The 18th century Italian priest Cardinal Giuseppe Mezzofanti is a legend among linguists. They say he ____ 72 languages, 30 of which he ____. He spoke another nine fluently, though not perfectly, and could ____ a basic conversation in at least eleven more. And all that without leaving Italy! One story suggests he ____ up Ukrainian in just two weeks, after meeting a visitor from there. But how far is this true? Certainly, the figure of 72 is too high and some people perhaps ____ how fluent he was. He lived at a time when travel was difficult and learning other languages was still unusual. Therefore, many reports of his abilities come from visitors who were probably ____ to express themselves in Italian. There were also those who, while appreciating his good accent and accurate grammar, described him as merely a parrot who said nothing of interest. However, according to Michael Erard, author of the book Mezzofanti’s Gift, there is ____ evidence to believe he could use many languages. Erard also argues that there are many hyperglots in the world today and that, with globalisation, there will be a ____ number in the future. For example, Alexander Arguelles is ____ in twenty languages and has studied 60. He studies nine hours a day, down from fourteen before he got married! The Hungarian translator Kato Lomb worked with sixteen, and you can watch a YouTube video of Alex Rawling speaking eleven languages. A central question of the book is whether hyperglots are born or made. Are their achievements ____ or do hyperglots have secrets that normal language learners can learn from? Erard’s conclusions agree with research on highly ____ people in other areas such as sport and music. These people generally have advantages they are born with: top athletes may have genes that allow them to get the most from their training; hyperglots seem to ____ excellent memories and have brains that are more ____ in processing speech sounds. However, becoming the best also ____ a lot of hard work. Some argue that the difference between a top performer and someone who’s just ‘very good’ is that the top performer has practised for 10,000 hours instead of 6,000. The fact is that most ____ language learners ____ these natural advantages and simply don’t have that much time. So is there any hope for us? Erard believes there is and that research on hyperglots can offer some useful lessons. For example, they often have limited ambitions in terms of individual languages: they’re happy to ____ by, or to be only able to read, or not to have a perfect accent. They’re practical: if they can’t travel, they ____ for opportunities to use the language closer to home. Some simply ____ conversations in their heads. They also use other techniques like learning words in context. Finally, they’re never ____ to make mistakes or ____ stupid and so never give up.

The Google Translators in Human Form

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