Should You Plan to Become a Polyglot?

A discussion of polyglottery, planning, and personality types. If you have decided that one of your life goals is to become a polyglot, then does it make sense to develop and follow a systematic plan to achieve this? For many, it may be more joyful, and more productive, to simply let your range of languages expand organically. However, for those of a scholarly disposition who have concrete goals in mind, following a set plan is the best way to achieve them. Where can you find examples of such systematic study sequences, or possibly have one tailor made for you? I hereby invite you to visit my new website at alexanderarguelles.com to read a number of systematic study plans that others have requested, and to submit such a request yourself if you so desire.
If you might like to participate in my reading and discussion circles for French, German, Spanish, or Latin literature, or in seminars for Great Books of both Western and Eastern civilizations beginning in May of 2022, please fill out the application at www.alexanderarguelles.com/ac...
If you can think of anyone else who might be interested in joining these discussion circles, or who might like support for the self-study of foreign languages, please pass the above information along to them.
If you are in a position to support my efforts to spread knowledge through these videos, I will gratefully accept any contributions to ko-fi.com/alexanderarguelles

[@rafsroka]

Yes!! New video! Just an idea. Have you considered releasing your recent content as a podcast? I personally would love it since I listen to podcasts everyday and they get downloaded to my phone automatically. I can see one drawback though, we wouldn't see the cat :)

[@YogaBlissDance]

Agreed his videos would work well as podcasts. Prof. all you do is pull audio and add short intro like 1 min or less, and you have apodcast.

[@ProfASAr]

I see there is tremendous interest in this from the upvotes, and I thank Yoga Bliss Dance for her short explanation of what is involved. However, I must confess this is where my pre-digital native status pulls me up short. "Podcast" is a word I have just never really understood. If I want to listen to talks on KZbin, I download them and listen to them. What on earth would I need to do differently from what I do now to make this easier for people? Please provide step by step explanations and instructions for a simpleton!

[@ProfASAr]

Beginning in May of 2022, I will offer virtual options for working with me to improve your skills in reading French, German, Latin, or Spanish literatures, to engage in Great Books discussions, and to provide support for the self-study of foreign languages. If these might interest you, please fill out the application form on my website at alexanderarguelles.com/academy/ If this is not for you, but you know someone whom it might interest, please pass this information on to them.

[@arobrasil]

This is great news. I will certainly apply. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@eeeee323]

¡Quisiera que mis gatitas también se queden así de quietesitas mientras yo estudio o hablo! Gracias prof Arguelles ¡Qué bueno que ahora está muy activo en KZbin a comparación de años anteriores! Gracias por su tiempo y por compartir tanto con nosotros. ¡Y por tener un gatito tan bonito!

[@ProfASAr]

¡Muchissimas gracias!

[@Caliban_80]

I recently read about Sir Richard Burton and it blew my mind how he learned so many languages without the technological advantages I have.

[@ProfASAr]

Quite frankly, I think it was easier before technology!

[@Yan_Alkovic]

Very happy to hear that the website is up! Definitely going to tell all my friends and students about it!

[@ProfASAr]

Thank you, Yan. I saw you wrote to me a while back about a spreadsheet. So sorry for the late response - coming this afternoon!

[@Yan_Alkovic]

@@ProfASAr That’s great news, Professor, I’ll be looking out for it and will examine it at first opportunity!

[@lautaro868]

I'm so glad I found your channel. I know 3 languages by now and I'm planning to learn German and Japanese, so finding someone i can relate to is really helpful. I hope you continue creating videos!

[@ProfASAr]

Thank you very much. I know I have stopped and started my video making in the past, but my plan now is to keep up a regular pace, though it may have to slow down soon from my current 1x per week.

[@haicautrang5304]

That is such a great idea to have that on your page Dr. Arguelles. 😊

[@ProfASAr]

Hello Rebecca, this is precisely to provide guidance to long-standing viewers and readers such as you!

[@albertroundtree299]

I think Merlin's magic is the real secret of your success.

[@ProfASAr]

Absolutely!

[@chadprivett1143]

The website is up. Wonderful!

