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Becoming a polyglot is actually not so hard to do

Becoming a polyglot is actually not so hard to do  A polyglot is not the same thing as a linguist or grammarian. (Shutterstock/-)
Alifia Afflatus Zahra (The Jakarta Post)
Semarang   ●   Fri, April 8, 2016

Many people are bilingual or trilingual, but there are only a few who can speak and understand four or more languages. Such individuals are known as polyglots.
 
A polyglot is not the same thing as a linguist or grammarian. Linguists study the history, roots and branches of languages; they aren’t necessarily able to speak them. Grammarians study grammar, but they aren’t required to be able to speak fluently in a variety of languages

Polyglots speak and understand many languages, but they do not focus their efforts on the study of grammar; they are solely interested in the practical use of a language.
 
There have been many remarkable people throughout history who were polyglots or even hyperpolyglots, including Emil Krebs, Sultan Mehmed II, Ziad Fazah, Sir John Bowring and George Dumezil. More recently, the young Timothy Doner from the US, can reportedly speak more than 20 languages. Many people can be found exhibiting their multilingual skills on YouTube.
 
Indonesia also has polyglots who are joined by a community called Polyglot Indonesia. I am actually one of the 14-year-olds who luckily surpasses the average language ability. I speak more than five languages at different levels. I speak Indonesian – my mother language – and fluently speak English, German and Spanish.

I can handle daily conversation in Malay and Javanese with my friends, understand Dutch without ever undertaking structured learning, as well as Afrikaans. I am also learning Arabic, Turkish, Tagalog, Portuguese, Hungarian and many more.
 
Sounds awesome, right? Not really, I can honestly tell you. Why? Because anyone can be a polyglot without having a special talent or being a prodigy. People only need to apply the appropriate method, a theory based on the research of Dr. Emil Krebs, which is supported by other people's experiences, including my own.
 
"If you see the appeal in being multilingual and desire to be a polyglot, or just want to learn a foreign language more effectively, read on."
 
Let's do a background story first. An infant is born without any language ability. Later, the baby’s environment and his/her parents take on the role of ‘teaching’ languages to the baby.
 
As we grow up, our language ability and grammar skills improve, since our brains are programmed to recognize correct and incorrect grammar, language structures and so on. We don't have to take any speaking courses or grammar lessons. We just listen to people talking the same language every day, scrutinize them and try to recognize the meaning of what they say. We practice via repetition.
 
From this, we can conclude that the pattern of language acquisition is listening-learning-recognizing-practicing-repeating.
 
So simple! The brain takes on the job about programming memory about grammatical structures. The more frequently one repeats this process, the more intensely the brain is able to program language and grammar skills.
 
In short, the most effective method of learning a foreign language is by listening to native speakers, practice and repeat. If you don`t have a partner, doing a monologue is a good option, just like I did. But when you encounter native speakers, don`t be hesitant to start a conversation with them.
 
Forget grammar books and dictionaries or even flash cards. What you need are audio files and practical internet videos and yourself to practice and repeat what you have learnt from listening and watching. Games, songs and movies are also a really fun way to learn. Check out www.goethe-verlag.com for audio files and YouTube's Easy Languages channel for videos.
 
So, are you ready to listen to songs in various foreign languages? Listen to audio tracks as many times as it takes to automatically memorize them? Watch anime or Spanish movies? Do monologues in Turkish, Arabic or Russian? If you are, prepare to be a cool hyperpolyglot.
 
Good luck!

***

Alifia Afflatus Zahra is a 14-year-old girl from Semarang, Central Java, who quit formal school two years ago for homeschooling. She blogs at hs-po.blogspot.com and enjoys writing about home education, children, teens, history, nature, politics, religion, social issues, and travel.

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