I'm a freelance radio producer and I'm researching polyglots for a piece. I'm looking for three types of people: 1. People who can learn new languages with unusual ease. 2. People who know an unusually high number of languages. 3. People who are obsessed with "collecting" or learning new languages Are you any of the three? Or a combination? I'm not myself, but am especially fascinating by linguistic skills. Thanks!

Subject created by sherships on Jun 22, 2005 @ 20:23

you've found me.. I am a super polyglot ;) hehe

Comment written by PrincezZz on Jan 03, 2006 @ 07:00

I am Daniel and I am 20 years old. I studied French, Italian, German and Spanish in school. Now I am at university studying Russian, Arabic and Japanese. I also study Bulgarian and. Romanian. I am also interested and know the structure of the following languages: chinese, ukrainian, byelorusian, czech, polish, latin, portuguese, swedish, finnish, dutch, hawai'ian, lakhota, occitan, macedonian, romansch, serbian, croatian, georgian, hebrew and turkish. How hope to develop all of these to fluency level over my life.[br][edited by judo_dan on 2005-12-08 00:14:48]

Comment written by judo_dan on Dec 08, 2005 @ 00:14

Although I speak 5 languages (not many compared to lots of you guys on here!) I wouldn't count myself as a super polyglot. It has taken me years to reach a level of fluecy that I am fairly happy with (are polyglots ever truly happy with the level they attain?) I am a languages teacher at a Welsh medium comprehensive and I have come across some linguistic geniuses. Just one or two, whose speed of learning and attainment are breathtaking, actually quite scary. I guess it is like sportsmen. There are those who love their sport but have to work really really hard to get what they want, and then there are others who infuriatingly have natural flair and just soak everything up instantly. This is a very special gift. People who really speak eight or more languages have this, or have been fighting hard for a long time.[br][edited by Curon on 2005-07-16 09:07:28]

Comment written by Curon on Jul 16, 2005 @ 09:00

I can at least tell where most languages come from by hearing them and I can identify some Asian languages by hearing them. Japanese is the easiest for me to identify, Chinese I can identify but no more specific (Mandarin or what ever) than that. The same goes for southeast Asian languages. That is from hearing the language. If I can see a sample of it written I can usually get more precises (except Chinese). Middle eastern languages I can ususally only identify as middle easter because of the similarity in pronunciations and the same alphabet for most. The most difficult for me to identify are those of my native country, America. That is because they are so rarely spoken over the airways and few of them have a written form. Mike [br][edited by nelsmp on 2005-07-02 02:13:11]

Comment written by nelsmp on Jul 02, 2005 @ 02:09

Bonjour, I'll get back to you when my schedule gets more regular, now it is crazy. I would like to be taught German, and to teach Greek is great. We just need some time. Now I leave town, talk to you guys after that! Tchüß!

Comment written by I-R-I-N-A on Jun 29, 2005 @ 14:26

Bonjour, I'll get back to you when my schedule gets more regular, now it is crazy. I would like to be taught German, and to teach Greek is great. We just need some time. Now I leave town, talk to you guys after that! Tchüß!

Comment written by I-R-I-N-A on Jun 29, 2005 @ 14:26

Hello ., I have said that you have to be persistent , that's what I was not for a long time in my life .I could speak Italian and Spanish in my teens .But now it is all vanished . I know Latin very well . Actually I am translating Spinoza's Tractatus De Intellectus Emendatione from Latin .I can speak Arabic at acceptable fluency but I can read it quite easily .I know Ancient Greek fairly well .I have been learning it for about 3 years . IRINA , if you agree I can teach you German and you could help me to learn modern Greek. BTW I can speak Balouchi ; but not everybody agrees whether it is a Language or a Dialect.

Comment written by Bonjour on Jun 28, 2005 @ 14:11

I've read somewhere in this forum that the guiness book record is 58 languages in just one human brain. How about that! I don't think it is a language myth. Indeed, after the third or fourth language everything comes really naturally. I get used to make connections and associations of grammatical or lexical patterns between the languages... The human brain works like that. Once we understand one rule, we are able to apply it in new situations different enough from prior experiences but with certain aspects in common. It is incredible the amount of such associations we make per second! Most of it is unconscious. But when you come to learn a foreign language it first gets rational. Then by exercise and practice it becomes unconscious, automatic. Isn't that just fascinating...