[@ProfASAr]

Hello Chad, and at long last I am able to answer some of your substantive questions. The new format allows for give and take, so please - carry on!

[@chadprivett1143]

@@ProfASAr Will do, Professor!

[@hamedmohamed8594]

Thank you for this video!, hope you to have a good day.

[@ProfASAr]

You are very welcome. You too!

[@focus2570]

The website looks great!

[@ProfASAr]

Thank you so much!

[@Darkred28]

Brings you in with Merlin Keeps you here with his detailed discussions.

[@ProfASAr]

Not a bad tactic, is it?

[@phoenixknight8837]

Many thanks, Professor! You are doing a great service to aid nascent polyglot enthusiasts.

[@ProfASAr]

You are so very welcome!

[@jonathanekroos3788]

Lovely video, lovely cat !

[@ProfASAr]

Thank you very much! I hope you will look through my channel for other videos - we are both in most, but if it is just him you want, go here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHqWlqKPnJibjrc

[@fisicogamer1902]

congratulations for finally have an operating site, Dr. Arguelles! My first impulse is to go ask you a question there already, but there is a lot of context to be organized in the text itself before I can ask you anything. i am in a transition phase, so I have to wait a little for my life to stabilize, then I can ask about my doubts: maybe I'll have to post more than one, or make a segue to my question. We'll see. rest assured: i will get to it. :D

[@ProfASAr]

Go ahead and pose your inquiry, William! A public conversation with you will benefit many!

[@fisicogamer1902]

@@ProfASAr OK, Doctor! I have done some modifications and sent you the questions. I hope I made them clear enough.

[@clementinebedsheets3210]

It's probably a perspective trick with the camera, but that cat looks like it has a bigger head than his.

[@ProfASAr]

No, if you judge by intelligence, his head would be larger than mine.

[@continuousself-improvement1879]

the cat is regal. 💕😘

[@ProfASAr]

If you want to see him in all his glory, go here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHqWlqKPnJibjrc

[@gabriel55259]

Hello, professor Arguelles. I plan to send you a question on your site but for now a general answer would suffice in case you're feeling like answering it. I am 25 years old and brazilian. The languages I already know are english (sometimes I can be confused as a native but my grammar is bad and I didn't read literature), spanish (mostly because of my portuguese background, I can read with a dicionary and pronnounce well) and latin (I'm only a1-a2 since I've reached LLPSI's Cap. XI). I want to learn latin, english, spanish, french, italian, german, greek, russian. I was reading LLPSI before but 4 months have passed since the last time I've done it so I don't have the habit of study. Should I start with only one or two languages? Or can I try to do like 4 or more at a time? I suppose the latter is not a good idea when one doesn't have the habit of language learning. What is your suggestion, professor?

[@ProfASAr]

Hello again, Gabriel, - this is not a simple question so I would prefer to answer it on the Q&A website rather than here, and I would like to have more details about your background, goals, and personality to give you the best answer.

[@konyvnyelv.]

I would be really interested if you made other videos like the Germanic series, when you read texts of similar languages

[@ProfASAr]

Hello Roberto, those videos were some of my favorites as well, as they were the most substantive, and I would love to make more. However, most of the comments that came in to them were very superficial, which was quite demotivating. I think, therefore, that I would prefer to post them on a "members only page" on my website than here on KZbin. If you care to take the time to go through the Dutch comments, for example, the most common is "haha you suck. That is not what Dutch sounds like." Then look at Afrikaans: "You are not speaking Afrikaans; that is Dutch!" Likewise with Icelandic - despite all my caveats, all I did was offend Icelandic ears, and yet, all Faroese ears did was think I was speaking Icelandic. I don't care to go through that experience again.

[@konyvnyelv.]

@@ProfASAr in any case you helped me a bit with icelandic, which I'm studying in university for an exam. I had some difficulties in finding texts because there are no Icelandic courses in Italian!

[@DustinSchermaul]

Thanks for another good video :). Can't wait to read through your new homepage! I already like the design. As of now I haven't really made a plan that goes so far. I'm just focusing on my current languages I'm learning and thinking and reflecting about the next language I want to learn. I will reflect a bit about that.

