16x9 - Word Play: Hyperpolyglots speak so many languages
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 17 окт 2024
- Imagine being able to master more than 10, 15, even 20 languages. It seems rare but these super language learners do exist. They're called hyperpolyglots and 16x9 searched the country to bring together the most proficient linguists.
"no one knows why he can retain so many languages"
he studies 8 hours a night. there's your answer
so true XD
Tobias Ommer yep, agree, they're just simply spend more time and focus on what they're doing, there's no other reason
Khang Chau They might have talent for it. And their love for it will certainly help them learn it faster (a la work is play). But yeah, bottom line, 8 hours every single day is a lot of time that will certainly play a major role here.
yeah some may have several million more brain cells than others, but the thing that gives them such succeeds are using their time wisely to work on it, which everybody are capable of but not all do :D
Google "language ability gene."
*spends countless hours studying*
We have no idea how they do it.
It's kind of a stupid video 😂😂
Success is no gift. It comes with hours and hours of frustration and hard work. I've studied 9 languages. There is nothing different in my brain than yours. People say my brain is different. It is not. It requires hours and hours of hard work. Not a gift.
it works easier if u play with the languages. try it ones!
and your brain changes as they made tests about it. but noone is born like this. as they say everybody can do this and THEN the brain will change (as it always changes when u learn sth new)
+Dr.Josh I disagree. Hardwork is a must, no doubt, but everyone has a core competency. This refers to what the individual is best at, if an individual tries to do something outside of their core competency, they would not achieve what another person, working in the same field, but that being his core competency would.
Success is most certainly a gift. Are all human body parts the same among people? No, people naturally have different body parts. Some naturally stronger, taller, bigger. Some naturally weaker, shorter, smaller. The brain is a body part like any other. Why would you expect brains to come in cookie cutter allotments, when the rest of the body is so diverse?
I don't mean to correct you, but I'd say that your brain is now different. The immense amount of learning and work and sweat you put into it has changed your brain. Massive respect sir.
I speak Swedish as my mother tongue.
I started learning English at 9, and I am 15 now.
I started studying French at 12.
Now I have started studying Finnish, Tagalog and Esperanto .
Awesome learn all you can! I'm delighted that you chose English, (it's my mother tongue!)
Bone, mi ŝatas kiam mi trovas aliajn parolantojn de Esperanto. c:
+CodytheAwe5ome Iz Awe5ome it is mandatory in sweden..
Mi paroles esperanton ankau. Cu vi bone parolanto?
+SuperAabbcc123456 cu vi estas bone parolanto*
It's not a gift like the neurolinguist at the end said, instead it is all about dedicating yourself to something, studying and immersing yourself nonstop with no excuses. I'd like to add though, what makes learning languages an addiction for me is that I become a new person. I go from wearing a mask to becoming whatever culture/language I am learning because not only do you know the language but you think in the same way as natives do. You are then bestowed a new way of thinking. I believe surrendering to this "new identity" is the only way you become fluent. It is a remarkable metamorphosis and highly cathartic. Also, I think retaining languages is possible for the mind because it eventually recognizes all of them as one. Which is why sometimes I formulate a sentence and put one word of every language I speak in it without even noticing. lol
+Laurette Illy Well put dear!
+Laurette Illy For me learning language is the result of struggling with OCD.... or like a cousin says : A characterist of my dementia..
Frederik Rasmussen thank you!
Guillermo Velázquez Abreu
I'm sorry to hear that ;( I hope that might change in the future...
+Laurette Illy i agree with you what all do you speak?
A couple of thoughts:
The more languages you learn, the easier to learn others. For example, I can't speak Italian at all but knowing three other Romance languages, when I do learn it, I would only focus on pronunciation, as the vocab and grammar are identical to either French or Spanish (that saves you 80% of the work!). So I could probably learn Italian in 1/5 the time another person. Same when I learn Dutch or Swedish (which I can understand a little knowing English and German). However, the more languages you speak, the harder it is to maintain them. So to most people, unless you are one of the people in this report or you are lucky enough to be in a job that requires speaking 7-10 languages a day, it is a balancing act between easier learning and harder maintenance. You also don't want to get into the trap of being able to communicate with the world, but having no time to engage that world because you have to practice 10 languages today. And yes, I am a left-handed, musically able, rhythm aware male. :o
I agree, whilst living here in Taiwan i'm starting to pick up similarities to Cantonese when I hear people speaking it in films or I can see similarities in Japanese writing with Chinese script.
I agree with the fact that it's easier to learn language(s) and more difficult to maintain it or them because we never practise it or them. I learnt italian, spanish and dutch in addition to english (that I master better) and I would be completely unable to engage a conversation with someone oraly or by writing. Maybe more in dutch because it's the second language i learnt in my life.
I disagree with the premise that "they were born differently" I do believe the mere act of studying a foreign language changes the brain, the more languages, the more change and thus they seem like they're different than the average person. What one of the polyglots said I think has the most merit... "drive" to have the drive and determination to do and the time to commit, by doing that it changes your brain function.
Language is different than any other form of study in that sense because it's the essence of communication, if you read a book on Cholesterol, you can cite facts from the book, studies referenced in it and so forth, but it doesn't change how your brain processes the information, you're just storing information, and that's not a bad thing, keeps the brain healthy. But to change not the idea but how we communicate that idea that has profound changes in the structures of the brain, it effects, sound, sight, thought everything.
