I speak more than fifty languages

General discussion about learning languages
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Henkkles
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Re: I speak more than fifty languages

Postby Henkkles » Sat Aug 13, 2022 2:42 pm

Have you people ever been interviewed? It's super stressful waiting for the interview to come out because you can never know how they've interpreted or simplified something you said, or framed something you said in passing as a core tenet. Truth is, clicks sell, and that is one sexy title, but he probably said no such thing.
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Re: I speak more than fifty languages

Postby rdearman » Sat Aug 13, 2022 3:13 pm

Sorry, my comment was very tongue in cheek. I've met and spoken with Richard a number of times, and yes, he is the real deal. He does often clarify that he has studied rather than speaks most of the languages he lists. I think when he says he studies a language, he probably got to at least A2 level or better and then moved on.

I am absolutely positive that he never said he speaks 50 languages to any high degree. He would have said he studies 50 and is good at ~15 and speaks ~5. (I don't know his actual numbers).

Henkkles wrote:Have you people ever been interviewed?

Yes, and lots of times they cherry-pick what they want, or leave out things they don't. Again, I'm sure that Richard isn't trying to make false claims.

However, I have studied 11 languages, some of them for more than an hour! So I stand by my statement in hopes that people see the amusing side.

A Swiss man, looking for directions, pulls up at a bus stop where two Englishmen are waiting.
"Entschuldigung, koennen Sie Deutsch sprechen?" he says.
The two Englishmen just stare at him.
"Excusez-moi, parlez vous Francais?" The two continue to stare.
"Parlare Italiano?" No response.
"Hablan ustedes Espanol?" Still nothing.
The Swiss guy drives off, extremely disgusted.
The first Englishman turns to the second and says, "Maybe we should learn a foreign language...."
"Why?" says the other, "That bloke knew four languages, and it didn't do him any good."
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Re: I speak more than fifty languages

Postby einzelne » Sat Aug 13, 2022 3:15 pm

Henkkles wrote:Have you people ever been interviewed? It's super stressful waiting for the interview to come out because you can never know how they've interpreted or simplified something you said.


It's a common practice to send the text to an interviewee to finalise it.
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Re: I speak more than fifty languages

Postby sfuqua » Sat Aug 13, 2022 3:18 pm

I've dabbled in 17 languages. :shock:

The sexy title thing has started to hold me back from clicking on things. Sometimes it's a mistake, because the article is OK.
It is weird to see an article titled "Killer Asteroid Approaches Earth!" and then to read an article which is a scientifically accurate description of the difficulty of telling an asteroid from a comet when they are beyond the orbit of Jupiter, and oh yeah, the object will eventually get as close as Mars. :D
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Re: I speak more than fifty languages

Postby einzelne » Sat Aug 13, 2022 4:01 pm

https://youtu.be/sAzj6P_uxwA?t=422

My quick non verbatim transcription:

How many of you have had a high level of a language and it’s gone down? Okay, if no one’s got up their hands they are all liars. I mean, seriously, the languages get rusty. If you don’t use them, they get rusty.
You hear people saying, especially many of hyper-polyglots. I hear people saying: oh, I’ve studied X languages, some people say 50 (however they may have studied it…). And then they say but if I go back to the country for a week or two, it’ll all go back to me. Well, it might but really, can you do it all the time for 50 languages? Chances, probably not.

The only examples I’ve seen where people say they speak 60 or talked 100 of languages are dead.
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Re: I speak more than fifty languages

Postby Le Baron » Sat Aug 13, 2022 4:10 pm

It's worth reiterating for clarity.... I think Richard Simcott is legit. He's one of the few who turns up on youtube and actually freely speaks the languages he really knows at some reasonable length, often off-the-cuff and in a way that isn't always rehearsed. Though I will note some things about this; which shouldn't be leapt upon as mere 'wild criticism' and that they apply equally to many other TL users and should probably be remembered for how we assess ourselves and others:

1. He makes clear mistakes. This is of course entirely normal, but it is commonly undetectable by people who don't speak the languages or not beyond a beginner level. Which means I can say nothing about e.g. his Slavic languages command either way. This matters once someone claims 'near-native' ability.

