Timothy Doner, Polyglot
Some kids dread the required school language course; others
who’ve grown up in multi-lingual homes see it as an easy A.
Timothy Doner is neither of those. It was actually studying
for his bar mitzvah that got him started speaking Hebrew, which then perked his
interest in Arabic, followed by Russian, Italian, Persian, Swahili, Indonesian,
Hindi, Ojibwe, Pashto, Turkish, Hausa, Kurdish, Yiddish, Dutch, Croatian, and
German.
Yes, you’re reading that right; the 16-year-old New Yorker
has to date taught himself 20 languages, mainly through grammar books and
iPhone apps, his goal being “not to speak like a native, but to learn the
basics of as many languages as possible.”
Because of his special ability to pick up languages, Timothy
has been able to both connect with a subculture of polyglots around the world
via the internet, as well as engage in conversation with the foreign-speaking
folks he encounters in daily life, like a NYC cab driver from West Africa with
whom Timothy was able to chat with in Hausa.
Being able to talk to anyone, anywhere is a gift that truly
does make the world Timothy’s oyster. ;)
See his skills in action here:
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