BBC Learnings · Section 6

For the love of foreign languages

Bonjour Rob. Konnichiwa. Excuse me? Hola.

Level: C1 · 107 sentences

Transcript

  1. Bonjour Rob. Konnichiwa.
  2. Excuse me? Hola.
  3. Como estas? Oh OK.
  4. I think Neil's saying hello in different languages French,
  5. was it, and then Japanese.
  6. And Spanish, is that right?
  7. Si, muy bien.
  8. The English are famously slow to learn other languages,
  9. but it seems that Rob and I, and of course you,
  10. our global audience here at 6 Minute English,
  11. are good examples of polyglots people who speak more than one language.
  12. Sometimes known as superlinguists,
  13. people who speak multiple languages benefit from many advantages,
  14. as we'll be hearing in this programme.
  15. That word polyglot sounds familiar, Neil.
  16. Doesn't the prefix poly- mean many?
  17. That's right, like polygon a shape with many sides.
  18. Or polymath someone who knows many things.
  19. And speaking of knowing things, it's time for my quiz question.
  20. The word polyglot comes from Greek
  21. and is made up of two parts poly,
  22. which as Rob says means many, and glot.
  23. But what does glot mean?
  24. What is the meaning of the word polyglot?
  25. Is it a. many words, b. many sounds, or c. many tongues?
  26. Well, there's three syllables in polyglot,
  27. Neil, so I reckon it's b many sounds.
  28. OK, Rob, we'll find out if that's right at the end of the programme.
  29. But leaving aside the origins of the word,
  30. what exactly does being a polyglot involve?
  31. British-born polyglot Richard Simcott speaks 11 languages.
  32. Listen to his definition as he speaks to BBC World Service programme, The Documentary.
  33. A polyglot, for me, can be anyone who identifies with that term.
  34. It's somebody who learns languages that they don't necessarily
  35. need for their lives,
  36. but just out of sheer enjoyment,
  37. pleasure or fascination with another language or culture.
  38. For Richard, being a polyglot simply means identifying with the idea
  39. feeling that you are similar or closely connected to it.
  40. He says polyglots learn languages not because they have to,
  41. but for the sheer enjoyment.
  42. which means nothing except enjoyment.
  43. Richard uses the word sheer to emphasise how strong
  44. and pure this enjoyment is.
  45. As well as the pleasure of speaking other languages,
  46. polyglots are also better at communicating with others.
  47. My favourite quote by South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela,
  48. is If you talk to a man in a language he understands,
  49. that goes to his head.
  50. If you talk to him in his language,
  51. that goes to his heart.
  52. How inspiring, Rob.
  53. I'm lost for words.
  54. Here's another. To have another language is to possess a second soul.
  55. So, language learning is good for the head,
  56. heart and soul a person's spirit,
  57. or the part of them, which is believed to continue existing after death.
  58. Yes, and what's more, language learning is good for the brain too.
  59. That's according to Harvard neuroscientist Eve Fedorenko.
  60. She's researched the effects of speaking multiple languages on the brains of growing children.
  61. Eve predicted that multilingual children would have hyperactive language brains.
  62. But what she actually found surprised her,
  63. as she explains here to BBC World Service's The Documentary.
  64. What we found,
  65. this is now people who already have proficiency in multiple
  66. languages what we found is that their language regions
  67. appear to be smaller and that was surprising
  68. and as people get better and better more automatic
  69. at performing the task the activations shrink
  70. so to speak over time so they become it becomes
  71. so that you don't have to use
  72. as much brain tissue to do the task
  73. as well right so you become more efficient
  74. Eve was testing children who already have language proficiency the skill
  75. and ability to do something,
  76. such as speak a language.
  77. Her surprising discovery was that the language regions of these children's brains were shrinking,
  78. not because their speaking skills were getting worse,
  79. but the opposite as they learned and repeated language patterns,
  80. their brain tissue became more efficient, worked quicker and more effectively.
  81. It suggested that this increased efficiency is a result
  82. of exposure to different languages.
  83. So that proves it, Neil.
  84. Speaking many languages is good for the head, heart, mind and soul.
  85. You took the words right out of my mouth!
  86. And speaking of words, what does the glot in polyglot actually mean?
  87. Was my answer correct?
  88. Ah, that's right.
  89. In my quiz question, I asked you for the meaning of the word polyglot.
  90. And I said b many sounds.
  91. But in fact, the correct answer was c many tongues.
  92. You may be a polyglot, Rob,
  93. but you're not quite a polymath yet.
  94. OK. Well, let me get my brain tissues working
  95. by recapping the vocabulary,
  96. starting with polyglot someone who speaks many languages.
  97. The language centres in a polyglot's brain are efficient they work quickly
  98. and effectively in an organised way.
  99. Proficiency means the skill and ability to do something well.
  100. and if you identify with something,
  101. you feel that you are similar or closely connected to it.
  102. Polyglots learn languages for the sheer enjoyment of it
  103. a word meaning nothing except,
  104. which is used to emphasise the strength of feeling.
  105. So, speaking many languages is good for mind
  106. and soul a person's non-physical spirit
  107. which some believe to continue after death.