Man fluent in 11 languages....I barely know 1

[SelimNiai]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17107435

Bet he cant watch Pobol Y Cwm easily

 

[Seaton]

Hmm

No Mandarin, Arabic or Swahili?

Leave out the hardest ones whilst you are at why don't you...

/end pessism

Well done the lad, his reasons for learning must be really interesting.

Not interesting enough to warrant having to listen to whole video, but interesting none the less.

 

[SelimNiai]

What I find mind boggling is not only having that much information but seamlessly slipping from one language and accent to another.

 

[psychic duck]

who judges what is "fluent"?

could be different in different peoples opinions

I heard one kid who won a language competition who apparently "spoke" several languages one supposedly being Uzbekistani and was interviewed on radio once, when asked what "Good Morning" was in Uzbekistani he didn't know

 

[Seaton]

who judges what is "fluent"?

could be different in different peoples opinions

I heard one kid who won a language competition who apparently "spoke" several languages one supposedly being Uzbekistani and was interviewed on radio once, when asked what "Good Morning" was in Uzbekistani he didn't know

I know ey, I speak and understand Afrikaans so fluently not even the Afrikanners can understand me.

I can perform a greeting, several insults and know a few profanities in Zulu- am I fluent in it then?

 

[gingergenius]

I'd say to 'speak a language' properly means that after 24 hours of immersion with speakers of that language, you'll be able to converse with them almost fluently.

Using me as an example, I'd say I can speak English and French.

'Knowing' a language is a different kettle of fish. I can have conversations with all sorts of people in Spanish and they'll understand me, but some of what I say is wrong and other parts I have to hesitate a lot - I've only picked it up and have never had lessons. So I 'know' Spanish.

Italian is similar - I got A* GCSE for it but haven't spoken it since and every time I try I end up speaking Spanish. So I 'know' Italian (I can still read it) but cannot speak it.

As for Scottish Gaelic, I can read and write it to a decent level. But I can't really speak it that well. So I 'know' Scottish Gaelic.

everything else is alien..

 

[Aedaphon]

I have A*s at GCSE level in French, Spanish and German but I can wholeheartedly say I'm fluent in nothing but English. The British and American systems are godawful at promoting bi/trilingual- mainly because most people don't see the need. (I'm probably one of those.

Fluency comes from exposure to the language, if you spend more than a couple of months living in a country you will gain a solid degree of fluency. (This coming from my father who speaks 7 languages fluently <_< - such a failed son)

 

[Me 1]

As for Scottish Gaelic, I can read and write it to a decent level. But I can't really speak it that well. So I 'know' Scottish Gaelic.

Bloody Hell, If your good at that you can probably master any language in the world

I am personally fluent in just two languages, English and Welsh(after making a dig at Scottish Gaelic I know I will be called a hypocrite for speaking such a language as Welsh, but it was worth it:lol.

 

[Toby Faletau-Jones]

I know bits of Welsh, but honestly it is the most pointless language in the world. And i am Welsh, but i believe it should be eradicated within schools and with more emphasise on English. I also know bits of German, French, Dutch, Spanish, American and Australian "Mite" with a little bit of Scouse to top it off.

I couldn't ever imagine being fluent in any language, bar English and... oh yeah Australian. It's too hard.

 

[dullonien]

I know bits of Welsh, but honestly it is the most pointless language in the world. And i am Welsh, but i believe it should be eradicated within schools and with more emphasise on English. I also know bits of German, French, Dutch, Spanish, American and Australian "Mite" with a little bit of Scouse to top it off.

I couldn't ever imagine being fluent in any language, bar English and... oh yeah Australian. It's too hard.

Disgraceful attitude. If that's how you feel then you aren't Welsh, and you aren't wanted either. The Welsh language defines us as a nation, our forefathers have fought to retain our language, and now that it's finally prospering (new Welsh schools opening in and around Cardiff), you want to just abandon it? Maybe we should just abandon our individual nationalities within the Uk and all become England, because it's all just pointless really!

