Hyperpolyglot (Afweyn ama Afqabash)

[SayidSomal]

LINK - Click here

 

Many people want to speak a second language, but for some people two can never be enough. Welcome to the world of the hyperpolyglot.

 

 

 

Any polyglot here in SOL?

[Abu-Salman]

It's all about immersing yourself and confidence as well as finding interesting material/hobby;

eg, you can learn Arabic largely by "just" watching and listening in Arabic or taking classes in Tafsir etc (it should comes naturally if you are learning Islam basics etc).

 

However, the positive side of today's world is that user friendly, self-teaching materials in even Somali are more and more available.

 

I bought myself the "Tell me more" software by Auralog we used to have at the university and quickly brushed up and lifted my english within weeks while having fun.

That software and few other classes on an educational channel plus a few issues of the "Times" improved my english much better apparently than years of formal teaching as things are much easier when you are interested in the topics/material.

 

Now, they even have that well-known software in Arabic and I just got hold of the next part of a well known arabic learning book for an english speaking audience :

 

Mastering Arabic 2

 

How great it would be to have such resources widely available for school students and test takers;

I remember finding user-friendly, decent material was a challenge even when we had all the time, enthusiasm or will.

 

 

 

PS: Am I polyglot if and when my spoken Arabic improve (I already watch and get most of Al Jazeera etc), given that I'm fluent in 3 other langages?

[Taleexi]

Fascinating stuff. I also found the more languages one learns the easier it gets to learn one more because language structures and conjugation of words in different languages overlap more often than you think. Btw, I speak few languages including Finnish, Swedish, Eng and Somali - And for conversational purposes Arabic and Spanish.

[Abu-Salman]

^That is impressive. Additional langages develop the brain too, facilitating further learning.

I remember they sent my elder bro few months to Germany/UK in his private engineering school (in addition to the Auralog software/ films in original version and some user-friendly, concise books).

He was having fun while learning key langages

 

I think natural curiosity fostered at at young age plus a culture of reading at home (books instead of TV) is much more crucial than formal teaching when it comes to langages, just like anything else.

A child who has read tens of books is already more knowledgeable than his teachers and there is little need for a teacher if the teen is already passionate about history, reading anything about biology he finds etc.

 

I remember how bored we tended to be at school as well as how easy it was to score the highest grade up to high school (even then, only the Maths/physics needed some real homework), to the extent these years were almost entirely superfluous (my biology teacher at year 7 could not believe I did not have proper notes);

of course, parents need to stimulate, read to and tell stories to their kids while encouraging reading and curiosity.

It should comes naturally for many of us to be real polyglots anyway.

 

 

 

PS: We would see wholesale change if a real culture of stimulating curiosity and reading took hold (helped by public libraries).

Translating medical Dutch works and other European texts, followed by widespread adoption and enthusiasm for reading laid down the foundations of the Meiji reforms in Japan that litterally turned a backward nation into one of the most moderns overnight (in around 3 decades).

[OdaySomali]

wow talk about multilingual, 11 languages in that video! I only speak 3 languages and inshallah want to learn a few more.

 

German is logically the next step for me as it is very close to Dutch and I can pretyy much understand it, just not speak/pronounce or read/write it.

 

Arabic is a language I have always wanted to learn but I have found that the best way to lear it is to live in an arabic speaking country - not the UAE - whilst simultaniously learnning it. In fact it seems the best way to learn a language is to live in a country where it is spoken.

 

French is another language i'd like to learn, have attempted it, but I have struggled with the pronounciation

 

But I don't think there is any purpose in learning many languages or a language that you will rarely use. That said, people who speak multiple languages fascinate me.

[Blessed]

^The UAE has got to be the worst Arabic country for learning the language, not only has English replaced it as the lingua franca, native speakers have this annoying habit of dumbing it down and messing it up with Urdu and English - which are messed up versions of these languages.

 

I envy the young man in the video. He probably has the added advantage of relating to different cultures, as cultures are impeded in language. How cool is that!? It must be said that he has a special talent, learning a language is not an easy process for the average mind. Apart from the obvious three, I've only been interested in Spanish which I've learned in school (I know about 10 words.. haha) and Malay because I just love everything about Malaysia -- would love to live there for awhile. I think it's useful to immerse yourself in a language,the classroom is not a very natural environment and only offers a superficial experience with a language.

[OdaySomali]

aside from english and somali wuat is your third lang.

[Raamsade]

I'll take a polymath over a polyglot any day of the week. While it is good to learn one or two useful languages besides your mother tongue (useful languages are languages which publish large volumes of acadmic papers, novels, magazines, newspapers,etc - good examples include English, major European languages, Japanese, Hebrew, etc), language is merely a medium of communication. The content of what you're saying is more important than the language you're using unless you're a hot chic whispering in French or more locally in reer Xamar accent. Are what you're saying factually true? Are they logically sensible? This is all the more important in today's space-age, sophisticated world where a citizen's ability to make sound decisions depends on their competence in science, math, finance, law, history and critical thinking skills.

[SayidSomal]

^^Is that how much you hate Arabic?

[Taleexi]

Arabic has so much manuscript I wished I could be well versed .... It is a pretty rich language .. talk about history, literature, and philosophy .... how many volumes of Arabic text I wanted to decipher and crack its code if only I could...

[Raamsade]

Sayid, that is a slander. I don't hate Arabic; I just think it is useless language compared to say English, French, Hebrew, Japanese... if you're academic research and need to read up on the latest in your field, your best bet is English followed by French/German, Romance languages, Hebrew, Japanese.

 

Taleex, the whole Arabic world (300-400 million) publishes fewer books that Spain. Or was that the whole Islamic world? Can't remember. Anyways for a language that makes sweeping boastful claims, Arabic continues to underwhelm all in its lack of published works - the only true measure of a language's usefulness.

[Taleexi]

Your criterion of measuring a language's usefulness is partially valid. The volume of the speakers matter, like mandarin of China ... As a Somali, you would be better off learning the language of 1/2 billion people next door. Unless, of course, you prefer to be in an isolation.

[SayidSomal]

Slander! Really? - you'll have to prove that in the court of SOL gallery and in Arabic.

 

What was is that Nelson Mandela said: "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."

[Raamsade]

Sayid, I have huge respect for Mandela but the man was a leader and a politician. The quote you cite sounds something like, well, a politician would say. The heart is an organ that pumps blood. If something, other than blood, goes in/out of your heart than you're in big trouble. But if you wanna flatter or cajole others surely there are other means like feeding them, regaling them with jokes and stories, or if you're Somali boring them with the endless wonders of she-camel... anything but a useless language like Arabic or heaven forbid revolting language like German whose speakers sound like a senior citizen with a bad case of constipation. Thanks but no thanks.

 

Taleex, Where is your Somalinimo? Don't you know we Somalis consider all non-Somalis and their dumb languages, cultures, customs etc as inferior and not worthy of consideration let alone spending time and energy learning about? Don't embarrass man, no self-respecting Somali will learn languages of inferior races like indhayarta be it cat and dog eating Chinese or Bengali rice farmers. Lets be true Somalis and be proud in our ignorance.

[Taleexi]

Dee bal waayahee afkaaga bal car erey carabig ah ka ilaali !