Fascinating article in the New Yorker on being a hyperpolyglot, someone who speaks dozens of languages.
We often talk about becoming bi or multilingual and the benefits of speaking two or more languages. In this case, the article focuses on one particular person who has a command of twenty-two living languages and six classical or endangered ones.
I can run 100 metres. And so can Usain Bolt. He does it somewhat differently. Almost like a superhuman. It makes sense to view this hyperpolyglot, Luis Miguel Rojas-Berscia, in the same way.
The most exciting thing is that it shows what humans are capable of. Our aim – and the aim we have for our children – should be to complete the 100 metres as well as we can. In other words, becoming comfortable in two or three languages. Saying we shouldn’t put on our trainers and go for a run because we’ll never be as fast as Usain Bolt is silly.
There’s a lot more in the article than this and it makes for a really interesting read. For now, try an app, try a few words on holiday, enrol your children in a language club. We can all do it, just maybe not as well as the world champion.