[ElJefe]

Check out this article. Watch the video. That kid, Alex, is absolutely off the charts. What an awesom skill to have!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17101370

[Entropy]

(02-21-2012 09:08 AM)ElJefe Wrote:  

Check out this article. Watch the video. That kid, Alex, is absolutely off the charts. What an awesom skill to have!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17101370

I dont just want to be a be polyglot. But also a fucking polymath.

A man has to be at home doing martial arts and boxing...just as well as reading tolstoy or yukio mishima.... just as well as enjoyably fucking bitches well in the anus .... just as well as rocking sophisticated taste and well toned body.... just as well as skill in handling firearms....... just as well as holding one's own in a street fight.... just as well as jungle/desert survival techniques....just as well traveled....just as well as playing classical music on a piano.... just as well as well versed in science and technology.... just as well as being able to cook a few fine exotic dishes really well.... just as well as handily craft furnitures/patios or repair a vehicle and drive terrain and non-terrain vehicles.... just as well know php/html codes........ just as well as versed in business/trading....... just as well as know no less than 5 languages very well...and be conversational or know phrases from a dozen more as well as.....just as well as.....

[FretDancer]

Couldn't have said it better Entropy, but I'll stick with 3 languages just for now

[Caligula]

Damn, his pronunciation is excellent in the languages I know.

Important point from a linguist in the article: the speed at which you learn a language is affected by how worried you are about making mistakes and looking foolish. If you're very ego-driven (in the sense of being afraid to make mistakes) you'll learn more slowly. Same goes for game. It's also the reason a lot of people suddenly become better at a foreign language when drunk. The only thing that changes is that they no longer fear making mistakes.

[violão]

Entropy, that's why I start to feel anxious whenever I'm watching TV or playing a video game. There's just so much to practice and learn and become good at.

And Caligula, you're spot on. That's one of the things Benny the Irish Polyglot stresses--you can't be afraid to make mistakes, and you can't be afraid to be corrected. Just listen like crazy and speak when given the opportunity. My anxiety was one of the reasons that I was so held back from excelling at Korean--I usually kept my mouth shut except for producing the most basic phrases. This also reminds me of a K-girl I was smashing who studied English lit but barely ever spoke a word. She knew everything I was saying, but never spoke because she was afraid of sounding like an idiot.

In retrospect, her silence was more idiotic. As was mine.

[Hades]

(02-21-2012 07:29 PM)Caligula Wrote:  

Damn, his pronunciation is excellent in the languages I know.

Important point from a linguist in the article: the speed at which you learn a language is affected by how worried you are about making mistakes and looking foolish. If you're very ego-driven (in the sense of being afraid to make mistakes) you'll learn more slowly. Same goes for game. It's also the reason a lot of people suddenly become better at a foreign language when drunk. The only thing that changes is that they no longer fear making mistakes.

Shit man, thanks for this info. I was always curious about why I'm bad at learning new languages and new maths.