[@ProfASAr]

Hello Dustin, and thanks for commenting. Please enjoy reading through the plans that are posted already, and if that prompts you to ask for one, go right ahead; if you don't feel the need yet, then as I mention in the video, then you probably really don't need one.

[@gabriel55259]

Professor, I was thinking about the idea you mentioned before, of learning languages through a text translated into many different languages. So I wondered: where to find those texts? Then I thought of reading different Bibles and comparing the texts. But those have minor translation differences, depending on the author and on the translation they based upon. Then I remembered of papal encyclicals and Church documents. They are translated into many languages and are based upon the same text for translation. The number of papal documents is huge, so there is a lot to read and learn. So I can just put a browser window side by side and read it while comparing languages, just like you do with Assimil methods. What do you think of this? Do you have another suggestion, sir? And do you think that would be useful for a beginner or it's more intermediate level? Thank you, professor. I have been learning a lot with you. Have a good sunday and God bless you!

[@ProfASAr]

Gabriel, thank you for picking up on the overt Catholic allusions in my video (thus far you are the only one!). Yes, the encyclicals and other Church documents can be used side by side, just as Assimil lessons. However, I am note sure that they are any better / more appropriate for beginners, than NT texts. Please feel free to send this question, fleshed out , for a better answer to my website!

[@gabriel55259]

@@ProfASAr I will make sure to craft a nice question, professor. For me, your return was one of the best things that happened in this platform. Your channel is one of my favorites. (ps. jokes aside, it also made me contract polyitis! But you teach us how to cure it, so no problem! ). I also appreciate the fact that you take the time to answer everyone's questions! Global village, global professor! Lastly: believe or not, I'm sorry, but I did not pick up any allusions. I believe my comment was a coincidence. Would you mind explaining those Catholic allusions? (I'm catholic by the way.) God Bless you!

[@ProfASAr]

@@gabriel55259 "It is right and just. It is truly right and just..." from the mass responsorial just slipped out as I was talking about the moral imperative / falling tone "should..."

[@gabriel55259]

@@ProfASAr Oh, yes! I've never heard a mass in english so those words didn't catch my ear.

[@aliakil2176]

I've only found your videos today and I spent the past few hours watching them one after another. I'm mostly looking for information on how to progress in a language to the point of fluency and near-native level. I'd appreciate it immensely if you could offer some insight on the subject.

[@ProfASAr]

Request/suggestion well noted and added to list. Thank you!

[@aliakil2176]

@@ProfASAr I appreciate the quick reply and consideration ^_^

[@mikrbruh3683]

Hello Sir first of all thank you for your advice I've appreciated the videos ive seen so far. My question is which sources woukd you recommend for (Standard) Arabic and Turkish?

[@ProfASAr]

Without knowing anything more about you and where you come from and where you are and where you want to go, as always: Assimil (and Linguaphone also for Arabic)

[@mikrbruh3683]

@@ProfASAr ah Im a native english speaker. My goal is fluency is speaking at least. I checked out Assimil but I didn't see a turkish option in english. Thabks for commenting

[@ProfASAr]

@@mikrbruh3683This is precisely why I have always stated that English speakers should learn French and German before they try to learn other languages. If you know these two languages, many more doors will open to you. I am sorry, but when I think of Turkish resources, most of them are in German. Hugo's Turkish in 3 months is one of the few exceptions. Good luck to you!

