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> Those who knew three languages, however, were diagnosed 6.4 years later than monolinguals, while for those fluent in four or more languages, enjoyed an extra

by joeyspn 11y ago

> Those who knew three languages, however, were diagnosed 6.4 years later than monolinguals, while for those fluent in four or more languages, enjoyed an extra nine years of healthy cognition... Glad to read this... I speak ~4, english being the 3rd (far from native but good enough to do biz) and the forth being basic/intermediate level. I've met people fluent in 5 languages... but they start to struggle with the 6th onwards. That being said, I think 30+ is a lot. I've never known anyone who speaks fluently more than 6, but hey, if they can... great! This people must have lived in a lot of countries since their early years, or their parents were polyglots themselves. I think the key is early exposure to different languages. You can easily teach kids 5 languages before they're 12...

erikb 11y ago
I know a hyper-polyglot and he says it's not possible to be fluent in all of them. But it ought to be quite easy to reactivate one you studied well enough.
pascalmemories 11y ago
I have a friend who seems to pick up languages by osmosis. We went for a meal and were served by someone from Croatia. My friend started chatting to him (in English) and asked him for a few words in Croatian (no more than about a dozen) then was able to start speaking to him in Croatian. Afterwards he explained the few words let him know some basic structure he could relate to other languages he knew and he could extrapolate from them and the new words enough to be able to have a conversation. It was both spooky and amazing at the same time. He has a library in dozens of languages and gets books 'just to see what the language is like' - it's like some sort of super-power.
- scotch_drinker 11y ago
  In The Four Hour Chef, Tim Ferriss explains how he picks up languages and it's a very similar method. The structure of many languages are the same and so once you know the basic structure and a few helpful words, you can start to communicate. Fluency is a whole other thing but it changed how I view learning a language.
- outworlder 11y ago
  So, basically, he's an organic version of Star Trek's universal translator? More interestingly, if your friend can do that, perhaps the universal translator is not such a magical concept after all. For terrestrial languages, at least.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]

by joeyspn 11y ago

erikb 11y ago

I know a hyper-polyglot and he says it's not possible to be fluent in all of them. But it ought to be quite easy to reactivate one you studied well enough.

pascalmemories 11y ago

I have a friend who seems to pick up languages by osmosis. We went for a meal and were served by someone from Croatia. My friend started chatting to him (in English) and asked him for a few words in Croatian (no more than about a dozen) then was able to start speaking to him in Croatian. Afterwards he explained the few words let him know some basic structure he could relate to other languages he knew and he could extrapolate from them and the new words enough to be able to have a conversation. It was both spooky and amazing at the same time. He has a library in dozens of languages and gets books 'just to see what the language is like' - it's like some sort of super-power.

scotch_drinker 11y ago
In The Four Hour Chef, Tim Ferriss explains how he picks up languages and it's a very similar method. The structure of many languages are the same and so once you know the basic structure and a few helpful words, you can start to communicate. Fluency is a whole other thing but it changed how I view learning a language.
outworlder 11y ago
So, basically, he's an organic version of Star Trek's universal translator? More interestingly, if your friend can do that, perhaps the universal translator is not such a magical concept after all. For terrestrial languages, at least.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]