Polyglot Arthur Moon
How many hours do you believe one needs to master a language?
Ha, ha, probably 20 hours per week plus homework/immersion. Anything less is less than mastery.
Polyglot Christophe Clugston has studied countless languages on an academic level. He has studied at the Defense Language Institute and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in linguistics in Thailand. Christophe has an extensive background in professional fighting and often draws parallels between sports, fight-training, and language acquisition.
As a linguist I have looked at about a hundred languages (their particular features) like Bru, Pwo Krin, Papua New Guinea languages, Crow, on and on I have found interference when doing 4 or 5 languages at a time (learning/studying).
I told Christophe that a lot of people on the internet had already lumped us together, as the two guys who had fought professionally and also learned languages. Some people didn’t realize that Christophe and I both train under the same Khmer boxing coach, Paddy Carson, in Phnom Penh. I also shot an episode of my web TV show, Martial Arts Odyssey with Christophe at the only Savat training gym in Bangkok. The episode is called “Martial Arts Odyssey: The Boxing Linguist”. (Watch it on YouTube).
In Christophe’s own words: “They lumped us together–probably because we get pissed off. And why not?”
I’ve studied, acquired 32 languages (more as experts state some dialects are different languages).
I can understand 6 languages at living. I understand 2 as whatever you want to talk about. And there are 2 or 3 others if I am back around them that I will be back up and functional.
I’ve dreamed in 5 languages even interpreting two or 3 back and forth that are not my L 1.
What is your occupation?
Linguist, language teacher, pro fighter, developed what has been called the World’s strongest self defense. Accelerated learning, Neuro Linguistic Programming, Athletic enhancement (mental and physical)
Have you studied overseas? Where? How long?
This needs to be clarified. I was born in Europe. I’ve learned in Italy, France, Spain, Canada, USA Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Thailand.
Do you believe children learn languages faster than adults?
Not for study (not Left Hemisphere)—through acquisition they do. Also they have better control over phonemic inventory.
Do you feel that polyglots are qualified to work as translators and interpreters or must one do formal studies first?
It takes far more than hackneyed learning and speech skills is needed, specific and technical lexicon. Text analysis is crucial. Ability to understand that Farsi, for example, is not English: not English using different words.
Any comments on language learning or polyglot life you would like to.
Monolingualism is actually rare in the World (USA people just don’t grasp diglossia). There is a cure to monolingualism. The W.L.s should be learned.
I have wasted my time on non essential languages in the past instead of learning how to talk NASA, Kant and physics in W.L.s (World Languages). For this reason, I only care about the W.L.s. Languages are equivalent to physical performance: You must work at it, practice it and maintain it. Geo Locked languages are like working out and doing wrist curls instead of dead lifts. Wrist curls won’t take you as far as dead lifts. Too many people use some sort of “I’ve got the rest of my life to learn this language” This is very untrue. In fact, those that have the opposite mind set will actually learn. To use a Joseph Campbell quote about the need for urgency: “You must seek it like a man whose hair is on fire seeks a bucket of water.”
I only learn global languages, not geolocked languages.
Claude Cartaginese is the creator and editor of The Polyglot Project, a book written entirely by YouTube polyglots, hyper-polyglots, linguists, language learners and language lovers in their own words. The Polyglot Project is available as a free download on Claude’s YouTube channel (syzygycc), his blog (syzygyonlanguages.wordpress.com), or you may purchase a hard copy at Amazon.com.
Claude Learned English in school after his family moved from Italy to the United States.
My Parents never learned. I studied French in high school, but didn’t like it. It was entirely grammar-based, and I found that approach to be tedious. We spent most of our time conjugating verbs and memorizing vocabulary lists. It was a very inefficient way of learning a language. Interestingly, 30 years later my children, who attended the same schools, had similar experiences. Nothing at all has changed when it comes to teaching foreign languages in the school system. In college, it took a completely random event to get me really interested in learning foreign languages: I met a polyglot. Not only could this individual speak over 20 languages, but he was completely self-taught. I did not know such a thing was possible. And yet, it was still many more years before I began to study languages myself in earnest.
What are your language learning goals?
There is a story I like about Oliver Wendell Holmes, who needed to go to the hospital for a minor procedure when he was in his late 80s. A visitor found him lying in bed one day reading a book on Ancient Greek. When asked why he was studying such a complicated subject, he is reported to have replied: “to improve my mind.” I think that’s primarily what motivates me as well. I don’t need to study languages, I just like to. It keeps my faculties sharp.
Do you believe children learn languages faster than adults?
No, not really. In the first place, a child has all the time in the world to focus on language learning. Even so, it takes years before that child can express itself using compound sentences and complex ideas. An adult could accomplish what a child accomplishes in much less time. As for learning multiple languages, adults retain their advantage. How many six-year-olds have you seen who can speak 10 languages or more? I haven’t seen any, and believe me, I’ve looked. The notion that children learn languages faster and easier than adults is, I believe, a myth.
Do you, or most polyglots have some type of mental disorder, such as autism or excessive compulsive disorder?
I have come across some polyglots who have the types of disorders you’re asking about. Some of them are in my book. I know of some exceptional cases where a mental condition or disorder facilitates the language learning process. Daniel Tammet comes to mind. I think that these may be the exceptions, and the vast majority of language learners may not have any of those disorders; but obviously I can’t be certain.
Any comments on language learning or polyglot life you would like to share with the world?
Well, I guess this would be a good point to make a plug for my book, The Polyglot Project. The 43 authors contained within its over 500 pages explain the polyglot lifestyle much better than I can in a few sentences. I think it’s important to keep things fun and interesting, and to have a high level of motivation. If you can keep those three things in the forefront, everything else follows.
