Like Yop, I was wondering about the meaning of the gestures and expressions. I didn't want to jump to a conclusion based on my interpretation of those gestures.
Video of The World's Greatest Polyglot: Multilingual
Previous page Pages: 1 2 3
Listen to Ziad Fazah (maybe) in English.
http://muscle.vox.com/library/post/a-conversation-with-ziad-fazah.html
You can type in the address above or try to google "Keith's voice on language learning" and "Conversation with Ziad Fazah"
http://muscle.vox.com/library/post/a-conversation-with-ziad-fazah.html
You can type in the address above or try to google "Keith's voice on language learning" and "Conversation with Ziad Fazah"
Mr. Fazah says that you need 3,000 words and the structure of the language to speak a language. That actually sounds about right to me, but what level is that? I am going to say that probably puts a person between an intermediate and an upper-intermediate level, but this is where I wish I knew how linguists think about this.
After listening to Mr. Fazah in Spanish and the special way he "sings" Spanish and English, I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't the real guy.
He's very interesting. He could be on any talk show in the U. S., but some of the hosts would skewer him. I'd like to hear him in a conversation with Barry Farber. His life (as he tells it) could be a movie.
After listening to Mr. Fazah in Spanish and the special way he "sings" Spanish and English, I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't the real guy.
He's very interesting. He could be on any talk show in the U. S., but some of the hosts would skewer him. I'd like to hear him in a conversation with Barry Farber. His life (as he tells it) could be a movie.
>>You make it sound like you doubt he's actually Chinese… :-)
He should be, but among us Chinese, we can somehow distinguish between different Chinese, and different East Asians. You wouldn't see a man of such complexion in Southern China, where people tend to be of (much) smaller build...
>>Please excuse me for what is perhaps a naive question, but did you understand the head-shaking that the Chinese — I'll stick to calling him that for the sake of simplicity — made upon hearing Ziad Fazah's surprising translation? As, perhaps, you know, it's a gesture that means "no", but I was wondering if this was understood and used in your country?
You could see he's sort of shaking his head and smiling.... that smile, as I see it, is a sign of embarrassment - it often appears when either the one who smiles does something funny or someone he sees does so. I can't make this any clearer even writing in Chinese, but his facial expression is certainly very ambiguous, which might suggest that he might have had serious doubts about what he was hearing.
>>Learning Languages (the Micheloud site) has people who have contacted him (at least one person), if you are interested in calling him. I believe Cantonese is one of his languages, but then you saw the reaction to the Mandarin.
I know, but I haven't got time (and it could be expensive to make such a call LOL).
While some people here and in that forum are doubtful about his abilities... I still believe he is a capable man, at least given his patience and diligence in learning languages, even if that means he could only read in 5x languages or making mistakes of beginners...
He should be, but among us Chinese, we can somehow distinguish between different Chinese, and different East Asians. You wouldn't see a man of such complexion in Southern China, where people tend to be of (much) smaller build...
>>Please excuse me for what is perhaps a naive question, but did you understand the head-shaking that the Chinese — I'll stick to calling him that for the sake of simplicity — made upon hearing Ziad Fazah's surprising translation? As, perhaps, you know, it's a gesture that means "no", but I was wondering if this was understood and used in your country?
You could see he's sort of shaking his head and smiling.... that smile, as I see it, is a sign of embarrassment - it often appears when either the one who smiles does something funny or someone he sees does so. I can't make this any clearer even writing in Chinese, but his facial expression is certainly very ambiguous, which might suggest that he might have had serious doubts about what he was hearing.
>>Learning Languages (the Micheloud site) has people who have contacted him (at least one person), if you are interested in calling him. I believe Cantonese is one of his languages, but then you saw the reaction to the Mandarin.
I know, but I haven't got time (and it could be expensive to make such a call LOL).
While some people here and in that forum are doubtful about his abilities... I still believe he is a capable man, at least given his patience and diligence in learning languages, even if that means he could only read in 5x languages or making mistakes of beginners...
This is not a TV show polyglot but an acclaimed linguist who can "functionally speak 26 different languages". I copied this information from Wikipedia:
"Nicholas Ostler is a British scholar and author. He is also the author of the 2005 book Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World, which documents the spread of language throughout human history. Ostler studied at University of Oxford, where he received degrees in Greek, Latin, philosophy, and economics. He later studied under Noam Chomsky at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned his Ph.D. in linguistics and Sanskrit. Ostler can functionally speak 26 different languages.
He is currently the chairman of the Foundation for Endangered Languages, and lives in Bath, England.
"Nicholas Ostler is a British scholar and author. He is also the author of the 2005 book Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World, which documents the spread of language throughout human history. Ostler studied at University of Oxford, where he received degrees in Greek, Latin, philosophy, and economics. He later studied under Noam Chomsky at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned his Ph.D. in linguistics and Sanskrit. Ostler can functionally speak 26 different languages.
He is currently the chairman of the Foundation for Endangered Languages, and lives in Bath, England.
А я бегло говорю на всех человеческих языках. Скорее всего, я так называемый "сверхчеловек".
Hugo,
Thanks for this information. I'd like to know what "functionally" means here, though. Isn't this always the problem when looking at foreign language skills? In the Berlitz way of thinking "functional" means the two lowest levels. I've read that Europeans have tests with ratings like "B1 and "C2" for language levels of non-native speakers. Perhaps knowing the numbers for Mr. Ostler would give us a better picture of his skills.
