For the love of foreign languages

englishpolyglots.mp3
6min_english_polyglots.pdf

Neil

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.

Rob

And I’m Rob.

Neil

Bonjour, Rob! Kon’nichi’wa!

Rob

Excuse me?

Neil

¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás?

Rob

Oh, OK, I think Neil’s saying ‘hello’ in different languages – French, was it? And

then.. Japanese? And… Spanish? Is that right?

Neil

¡Si, muy bien!

Neil

The English are famously slow to learn other languages. But it seems that Rob

and I - and of course you - our global audience here at 6 Minute English - are

good examples of polyglots – people who speak more than one language,

sometimes known as 'superlinguists'. People who speak multiple languages

benefit from many advantages, as we’ll be hearing in this programme.

Rob

That word polyglot sounds familiar, Neil. Doesn’t the prefix – poly – mean,

‘many’?

Neil

That’s right, like polygon – a shape with many sides.

Rob

Or polymath – someone who knows many things.

Neil

And speaking of knowing things, it’s time for my quiz question. The word

polyglot comes from Greek and is made up of two parts: poly, which as Rob says,

means ‘many’, and ‘glot’. But what does ‘glot’ mean? What is the meaning of the

word polyglot? Is it:

a) many words?,

b) many sounds? or

c) many tongues?

Rob

Well, there’s three syllables in ‘polyglot’, Neil, so I reckon it’s b), many sounds.

Neil

OK, Rob, we’ll find out if that’s right at the end of the programme. But leaving

aside the origins of the word, what exactly does being a polyglot involve?

British-born polyglot, Richard Simcot speaks eleven languages. Listen to his

definition as he speaks to BBC World Service programme, The Documentary:

Richard Simcot

A polyglot for me can be anyone who identifies with that term – it’s somebody

who learns languages that they don’t necessarily need for their lives, but just out

of sheer enjoyment, pleasure or fascination with another language or culture.

Rob

For Richard, being a polyglot simply means identifying with the idea - feeling

that you are similar or closely connected to it.

Neil

He says polyglots learn languages not because they have to, but for the sheer

enjoyment, which means, ‘nothing except’ enjoyment. Richard uses the word

sheer to emphasise how strong and pure this enjoyment is.

Rob

As well as the pleasure of speaking other languages, polyglots are also better at

communicating with others. My favourite quote by South Africa’s first black

president, Nelson Mandela, is: "If you talk to a man in a language he understands,

that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."

Neil

How inspiring, Rob – I’m lost for words! Here’s another: ‘To have another

language is to possess a second soul’.

Rob

So language learning is good for the head, heart and soul – a person’s spirit or

the part of them which is believed to continue existing after death.

Neil

Yes – and what’s more, language learning is good for the brain too. That’s

according to Harvard neuroscientist, Eve Fedorenko. She’s researched the effects

of speaking multiple languages on the brains of growing children.

Rob

Eve predicted that multilingual children would have hyperactive language brains.

But what she actually found surprised her, as she explains here to BBC World

Service’s The Documentary:

Eve Fedorenko

What we found – this is now people who already have proficiency in multiple

languages - what we found is that their language regions appear to be smaller,

and that was surprising… and as people get better and better, more automatic

at performing the task, the activations shrink, so to speak, over time, it becomes

so that you don’t have to use as much brain tissue to do the task as well, so you

become more efficient.

Neil

Eve was testing children who already have language proficiency – the skill and

ability to do something, such as speak a language.

Rob

Her surprising discovery was that the language regions of these children’s brains

were shrinking – not because their speaking skills were getting worse, but the

opposite; as they learned and repeated language patterns, their brain tissue

became more efficient – worked quicker and more effectively.

Neil

It’s suggested that this increased efficiency is a result of exposure to different

languages.

Rob

So that proves it, Neil: speaking many languages is good for the head, heart,

mind and soul!

Neil

You took the words right out of my mouth!

Rob

And speaking of words, what does the ‘glot’ in polyglot actually mean? Was my

answer correct?

Neil

Ah, that’s right. In my quiz question I asked you for the meaning of the word

‘polyglot’.

Rob

I said, b) many sounds.

Neil

But in fact the correct answer was c) many tongues. You may be a polyglot, Rob,

but you’re not quite a polymath yet!

Rob

OK, well, let me get my brain tissues working by recapping the vocabulary,

starting with polyglot – someone who speaks many languages.

Neil

The language centres in a polyglot’s brain are efficient – they work quickly and

effectively in an organised way.

Rob

Proficiency means the skill and ability to do something well. And if you identify

with something, you feel you are similar or closely connected to it.

Neil

Polyglots learn languages for the sheer enjoyment of it – a word meaning

‘nothing except‘ which is used to emphasise the strength of feeling.

Rob

So speaking many languages is good for mind and soul – a person’s non-physical

spirit which some believe to continue after death.

Neil

That’s it for this programme, but to discover more about language learning,

including some useful practical tips, check out The Superlinguists series from

BBC World Service’s The Documentary!

Rob

Bye for now!

Neil

Bye!

VOCABULARY

polyglot

someone who speaks many languages

identify with

feel that you are similar or closely connected to something

sheer

nothing except; used to emphasise how strong, pure or powerful a feeling is

soul

spirit or non-physical part of a person which is sometimes believed to continue to

exist after death

proficiency

skill and ability to do something well

efficient

working quickly and effectively in an organised way

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