A language isn't just a set of facts to be memorized, it's a state of mind to be adapted to. I don't want to speak Spanish, I want to think in Spanish. Hyperpolyglots like those in this special no doubt think in all of the languages they study, and you have to keep studying lest you lose the language. You can't completely forgo one to study another, you have to maintain exposure to all the languages you've learned, that's the tricky part where time becomes a real factor.
These folks are to be commended on their ability, but it's not an innate talent, it's incredible drive and consistency to maintain that drive.
Of course its an innate talent. If it wasn't there would be females in the group. No doubt each of those men has extremely high intelligence.
mouthpiece200 Women and men simply express their intellect in different ways, men work hard to learn languages as a form of peacocking, women peacock intellectually in their own ways. Women also suffer from a need to not look smarter than the men they're with because men, tend to have more fragile egos and aren't keen to admit their woman is smarter than they are... at least not traditionally so that's a social dynamic which guides women to downplay their intellect.
Christopher Snow Men are simply more likely to be genius than women are. Has little to do with peacocking. Ever heard of a female Mozart? Female Einstien? Female Da Vinci? Men just have more representation at the extremes of mental ability.
Christopher Snow Well if I'm wrong, then prove it. :D
you are right... I speak in 8 languages..4 of them are in native level... I learned languages because I have to, not because my brain is different...
The people featured in this clip are: Axel Van Goud, Tim Doner, Alexandre Coutu, Richard Simcott and Steve Kaufmann. Most of us do keep in touch to this day, though we live on separate countries/continents.
Very cool!!
Wow, impressive!
Wonderful!
I love how Steve Kaufman never raised his hand. So he interjected
"I'm pretty sure they were born differently" as in they spend their time reading foreign books instead of being on social media all day?
"a rare breed of people" that study their asses off
Well, I don't think that polyglots are some kind of rare creature, but I would certainly admit that they have talent and natural inclination toward languages. That doesn't mean that others can't do it too. Hard work CAN trump natural talent.
This is very interesting. I honestly think anyone can learn a foreign language. As long as the learner finds it fun, interesting and challenging. In fact, mastering two or more languages is more common than anyone might think. In most of the third world countries hundreds of millions of people speak three or more languages. Take for instance, Mexico. In southern areas, some people speak their own native indigenous language at home plus Spanish plus a third language spoken in some other area nearby (There are over 60 languages with about 15 million speakers) This pattern is repeated in India, China, Kenya, South Africa and many other countries, even Europe. By the way. My native language is Spanish. Sadly I do not master any of the indigenous languages in my country. Yet, I do know some words and can even count using the Mayan vigesimal system, I can also speak some German, French and Russian.
I'm a female polyglot, but I don't consider myself a hyperpolyglot, as I only speak six languages, although by the definition of this video I would be. I live in Canada too - how do I connect with these people?
P.S. I find that my languages are sometimes useful, but living in an anglophone society, I find that most of the time it's just like a party trick - interesting to other people, but not valued very much.
Laura Blumenthal Hi there. If I was you and wanted to use my language skills, and if I was curious about people in those countries, I would simply find some friends over Internet I can Skype to or something. I bet there is a lot of people out there thinking it is cool to make friends accross the world. And surely polyglots must exist among those language sites also.
wowJhil
Thanks, wowJhil. I actually have people I can chat with in the languages I speak right here in Vancouver, but what I don't have is a lot of polyglot friends. I've actually joined a polyglot meet-up group, though, and have met some through that. I hope to meet some more polyglots in Novi Sad if I make it there in October, and maybe I can Skype with them after I meet them.
Steve Kaufmann has a RUclips channel.
Shocking ignorance
Ophelia Vert Ambigous comment
Thank you thank you thank you I just left a long rant of a comment on this video. The ignorance is wild. Btw love your videos hehe
I'm currently 15, been studying language as a whole for the past three years, and have 5 different language of varying levels under my belt. From my experiences, I discovered that determination and a bit of luck are the necessities to learning any language. And, you have to love what you do. For me, personally, I don't think I will learn any new languages because I don't have any more interest in doing so. My friend, though, he'll continue studying for the rest of his life and that is such an amazing thing! I wish you all lick in your endeavors! Remember, you can do anything that you put your mind to
How's your language learning now?
I speak: Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Mandarin, and Italian. Of course at varying fluency levels but I started learning last year with thanks to a video I saw of Tim Doner. I started with French then Spanish, now German. =D
すごい！：D日本語の勉強の後で、ドイト語をべんきょうしたいです！私のお母さんはスペイン語がはなせますけど、私はスペイン語全然わかりません。D;
parabéns
Servus was geht?
Wie geht es dir
I had my brain tested last year at hospital because of my epilepsy and during that time I had to take a memory test with a psychologist, I had to memorise a random list of 15 words he spoke to me and say them back and I said 14/15 on the first of 5 attempts, he said that this randomly shows that my brain where it's meant to be "inactive" actually is a lot more alert than people with epilepsy of the temporal lobe (my form of it) and that I also for some reason use the right side of my brain to memorise Chinese as a "picture" and remembering the structure of characters instead of physically knowing first how to pronounce something, which is how I can read more Chinese than I can speak. Plus as the video mentions, I have musical ability - I play 6 instruments and have a degree in music where I did my final essay on ethnomusicology.
We arent sub-human -.- we just have drive and work ethic and we decide to put it into languages. When I was born i couldnt speak any language, just like the rest of you. Now I speak 7 not with any "talent," I use and practice the languages whenever I can! it's not brain science, it's a passion!
I doubt you speak 7 fluently. Polyglots love to overrate themselves.
@@sarban1653 They didn't say they speak them fluently besides why hate?