I recently saw a video on a savant who supposedly learned Icelandic in a week. He's British as well.
Thanks for this information. I'd like to know what "functionally" means here, though. Isn't this always the problem when looking at foreign language skills? In the Berlitz way of thinking "functional" means the two lowest levels. I've read that Europeans have tests with ratings like "B1 and "C2" for language levels of non-native speakers. Perhaps knowing the numbers for Mr. Ostler would give us a better picture of his skills.
I recently saw a video on a savant who supposedly learned Icelandic in a week. He's British as well.
"А я бегло говорю на всех человеческих языках. Скорее всего, я так называемый "сверхчеловек".
Well, perhaps you should face off with Mr. ZF on another show. There's a Chilean host in Miami who might be interested. His name is Mario K., but they call him Don Francisco.
Well, perhaps you should face off with Mr. ZF on another show. There's a Chilean host in Miami who might be interested. His name is Mario K., but they call him Don Francisco.
I recently saw a video on a savant who supposedly learned Icelandic in a week. He's British as well
K. T.
You're too smart to believe in a bullshit like that. How can a "normal" human being learn a language in a week? Moreover, what does learning a language mean? Even if you learn some basic grammar rules ( main verbal conjugations and noun, adjective declensions) and a basic vocabulary ( 800-1000 words) you'll take you at least a few weeks or months. Furtherthemore, from a morphological point of view, Icelandic is the most complicated germanic language!
K. T.
You're too smart to believe in a bullshit like that. How can a "normal" human being learn a language in a week? Moreover, what does learning a language mean? Even if you learn some basic grammar rules ( main verbal conjugations and noun, adjective declensions) and a basic vocabulary ( 800-1000 words) you'll take you at least a few weeks or months. Furtherthemore, from a morphological point of view, Icelandic is the most complicated germanic language!
>>You're too smart to believe in a bullshit like that. How can a "normal" human being learn a language in a week?
And here,
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6366&PN=0&TPN=1
someone claims that even that British man had been doing something that "everybody could" using intelligent methods.
I guess that's not about learning how to speak a language functionally but, rather, how to be well-versed within just one week.
I've read quite a lot about the link and subsequent pages. I think the method is quite difficult to realize, but not impossible for most well-established languages (Cantonese is NOT; generic Chinese is marginal, because of conflicting character sets). In short, it's about: having read a lot of literature stuff (or any cultural material you like) and being passionate + very knowledgeable about it, find the same material in the target language X with good audios, and prepare good translations. Then the rest would be about very intensive reading and listening.
Anyone interested? It's strikingly innovative, but I already think it's too hard for me (not being really fluent in English; I never finished an English novel) even for German, not to say finding audios.
And here,
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6366&PN=0&TPN=1
someone claims that even that British man had been doing something that "everybody could" using intelligent methods.
I guess that's not about learning how to speak a language functionally but, rather, how to be well-versed within just one week.
I've read quite a lot about the link and subsequent pages. I think the method is quite difficult to realize, but not impossible for most well-established languages (Cantonese is NOT; generic Chinese is marginal, because of conflicting character sets). In short, it's about: having read a lot of literature stuff (or any cultural material you like) and being passionate + very knowledgeable about it, find the same material in the target language X with good audios, and prepare good translations. Then the rest would be about very intensive reading and listening.
Anyone interested? It's strikingly innovative, but I already think it's too hard for me (not being really fluent in English; I never finished an English novel) even for German, not to say finding audios.
Guest,
Why does it upset you that I mentioned this? It doesn't diminish the linguistic accomplishments of anyone here. I doubt very much that he has in-depth knowledge of Icelandic.
I saw a link on another language site (the one Xie mentioned) and looked at the Discovery Channel (I think) piece.
I'd like to get the opinion of someone who knows Icelandic well. If you are familiar with this language, please comment if you view the link. It's very easy to memorize tourist-level language and give answers to rehearsed questions in several languages, but whether this gentleman nailed Icelandic, I can't say.
On the other hand, I have known a couple of people who had extraordinary gifts (memory and auditory) and even the reciting of Pi doesn't impress me much. Someone with an eidetic memory could do it, I think.
Why does it upset you that I mentioned this? It doesn't diminish the linguistic accomplishments of anyone here. I doubt very much that he has in-depth knowledge of Icelandic.
I saw a link on another language site (the one Xie mentioned) and looked at the Discovery Channel (I think) piece.
I'd like to get the opinion of someone who knows Icelandic well. If you are familiar with this language, please comment if you view the link. It's very easy to memorize tourist-level language and give answers to rehearsed questions in several languages, but whether this gentleman nailed Icelandic, I can't say.
On the other hand, I have known a couple of people who had extraordinary gifts (memory and auditory) and even the reciting of Pi doesn't impress me much. Someone with an eidetic memory could do it, I think.
I'm sure it is possible, why not? If you have a wonderful memory, all you have to do is read through a grammar and a vocabulary list and a text written by a native speaker and you're done! Of course, such a memory is rare but there are still people out there with this ability. They are called "geniuses".
Previous page Pages: 1 2 3