[@mikrbruh3683]

@@ProfASAr i see I will check that out thank you. Im learning those due to family situations but I may learn french afterwards to be more adaptable in the long run

[@akiakdize87]

Hallo Hr. Prof. Arguelles! Ihre ehrlichen und hilfreichen Tipps schätze ich sehr. Sie unterscheiden in Ihrem Podcast zwischen zwei Alternativen: Entweder ich plane meinen Lernprozeß systematisch oder eben nicht. Aus eigener Erfahrung möchte ich noch einen dritten Weg vorschlagen, den ich als Konzept für sehr nützlich halte, nämlich den Ansatz agiler Methoden. Werde dein eigener Project Owner, Entwickler und Scrum Master in einer Person! Weitere Personen können natürlich einbezogen werden. Ich bin auch eher zufällig über die Jahre zum Sprachenliebhaber geworden. Während meiner Schulzeit hatte ich ein sehr gespanntes Verhältnis zu Sprachen, hätte beinahe wegen schlechter Schulnoten in Englisch und Französisch als Sitzenbleiber ein Schuljahr wiederholen müssen. Irgendwann hatte ich aber Feuer gefangen. Ich studierte in Frankreich, arbeitete in Japan, der Slowakei, Indien und China, reiste viel, pflegte intensive Kontakte nach Rußland und Georgien. Immer kamen neue Sprachen hinzu, nicht nur moderne Sprachen, sondern auch Altsprachen. Ich begann, mich systematischer mit Sprachen zu beschäftigen, fing an, den Lernprozeß zu planen. Alle Pläne sind jedoch am Ende krachend gescheitert! Die Gründe für das Scheitern ähneln denen der mißglückten IT-Projekte: Die Bedarfe ändern sich ständig und die Entwicklungszeiten sowie Kosten sind schwer abschätzbar. Viele Videos auf KZbin suggerieren, daß es einen schnellen Weg zu einer neuen Sprache gäbe. Hier wird die Komplexität des Lernprozesses völlig unterschätzt. Was lerne ich denn eigentlich? Eigne ich mir eine Kompetenz an, nämlich die Fähigkeit, eine Sprache in Alltag und Beruf einzusetzen, oder strebe ich nach Kenntnissen über eine Sprache, nämlich dem expliziten Wissen über Phonetik, Grammatik, etc.? Mich als Sprachenliebhaber auf Kompetenz zu beschränken, empfinde ich als unbefriedigend. Ich möchte auch verstehen, wie eine Sprache funktioniert, wie sie sich verändert, was sie von anderen unterscheidet, wie sie eingebetet ist, in das Beziehungsgeflecht der Sprachen der Welt, der Gegenwart und der Vergangenheit. Nennen wir es Metawissen. Kompetenz hingegen kann meistenteils nur praktisch erworben werden ähnlich wie das Radfahren. Ein Großteil des Lernvorganges findet nicht einmal bewußt statt. Das Gehirn gewöhnt sich erst langsam an die fremden Laute, sie zu unterscheiden und sie zu bilden. Der flüssige Lesen einer unbekannten Schrift muß lange geübt werden. Diese Prozesse sind kaum in ihrer zeitlichen Dimension planbar. Es passiert einfach, fordert seinen zeitlichen Tribut. Am Ende weiß man gar nicht genau, was man eigentlich kann. Wieviele Worte hat man gelernt? In welcher Situation kann man sich verständigen? Welche grammatischen Konstruktionen beherrscht man? Alles liegt in den Tiefen des Unbewußten, bereit abgerufen zu werden, aber eben nicht im Augenblick synchron explizit präsent als Wissen. Deshalb wohl das Unbehagen vieler Polyglotte, wenn sie nach der Anzahl der "beherrschten" Sprachen gefragt werden. Agile Methoden berücksichtigen genau diese Situation. Ich arbeite von Sprint zu Sprint, orientiere mich an kurzfristigen Zielen, kann meiner Neugierde folgen, aktuell: Ukrainisch ;-) Dadurch bleibt die Motivation erhalten, der Lernerfolg stellt sich am Ende ein, aber eben ganz anders, als man es vor einem Jahrzehnt für möglich gehalten hätte.

[@ProfASAr]

Hallo Aki Akidze, Bitte Schreiben Sie mir an alexanderaguelles.com, wo ich eine zufriedenstellende Antwort schreiben kann...

[@akiakdize87]

@@ProfASAr Habe es probiert und Ihnen unter "Kontakte" auf Ihrer Seite gesendet ...

[@abdulrahmanabdulghani8833]

What about my country Msia...its so near Singapore...

