Stuart Jay Raj: Modern Hyperglot
"I met a man who was fluent in well over 50 languages. He probably would have qualified as the greatest living hyperpolyglot, but he had no interest in notoriety, and discouraged any publicity about him outside his work (where he used all those languages--first for the government, later in private industry) and his family. (I met him through a family member.)
He was no liar. He was the real thing. And, yes, he was American born and raised."
Was he willing to discuss his learning methods?
Uhh, I doubt giving out phone numbers here is a good idea.
I said MOST. Normal people aren't hyperglots.
If really exists person speaking 50 languages, it's probably, he's similar to the people who remember pi to 100 000 decimals... ie, a weird person who should come to me for psychologic assesment.
<Uhh, I doubt giving out phone numbers here is a good idea. >
Those phone numbers of Ziad Fazah were avaiable by one of his students on another forum where you happened to be a user as well. "How to learn any language."
I feel sorry for anyone that goes to you for psychological assessment, Franco.
"I said MOST. Normal people aren't hyperglots.
If really exists person speaking 50 languages, it's probably, he's similar to the people who remember pi to 100 000 decimals... ie, a weird person who should come to me for psychologic assesment."
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I noted that you said "most", but still...
I don't think I'll send any savants your way.
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I don't think I should make a cold call to Mr. Ziad Fazah. I did read that he lived in Brazil, so I'll check the codes on those numbers. Maybe I'll ask someone from Brazil. Thanks, though.
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"How to learn any language." This is really a great site. There are some serious language learners. I usually learn something everytime I go there. Of course, I learn from people here as well.
I found some information about him in Portuguese. I was able to read it without assistance, so it should be accessible to a lot of the posters here.
I thought it was pretty interesting and much more detailed than what is given in Wikipedia.
Here's the address to get to the article. Copy and paste or go to Wikipedia, look up his name and go to the article at the bottom of the page where the references are.
http://www.scapin.org/ziad_fazah.htm
Have fun!
I'm afraid that some readers can't read the passage in the link at all, which seems to be almost entirely in Portuguese.
K.T
Translation in English is needed.
I thought many people would be able to enjoy it in Portuguese because we have so many Spanish-language enthusiasts here.
I found a site in English too. It doesn't have as much information, but has more than wikipedia.
Please type in the address below or copy and paste for info in English.
http://www.spidra.com/fazah.html
Here are some highlights from articles I've read. Some of this I got from Portuguese, some not.
He learned most of his languages before the age of 18. Arabic, English and French he pretty much got "for free" imo and he got practical speaking opportunities with other languages because there were so many tourists in Beirut where he lived with his parents. (He was born in Liberia, though.)
He learned 3 or 4 languages at a time every three or four months.
He thinks that Mandarin Chinese is the most difficult language because of the Hanzi/ideograms.
(K. T. notes that he has NOT learned Basque, though.)
He thinks anyone can learn any language in a short period of time.
Any opinions?
"He learned 3 or 4 languages at a time every three or four months."
Oops, the Portuguese says every three months. Anyway, he learned over 52 languages early on.
That's marvelous! But how to do this if one is removed from / not living in an environment like Beirut?
And what actually did he do?
According to the article in Portuguese (Scapin), he worked in tourist agencies and maritime commerce companies for free (during his adolescence) in order to practice.
Ways you can learn languages/practice: Volunteer to work with refugees if you have them in your community. Teach your native language for free to foreigners using their language. Attend an international group, church or other organization. Offer to show tourists around your city for free or almost free. Join an internet language exchange. Use another skill you have to attract foreigners for practice. There are plenty of internet resources in major languages imo. Be aware of foreigners where you shop. Are they having problems reading the labels, etc.? Help them nicely.
Another way to speak 60 languages:
Become a neuro-engineer and invent mechanism for implanting knowledge in brain!