities. The first problem is with credit hours: for an undergraduate program, you generally need 105 credit hours to graduate, sometimes up to 120, in 8 semesters over a 4 year period. For those unfamiliar with the American university system, a credit hour is generally supposed to equal real contact time in a room with a professor, so 3 credits equals 3 hours of class per week during a semester. A student needs to take 9 credits per semester to be considered full-time, and more generally takes at least 12 if not 15; 18 is generally also possible, though considered a heavy load, and 21+ generally require special permission if they are allowed at all. The specific requirements vary greatly from institution to institution and from program to program, but of the 110-odd hours at his disposal, a student must generally expend around 45 on general requirements and 45 on his major, with the remaining 20 or so available for free electives. Now, let us posit that to get grounded in a language you need 4 semesters of study or 12 credit hours, and that to be a polyglot you need 5 languages – that is 60 credit hours of language study just to get a basic foundation. Obviously, this just does not fit. Even if it were somehow made to do so, the second problem would be with the overarching mindset, the mental paradigm that prevails, according to which this endeavor would be considered foolishly impossible. Thus, the best a student could probably hope for would be active discouragement from his advisor, who might very likely and with the best of intentions actually consider it his responsibility to prevent the student from taking so many languages altogether. Thus, the benefit of going to a newly created polyglot academy would be to find a venue where this kind of study is not only permitted but actively encouraged. I proposed my idealist version of formation in polyglottery, which, in being tied to Great Books education, is overtly geared towards a certain type of student, namely myself when younger. I fully recognize that many lovers of language are neither so bookish nor so monkish, so I continue to encourage constructive proposals for a “regular” polyglot major in this thread. I do think it could work quite simply as such if a student were willing to take 120+ hours. Do the mathematics: 40 or so hours for practical courses such as economics or computer science, 80 or so for language work. With “polyglottery” as a declared major, this would be feasible, although one would not be able to develop any great depth in most of the languages in such a short time period as 4 years. In point of fact, you really need more than 12 credits per language to get this, and so if you sought depth, at best you could probably get it in about 2 languages under the current system, and it is certainly not unheard of for people to do this by double majoring in 2 languages, which is certainly a respectable start to becoming a polyglot. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jmlgws Senior Member Canada Joined 6902 days ago 102 posts - 104 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Spanish, Mandarin | Message 6 of 7 18 May 2008 at 3:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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Professor Arguelles,
You have described your proposed polyglot academy as being targeted at a very specific type of elite student, people similar to you when you were younger. However there are people who do not fit into that description who nonetheless would be interested in becoming a polyglot and could benefit from an appropriate program. Speaking for myself, one of the comments you and others have mentioned is that in many places, including Europe some generations ago, knowledge of multiple languages was not exceptional but the norm. You had also mentioned knowledge of multiple languages as part of the background a cultured person "should" know. I wish I could have heard that message as an undergrad, as well as a bit of guidance on how to proceed. As someone who primarily was interested in math/science as a way to "understand the world" I don't think I would have wanted to drop furthering those studies even if your polyglot institute were available. The proposals that I am making would be to try to produce a program for students who may not fit into your ideal polyglot academy and do not necessarily want to become "professional linguists" but would be interested in at least this historically unremarkable goal of knowledge of multiple languages. Would it be possible to build a "polyglot minor" out of something similar to your proposed first year at the polyglot institute? This would have the advantage of being more flexible than the full polyglot curriculum, and I believe could be available at most universities with some modifications. Here is your proposed first year:
English composition, French and German are taught already in many/most universities. Great books education is likely not uncommon, and mathematics training is universal. Physical exercise is also universal at all institutions. World history is likely not universal, but I believe it is becoming more common. This would leave Comparative Philology and Language Overviews as being "new", as well as adding training in shadowing etc. to "conventional" language teaching. Add a few more years of French and German, let's say at least one course/year through 4th year, it seems that this would be a very solid minor program that could be relatively easily rolled out at many universities and might be reasonably popular. Clearly a person completing this sort of a minor would not have the in-depth knowledge of someone completing 4 or more years at your linguistic academy. However it is reasonable that a person with this minor could have a solid grounding in two important foreign languages as well as some of the tools and curiousity to proceed further if he/she chose. Also this minor option is accessible to someone with say a primary interest in the sciences or engineering, yet would like to broaden their educational base. When I was an undergraduate, as a science/math major, I would have been interested in such a program if it were in existance. Aside from the above suggestion, in today's world for either non-linguistic majors interested in multiple languages or for those interested in self-study, would it be possible to record and distribute or sell some of the above courses, in particular the Philology and the Language Overviews? I was thinking of something perhaps similar to Professor McWhorter's Story of Human Language, or a course at MIT Open Courseware. To some extent you are doing exactly this with your video posts on YouTube, but I am thinking of something a bit more in-depth in the future. I would be interested in purchasing "Comparative Philology" if it, or a similar course, were available in MP3s or on CD/DVDs. Thank you and best regards, Lleweilun Smith Edited by jmlgws on 25 May 2008 at 8:55am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ProfArguelles Moderator United States foreignlanguageexper Joined 7056 days ago 609 posts - 2102 votes | Message 7 of 7 26 May 2008 at 1:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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Mr. Smith,
Thank you very much for your letter. If you look at the outline for my book, you will see that chapter 19 is entitled “how can polyglottery reform general education”; when you finally get a chance to read it, you will see that I have long been thinking along very much the same lines you adumbrate here. There is no reason on earth why all inquisitive young minds should be drawn to poylgottery in full, but there is indeed reason and precedent for all well-formed minds to claim an ability to function fully in a small handful of select languages in addition to their random maternal tongue. So yes indeed, I would feel fulfilled if something like the polyglottery minor you propose permeated the curriculum of the scientifically inclined – and, likewise, if I myself were only better grounded in things mathematical, I would undoubtedly also flesh out the major with more requirements in that direction as well. As to recording and distributing some courses, I am very much open to the suggestion and the possibility. I find making videos to be far more fulfilling than I ever imagined I would, and I would love to have the opportunity to do something more professional and more profound along these lines. Thank you again for brining the matter to the forefront of my consciousness, and for expanding on Mr. Barts’ original substantive suggestions in such an appropriate and articulate epistolary style. I would be willing to spend more time here if all exchanges took this form of genuine correspondence. Yours with best wishes, Alexander Arguelles 1 person has voted this message useful |
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