Edit. Just want to clarify that I'm not suggesting that if you can't speak Welsh then you're not Welsh. But I think every Welsh person (Welsh speaking or otherwise) should be proud that we still have a language that is spoken daily in every facet of life. The Welsh language is not just a recreational thing, people do business etc. through Welsh aswell. In my previous job at an architectural firm in Aberystwyth, all emplyees spoke Welsh, and it was the language used every day. How is that pointless exactly?

 

[Toby Faletau-Jones]

@ Dullonien - I forgot to quote you mate.

Okay you do have some valid and good points in your response, but ask yourself who apart from the 2% (probably a bit more, but a slight exaggeration) in Wales and those in a certain parts of Patagonia speak it? In school i disliked learning Welsh (I still did well and got an A and this was the view of pretty much every student and mate i knew), but i couldn't see the relevance unless i went further up north (I know other regions have speakers too, but this area has them predominantly). My point is, the world has changed, we no longer live in our isolated villages where contact only occurs within the country. Therefore whilst it is a fantastic language, it is understandably insignificant. ( History aside) What have England currently done to Wales? Without England Britain wouldn't survive to be fair. But i won't go further into that.

Perhaps i wrote my previous message incorrectly. I should have and meant that they should eradicate it in 'Non-Welsh' speaking schools, but continue it in 'Welsh' speaking schools. This way it will maintain the tradition. My fault there.

Remember this though; i am proud to be Welsh and do appreciate our culture, but i just can't justify some of it, and the enforcement on some non-speakers.

I'll let you respond, and that will be the end, because i have slightly gone off the subject of this thread.

Apologies to the OP.

 

[Seaton]

Without England Britain wouldn't survive to be fair. But i won't go further into that.

and that will be the end, because i have slightly gone off the subject of this thread.

*Ahem*

Off topic or not, that is utter non-sensical bulls***.

 

[SelimNiai]

On the subject of Welsh language. Its a language I'd love to be able to speak but as I never went through the Welsh school system I never had that oppurtunity I pick up phrases and words as we go and I'm proud that I can quite easily recite the anthem and Calon Lan after having taught myself them. To say it needs removing from the schools "Mae hynny'n nonsens" (see what I did there).

 

[dullonien]

@ Dullonien - I forgot to quote you mate.

Okay you do have some valid and good points in your response, but ask yourself who apart from the 2% (probably a bit more, but a slight exaggeration) in Wales and those in a certain parts of Patagonia speak it? In school i disliked learning Welsh (I still did well and got an A and this was the view of pretty much every student and mate i knew), but i couldn't see the relevance unless i went further up north (I know other regions have speakers too, but this area has them predominantly). My point is, the world has changed, we no longer live in our isolated villages where contact only occurs within the country. Therefore whilst it is a fantastic language, it is understandably insignificant. ( History aside) What have England currently done to Wales? Without England Britain wouldn't survive to be fair. But i won't go further into that.

Perhaps i wrote my previous message incorrectly. I should have and meant that they should eradicate it in 'Non-Welsh' speaking schools, but continue it in 'Welsh' speaking schools. This way it will maintain the tradition. My fault there.

Remember this though; i am proud to be Welsh and do appreciate our culture, but i just can't justify some of it, and the enforcement on some non-speakers.

I'll let you respond, and that will be the end, because i have slightly gone off the subject of this thread.

Apologies to the OP.

I know many people share your same views, although it tends to come from English families who have moved into Wales. By your reasoning though it would be good to eradicate all other languages and be left with one. It would make much more sense.

Retaining ones culture is hugely important imo, that's why I made the sarcastic comment about England. If you get rid of the most important pare of our culture, our language that has survived for so long despite genuine attempts to eradicate it (Welsh NOT etc.), then what's the point in keeping anything else. Might as well abandon Eisteddfod's, because they're of no use (despite being totally unique) and so on.