@@tiaan7183 Saying you speak a language implies you're fluent or close to fluent in it. Nobody says "I can speak Croatian" if they can only order ice cream and do basic greetings in it. There's no "hate", you're just one of those sycophants who thinks that when someone calls themselves a polyglot, it should be illegal to make any slightly critical remarks towards them.
@@sarban1653 I classify polyglots into "bravado showoff polyglots" and those who actually care to converse with speakers of that language.
If one actually learns languages just to add up that number of languages studied, they fit into the 1st category
I'm a native speaker of Chinese who majored in English in college and Japanese in graduate school. I'm currently teaching Latin at university level and I speak 11 languages. I really wish I had time to study more =)
厶ン クリスタ パワ マク アプ
@@raidenstark315 LOL сеилор мун 🤣
Once you hit 11 you hit the hyperpolyglot status which is less than 0.1% of the world achieves congratulations in the meantime continue to help those languages vocabulary grow.
Welche Sprachen kannst du sprechen
What's your method
Rare breed my ass. All you need is interest,time and persistence.
You could warn us before that brain surgery footage!!!!
grow up
Serhendn1 lmao as soon as I saw this the brain surgery popped up
5:10
As a language teacher for "first-year" students, I can easily see that some people get the language more easily than others. Just as some are more "gifted" in other subjects. But those that learn the language easier than others still have to put in lots of hard work. Nobody would ever say that the NBA player is so gifted they never need to practice, that it is all natural. So why would we say that about the incredible achievement of a polyglot?
in school noone learns like we do when as a hobby. Vocabulary learning kills the brain (at least how u do it at school). grammar is not necessary in the beginning and can even make problems
@@felakadrolp8918 that clearly depends on the school and on the teacher
Hi stefinlithuania, thank you for replying back. I never heard of the Common European Framework, so it is really interesting that you brought it up. Thanks a lot :]
People often say "you're so lucky that you've been born with such an amazing gift", "I could never do what you do", and "I wish I was as smart as you" and so on. Just stop. Noone's BORN knowing ANYTHING at all, especially not something as specific and refined as being fluent in several languages. They often say things along the line of "I wish I could do that", but simply wishing something to come true will not make it so. Those who have any kind of skill faced reality and got to work, simply by believing that it could be the reality of tomorrow. 100% dedication - that's what it is.
Am I the only one to be shocked by this affirmation saying that hyper-polyglots are men ? First it hasn't been verified and we don't know how they arrive to this conclusion. And secondly it can be very misinterpreted in a documentary which tries to find scientific explanations. I don't think men are more talented for languages than women at all. I don't even think that some brains are more gifted than others, you just become more and more able to learn new languages when you already know a lot of them!
Camille S If you do some research on the Internet you will find out that among those who speak 10+ languages a large majority is male. Even though I do not think that they conducted a survey to prove that. You should listen more closely. They only said that most of them are male not everyone.
I was really surprised when I heard this too especially as women are known to be better a communication and languages. But apparently in this specific field of language learning (hyperpolyglot) men comprise the majority.
Camille S Third, how much of being called a hyperpolyglot is the bravado that lets you say "I'm fluent in this language" is in part because men are encouraged to brag like that. Seriously, the guy who introduced himself in Japanese had shit pronunciation. (those were simple sentences of course, who knows how deep their knowledge actually is) Just yesterday I was speaking in Japanese and Spanish, and wrote emails in Chinese and Slovak. Do I think for a second that I am fluent in all of those languages? Nope. I consider myself kinda 2.5-lingual even though realistically I can hold some level of conversation in 5. You can talk about the weather in 20 languages? whoop-de-doo. I'll be more impressed when you can discuss literature in 5.
Roman74750 *Edit* You will find that those who claim to speak 10+ languages are mostly male. What you won't find is how deep their knowledge is, or the women who speak many languages who either don't feel confident enough to broadcast their knowledge, or who don't see a need to do so. I can figure out how to introduce myself, talk about where I am from and my hobbies in 20 languages. I won't say it would be easy, it would take time, but it is doable. Now, can I talk philosophy in each of them? Not so easy.
In my experience learning languages, I have seen so many people with language skills that are barely passable, but when they talk to others about the languages they know, they identify as a speaker. I'm on the other end of the spectrum. Realistically, I can have a basic conversation in 5-6 languages, a conversation about most any mundane subject in 4, and a conversation about anything I want in 3. What do I consider myself? Barely bilingual, and always fighting against atrophy.
Strawberria
Interesting. I have never thought about it that way. But sure this could be one explanation. Though I gotta say that having a certain attitute is not necessarily gender specific. Actually a really good female friend of mine brags more about her language skills than anybody else I know.
Roman74750 I agree, attitude is definitely not gender specific, however it is a fairly typical practice in the western world for females to be raised with an emphasis on not bragging, so in the aggregate, while I'd say everyone has an equal propensity for bravado, I've seen in adulthood, men are more likely to be verbal about it.
My English language teacher is a real linguist and is fluent in more than 40 languages and teaches at least 20 of them (including Ancient Egyptian, Bengali, Korean and Tabasaran). However, no-one will never see any video or interview of him showing off his skills because he's too reserved and modest to follow the trend pseudo-polyglots seems to be doing these days.
yukistardust84 Your English is excellent! May I ask where is your teacher from and where does he live?
Could you ask him what he thinks is the most beautiful language?
Peter Muehrcke Oh thank you! I've been studying English for one year now. I am doing my best!
