Hello. Hola. Bonjour. Aloha. Hallo. 안녕하세요. こんにちは. If you could read and recognize at least two of the ways to say ‘hello’ above, then chances are you are bilingual like me. If you recognized and understood four or more of the above languages, you would probably think of yourself as multilingual, but there’s a new, modern term on the rise for the community of tight-knit language learners: polyglots. Polyglots in today’s society are different from multilinguists, as most starting polyglots know at least 7 languages in their lineup. From my own experience of becoming bilingual, I found out about polyglots and decided that one day, I hope I can become a polyglot, and explore the world, one word at a time.
In order to fully discuss what becoming a polyglot means, we should start with a working definition. The term itself comes from Greek origins; ‘poly’ means many, and the suffix ‘glot’ means languages; thus, with the term meaning “many languages”, polyglots can be defined as those who have an affinity for learning many different languages, and actively practice these to connect with others around the world. The main difference between multilingualism and polyglots is simply the reasoning, as someone could be multilingual solely because they were raised in a multilingual household, whereas polyglots learn languages because they like learning languages, and are internally motivated.
Personally, after learning the definition of a polyglot, I knew I wanted to become one. Though it definitely isn’t easy learning a new language, there are obvious benefits to opening up my language knowledge; firstly, I would be able to communicate and meet new people from across the world. When I was learning German in high school, I was fortunate enough to host an exchange student in my house for a month, and being able to chat with her in German helped me enjoy learning the language, and listen to her perspective on American culture and how different Germany was. Additionally, I was also grateful to travel to Germany and stay there for three weeks, and because I knew German, I was able to chat with baristas in the local coffee shops, and I felt proud that I could carry a conversation in a different language so far from home. I hope with learning other languages I can have similar experiences, with meeting new people, and hopefully, I can make some lifelong friendships across the globe as well.
Though becoming a polyglot isn’t an easy effort, you can definitely meet new people along the way, and learn some new study habits from learning different languages. Or, you can watch movies in their native language, or even brag to your friends that you know 14 languages (and counting). For me, I know I’ll study my target languages by traveling, and I can’t wait to start learning soon!