You may not have enjoyed Welsh when you were younger, and unfortunately at that time speaking Welsh was seen as un-cool amongs school children. However that has, or at least is changing by all accounts. Traditionally non Welsh speaking areas such as Cardiff are embracing the language with a few new Welsh speaking schools opening in the city. Welsh is no longer viewed as un-cool, and that has alot to do with rugby imo, with a large proportion of rugby players in Wales Welsh speaking.

I still don't understand your reasoning for abandoning Welsh lessons in school, even 'non-Welsh' speaking schools. This is where efforts should be increased imo, with children learning a better grasp of the language. Scond-language Welsh lessons are simply nowhere neer the level they should be (this goes for most second-languages in UK schools, such as Frnch or German). The fact that you didn't enjoy them doesn't matter. Most kids don't enjoy any of their lessons at school, especiallu Maths and Sciences, should they all be eradicated aswell? Every kid living in Wales should be taught Welsh, and if I had my way more emphasis would be put on it, especially in primary schools. But then I'd also like to see other languages taught in primary schools, because we in the UK are simply appalling with other languages, often resulting in ignorance towards any language other than English.

Overall, the aim should be to expand the Welsh language throughout Wales. Every Welsh person should WANT to be able to speak Welsh. Education often limits that possibility, I accept that. But I can't understand attitudes like yours sorry.

 

[gingergenius]

There's an attitude with regional minority languages that I do understand from tobyjonesfaletau.

I have Gaidhlig, and I've learnt it because I live in Scotland, I study Linguistics and I wanted to learn a Celtic language. Most other people who learn Gaidhlig with me either come from the Highlands and have it already and can speak but not read or write well; have close relatives who have Gaidhlig and feel they should learn it; or feel some kind of romantic, nationalistic reason that they should learn it (these people are either Scots or Americans).

Remove the romanticism from it and there's really no reason at all to preserve a language. If you think rationally and practically, language is a barrier between people. Rationally and practically, all the money spent on saving Gaidhlig and Welsh and other minority languages could be spent on hospitals, schools, etc. If you listen to someone like George Galloway, that's what they'll say and they make some very convincing and valid arguments.

Clearly, considering yourself 'Welsh' is far more linked to the Welsh language than considering yourself 'Scottish' would be to Gaidhlig. But let's not forget that the concepts of the nation, of ethnic identity etc. are imagined. So arguing from a nationalistic standpoint, you always need to bear this in mind and I don't think it's fair to criticise those who don't feel quite so patriotic as you do.

Personally, I think it's great that Welsh has such a high status in Wales. In terms of preserving and building minority languages, Welsh is a far more successful model than Irish or Gaidhlig. I'd argue that being able to 'think' in a different language allows you a greater range of thoughts. For example, think how many metaphors and idioms we use in English which, semantically, make no sense (eg. 'look what the cat dragged in'). All languages have these and they all offer different insights for different environments. I'd also say that a culture is tied in tightly with a language, and music and literature in particular are often 'lost in translation'.

So ultimately, I'd say preserving languages is very important, but one has to accept that the thinking behind the preservation is irrational and impractical.

 

[dullonien]

There's an attitude with regional minority languages that I do understand from tobyjonesfaletau.

I have Gaidhlig, and I've learnt it because I live in Scotland, I study Linguistics and I wanted to learn a Celtic language. Most other people who learn Gaidhlig with me either come from the Highlands and have it already and can speak but not read or write well; have close relatives who have Gaidhlig and feel they should learn it; or feel some kind of romantic, nationalistic reason that they should learn it (these people are either Scots or Americans).

Remove the romanticism from it and there's really no reason at all to preserve a language. If you think rationally and practically, language is a barrier between people. Rationally and practically, all the money spent on saving Gaidhlig and Welsh and other minority languages could be spent on hospitals, schools, etc. If you listen to someone like George Galloway, that's what they'll say and they make some very convincing and valid arguments.

