Polyglots, language learning in a week and the reality
Posted on 08. Sep, 2010 by Learn Language Free in General Learning Language Articles
Video showing some unusual language abilities and putting into perspective what is needed to speak multiple languages. I have used from footage of other YouTubers and Channel4 under the umbrella of fair use to produce this video.
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@Torbyrne Tamen, laux mi esperanto estas tiom facila lingvo ke oni ne devas cxiutage paroli gxin, nur auxskulti paroladojn (kaj ili apundas cxe youtube!) Ankaux la legado estas tre grava. Nature, se vi povas trovi aliajn esperantistojn kun kiuj interparoli, despli bone. Sed mi kredas ke homoj povas nur legadi kaj auxskultadi dum kelka tempo, poste cxeesti kongreson, kaj sperti belan pentekostan….
@alkantre Kaj mi pensas ke esperanto estas pli facxila lingvo, sed dum mi volas paroli gxin, mi devas pensi multa tempo cxar la problemo kun la internacia lingvo estas…mi ne povas uzi gxin en la urbo cxiu tago. Mi pensas ke la praktiko de la lingvo estas tre grava parto de la lernado.
@MoonlightHorses Thanks for the nice comment about my video. Glad you liked it. English is very well studied around the world. That said, I do agree with Cody, it is always nice to connect with people in their own language. I have also met many people who could not have full conversations in English, so speaking the other language was a must.
there actually is one other savant i’ve seen on youtube (in a documentary) who is a language genius to say the least, but they are rare. the doc on youtube is very old and a bit psychedelic because of the sound’s a bit fuzzy and the poor quality of the video, but it’s on youtube.
Ekzistas kelkaj lingvoj kiujn ordinaraj homoj ja povas akiri en nur kelkaj monatoj…cxefe inter ili estas esperanto, ido, kaj interlingua. Mi mem farigxis tute flue en Esperanto post nur kvar monatoj. Por la hispana mi bezonis iom pli ol kvar jaroj. LINGUAE: VERAE DIVITIAE HUMANITATIS. Salutas cxiujn lingvemulojn, POETA TRILINGUIS
@laoshu505000 It depends on what language we’re learning. We all know it’s impossible to be conversational in hard languages (japanese, chinese, arabic etc) after only 1 week, we need months and then years xD
Excellent and concise video touching on some pertinent points about language learning that I couldn’t have expressed better myself.
@112ddd211 Thank you very much for sharing this. I have now added a link to the first video in the part about Daniel Tammet.
Christopher Taylor is another language savant
heres an early piece on him:
Part 1/4 Christopher & Language Acquisition (Linguistics)
and a little later:
Expedition ins Gehirn – Christopher Taylor
(because I can’t post the URL’s just enter the titles in the search box)
What! You mean there’s no shortcut? I can’t sound like I’ve lived and worked in Berlin for the past 10 years if I’ve only studied German for a week, even if it’s for many hours a day? It’s a good thing I was sitting down when I watched this.
Honestly, thanks for the perspective. I believe languages can be learned more quickly/effectively than they are in most schools but there are rarely any substantial shortcuts in life’s worthwhile endeavors.
@DerReisendeGaijin my understanding is that he learned icelandic in 4 days prior to the interview. he did not know what the questions would be. the interview was 15 minutes in length and i believe there are copies floating around the internet. why is it a big deal? imagine the possibilities of the human mind.
Saluton Richard: Bonega video! Vi do bone pripensis la titolon de via video kaj vi tute pravas pri tio. Tio signifas, ke 99,9 % de la homoj bezonas pli da tempo por lerni fremdan lingvon kaj tio estas tute normala, cxar lingvolernado bezonas multe da input, kiel vi skribas en via video. Sed la poliglotuloj, kiujn vi tie montras parolante, povas bone inspiri la lingvolernadon de la plejmulto de la lernantoj. Kaj pro tio via video povas esti ege inspiranta. Al mi ankaux tre placxas la diskuto.
@FluentCzech If your response was meant to be honest and benevolent (which I believe, you as a person, are), then sure, I’d like to, but I never said I was able to teach someone a language in a week. There is a big difference between teaching and learning, obviously. Regardless, I am pursuing this very thing – finding a way to learn incredibly fast. Please bear with me and allow me some time before I “publish” my “methods”. I won’t do so, until I actually tried everything out myself.
@shanikuzai Yep, I agree with you 100%. One may not be able to learn a language fully in 1 week, but I do believe becoming conversational in one week is very possible. Like you said, it just takes a lot of dedication and studying in the right way.
@shanikuzai With your ability to teach people how to learn languages in a week you could revolutionise language teaching. You will surpass even the achievement of the late great Michel Thomas. I urge you to publish your innovative approach, or at the very least to make a youtube response video that lays out the strategy in detail. We would all benefit immensely from it.
sounds like the German word for impossible: ‘unmoeglich’ !
It’s a shame. Language learning is so interesting to me, I can speak two foreign ones (one almost fluently). I want to learn more and I know I can do it with the methods I’ve developed… but sadly I have some other priorities in this stage of my life that are keeping me from staying focused on language. So I must wait a couple years until those priorities are taken care of.
@FluentCzech That was a good answer! Sometimes I see the Chinese characters, and I feel like writing them. Today, I saw the Icelandic special characters, and I felt like learning them, the same with Georgian. You’re right, it’s about passion rather than usefulness.
@Torbyrne WOW! Thanks for your reply, Richard! I do really admire you, Luca, Steve and others. Thanks to your video I learned about Daniel Tammet, and then about Kim Peek.
It is possible to learn a language in a week, even for non-savants.
It takes a lot of dedication and somewhat extreme study habits, but it is not impossible by any means. I’m not saying it’s easy, but people are quick to say things are impossible, when they can’t see themselves pull it off. I don’t expect anyone to believe me, I’m just reminding people of the potential of the human mind.
@MoonlightHorses Thanks for your comment and question. I definitely need other languages. I have been in many situations where people don’t speak English. I have family members who don’t speak English for instance. Also I found in The Netherlands, where people tend to speak fluent English, a reluctance to use it in formal situations. There I really had to speak Dutch. That said, there is no doubting the importance and usefulness of English in the world.
@Codylangaugesblog I had the opposite feeling. I think the video under-emphasises just how much effort is involved to reach the levels achieved by Richard, Luca, Steve K, Professor Arguelles, and others of similar accomplishment. All of them have achieved very advanced levels of fluency in many languages, and that means giving yourself over to language learning – making it your main passion – for hours a day for years and years. Most of us won’t do that.
@MoonlightHorses You don’t need most things you have and most things you do. You don’t need to watch sports, you don’t need a big TV, you don’t need to eat in restaurants, you don’t need to view youtube videos. None of these will help your career or help in your travels. You have and do all these things because you like them. As far as I can tell most polyglots learn languages because they want to, not because they have to. Much of it seems to be about passion rather than utility.
Very cool! Thanks for sharing.
@MoonlightHorses thanks for watching my videos