A Linguist Does Not (Necessarily) Speak Many Languages
I was minding my own business, reading the news when I came across this tidbit.
Former colleagues said Levinson, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of City College, was a master linguist who taught himself Spanish in less than two months.
There are two things I find interesting in this statement. Many people have the idea that a linguist is someone who speaks many languages. Now, a linguist could speak several languages, but a better definition of a linguist is someone who scientifically studies language.
Me trying to simulate
chopsticks with a pair
of drumsticks.
My second observation was the claim that this guy taught himself Spanish in two months. That makes me think of Spanish as if it were a pair of chopsticks. You learn how to eat with them and then you’re done– you have nothing more to learn. The truth about language learning is that you’re never done. I’m fluent in Spanish, but every now and then I hear a word in conversation that I’ve never heard before, and I often run across new-for-me words while reading Spanish. So don’t be discouraged when you hear that some smarty-pants autodidact taught themselves Spanish in two months. Just remember that they’ve learned a certain level of Spanish, which might very well be below the level that you’re currently at.