My teacher lives in Japan but he is a Maltese national. Your question is funny because I also asked him that question some time ago. He told me that as far as popular languages go, Brazilian Portuguese is the most beautiful language to listen to, whereas Italian is his favorite language to speak and sing in. Japanese is the most beautiful language to read and write in along with any ancient language. He also enjoys Native American languages for their grammatical complexity.
I like to think his favorite language is Japanese - that's why he lives here. (´∇ﾉ｀*)ノ
yukistardust84 Thanks, that was a really interesting answer. I think Japanese is so difficult to read because it's like a sort of rebus or code. I can read Chinese easily but Japanese is too hard to read without furigana, especially the text of academic or technical subjects. I study Arabic at the moment and I think that Arabic calligraphy is also very beautiful.
I was really bad learning my FIRST language and my second to, now I can talk in 5 languages ! Is not a gift from god but about learning how to learn, this is the big polyglot secret
Richard's Swedish accent was spot-on
I like how the lady embraces there ideas and methods of learning shes so cool.
The answer is there already: He dabbles with languages EVERY DAY, he is a manager of interpreters (which requires him to master languages), added with his social language club where he can speak those many languages he learns, and his dedication to study after work FOR 8 hours.. it's a total dedication and hard work. His brain must have already built the muscle and all the needed synapses to access the language-related ganglia. He has everything he NEEDS to master LANGUAGES, i.e: Motivation, Dedication, Practice, and Communicative Circles (plus his job is related to mastering languages). Kudos to this dedicated man!
I barely speak 5 languages at professional C1 and C2 levels and mastering my 6th right now. I'm not even a polyglot yet... But still, many of the languages they were speaking are not at mastery level at all, not getting the phonetics and cases right. Especially Russian, it seems that it's hard for most non-Russophones to get it right. Saying hi and basic stuff is not speaking a language. I could double my number that way... I know, from another video that Tim speaks 6 or 7 languages at high conversational level, but the other ones he knows are at intermediate or beginner level and living in such a multicultural city is also a big plus. Living in a monolingual country like many in Latin America is hard for the language learner, porque todo lo que oigo es casi siempre español, algunas veces al mes oigo francés o portugués de paso, jaja. Igual esta poca madre, es bastante impresionante oírlos. Igual hay que echarle ganas, yo a lo mucho estudio unos 20 minutos al dia por huevon. Ладно, пойду уже, а то учиться надо, а я тут дома на компе сижу и херней страдаю... Entre mais linguas fala ou aprende uma pessoa, mais facil é pra chegar aos niveis altos da mesma. Caras, o sotaque importa também em uma lingua, mais eles tao falhando muito nessa parte. Acho que nao é correto dizer que sao mestres das linguas nas que nao tem um jeito de falar nativo...
permita-me te corrigir em alguns pontos
o termo correto para comparação é "QUANTO mais linguas fala ou aprende uma pessoa, mais ...."
e "nãs que não tem um jeito nativo de falar", mas eu diria "nas que não falam à nivel de um nativo"
De dónde eres?
Russian is very hard for English speakers.
A few months ago I read an article about a study, which analyzed the difference between genders when it comes to "obsessive intellectual achievements" (hyperpolyglots, musical prodigies, scientists). The study suggested that men are ON AVERAGE more determined to prove themselves in a certain profession, are more often super-passionate about a certain hobby or subject, and are thus more likely to be found at the top of their field... I think such behavior is the reason why hyperpolyglots are predominantly male. (I'm not trying to be sexist or prejudiced!!!)
Do you have a link to this study? I'm interested in reading it.
I did my best to find the article, but it was in some magazine and I couldn't find a digital version. :/
Respectfully sir, your study is horse shit. It is a simple fact of biology that genius tends to reside in men more than women. The great geniuses of the world (overwhelmingly men) have abilities far beyond which can be explained by working harder. Mozart, Einstein, Da Vinci... None of them overworked themselves to attain brilliance. True genius is ALWAYS discovered very early in life, way before increased ambition could create it.
Brain differences among the genders are proven from birth. Boys focus on objects and things. Girls focus on people and faces. Men also have wider IQ variability. They are more likely to become genius and more likely to be an idiot.
mouthpiece200 Absolutely! You have to be a genius to become Mozart, I can't argue with that! ...I just said that men often exploit their intelligence more, as they are more driven. So if you were to take a common slightly-above-averagely intelligent man and woman, the man might have a slight statistical advantage. :)
Rok Sraka I have no disagreements with you there.
Je ne suis pas d'accord du tout avec la plupart des choses qui j'ai entendu en regardant ce vidéo. Quel étaient leurs paramètres lors d'affirmer si sûrement qui la compétence de maîtriser plusieurs langues est quelque chose qu'on a depuis la naissance? Moi, je suis un homme brésilien qui aime obtenir connaissance des autres langues étrangères, peu importe combien bizarre qu'elles puissent être, et, à présent, je parle déjà cinq langues (portugais, anglais, français, espagnol et roumain) et j'étude d'autres cinq en plus (allemand, grec, tchec, islandais et italien), j'ai toujours eu facilité à apprendre langues étrangères, mais cela, à mon avis, n'est pas parce que je possède un cervau plus puissant qui les autres ni parce que je suis un homme. Je ne suis pas un scientifique, mais je fais l'objection à cette reportage, en croyant qu'elle ne soit pas scientifiquement fondée. Enfin, dans tout cas, c'est mon avis et j'ai le droit de exprime-le.
