Polyglot Skills
The Skillset
The Polyglot skillset puts you on the path to learning one or more new languages. Maybe you're picking up where an intro class in high school left off, studying an endangered language, learning to converse while traveling, or mastering a dead language or conlang. The polyglot skillset follows a course from setting language goals and expectations, to developing the first beginner knowledge of the language, to practicing with various types of language exposure.
Polyglot Skills Tracker
(1) Research 3 languages you are interested in learning. For each one, document:- Why you want to learn the language
- Two things that you think will be easy to learn
- One thing that you think will be difficult to learn
- Your language proficiency goal
While you will likely need some skill in both the oral and written forms of the language to get by, knowing your intended purpose with the language will help you identify what areas to focus on. For example, learning Spanish to talk to your neighbor will focus more on conversational topics, and require less written Spanish skill.
(2) Choose one language and familiarize yourself with the pronunciation, alphabet/characters, and beginning vocabulary of the language. For instance, you might learn polite phrases, greetings/introductions, and asking for—and understanding—information such as directions, price, and people’s interests.Learning a language as an adult is often a less “intuitive” process than it is as a child, but getting as much exposure as possible to native speakers can help you develop your “ear” for the language. Watch films or listen to podcasts or music in the target language as you become more familiar with the language, paying attention to sounds and words you recognize.
(3) Work on expanding your vocabulary and learning the unique grammatical rules of the target language, especially those that differ from languages you already know.Learning the rules of a language's grammar can help you use logic to figure out unfamiliar words on your own. Continue in this step until you feel confident carrying on a casual conversation or reading a few paragraphs in the target language.
(4) Practice regularly with a variety of media and people, including native speakers, fellow learners, books and audiobooks, the news, films, poems, podcasts, your own writing, etc.The more you practice, the more confident you will become. No one is grading you, so focus on enjoying the process of learning and getting your comprehension to meet your needs.
(5) Start again with a new language, or continue your study of this language by learning about its linguistic characteristics.Linguistic study helps language learners understand their target language on many levels, but it can also help you understand the nuances of your native language(s). You might recognize unexpected similarities!
You can also download the skills tracker as a printable .PDF here.
Resources to Get You Started
Getting Your Badge
You can find the polyglot badge here.