2. And related, he uses some rehearsed 'islands'. Again this is quite normal for L2 use. However if you go to Richard's weekly YT chat and ask a question for say (in my case) Dutch, Esperanto, Indonesian.. you don't always get proper answers. A large portion of the answer to a question in Dutch has a lengthy rehearsed bit about knowing how to speak it after having worked in Rotterdam etc. There are pronunciation faults which I can hear because I have the language around me all the time. Sometimes he imitates a guttural 'r', but sometimes rolls/taps it. An ordinary native speaker generally always has one method. His vocabulary choices are also actually rather limited and that of a B1 type speaker, but his LinkedIn page claims 'native level' in the language. It's not really true. Richard's Esperanto is also a bit lacking, most likely from under-use and few opportunities. So replies tend to be almost entirely islands before petering out.

3. With French the situation is different. He has excellent command, but doesn't sound like a native. People may disagree with me on this, and you even see French natives in YT comments saying 'I thought he was French!' (which is a bit weird). If you've ever lived abroad you'll know there's a strange tendency for people to overreact when you speak a language above a particular expectation. This feeds back into a self-perception with regard to command. Since you have been 'confirmed' by polite natives who want to like you. You also meet other natives who don't want to like you and can and will find numerous faults if they want to. These two contradicting situations can't both be right.

Richard also says he learned French at school 'aged 5'. I've never really understood this because no UK schools teach comprehensive French from age 5. Some play(ed) with it at a very elementary level, but that's entirely different.

4. Richard, according to even himself, is a good and confident mimic. This is a valuable ability/asset for oral production in a TL. It can enrich output and compensate for, and also deflect/detract from, other minor shortfalls to quite a large degree. We know this already. The real test comes in long-form communication and with regard to subject matter. As you meet unfamiliar words that don't have a production memory.

These are, I think, valid observations. It has to be understood that Richard has his private mental experiences which are always in excess of what is publicly visible. Languages are his life and career so they get discussed in relation to him with a high degree of close probing. As some have said in this thread they have studied more than they list. Me too. And I don't have to live up to anything in the same way. People can justly ask me: 'Why can't you speak/write Russian, after having spent quite a bit of time with it?' The answer is the same as anyone: few opportunities, diminishing interest/motivation and thus lack of practise and use. And yet at the same time I don't want to say that I know nothing about it. Because I've watched Russian cartoons and films when I was more actively learning, but t has slipped away at that level. In Richard's case he is known for being a polyglot, so it all has to be framed as 'knowing the languages'. Either by himself or people around him. So he can end up targeted for explanations and demonstrations in a way many won't be. It's a risk he takes and deals with admirably.

It is largely the media saying 'this man speaks 50 languages!', but it flows from his own idea of having studied 50+ languages; which is likely true, but prone to being manipulated.
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Re: I speak more than fifty languages

Postby Henkkles » Sat Aug 13, 2022 6:34 pm

Le Baron wrote:If you've ever lived abroad you'll know there's a strange tendency for people to overreact when you speak a language above a particular expectation. This feeds back into a self-perception with regard to command. Since you have been 'confirmed' by polite natives who want to like you. You also meet other natives who don't want to like you and can and will find numerous faults if they want to. These two contradicting situations can't both be right.

This is an excellent observation. Without derailing the thread too much (what is it even about?), I've had this hunch that that is actually the place to be with one's pronunciation prowess; so good that it sounds impressive, but not too good so that your interlocutors forget that you're not native, which kind of boosts the effect paradoxically.
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Re: I speak more than fifty languages

Postby Henkkles » Sun Aug 14, 2022 8:55 am

Richard is going to stream a discussion about this article tonight, I think 5 PM GMT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUAk38_JbRQ
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Re: I speak more than fifty languages

Postby Le Baron » Sun Aug 14, 2022 10:55 pm

Henkkles wrote:Richard is going to stream a discussion about this article tonight, I think 5 PM GMT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUAk38_JbRQ

I came to post this, but it's already done!
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Re: I speak more than fifty languages

Postby tractor » Mon Aug 15, 2022 6:05 pm

I only watched the first five or six minutes of the video and was reminded of why I don’t usually watch polyglot videos: so much talk, so many words, so little content. That said, those few minutes confirmed the impression that he’s a modest man and that he doesn’t want to make exaggerated claims about his own achievements.
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