Written by Natalie Basiuk, follow her on LinkedIn.

How Many Languages Can You Learn & Speak

If you are curious about learning languages you probably asked yourself at least once in your life: “how many languages can you learn?” Learning foreign tongues is not something a lazy person does – it requires dedication, attentiveness, persistence. However, there are a lot of people in the world who are fluent in several tongues, while some even managed to master more than six! Of course, those are people who dedicated most of their life to learning foreign dialects. 

How Many Languages Can You Speak Fluently As a Regular Person?

Many of us want to speak multiple dialects, being able to travel the world and feel at home in every country, but not everyone is ready to do what it takes to master several dialects. On average, people speak about 1 or 2 foreign tongues. However, it doesn't mean they are fluent in them. Fluency is level of proficiency that constitutes full and unrestrained ability to use a foreign dialect.  Achieving fluency is not fast or easy task – it usually takes years to build a vocabulary and become well-spoken. Therefore, the question of "how many languages can you be fluent in?” remains open-ended, as it largely depends on a person. 

Of course, a person can successfully use dialect without being fluent, but it will likely prevent them from catching onto linguistic nuances that only advanced learners know. So, if you need a translation done on high level, it would be smart to forward this job to a professional. Our translation services reviews can help you make good choices. Translating yourself can be especially hard if you need to cover specific topic or sphere you’re not familiar with. For example, technical texts are better left to the best technical translation services.

Even if you are still learning, keep in mind that people have been known to use multiple dialects fluently, so one should never be discouraged to study! An important thing often is purposes for learning – those who study for a specific immediate reason, such as education or work abroad, tend to achieve faster results, as learning dialect becomes a priority task for them. However, even if you’re just learning for fun, your chances remain just as good – you must remember that you have to be self-motivated and organize your study to achieve the best results in good time. So, how many languages can you learn fluently depends on you alone.

Questions about Learning Languages

How many languages can you learn at once is question that is not so easy to answer. If a person is well-organized and persistent, multiple dialects can be learned at once. It is advised to limit oneself to fewer than 3 at a time to avoid confusion. Another tip is picking lingos that come from the same group – this way studying will be easier since such dialects usually have many similarities.

If you’re wondering how many languages can you learn without an accent, you’ll probably find the answer reassuring. In truth, any dialect could be spoken without an accent, and there is no limit to the amount you can reach. In order to break your accent, it is recommended to watch videos and movies, listen to podcasts, as well as practice speaking as much as possible.

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Common Mistakes While Conquering a Language

Many, start learning without establishing their final goal. If you only need the basic knowledge for work or study, to complete projects, investing all of your time into mastering a tongue might not be the smartest play. If you only need a few translations done, you may want to simply contact a translation agency. Some tasks require professional effort, like Safety Data Sheets translation, which should only be done by specialized SDS translation services. So, we advise you to think ahead and plan for the future.

For those who are serious about learning, there are countless tips and techniques online to help them become a pro with minimum effort and time. Get in touch with polyglots of social media, check out YouTube videos and podcasts to maximize your results. How many languages can I learn realistically will always differ from the amount you could achieve, as long as you give it your best. Go as far as your mind allows!

How Many Languages Can One Person Learn in Life?

Most people who speak more than one lingo live in Europe, as it hosts many countries with different dialects, which historically developed alongside each other. India is also home to many bilinguals and polyglots, with its huge number of dialects and nationalities. Quite often, polyglots are also found in Africa, where there is complex mixture of wide variety of tongues.

You must be wondering, how many languages can you speak? Deciding factor in determining the number of tongues a person can learn and use is fluency. There is a great difference between knowing a dialect to a certain extent and mastering it completely, perfecting your vocabulary, grammar, speech. Of course, these stages of language knowledge are distinctly different in the amount of time and effort they require.

You may be curious if there is maximum amount of learned languages that no one can surpass. Research suggests that there is most likely no limit that person can reach, but rather it all heavily depends on one's' abilities and dedication. We may only be limited by our self-doubt and lack of motivation. A current record holder for knowing the most languages is Ziad Fazah of Liberian origin, age 66, who knows as many as 59 dialects! This proves that the human mind truly has no limits as long as one applies themselves correctly to a cause that one feels passionate about.

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Linguistic Achieves Throughout History

History holds dozens, if not hundreds, of prominent polyglot’s names. Many of them among the rulers of Kievan Rus', the scientists of the Middle Ages, the merchants and travelers of the 19th century. But how many languages can you speak?

Sometimes accomplishments of great historical men and women seem unfathomable. For example, Danish linguist Rasmus Rask spoke 230 languages, German linguist Albert Schütz – 270, outstanding German scientist and statesman Wilhelm Humboldt – 117! Famous researcher of ancient Troy Heinrich Schliemann knew about 60 lingos. He mastered Russian, one of the most demanding languages, in a mere 6 weeks. However, if you are not a German polyglot, you may require German translation services that will get any task you have done well. Many great services cover all commonly used languages like English, French, Japanese, etc – for example, check French translation companies or Japanese translation companies here.

Curiously, the ability to quickly master foreign tongue was not always perceived as a great blessing. There was a case in 17th century’s Finland, where a student was sentenced to death for quickly learning a foreign language.  His swift success was blamed on consorting with the devil!

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How Many Polyglots are there in the World Today?

A polyglot is a person who speaks over 6 languages. Statistics show that only a very small percentage of people in the world are polyglots – the number is under 1%. However, there are many well-known polyglots that you should learn about if you like linguistics. But how many languages can the average person learn? Here are couple of fascinating polyglots who will inspire your study:

- Cardinal Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti, although having never left Italy, mastered several dozen languages and dialects. According to various sources, he knew from 40 to 72 languages. His contemporaries marveled at his linguistic knowledge!

- Diplomat Emil Krebs, who worked at the German embassy in China, was fluent in 68 languages, also familiar with another hundred languages. He was known for spending several hours every day of his entire life studying dialects.

-  Belgian Johan Vandewalle received technical education, yet managed mastering many foreign dialects. In 1987, he won the Polyglot of Flanders competition because he could freely communicate with 31 native speakers. He became famous as the creator of unique method of learning Turkish, for which he was awarded by the University of Ankara.

- Kato Lomb from Hungary is quite well-known too. She mastered 16 languages while being fluent in 10 of them. She also became famous as the author of numerous books, where she described her experience of learning languages.

- Famous German archaeologist and entrepreneur Heinrich Schliemann learned languages solely for their practical use. He knew 15 languages, which he learned, so he could travel for work and freely communicate with specialists around the globe.

Useful information: If you need to translate your Vietnamese documents, please read our review of 10 Vietnamese translation services.

In Pursuit of Knowledge

A human mind is a marvelous tool, and there is no limit to what it can do. Our capabilities are truly endless, as long as we pursue the endeavors we are truly interested in and are ready to invest time as well as effort into. Question “how many languages can I learn?” can only be answered by you. If learning tongues is fun and exciting for you, reserve an hour of your day for studying, and results will be imminent! 

Every pursuit demands patience, dedication, and learning languages is no different. Do not expect the knowledge to come overnight, but rather pick a pace for study that is comfortable for you and keep up with it. Struggles and setbacks are unavoidable, so prepare to recognize your mistakes and learn from them instead of being hard on yourself. Don't compare yourself to successful polyglots, as the only person you have to beat is the past you. A smart steady approach is the key to successful learning and enriching your mind with the knowledge that your future self will thank you for!