+Santiago Trillo Quinteros
tu as la raison je suis espagnol, je parle deux langues seulement (anglais et espagnol), mais je suis jeune encore j'ai 14 ans et je pense que pour apprendre un langue à la perfection il faut pas étudier beaucoup, il faut avoir de motivation
pardon pour la mauvais ortographie et grammaire
Je suis complètement d'accord avec toi.
A mon avis ça n'a rien à voir avec talent je dirais qu'il s'agit plutôt de la motivation et la montant de temps libre lequel t'as disponible pour apprendre de langues...
Les gens lesquels arrivent même pas à apprendre une langue étrangère son soit paresseux sourit ils ont pas le temps ...
*que j'ai entendu
*leurs paramètres ???? De quoi tu parles ???
*que la compétence
*et j'en étudie cinq autres
*comment bizarre elles peuvent être
*aime obtenir connaissance, ça ne se dit pas
*j'ai toujours eu de LA facilité
*cerveau
*à CE reportage, en croyant qu'IL n'est
*c'est mon avis et j'ai le droit de m'exprimer (c'est bizarre dire ça)
It's not the grammar, it's the pronunciation.
Happy to see Tim Doner and Steve Kaufmann share their language learning insights in this one! I wish Laoshu (may his soul rest in peace) and Xiaomanyc were featured too.
I'm a hyper-polyglot and I grew up in a hyper-unilingual Alabama, environment has no real influence. I began teaching myself German, Spanish, Portuguese and French around 14. I begin annexing other languages afterwards. I ended up learning Italian, Afrikaans, Russian,,, I avoided grammar and thus grammar paralysis.
I don't want to be the skeptic here but that guy Richard Simcott was claiming in a video that he learned Romanian (among a lot others). He spoke a bit and I have to be honest, as a native I understood very little of what he was saying. Not that I'm doubting his knowledge but here they say "has a gift with accents". Well, that might be true with English but as far the foreign languages go, not really.
Also, these guys are enjoying the attention a little too much in my oppinion and that makes me a bit cautios. You may say you know whatever you want (Farsi or whatever) as long there's nobody around to really put that to test.
(Note I am not diminishing anyone's efforts. As an active foreign languages learner myself, I just want to call to a bit more cautiousness.)
Well, you have different attitudes and wills regarding each language after language. You can learn, let's say 7 or 8 and want it rather deep (B2 level by example or more, why not), you can say that you want really be native-like with just 3 or 4 foreign languages, or you can add these to go up to 15 or more. That depends , too, how you're learning, the time you're dedicating to,... I don't think you can reach a C1+ level in 20 languages. But that's right with a A2+/B1 level you have some keys to manage yourself in many languages. Without counting the same roots languages, ex: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, Corsican, Romanian,... this way you can increase the number of you studied languages.
Da, e adevarat ce spui tu... Ei spun ca vorbesc n limbi dar cand ii pun sa vorbesca o anumita limba o sa stie doar generalul(salut, ce mai faci?, eu vorbesc romana, am invatat romana pentru ca... Etc). Ce limbi stii momentan? De pe ce inveti? Ce resurse ai?
Alexandru Carp Eu stiu destul de bine Engleza si ceva Italiana. Momentan sunt aglomerat cu alte lucruri de invatat si limbile straine sunt mai mult un side project pe care l-am pus in asteptare. Engleza am prins-o mai mult pentru ca o folosesc zilnic pe net, iar Italiana dupa cursuri audio, Teach Yourself si Pimsleur. Filmele ajuta foarte mult, la fel talk showurile sau orice emisiuni in limba respectiva, in special cand e un subiect de care esti interesat oricum. Am si un caiet ptr fiecare limba in care imi notez imediat o expresie colocviala care e mereu folosita, cum ar fi "there's a fine line between THIS and THAT", sau "ci sentiamo" (ne auzim, mai vorbim).
What time did he say that he spoke Romanian? He never said that. I actually had one of my friends from Romania to listen to this video, and said he never even spoke Romanian. "It is possible," he said, "that he spoke a language like Italian, French or Spanish, which sounds like Romanian." which is porbably why you didn't understand it.
Polyglottal Aussie General tip: before rushing in to prove someone on the Internet is wrong, read the original comment at least twice. (It would save you from awkward moments.)
Now to the question itself: I never said he spoke Romanian "at THAT time", nor did I say he said that in THIS video. I said "was claiming IN A VIDEO", such and such.
That video is this one: /watch?v=SAtWuQmdexs&list=UU7apIsxyw4hMirup9ZDF5tA
He talks about it at 5:50 and is nothing more than three phrases, which are too little of a proof to support the claim that he actually speaks the language. It's nothing more of the general few words that you learn in a first introductory class: "My name is.. your name is... English is very beautiful... this is an apple... that is a pig" (those were literally my first English words, which I learned more than 25 years ago, in 4th grade).
Of course, no one would claim "he speaks Romanian" after attending just one class.
I'm think it's probably similar to learning instruments, once you learn one it's much easier to learn the next and so on. You already have the foundation (music theory or grammar/structure of learning a language) so it comes faster. It took my years to learn piano but then French horn took a few and violin in just a few months
All male? Seriously? I have friends who are female that speak up to six+ languages. A UCLA colleague who is a female from India speaks eight languages. I only speak four so far, but I just started studying seriously. My former economics professor and vice president of my junior college speaks Farsi, Arabic, German, French, Swedish, American Sign Language, and English. She is female too. People can learn if they can sustain their efforts and synthesize their learning. People can push their selves and adapt to certain extents outside of their current levels of cognition. There are people who are considered psychologically Gifted (there hasn't been a more 'official' term for this), have Asperger's Syndrome, or Autism, among others, who have above average intellectual capabilities that can go even higher. The hippocampus, the learning and memory part of the brain, can grow. There are studies of people with severe trauma-- the levels of cortisol hormones can shrink the volume of the hippocampus by as much as 25% and it can regenerate, which is known as neurogenesis. Also contrary to former beliefs, brain cells do not just die off without ever being replaced. Human beings can improve their capacity to learn and regenerate their brain cells. Constant disciplines like athletics, music, and meditation are scientifically proven to aid in facilitating higher, better sustained levels of memory retention and focus. Adequate sleep, nutrition, and access to resources also contributes to whether or not a person can learn and retain what they learn.