Comment written by I-R-I-N-A on Jun 27, 2005 @ 23:53

It is wonderful reading you all here... I am not any special polyglot, at least not compared to anyone here. Yet I think that I have what it takes to become one, I've got that "virus"... I lived one year in France when I was 15, which makes that I speak French almost as a second mother tongue. I studied English in school but I have never been to any English speaking country. (I will spend next year in England though). Next came Greek. I learned it in 8 months but with the help of a program in the University of Athens. At the end of the program I passed an exam which is the equivalent of Cambridge-Proficiency. Spanish came so unexpectedly, I almost didn't feel it coming. I can have normal conversations, but I do need improvement. Spanish brought along Portuguese. Although I am making plenty of mistakes, I can easily make myself understood. And you can't imagine how much I could "swallow" during a month spent in a foreign country! As for Italian, it's an older preocupation of mine. I can write some and I even speak it with some effort. I guess I would need a month in Italy to get more comfortable talking it. I am trying to learn German as well, but it is still very poor. Yes, I am very obsessed with languages, sometimes it scares me. I would give up many things for a second of linguistic pleasure. But time is not one of my luxuries, so I often have to postpone study. And I also need to keep practicing all these languages. I do it by blogging (blog on foreign languages: www.friendshipthroughlanguage.blogspot.com ) and by coming to forum like this one. It is entertaining and it makes me feel the languages I know are alive in me. Wonderful feeling. I hope one day I can get a job that would allow me to practice all these languages and learn new ones. So wish me luck! [br][edited by I-R-I-N-A on 2005-06-27 23:44:18]

Comment written by I-R-I-N-A on Jun 27, 2005 @ 23:42

Goran mentioned that about 6 to 12 months should be enough to learn a new language - is that about how long it takes everyone? Anyone longer? Anyone shorter? Nishil - I had no idea that India had so many dialects - 1,000 is truly amazing! So you currently know 7 and a half languages - if you don't mind my asking - how old are you now? How many languages do you think you'll know 5 years from now? Mike - that's quite an unusual ability to be able to recognize languages even though you can't speak them. Are you able to distinguish Asian languages too? Bonjour - You mention that you're good at French, German, and English. Are there any other languages that you speak, but aren't at a translator level? The research I'm doing concerns the edge of knowledge & the human brain - how much can someone know? It seems like there quite a few people out there who speak 8 languages - this is really quite impressive. I've been told however that there are people who know even more. Is this true or a language myth?

Comment written by sherships on Jun 27, 2005 @ 22:44

Hi everybody , I am happy to be with some friends who are Lingumanic as well : and I think this is the word I have coined it. I am working as a Quatrilingual translator : with Persian as my mother tongue and English , French and German as the languages I am good at . As far as I am concerned , I do not think that learning languages needs talent &/or anything like that . I think a parrot would speak 20 languages if (s)he practised as much as I have .One has to be persistent and patient .It does take a lot of patience and you have to be un+dissatisfied all the time, but happy with what you have gleaned as well . What's more - and this is very important - once you start a (new)language you should never lose touch - if I may say so . Frankly speaking , I do not think that I know even my mother tongue very well ; that's why , I have recently taken up a large body of literature .There is always room for improvement. BTW, I am doing a research on the similarities between Balouchi and Ancient Greek . Can anyone give me a hand ?[br][edited by Bonjour on 2005-06-26 08:53:21][br][edited by Bonjour on 2005-06-26 08:59:26]

Comment written by Bonjour on Jun 26, 2005 @ 08:48

I am not a ployglot, but I have tha ablility to recognize almost any language by looking at it. I don't understand most of what I see so I would in no wise be consdered polyglot. I have stuied a little Russian, Ancient Greek and Hebrew. I am now determined to start becoming a plyglot. I am working hard on Spanish. I had a semester of it ten years ago in college and have had exposure to it most of my life living in Texas. I actually studied Russianfor about three months in te Air Force 20 years ago, which means I have the ability to order a Salad in a restaurant anf I avoid using curdsive because I still try to write certain letters in Cyrillic. Dictation was a large part of Russian School. I've been obsessed with languages since a friend of mine and I started writing notes in Cyrillic in the sixt grade, but I never had the focus to attempt to abtain any form of fluency before now. ¡Hasta la vista! Mike

