Lawyer/Polyglot/Fifty plus languages

<<I am not sure I am good at my mother tongue.There are a lot of words in literature and science I don't know>>

You are, take it from me. You're not supposed to know what technical terms mean because they lie on the 'outskirts' of normal language. And most of them are basically Latin or Greek words so knowing technical terms is part of knowing Latin or Greek and not your native tongue.

This topic migrated to the Wendy Vo thread, so I'd like to bring it here again. We have seen various opinions about Muhamed Mesic. I was curious about him because of the high number of languages in which he reports that he can "communicate". I was also curious about his middle name which appeared to be Jewish. His story seems to be that comes from Jewish people on his mother's side and Muslim people on his dad's side.

I saw articles about him in SCB, English and Spanish.

I thought I read that he (possibly) was on a TV show where he demonstrates some of his language skills. I hope a clip becomes available.

I realize now that he may be controversial here because of his comments about some people who speak Serbian.

I hope that we can be fair about this.

By fair, I mean, let's keep this about languages, not politics.

you can always try looking him up on Facebook... and try his languages!
he never claimed he spoke 56, and you should keep this thread darn clean of politics... :S

What a funny thread!!! GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT LOL... like in Shariah...

Why would it be impossible for someone like this Muhamed kid to learn how to order a cup of coffee and ask how someone's doing in 56 languages - that's "communicate", isn't it?

Jealous bunch...

Hmmm. I don't feel jealous. I never feel jealous about languages, but I'm acutely aware that many people feel jealous about this level of accomplishment. Early last evening a young man who is working on his fifth language was accused of being "a show-off". I was in the room and I didn't have that feeling at all about him. I thought it was great that he had acheived that level.

About Mr. Mesic:

He only claims to "communicate" in 56 languages. I don't know what that means exactly. For me that would be MORE than "coffee" and "How's it going?" I'd like to say that means tourist level.

He isn't claiming fluency in 56 languages.

Maybe Josh can tell us, but I think those who study linguistics probably study a lot of languages. I wonder if some of these "hyperpolyglots" have just studied the languages and can describe the grammar, etc.

Language X belongs to Family Y and forms the past tense like this:

Xsy (stem) plus oy=I sigh
xsy + rgi +oy=I sighed

Ask them to speak, though, and whoa! I'll wager that the output is halting.

There is nothing wrong with merely reading a language or understanding it, but it isn't the proof of a polyglot. A polyglot is a speaker, not someone who can merely "read" (even aloud) and translate.

It's certainly possible to speak ten languages well and to have studied
forty-six languages. It would be great if we could see that clip where he demonstrates his languages.

so you're saying that if he can communicate in 56 languages at tourist level that isn't an accomplishment? IMHO even if he does - and he sort of explains it all on his FAQ page - he should still be given a bit of credit for it.

why'd ya actually start this thread, to bash the guy?

Perhaps you should read again what I wrote. I haven't bashed Mr. Mesic at all. I note that his comments may be controversial for some people who read this forum. They are not controversial to me in a personal way.

I started this thread because I am interested in hyperpolyglots.

what comments exactly are you referring to? i don't think i get that bit, to be honest. why is someone who says he can "communicate" in 56 languages controversial?!? you mentioned something about comments about "people who speak Serbian"?!

this is what I dug up today... he apparently learned romanian with internet and magazines (if I get consultând internetul şi citind reviste right!)... way to go: http://www.adevarul.ro/index.php?section=articole&screen=print&layout=print_articol&id=178652

>>Maybe Josh can tell us, but I think those who study linguistics probably study a lot of languages. I wonder if some of these "hyperpolyglots" have just studied the languages and can describe the grammar, etc.

I sort of think that some scholars aren't really "talented" as some others brand them. They simply have good theoretical knowledge, just like everybody else, BUT also with the motivation and techniques, like those of THE professor, to turn their Language Acquisition Device (LAD) into a supercomputer. With this enhanced LAD, they can learn exotic languages very quickly for their research.

i just wrote to the guy on facebook in english and he wrote back in a mixture of english and malay. good malay, great english.

Guest, K.T. never bashed the guy - another "Guest" did... well, discredit him at least :S

I can communicate in 61 languages and I am fluent in 11.You can claim whatever you want and some people believe you.It is unbelievable how gullible some people are.Until I see positive proof,I can say with confidence that Muhamed Mesic is a good hoax.

I can't believe you'd even consider that K.T. would bash someone! K.T. is far above bashing anyone.

For more about M. M., please visit the "Learning Languages" site and find the thread with his name. There is some recent information there.