Obviously not all "hyperpolyglots" are male, but statistically they're vastly more likely to be.
"MOSTLY"
The author of the book in question said that 400people answered to his survey and most of them were men. 400 people, that's a quite decent probe to draw general conclusions.
LOL, let the poor guys scratch their ego :D :D :D
Bennett Watson they mostly man she said .... she didn't say women cannot learn languages
WOW How diligent! spending 6-8 study language at night is even more than I spent my time reading for my final exam T T
btw, there is the saying that the second language is toughest then when you go beyond five languages your learning ability for new language will be unlimited.
so, I'm trying to prove whether it's true or not, I really like that this vid revealed Polyglot's tips.Thanks for the video, it inspires me to study harder!!
In the film, I noticed an item of misinformation. According to the presentation, speakers store their mother tongues (first language or L1) in one part of the brain and other languages in another part of the brain. This claim is true for most people, but not all people because some children grow up with two or three or four languages. These languages learned from birth are all the mother tongues - plural and stored in the same place in the brain. Kids grow up with several languages when mom speaks one language and dad speaks another language, but they don't speak each other's language, so either the local language or English, or both the local language and English are spoken in the home. Sometimes the four grandparents are from four different countries, so children who grow up with four grandparents in their lives from birth who speak those languages with them from the beginning - understand those languages. If they use the languages with their grandparents, then they learn to speak them as well.
I heard Richard speak Welsh for a brief moment. Very good! Da iawn!
I kinda' know how foreign people must feel when a fluent English speaker just starts speaking their language now. That's very cool!
I agree with Ciprian Hanga that languages need to be learned by using them with native speakers. When I was living in Japan, I met a young man who thought he was perfectly fluent in English, but I could only understand him if we switched back and forth from English to Japanese. I also had a Azerbaijani friend in Japan who claimed to speak English and Japanese well, but I could not understand a word of his Japanese and only half of his English.
I'm subscribed to three of these polyglots, and I love them all! Plus, I think I have the motivation (though not currently the time, and I'm still working on mixing and matching other polyglots' methods to make one that works for me) to become a polyglot myself!
I am learning Spanish and Hebrew, and I have learned some small amount of many other languages. When I tell people that I'm not monolingual they say I have a gift. I have no gift. I have dedication and hundreds of hours of difficult study. I was not born lingually inclined, I worked hard to become it. Saying that some people are simply "better" with languages is classic American naivety and monolingualism, and it offends me that my years of study are brought down to some genetic gift.
His scouse accent was spot on! He sounded more of a native of Liverpool than I do!
Exactly, I speak slavic, romance, germanic, chinese languages (and japanese.) It's fairly easy to learn another language in the same family once you know one of them.
Actually, check out his RUclips channel and more of his videos, he's incredibly talented. On a UK radio, they tested him by getting him to have conversations with other speakers in different languages :)
In my English 101 class, I did my narrative essay on my language learning journey. I don't consider myself fluent, but I am about B1 in Spanish, French, and German. The one guy used drugs as a metaphor: I remember the excitement when I realized I could read the Spanish instructions.
Steven Kaufman is a person who inspire me good bless you now I speak German, chinese,Russian,French, italiano, Spanish ,Portuguese, Swahili,dutch
Drugs? Come on, there's many things more interesting than drugs: Sex, Art, Spanish, English, Good Food, Good conversations, Good Friends, A nice Trip, Catalan Language, Chemistry & Mathematics, ... Yeah, I'm a Freaky and I'm proud
Funny you said "trip"
#freakyAndProud
Noam Tashma Hahah, got it!
At least sex comes first
Und Deutsch!
You stupid don't know what he meant... FO.
What many people do not realize is that it is quite possible to understand similar languages to the ones you speak and have an informative conversation with the two communicators speaking different languages. In Berlin, I spoke Czech with two Polish men speaking Polish because I had not yet learned German. In Berlin, I spoke Spanish with Brazilians who spoke Portuguese to me - slowly. I had conversations with Italians who did not speak English, so I butchered Italian with a lot of French and Spanish words thrown in, but they understood, and I understood because of the context. I could understand the Dutch new on the TV in Amsterdam, but not a soap opera. In fact, I usually don't understand soap operas in any language. In Japan, a dignified elderly Japanese man approached me in English simple sentence questions, so I answered him in Japanese simple sentences and asked simple structure questions. After small talk was exhausted, he asked me a question requiring a complex sentence answer. So, I switched to English and he switched to Japanese as soon as I returned the complicated question, but the conversation continued - and I was amazed.
Oh my gosh I've seen a RUclips video that Tim made! He's the teenager polyglot. The title is "American Polyglot Practicing 20 Languages" so you can see all of the languages that he knows :)
I don't know about the others but Richard Simcott and Tim Doner and their videos inspires me a lot, if I may say so. I too have a big "crush" for foreign languages (although I have much more to learn until reaching their number of spoken languages).