Comment written by nelsmp on Jun 25, 2005 @ 03:52

Hi, I am Nishil from India..going by the definition of the person who started this thread..India is full of extraordinary polyglots. India has 26 states with 18 official languages and more than a 1000 dialects..so even if u have moved from one state to another once in yuor life you will know 2 vernacular languages..so my mother tongue is malayalam and i was born in Bombay so i know marathi and Hindi (which is also the national langauge) then later we moved to Chennai(madras) and the regional lang is Tamil which i learnt too staying there. So thats 4 indian languages. Then all my education was in English as in most indian schools and universities. The only 2 foreign languages which learnt were French and german. Now i am a teacher of both these Languages (at the Alliance Francaise and the Goethe Institut) For the past 1 year i am learning Italian at the university too. So thats 4 european languages. So i know 8 languages. Actualy only 7 and a half. Italian is on its way.

Comment written by nishil on Jun 24, 2005 @ 19:50

Hi Sherships, It depends on your age, I guess. The younger you are the quicker you learn a foreign language. But I think from 6 to 12 months is enough. :)

Comment written by goranbcn on Jun 24, 2005 @ 15:57

Vusal, I love your story! Learning English to watch Lord of the Rings - it wasn't the language, it was the movie, the story. That's great. Was that the start to your Real language learning process? Goran, It sounds like you had to keep learning new languages because of all of the places you've lived. What a great experience! How long do you think it takes to learn a new language once you move to a new country? Naresh, Another media person - Languages will certainly be a big help to you in journalism! How do you pick which languages you're interested in? You mention that you have to be obsessed with language to get the hang of it. Are you obsessed? What does it mean to be obsessed with language? Is everyone else obsessed with language too?

Comment written by sherships on Jun 24, 2005 @ 14:49

If you are consider me to top poliglot list then my name is Vusal and i am from Azerbaijan. I am 21 and I am student of Brno Business School in Czech Republic. My passion in languages have begun how I have already said last year. For the learning I am agree with all tips of NARASH. It is the same method wich I am using.

Comment written by Vusalgustav on Jun 24, 2005 @ 10:29

Hi Vincent, I'm from Hyderabad,India. I am an electrical engineer, atleast on paper and a journalist by profession(Well, people often get confused about what it means,a reporter or a journalist, when I tell them that I am a reporter). I am looking at a career in literary, political and science journalism. I speak 8 languages. I have been learning French, it's been 2 years now. I am a beginner in Russian. I picked up Spanish from my friend who's been learning it. I have a Romanian girlfriend from whom I've picked up abit of Romanian. I learnt Sanskrit in junior college. I speak English, Hindi and Telugu fluently as my basic education was in English.Telugu and Hindi were my first and second language options. I speak Telugu at home. I am trying my hand at Brasilian Portuguese along with improving my Spanish. The similarity between Spanish and Portuguese can be exploited effectively to learn the two languages quickly. One has to obsessed with language, one or many to get the hang of a language. The first step is to master the basic grammar after which one has to enrich their vocabulary. Then it would be advisable to go onto the complicated structures. I watch a film once or twice to get the sense of the film and then go back home to work on my vocabulary. A good method would be maintain detailed notes of words and also to cram them into the head after knowing their context. When one watches a film, the words would strike you once they appear on the screen or are heard. Finally, there is no substitute for reading. Read and read more. Also write a lot. Then your writing skills will be taken care of. Constantly analyse yourself and have a self-critical evaluation every now and then. This would help you improve immensely. I'm self-taught when it comes to Romanian, Spanish and Portuguese. Have confidence and use your imagination. Take criticism sportively and remember, each one of us has a different outlook towards language.

