Natural Born Linguists - Test 8

C1 Advanced · Multiple Matching · Cambridge English Advanced 2, Cambridge University Press

You are going to read an article about polyglots, people who speak many languages. For questions 1–10, choose from the people (A-D). The people may be chosen more than once.

Being multilingual is fundamental to who I am because I think in different languages. My mind starts a thought in one language, then finds a particular word in another language that fits exactly what I am thinking. Each language resonates with me in a distinct way. Russian makes me more melancholic because of its minor tone, for example. There's a downside, though: when I'm in a monolingual environment for too long, I yearn to switch to a different language. I have to think 'will this person understand me if I say something in language X?' I had an early start at learning languages. I moved to the US from the former Soviet Union when I was three and learnt English quickly. For some reason though, my primary teacher didn't think I was bright enough to study languages at secondary school, which just goes to show you that general academic achievement isn't always a good indicator of one's ability to learn a language. If I had studied languages the formal way in school, I would never have become a polyglot.

I was always fascinated by languages and accents - I tried to mimic them all the time when I was a child. At school I was always drawn to the kids who had some link to abroad and I wanted to find out more. I got to study languages at school and university eventually, and it grew from there. Today, my daily life is multilingual. I often get mistaken for other nationalities and I honestly no longer regard nationality as important. It seems almost odd for me to talk about being just British now. Learning languages is an endless and ongoing process for me, which I intend to continue for as many years as my body and mind will allow. When I'm really in the learning zone, my focus is narrow and I try to forget about my other languages. If I didn't, I'd go mad. I simply start a new language and don't think about the others, unless I see obvious links to help the learning process and to understand grammar.

I used to spend long summers in Greece and Japan as a child, trying to play with the other kids, but none of them spoke any English. It struck me how nice it would be to be able to talk to anybody in the world, regardless of what language they spoke. Pronunciation is the most important thing for me. So I start off really basic, focusing on that. Once I feel more confident, I move on to music from the language to tune in further. The dead time when you're on a bus or doing any mundane task is ideal for squeezing in crucial subconscious language learning, which will pay off in the long run. Learning new languages never stops: there is always more to learn. But my student days are almost over and the prospect of searching for a career is looming closer - so I am thinking about taking a couple of languages to a much higher level. Speaking other languages at native level is an entirely different task to just being a polyglot.

I did poorly in languages in school. I barely passed German and, until I was 21, I only spoke English. I moved to Spain after graduating; after six months, I still hadn't learned any Spanish. I kept telling myself that I didn't have the language gene. Eventually, I decided to put my excuses aside and dive in. It took a while, but as soon as I had a basic conversation, I got hooked. That was ten years ago, and since then I've travelled the world, learning many languages. I don't think visiting the country where the language is spoken is really that necessary nowadays, because of the internet. But if you do travel, it opens a lot of interesting doors. I recently had a birthday lunch with four generations of Italians, for example. No way would that have happened if I'd only spoken English . The initial stage is the hardest, but the only real way to get through this is to grin and bear it. I've learned to ignore the fact that I'm making mistakes. That confidence allows me to strive for the next level. 87

Natural Born Linguists

a lack of concern about their identity

advice about when to fit in an important aspect of language acquisition

a reason for concentrating on one language at a time

a means of coping with the most challenging phase of language acquisition

a description of the stages in a person's language learning method

an early appreciation of an advantage of being multilingual

a long-term view of their own language learning

an emotion brought on by the sound of a language

appreciation for an experience arising from being a polyglot

the prospect of changing their language-learning goal

Available as a free printable PDF worksheet with an optional answer key.

More C1 Advanced Multiple Matching practice · All C1 Advanced practice