Clearly, considering yourself 'Welsh' is far more linked to the Welsh language than considering yourself 'Scottish' would be to Gaidhlig. But let's not forget that the concepts of the nation, of ethnic identity etc. are imagined. So arguing from a nationalistic standpoint, you always need to bear this in mind and I don't think it's fair to criticise those who don't feel quite so patriotic as you do.

Personally, I think it's great that Welsh has such a high status in Wales. In terms of preserving and building minority languages, Welsh is a far more successful model than Irish or Gaidhlig. I'd argue that being able to 'think' in a different language allows you a greater range of thoughts. For example, think how many metaphors and idioms we use in English which, semantically, make no sense (eg. 'look what the cat dragged in'). All languages have these and they all offer different insights for different environments. I'd also say that a culture is tied in tightly with a language, and music and literature in particular are often 'lost in translation'.

So ultimately, I'd say preserving languages is very important, but one has to accept that the thinking behind the preservation is irrational and impractical.

I agree with you completely. But then all forms of national pride is irrational, if we really think about it. If everyone thought like TobyFaletauJones then Welsh would already be dead, and we would have lost an important part of what makes us who we are. This would be true of many other languages across the world that aren't really 'needed', Afrikaans for example. Looking further ahead, with English already recognised as being the the preferred worldwide language for doing business, politics etc., and likely to keep expanding, then more and more languages would die out with this kind of thinking.

Despite being terrible at languages (I'm fluent in English and Welsh, but languages were my weakest subjects at school, and I was terrible at German), I think much more emphasis should be put into languages in school (with new languages introduced aswell, such as computer languages), especially early on in primary schools where a childs capacity to learn a new language is at it's highest. I understand the problems with this (the lack of techers up to the required level in a second language), but an effort should be made. Music teachers travel amongst schools (I remember a violin teacher coming once a week to my primary school, despite it being in the middle of nowhere and only 25-30 pupils), surely a similar thing could be done with languages (and sports for that matter). Either that or primary school teachers should be required to know a second language, in the same way as they're expected to understand mathematics, sciences, history, geography etc. to an acceptable level.

 

[gingergenius]

I agree with you completely. But then all forms of national pride is irrational, if we really think about it. If everyone thought like TobyFaletauJones then Welsh would already be dead, and we would have lost an important part of what makes us who we are. This would be true of many other languages across the world that aren't really 'needed', Afrikaans for example. Looking further ahead, with English already recognised as being the the preferred worldwide language for doing business, politics etc., and likely to keep expanding, then more and more languages would die out with this kind of thinking.

Despite being terrible at languages (I'm fluent in English and Welsh, but languages were my weakest subjects at school, and I was terrible at German), I think much more emphasis should be put into languages in school (with new languages introduced aswell, such as computer languages), especially early on in primary schools where a childs capacity to learn a new language is at it's highest. I understand the problems with this (the lack of techers up to the required level in a second language), but an effort should be made. Music teachers travel amongst schools (I remember a violin teacher coming once a week to my primary school, despite it being in the middle of nowhere and only 25-30 pupils), surely a similar thing could be done with languages (and sports for that matter). Either that or primary school teachers should be required to know a second language, in the same way as they're expected to understand mathematics, sciences, history, geography etc. to an acceptable level.

A problem with this, however, is that language acquisition best takes place between the ages of 0-4, and while children can pick up language incredibly quickly at that age, it still takes four years to develop a reasonable competence. Teaching second languages in schools is always a struggle because, simply, it depends first and foremost on the individual's willing and ability to learn the new language.