When this video came out there were probably half or one third the polyglots there are now.
My key to learning languages is simply enjoying the process, treat it like a game! Every word learned means you're advancing a step in the level. And the payoff then happens when you have a conversation or when you watch something on TV in that language. A rush of excitement that makes me want to learn even more. Gamification I think this approach is called and it works not just with languages, but with all things that have to be acquired through a learning process. My current game is learning Arabic and I'm totally addicted to it :)
Ok here is the breakdown I can think of: Spaced repetition (Anki/flashcards), deconstruction to its core components: pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, retrieval: keep using the target language. And the most important ingredient of all: determination and consistency.
I am from Colombia and i speak english, spanish, french, italian and portuguese. Learning german and japanese...
I want to get in contact with more people like me....
I also learn quite a lot of romance languages, and Scandinavian ones also, in all I learn french, German, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Russian, Japanese, and a bit of Italian
Alastair Niven Do you want help with italian? Could you help me out with German? I want to learn it
Great video. I would hardly consider 6 languages "hyperpolyglot". I can speak 6 (and red a few more) but I have not been that "adicted" over my life. 20 maybe, 30 definitely. I would definitely learn more if I had the time, but I also have other interests. LOL.
I'm just a polyglot (French, English, Spanish, some Italian). I'm a translator/proofreader and consecutive interpreter, and an aspiring author/writer/poet, maybe pianist too.
One can learn to be fluent in other languages as an adult, but it takes a lot of conscious effort and determination. You encounter people every day who reach a certain threshold in English or the local language, then become complacent and do not attempt to learn how to use complex tenses or complex sentences correctly. I was always amazed at how many students I had in other countries who spoke more perfect English with a greater variety of vocabulary than native speakers of English who speak only one language.
Tim Doner please!
They all say Talent isn't as much a factor as attitude.. I very much agree but what they all neglect is that talent is what gives you the confidence and thus the attitude to just start learning
One other phenomena that was not mentioned was the fact that in some countries, such as Luxembourg and Belguim, there are two rows of subtitles. Films for kids are dubbed into French, German, or Flemish/Dutch, but films made with complex themes for adults leave the films in English, Spanish, Italian, or Japanese, and put a row of French subtitles and a row of Flemish/Dutch subtitles. When someone like me watches a film in Spanish or Italian or Japanese (languages I can understand to some degree) and reads the French and Flemish/Dutch subtitles, then we process conceptually without language or in a mixture of all those languages. This multiple language film context is a tremendous untapped source for doing multilingual research.
Yes, I agree with your insight. "How well" is more important.
But, as with the one who spoke Japanese, his Japanese was correct. He clearly said "Watashi wa . . . to moushimas (私は・・・と申します)." This expression is quite natural and authentic. Or, you can say "Watashi no namae wa . . . des (私は・・・です)." Again, he didn't say "Watashi no namae ha _______ to moushimasu." This is really wrong.
He may know the common used words which are frequently referred in different kind of languages or cultures!
Richard Simcott is amazing, I have been subscribed to him on youtube for years
GUYS. ITS NOT A GIFT. I mean, the ability to have hardcore motivation could be considered a gift. BUT, if knowing/learning so many languages is such a rare gift, how come i know many people who speak anywhere from 2-5 languages? How come i can speak English, Swedish, and am Learning spanish? Because: *MOTIVATION*. Obviously, being Young (i am 14) is quite a large factor, but that doesn't Count as an excuse to be lazy. Good luck with your studies everyone! Lycka till med era språk arbete! (ugh that was cringey i haven't spoken Swedish well in like 4 Days xD)
I love languages, and I believe someone who speaks eight of them is considered a polyglot. I've always been interested in East Asian cultures and languages, so I decided to start learning a few languages and it spiraled out of control. I have Savant syndrome, meaning I can understand super complex things much easier than the average human, and I started with languages when I was nine and wanting to learn Japanese. Now I'm 14, I have had a comprehensible conversation with a native Japanese woman who even said I have no accent, and I've spoken in Tagalog to a Filipino girl near my age over a voice chat, and she could understand me perfectly fine. I feel like languages were always meant for me to learn, what's not to love about being able to communicate with a whole new set of people because you can speak their language?
On top of the list is Moses McCormick from Pittsburgh married to a Taiwanese who studied around 50+ languages.
Of course the more languages you learn, the less fluency you'd have in some of them. I know 1 lady who knew 5 languages before she died. Her specialty was Spanish, the language she taught in high school although she also had a teaching certificate as an elementary school teacher in French and spoke flawless English with an American accent.
Actually, Dr. Carlos do Amaral Freire, a Brazilian scholar and linguist, is the most polyglottal person still alive known in the world, who can speak 100 + languages.
Oh another thing. Can you recommend a camera for posting videos? A better camera that is rather than some flip camera because what I have now sucks and I simply don't want to continue my language series with that crappy resolution.
"Master a language with ease" = "lose 100 pounds with ease"
Currently I have a list of 12 in which I want to reach an advanced level before I die. The list is currently 1. Italian (I'm at a decent level already), 2. Egyptian Arabic (Gonna have to ask Tim for help finding resources) 3. Farsi (insert previous comment) 4. Turkish, 5. Swedish, 6. Hebrew, 7. Polish, 8. Esperanto, 9. Hungarian, 10. Russian, 11. Japanese, and 12. German.
Richard and Tim are such inspirations for me! Luca should have been here too though!
