2 min readfrom Language Learning

people who speak multiple languages, are they usually dismissive to other people who speak multiple languages?

Our take

In a world where multilingualism is often celebrated, the reality can be a bit more complex. Watching a show featuring a professor who claims to speak five languages sparked a conversation with my friend, a polyglot himself. His critique of the professor—pointing out translation inaccuracies and questioning the depth of language acquisition—revealed a common sentiment among some multilingual speakers: a tendency to dismiss others’ claims.

I was watching a tv show with a friend who speaks four languages. The show is not dramatized with actors, they are regular people.

On the show there was a professor who walks into an interview. The host says "this man speak FIVE LANGUAGES... FIVE." I asked him to watch it with me to give me his opinion.

Throughout the show my friend was like "He didnt even translate his own words properly, he said one thing in this language, and something not even close in the other language." "Reading a language doesnt really count as speaking a language if youre not able to actually communicate with people in it in other means." He also said that speaking multiple closely related languages from childhood is nowhere near the same level as speaking unrelated languages learned well after childhood.

One time he came across a spanish speaker who claimed to speak Portuguese, he asked him how to say red in Portuguese and the other person went blank. Like a "gotcha" moment.

I dont know how other multi-language speakers feel about it. I can solve a rubicks cube, most people are amazed at it, but it's actually not that hard. It takes like 45 minutes to learn it. So I kind of think I know how it feels.

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Tagged with

#language evolution#philosophy of language#humor in language#creative language use#placeholder words#multiple languages#language learning#bilingualism#communication#language proficiency#spanish speaker#Portuguese#language skills#translation#related languages#unrelated languages#language fluency#childhood language acquisition#language barrier#speaking ability