The unfortunate reality for a minority language anywhere in the world is that the loss of native speakers leads to a loss of the 'soul' of the language. Compulsory learning of Welsh in schools does a lot of good for the profile and spread of the language, but it only has a slight effect on the general strength of the language. As I understand it, Irish is afforded a huge status in Ireland, to the extent where it is compulsory in schools, signs are bilingual, and they even translated their anthem into Irish. This has been the case for much of the 20th Century. Yet Irish, still, is dying, and that is because the native speakers in the Gaeltacht regions are dwindling. Far more people supposedly speak Irish than speak Gaidhlig, yet there are more native speakers of Gaidhlig. Personally I see Gaidhlig in a far stronger light, just because half of the Gaidhealtachd is in the Western Isles and those islands have such a strong connection with Gaidhlig. Ireland doesn't have the benefit of an insular Gaeltacht and so the native speakers of Irish have a much greater exposure to English.

One massive problem is native speakers moving away to a big city for uni/ work. They'll speak English there and potentially meet their future wife/ husband there, who most likely will only speak English. When they have kids, it's entirely up to the Welsh/ Irish/ Gaidhlig speaking parent to ensure the kid learns that language as a first language. Otherwise, they'll be in a similar position to the majority of Britain - in other words, a native speaker of English and nothing else.

Combatting this, you have schemes by governments etc. to halt the loss of Welsh/ Irish/ Gaidhlig. In Gaidhlig there was a direct translation of Tony Blair's 'Education, education, education' slogan - 'Foghlam, foghlam, foghlam', which refers to the need for Gaidhlig schools to be set up. Here, the language is used every day and so its 'soul' survives. Enforced learning of it as a second language, as is the case in Ireland, does nothing for this. I learnt French as a second language from 4-18, and am now fairly fluent. But still, I barely use it - even though I have three close friends who are native speakers of French, two who I see on a daily basis. Furthermore, I know a fair few idioms and metaphors, but I couldn't really be said to be able to speak 'colloquial' French. With minority languages the problem is greater - of four Gaidhlig teachers I've had, only one was a native speaker that grew up in the Gaidhealtachd. So I'm learning Gaidhlig that's been learnt. Not ideal.

Basically what I'm saying is that a language needs native speakers - and in the context of Welsh, that means that if you want the Welsh language to survive and thrive, you need to speak it at home with your kids from the second they are born, and hope that other Welsh speakers do the same.

 

[dullonien]

All very interesting Gingergenius. It should still be seen as positive to have Welsh speakers (and again, other languages), even if not natively. It's often easy to hear when a person has learn't Welsh, such as my Mum, it just doesn't sound very natural, but that is still one more person who can speak the language, use it in a wroking environment etc. Having as many natively speaking Welsh people as possible is important, and I intend to speak Welsh to my child from an early age, as well as English. I was brought up in a bilingual household, where I usually spoke Welsh to my Dad and English to my Mum, and English when we were all together. This has stuck, despite my mum learning the Welsh language when I was in my early teens. I tend to speak English to the majority of my friends, depite us all being native Welsh speakers (this is the influence of school culture, where Welsh was seen as uncool), and I speak mostly English with my gf, despite her also being fluent (if not native, as she was born in Southend to English and Belgian parents, and moved to Wales when she was 3 or 4).

Right, I've gone off topic now, erm, my point was that teaching languages in schools, including Welsh, Irish and Gaidhlig in their respective countries is important, even if it might not produce native speakers who use the language daily. Despite the capacity for learning being best between 0-4 as you have suggested, it's still good between the ages of 4 onwards when children start primary school. It's certainly better than the 11/12 y/o where most kids are forced to take up a new language in secondary school, so more emphasis should be placed on languages at a younger age if we want to produce adults who are less ignorant of foreign languages when travelling abroad etc.

 

[Garthh]

That's Amazing he is awesome person who know 11 languages and yes you are right many of us barely know 1 or maximum 2.








Lawyer

 

[Groundhog]

Much of what is been said of Welsh is true of Irish. Too many people have a negative attitude towards it and would rather not study it. This is largely due to the fact that it is taught fairly badly outside of Gaelscoils (which teach through Irish) and Gaeltacht areas. I personally am ok at Irish but not fluent which dissapoints me considering I have been learning Irish since I was five.