I'm also a 17 year old native English speaker, and I'm so jealous of you! I speak English at C2 (obviously), B1 in Spanish, and A1 in Mandarin Chinese (which I just started learning recently). I want to be a polyglot, but languages are difficult! Definitely fun and rewarding though. Once I get my Chinese to a conversationally acceptable level, I'll begin learning Arabic. What languages do you know?
Anyone can learn any amount of languages. Just start with increased input of your target language and boom, you instantly increase your learning. I started reading Japanese and watching Japanese shows and I started gaining more knowledge on the language. Within a few weeks, you can already form and read simple sentences!!
Also, I dissect and examine sentences and learn words in context. I also always carry a manga and notepad with me, so I can copy sentences (writing and reading practice), read the sentences aloud and then chop up the sentence into what I think are the separate parts, then start translating them. A dictionary app with verb conjugation features might help with that.
All of this will increase language learning for everyone!!
Yea that's the book. I just started learning Japanese like 2 weeks ago. Something to do after finishing university during my free time. I'm pretty motivated to learn japanese even though i know its gonna be a hurdle o wells. Once, I think im pretty good at japanese i may pick up another language. You check out some j-vloggers on youtube if you havent : gimmeaflakeman , kanadajin3, miemi, jyuusankaidan, ozzy78, hikosaemon, and PDRKabushikigaisha. They are ex-pats that live in japan.
News Reporter: "He can speak 22 languages, the highest number of languages spoken in the US."
Moses McCormick: "Hold my beer"
Moses is not C2 on many. These people here are legit.
Tim Doner is my FAVOURITE polyglot !
i can speak catalan, english, spanish and german trying to learn french and later italian to be able to call myself a hyperpolyglot
Beau reportage ! Impressionnant !
the last two people were... god damn amazing
You don't need "talent", "be mathematically inclined" or be a male to learn a language. It's all about the methods you use, the frequency of you using it and your motivation. And everybody, wow, stop posting what languages you speak. You are not the only polyglots and nobody cares :)
12:50 "I mean I have never taken drugs but it's that feeling it's drug" Sums up for me too , THE HIGH :)
It is very good to see the meeting of those genius!It inspires us a lot.keep it up!!!
I'm not a hyperpolyglot myself but in relation to what is mentioned in the video, I have Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and it appears that I can easily remember Chinese, Korean, Japanese symbols a lot more that languages close my native one - English - such as German or Dutch, in the sense that there are stimuli which my brain will see and memorise it whereas the other languages are just words and it takes a lot more to remember them because of the short-term memory loss in link to the temporal lobe
Mr. Barry M. Farber, Radio Talk Show Host, speaks 25 languages according to Wikipedia, I've met him in NYC about 10 years ago and in a room full of language students he spoke to people 21 different languages with some of the attendees.
I don't know any kanji yet. Though i know hiragana and katakana pretty well now. I am learning grammar structure and words. I am using books/tv to study right now. I dont have a teacher. The book i used for studyin hiragana and katakana took me about 5-6hrs total to learn. "Remembering The Kana" Part 1 Hiragana/ Part 2 katakana by James W. Heisig. Very good book. takes 6 lessons for hiragana and katakana. so best is to do 2 lessons per day over 6days. I use flash cards( over 200 them now)
I can relate to how hyperpolyglots feel about languages because they are beautiful
i agree. if i went to learn a new language i would want to visit that country sometime in the near future and be immersed around people that speak it.
Why are Canadian journalists so professional and charming? Nora O'Donnell would shit all over a simple human interest story like this
You're completely right, but I meant that he's more worried about the learning of languages, and not the linguistical elements
I have seen that people in India (which has more than 20 official languages) speak at least four. I speak and understand five and my wife, seven. We live in Dubai now so my son who is 6 years old learnt our mother tongues (one from me and another from my wife) apart from english and arabic from his school. So it is possible for general populace to acquire several languages.
Very well. I'll subscribe just to see some. I must ask, how many languages did you speak growing up? I'm assuming you weren't raised monolingual. Also, how old are you? I really want to know how you grasped so many in one lifetime! I'm really pathetic at foreign languages. I'm 16 and I've been learning Spanish for 4 years and Mandarin Chinese for 1 and that's all. My Spanish is far from fluent, and I make tons of mistakes when I speak to people in it.
Many professional people in other countries are driven to speak English and any other international language they need - perfectly. Americans who take jobs abroad are at a disadvantage because speakers naturally gravitate to the "most common denominator" - meaning the language that is most efficient between or among speakers in a certain setting. Often, the one language most people know is English. I was always thankful for situations where my Japanese, or French, or Spanish, or German, or Czech, or Arabic, or Italian, was better than the English spoken by my interlocutor (communicator).
This documentary is indeed pretty lame but the song Tim Doner was listening to at 8:31 sounds amazing. Does anyone know the title by any chance ? Thanks in advance
9:22 - I wish to have such a bookshelf of books and dictionaries. However, mine is still growing...
Hi, Lin. Thanks for the interest in this matter. Yes, by "airport language" I mean the A1-A2 competence level, as described in the Common European Framework. It's the survival level. About 300 words (actually it depends from the language) to express simple needs and accomplish everyday communication functions. For ex: when, where, this, that, here, there, excuse me, thanks, I,you, be, do, go, have, give, take; plus the numbers, the hours, the name of days and months. Usually NOT the colours.
So jealous! I'm gonna have to get cracking on the books! Even then, I can only hope to be fluent in 2 (maybe 3) languages besides my native tongue, if I'm lucky!
These people are amazing! They have my utter respect!