Comment written by Naresh on Jun 24, 2005 @ 07:34

That's so great. Then I am not a polyglot at all, and need a lot before reaching that level. :--( I guess I need only to be concentrating on the language I want to learn to get easily to the beginner's level. Maybe a matter of weeks, then work hard -for years- in order to master that language. Just look at my English, what we learn at school is absolutely nothing, but I do read a lot. I can't say I master English, because I really don't. I don't even think that I deserve to be qualified as 'fluent' in it. My French is much better than my English, but yet, for both languages I am better at formal writings than daily conversations. That's what you get from school. I have been learning Latin, Persian and Hebrew for a very short time, but I was not concentrated on them. I had my exams and all. Now, I'll focus more on German, and maybe Spanish. I have a thing for languages, just the day before yesteday, I learnt how to write numbers from 1 to 10 in Chinese. Can't wait to know all the top polyglots in here. What they do in life, their ages, etc..

Comment written by Sharpie on Jun 24, 2005 @ 01:54

Hi there, My name is Goran and I was born in former Yugoslavia. My father is originally form Croatia and he used to speak Croatian and my mother from Serbia and Montenegro, she speaks Serbian language. There are quite similar and mutually intelligible but there are some differences in vocabulary grammar and they have different alphabets. I also spent a year in Macedonia. I learnt there Macedonian (it's also a Slavic language, very similar to Bulgarian). We moved to Spain 14 years ago and firstly we went to the north. There, two languages were spoken: Spanish and Basque. I started to learn both but I learnt better Spanish. Then we moved to Balearic Island and then I move to Barcelona where I'm living now. In Balearic Islands and Catalonia Catalan and Spanish are spoken. Catalan is something between Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese. At school and at the university I had my classes in both languages. Then I started to learn German and Russian in the Official School of Foreign Languages (for 5 years each one) and I speak them quite well (better German than Russian). Last year in December I started to learn French and Italian. I speak Italian quite well but I still have to improve it. Regarding French, I speak it worse than Italian. I also started to learn Polish some months ago and I can speak it a bit but i can understand more because it's also a Slavic language. I work in a hotel and I can practice all this languages with my clients and I enjoy in it. I'll keep on learning other languages and I'll keep on improving the ones I already speak. If you like foreign languages you can learn them easily. If you already speak 2 foreign languages and if you start with a new one it will be easier for you to learn it than for other person who only speaks their native language. The best way to learn a language is to move to another country where that language is spoken. If not you should maybe buy a Satellite dish in order to watch TV in other languages, or you can listen to the radio, read books, newspapers, etc... I can also understand a good portion of Portuguese, Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, Ucranian, Bulgarian as they are similar to some language(s) I already speak.[br][edited by goranbcn on 2005-06-24 05:13:30]

Comment written by goranbcn on Jun 24, 2005 @ 00:53

Ok. Hi everybody. My russian and turkish languages come by themself from TV. I didn't use any method and afford to learn that languages. English language i had been learning 5 year at school but without any success. I failed my english examination at school twise and i pass it barely. At univercity I don't know why but I had choosen German language and for 2 years i was learning German language and again without any result. And it was like this until 21 January 2004. At that date everything in my life had changed. At that date I was watching bad dabbed movie Lord of the Ring and i realise that translation is not encompass all the meanings of the movie. As a big fan of LOTR i couldn't bear it and i decide to learn english language to watch LOTR properly. I gave all my free time to learn language. Everyday i watched one movie in english and in weekends two or three. There is one very essential point: watch one movie again and again untill you understand everything. After 4 month I had been able to watch any english movie freely and without any trouble.After that I had begun to learn German. Czech and Slovak languages i had been learning last 6 month in Czech republic with ordinary language courses. About learning. 1. You always should have incentive.(imagine how you are using your language abilities in some very important party and how you are astonishing people with your knowledge, how you are saing some romantic words to your girlfreind and her reaction to you and etc.) The imagination is one of the essential and considerable part of incentive. 2. Always mark your vocabulary in special order.It gives a little bit incentive too. For instance, my special englich vocabulary copy-book consist of 8678 words and this is stumilating me to learn more words. First of my intention was 2000 words, then 5000 and now 10000. 3.Lenin said:Reading,reading and again reading. You MUST obey and follow this rule. 4.First learn the basic grammar without, what, you can't speak. Then exert all your time and power to learn words until 2000. After that come back again to more complicated grammer. 5.DON'T STOP READING.

Comment written by Vusalgustav on Jun 23, 2005 @ 22:43