What would you say to a Polyglot?

I’ve been blog hopping again and came across a great post written by Benny Lewis on the Zen Habits site, a site which I think you will enjoy, so do stop by. When I read Benny’s guest blog I was fascinated by several things he said, one of them being his passion for learning new languages. You see Benny is a ‘polyglot’. A what? I know it isn't a word prominent in my vocabulary so off I went to the ‘authorities on vocabularies and big words’ and discovered that a polyglot is someone dedicated to learning languages and has the ability to speak and write in several languages. Impressive!

My language abilities extend to great English in a Northern Irish accent, a reasonable grasp of French, enough to order a meal and find somewhere to stay, a inactive command of Irish (Gaelige) and half a dozen words in other languages that permit me to say hello, please, thank you and a glass of white wine! It’s often stood me in good stead when I’m travelling. Yes I am one of those people who often makes a fool of herself trying to come to terms with the local language. Well it’s all part of the travel experience, don’t you think? Our last trip to Prague (beautiful country) was a real challenge linguistically! However, I’m pleased to report that my sign language has come on leaps and bounds.

Anyway, back to Benny, the polyglot … great word … polyglot…one for dropping into conversation this week when you can’t think of anything to say. You know, when you hit one of those awkward silence moments – ‘Are you a polyglot?’ Although probably best to use with caution, well until you get comfortable with the sound of the word anyway. Benny is a keen traveller and professes some great ways to learn languages. Sounds like a fun way to learn and much more creative than the audio visual languages courses at a certain Grammar School all those years ago.

What new word have you discovered recently? How has it influenced your communication skills?

Have a good week and do let me know if you bump into any polyglots in your travels.

Blogs worth hopping over to;

Zen Habits http://zenhabits.net/fluent/

Benny Lewis http://www.fluentin3months.com/about/