[@ProfASAr]

And yes I often visited Malaysia when I lived in Singapore.

[@krugerfuchs]

I have 2 cats black and white too

[@ProfASAr]

I feel sorry for the catless.

[@annawinters]

I wanted to be a polyglot as a teen but realistically now I realise I could never get far in more than 1-2 languages.

[@elisabethrichard]

why not?

[@annawinters]

@@elisabethrichard At some point you experience a conflict like: learn 2000 words each in 10 languages or learn 20000 words in 1 language.

[@Dysacanthos]

@@annawinters I know that feeling, actually to know a language and keep it, it takes a whole life and still you don't have to know it properly..I can actually say I speak many languages, but in fact I can honestly say I know only two..being a polyglot who knows many languages you either need to invest a large amount of time into it or be a genius..but when you are a normal person who works everyday and your job is not connected with many languages being a true polyglot who really knows languages, not a dabbler who learns most used words and speaks them, then that is merely impossible..but that's life. The more older I am, the more I appreciate the depth of learning one language to depth just to understand the complexity and the gist of language.

[@jrdking1]

@@Dysacanthos I agree with everything you guys said. Just a thought, it’s possible based on my experience to be fluent in multiple languages without a huge vocabulary. This fluency is best develop if your life provides the opportunity to live in the country for a year or so and you make the effort to speak a lot during this time. I’ve done this in 4 languages and they are not perfect but my conversations flow well. Now that I don’t travel often, I dedicate 2 hours daily to maintaining those languages (during drive, gym, etc…). But if the goal is to achieve a level close to an educated native then, 1 foreign language is enough 👍🏽

[@Dysacanthos]

@@jrdking1I studied, study and will study multiple languages. That's my life and I love it. There's an another good topic to discuss. If there's a native who's not well educated, but he lives in a country his whole live..he's obviously fluent but does he know that language? And then there's a foreigner who's well educated, but he doesn't live in a country..he's obviously fluent but does he know that language? I think studying the language is what makes a difference. So you can be fluent as much as you want but still never know a language despite the fact being completely okay with that and handle most everyday topics. In my opinion fluency doesn't mean knowing the language. I think it's a feeling like you know what's going on but you are not able to explain why that is. And probably the Why is the difference. And that's probably the reason why nowadays I'm more focused on 1-2 languages because probably I want to know that Why and I don't have the time for as many languages as I would like to and I'm not a genius as well.

[@Deibi078]

I wanna become a hyper polyglot alpha male gigachad who's attractive to every women and men on this planet

[@ProfASAr]

Oh gosh, is that how you see me? You must be talking about Merlin!

[@peterbrown3004]

Polyglotta sum propter naturam meam,,,non es res quam cupio sed res quam sequor

[@ProfASAr]

Pauci sumus...

[@victorpinchulaf]

In the middle of video the cat has that "please kill me" stare🤭

[@ProfASAr]

???

[@Kondzino]

TLDW?

[@ProfASAr]

TWBC? [Then why bother comment?] If I were to think of all the things I could do beyond posting four letter comments on KZbin videos I had not watched... why, I could have learned dozens more languages by now!

[@Kondzino]

@@ProfASAr I am a huge fan and i mean no disrespect sir.I wish i had time to meticulously watch all of your vidoes. Sorry!

[@ProfASAr]

@@Kondzino Apology accepted! Watch them when you have the time and may they serve you well!

[@Deibi078]

Not my thing lolb

[@ProfASAr]

So go away and find your thing and have a happy life!

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

Has anyone ever heard a polyglot say anything interesting or worthwhile? Even in their mother tongue?

[@keeganm9184]

Yes. Most European writers prior to a few centuries ago.

[@dowolo]

Schopenhauer

[@greenghost6691]

Yes. You're on his channel.

[@ProfASAr]

Thank you, Green Ghost and Keegan M and other upvoters. David, you have been subscribed to my channel for years and often pose substantive questions and comments. Why are you now posting an insulting insinuation that I am boring and have nothing worthwhile to say, and why are 5 people (as of my response) agreeing with you? If you find me boring, don't watch my videos!