Speak Many Languages - be a polyglot - first steps in Chinese on your way to 11 Languages

A friend of mine, CJ for short, who is a member of Toastmasters International, speaks 11 languages. His languages are mainly Asian languages. Many people in Singapore speak several languages.



The joke goes that English people speak English and louder English. I speak English.  From living in the USA and reading the US newspapers daily I have acquired most American vocabulary. I constantly strive to pick up the Australian and New Zealand words. But I am nowhere near CJ. He does, however, provide an incentive and a language target.

Actually, I speak English and French.

I have made a list of my dream 11 languages:





I learned French and Latin at at school in the UK. If you already speak English, the romance languages are the easiest.

English / American / Australian / Kiwi (New Zealand)
1 French
2 German
3 Spanish
4 Italian
5 Portugese

Italian flag.

Now for the harder ones:
6 Greek (modern)
7 Hebrew (modern)
8 Russian (Cyrillic - for use in Bulgaria)
9 Chinese (modern and in pinyin which is English alphabet)
10 Malay / Indonesian
11 Japanese
12 Tamil/Urdu/Arabic

1 French - bonjour
2 German - kindergarden - kinder is child. Garten is garden. Kindergarden - in the US and Singpoare is pre-school.
3 Spanish - sombrero. (Large-brimmed  hat). Manana. Tomorrow.
4 Italian - ciaou - goodbye
5 Portugese

Now for the harder ones:
6 Greek (modern)
7 Hebrew (modern) cherubim and seraphim. One cherub. Two cherubim. We know the Hebrew plural which is im. Bethlehem - bread house or house of bread. Beth is building or house. Lehem is bread.
8 Russian (Cyrillic - for use in Bulgaria)
9 Chinese (modern and in pinyin which is English alphabet)
10 Malay / Indonesian
11 Tamil/Urdu
12 Arabic (modern)

I am using Chineasy and Duolingo for Chinese. 11 languages.

You try it.

That sounds quite challenging. Not if you make it one word a day in each language. Or one word a day in one language for the next ten years.

How many times a day do most people answer nonsense quizes. The ones which ask think of ten words beginning with the first letter of your name.

Instead find ten words in a foriegn language which you already know.
Or ten words you can instantly recognize and always remember.

I can tell you single words in most of my twelve languages.
Let me do it by guesswork and then check a research source such as Professor Google.

French - I already know at least ten words for food. Croissant (crescent). Cul de sac. (End of sack meaning dead end road.) Au revoir for goodbye.

Let's start with easy Chinese
First the signs you see on doors saying the days the shop is open or closed.

You will see the usual numbers.

But Chinese numbers are easy. Four of them are like Roman numerals turned sideways.

- is one. 

= is two (the lower line is slightly larger)

Three is three horizontals.

You know the Roman sign for ten. x

Spin it sideways and you have the Chinese sign for ten which is +

Of course you can now spot 11 and 12 

+-  +=

Did I say I would teach you four numbers? I have taught you seven.

Four is like a square, a window, with two curved curtains inside. That is eight numbers.

That is enough to get you started and get you going.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I and my family have lived in the UK, Spain, the USA and Singapore. I am a trave writer and phtographer and teacher of English A level and English as a foreign language.

Please come to a Toastmasters International Club where the English clubs have a langauge evaluator or grammarian.  We also have French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and other language clubs based in Singapore and many more online around the world which because of Covid-19 are now meeting online.

I am President of Braddell Heights Advanced, meeting every Wednesday, on zoom the first Wednesday of the month but the other Wednesdays are workshops on app learncool.sg
Or quicker to type and easier to remember: 

Useful Websites
 tinyurl.com/BHACOOL