Wanda Kaishin Posted November 28, 2015 Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 When Ziad Fazah made the claim that he can speak and write 58 languages, he was interviewed by a certain Spanish language variety show, and quizzed by native speakers of many different nationalities. Based on the interview, do you think his claims are true? How do you feel about the claims of "hyper-polyglots" in general? anna3101 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anna3101 Posted November 28, 2015 Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 Well, he most obviously does not speak these 58 languages. I'm sure there are hyper-polyglots out there - after all, there are people with photographic memory and a lot of other amazing cases - but as this example proves, not all of them are "for real". lushlala 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
宇崎ちゃん Posted November 28, 2015 Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 I don't think he means 58 languages on C2 level per se. Could just be 1 native language, some C2 languages, a couple of B2 languages and all the remaining ones on A1, some people just consider themselves 'fluent' as long as they can speak and understand a basic conversation. czarina84 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pesic87 Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 I heard there are some people in the world who speak multiple languages, like famous John Milton, who was and English poet, who wrote his epic work Paradise Lost. He was said to have had the ability to speak many languages, among which are: Latin, French, German, Greek, English, Spanish, Italian, Aramaic, Syriac, English and Hebrew. He was also said to have known Old English, and that he contributed to English language by coining around 600 and some terms. As for the person you mentioned in your comment, I heard of him, but would not simply rely on some interviews and claims...I doubt it really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_A Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 Wow! 58 languages is quite a task to learn, I cannot really imagine anyone mastering 58 languages and be really fluent and grammatically correct in them. But who knows? If I ever encounter anyone stating to speak 10 languages fluently, much less 58, I`m sure to require some proof to believe them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agentzero Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 I think there's no chance in heal he can speak 58 languages on the same level. Truth be told, I think somebody mistaken him being able to say "hello" in 58 different languages as someone who speaks them fluently. I've been studying English for a while and I'd say I almost speak it at a native level, but I've recently re-started learning Spanish and I'm having a lot of trouble. Of course, I might not be that talented to master two additional languages, but I think there has to a be a cap. I'd say it's hard to speak more than 15-20 languages on a same fluent level and even that's stretching it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanda Kaishin Posted December 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 4 hours ago, agentzero said: I'd say it's hard to speak more than 15-20 languages on a same fluent level and even that's stretching it. Are you talking about reaching C1/C2? I agree. Although it may be technically possible, it's probably a fulltime-lifetime effort, which eliminates just about everyone. Although I have to admit there are 2 guys on youtube who are probably pretty close to 10 X C1/C2. That used to be my lifetime goal, but I changed it to 12 X B2+ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
宇崎ちゃん Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 10 hours ago, agentzero said: I think there's no chance in heal he can speak 58 languages on the same level. Don't you mean hell? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linguaholic Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 2 minutes ago, Blaveloper said: Don't you mean hell? good question :=) 宇崎ちゃん 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linguaholic Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 if he does actually speak 58 languages, we should bring him here to linguaholic.com. Would be nice to have him as a moderator :=) czarina84, lushlala and anna3101 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czarina84 Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 I don't know how I feel about this. I didn't see the interview with him. In fact, this is the first I'm hearing of him at all. I find it difficult to believe he can learn 58 languages. However, the brain is an amazing thing. It also depends on his circumstances. If he's never had to work, is single and never had children, then it's possible, though not probable. I'm going to need proof either way before I can make a decision. His age is also a factor. And any mental talents he has, like eidetic memory. Some people are gifted when it comes to language. If he has that talent and eidetic memory, then he might be able to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lushlala Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 On 28 November 2015 at 1:46:42 PM, anna3101 said: Well, he most obviously does not speak these 58 languages. I'm sure there are hyper-polyglots out there - after all, there are people with photographic memory and a lot of other amazing cases - but as this example proves, not all of them are "for real". Hehe my eyes literally popped out of my head when I read that, I was beyond impressed! Some people really do embellish and over exaggerate how many languages they can 'speak' LOL It can be very embarrassing for both parties when the person who makes these wild claims is put to the test. A friend recently put on her LinkedIn profile that she speaks French, and when I commented that I wasn't aware of this, complimented her and spoke to her in my broken French, struggled to utter even a single word hehe! Another example that I recently witnessed that had me cringing was of Bradley Cooper claiming on the Graham Norton show that he spoke 'fluent' French, but then failing dismally to save face by at least muttering something, anything, when Graham asked him to say something in French. Oh man, I really felt for him. That's the very reason I'm always totally honest about my language skills, even sometimes opting to down play them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lushlala Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 On 28 November 2015 at 7:43:18 PM, Blaveloper said: I don't think he means 58 languages on C2 level per se. Could just be 1 native language, some C2 languages, a couple of B2 languages and all the remaining ones on A1, some people just consider themselves 'fluent' as long as they can speak and understand a basic conversation. Aww I finally got to watch the video clip and I just felt sorry for the poor guy. Granted I didn't understand any of it LOL Part of me does wonder if maybe he was extremely nervous under all that pressure? But kudos to the man, to have put himself out there will have taken a lot of bottle! Chances are like you say, he is not technically fluent in all 58 languages, but more like he speaks them to varying degrees and is perhaps better even away from all the pressure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agentzero Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 4 hours ago, Blaveloper said: Don't you mean hell? Yup, I just wrote it like to make it seem like I spoke with a Dusty Rhodes accent haha 10 hours ago, Wanda Kaishin said: Are you talking about reaching C1/C2? I agree. Although it may be technically possible, it's probably a fulltime-lifetime effort, which eliminates just about everyone. Although I have to admit there are 2 guys on youtube who are probably pretty close to 10 X C1/C2. That used to be my lifetime goal, but I changed it to 12 X B2+ Yeah, I think it's definitely a full time job to speak that many languages. I'm sure there are people who have a job as a translator who have to speak that many, but I imagine even they can run into some problems sometimes. 58 is just beyond ridiculous to me. lushlala 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atanas.velikov Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 He can't be that good, I've never heard of him before but going to take a look now at the interview Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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