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Babel No More / Mezzofanti’s Gift

 Language Learning Forum : Lessons in Polyglottery Post Reply
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zerothinking
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 Message 18 of 149
15 July 2009 at 8:04am | IP Logged 
turaisiawase wrote:
What about Ziad Fazah? He knows 51 languages.


No, he doesn't.
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Fasulye
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 Message 19 of 149
15 July 2009 at 9:42am | IP Logged 
I think it's important for the project "Babel No More" that the "normal polyglots" of this forum decide to take part in the survey and answer the questions in the online questionnaire about their language skills, because for scientific exploration it's always important to have a random sample of such language learners, which is not too small. Of course it's essential when filling in the questionnaire to be honest about one's own language skills!!!

Fasulye

Edited by Fasulye on 15 July 2009 at 10:04am

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Alkeides
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Bhutan
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 Message 20 of 149
15 July 2009 at 1:41pm | IP Logged 
Fasulye wrote:
I think it's important for the project "Babel No More" that the "normal polyglots" of this forum decide to take part in the survey and answer the questions in the online questionnaire about their language skills, because for scientific exploration it's always important to have a random sample of such language learners, which is not too small. Of course it's essential when filling in the questionnaire to be honest about one's own language skills!!!

Fasulye


If "normal polyglots", i.e. people who speak >2 but =<5 languages are to take the survey, they should really be those learners who've learnt all their languages to near-native levels, as based on the article on the site.
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Fasulye
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 Message 21 of 149
15 July 2009 at 2:01pm | IP Logged 
Alkeides wrote:
Fasulye wrote:
I think it's important for the project "Babel No More" that the "normal polyglots" of this forum decide to take part in the survey and answer the questions in the online questionnaire about their language skills, because for scientific exploration it's always important to have a random sample of such language learners, which is not too small. Of course it's essential when filling in the questionnaire to be honest about one's own language skills!!!

Fasulye


If "normal polyglots", i.e. people who speak >2 but =<5 languages are to take the survey, they should really be those learners who've learnt all their languages to near-native levels, as based on the article on the site.


No, the survey requires a threshold of 6 languages (inclusive the native language). So anyone, who speaks less than 6 languages, may not participate. And Dr. Michael Erard calls people speaking 6 + languages "hyperpolyglots". I mean "normal" in contrast to somebody who claims to speak 51 languages.

Fasulye

Edited by Fasulye on 15 July 2009 at 2:01pm

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Alkeides
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 Message 22 of 149
15 July 2009 at 2:24pm | IP Logged 
Fasulye wrote:
Alkeides wrote:
Fasulye wrote:
I think it's important for the project "Babel No More" that the "normal polyglots" of this forum decide to take part in the survey and answer the questions in the online questionnaire about their language skills, because for scientific exploration it's always important to have a random sample of such language learners, which is not too small. Of course it's essential when filling in the questionnaire to be honest about one's own language skills!!!

Fasulye


If "normal polyglots", i.e. people who speak >2 but =<5 languages are to take the survey, they should really be those learners who've learnt all their languages to near-native levels, as based on the article on the site.


No, the survey requires a threshold of 6 languages (inclusive the native language). So anyone, who speaks less than 6 languages, may not participate. And Dr. Michael Erard calls people speaking 6 + languages "hyperpolyglots". I mean "normal" in contrast to somebody who claims to speak 51 languages.

Fasulye


Ah I see, I misunderstood you. According to the article on the site, the definition of a hyperpolyglot is one who can speak more than 6 languages, so when you talked about 'normal polyglots' I assumed you were talking about them in comparison with hyperpolyglots.
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Iversen
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 Message 23 of 149
15 July 2009 at 4:50pm | IP Logged 
So if Mr. Erard only wants answers from people with 6+ languages then by inference only hyperpolyglots should answer. However when we discussed how many languages a 'normal' polyglot should speak we landed by majority somewhere around 4+ languages (against my vote because I don't want a fixed treshold), so presumably all hyperpolyglots are also normal polyglots, and some just learn a few languages more and then they are suddenly hyperpolyglots - that's at least how I prefer to see it.

Personally I find the term hyperpolyglot (coined by Richard Hudson in 2003) totally superfluous UNTIL you can prove that there is a substantial, preferably physiological difference between those at the top of the scale and those lower down - such as eidetic skills or things like that. AND that the number 6 somehow is a real limit. I haven't seen anything that proved that there were such differences, and then we don't need one more catchy buzzword.

Earlier threads:
How many languages to be a polyglot?
Polyglots and Hyperpolyglots

Edited by Iversen on 15 July 2009 at 5:03pm

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Fasulye
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 Message 24 of 149
15 July 2009 at 5:05pm | IP Logged 
Iversen wrote:
So if Mr. Erard only wants to speak to people with 6+ languages then by inference only hyperpolyglots should answer. However when we discussed how many languages a 'normal' polyglot should speak we also landed somewhere around 6 languages (against my vote because I don't want a fixed treshold), so presumably all hyperpolyglots are also normal polyglots and vice-versa? That's at last how I prefer to see it, and then all polyglots ought to participate.


That's to the point, Iversen. The survey is focused on people who speak 6 or more language in total, so that's clearly defined, who may take the survey. I personally don't like to use the expression "hyperpolyglot", but if this survey calls me a hyperpolyglot, I have to accept it.

Fasulye

Edited by Fasulye on 15 July 2009 at 5:29pm



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