“A 17-year-old American boy has attracted worldwide attention by mastering 23 languages, including Hindi, in just a few weeks.”
Does the person who wrote this really believe that this is even possible and why are these kinds of stories so popular with the general public? Anyone who puts in the time can accomplish the same thing. Or is it that they don’t see that?
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To be honest, I wonder whether Tim Doner isn’t, quite literally, a language genius?
I believe he claims to have learned some languages (including, I think, Hindi and Farsi) within just a few weeks? And I understand he claims (or at least implies) that he has mastered these languages to a level where he can speak very fluently with native speakers on a range of ordinary topics?
It seems to me there are only two possibilities: either he is a truly gifted, or he is a very big fraud.
Without meeting him, I guess it’s impossible to form a firm opinion about which of these is true. But it does seem quite hard to believe that so many people (including many seasoned TV reporters, etc) could be completely hoodwinked by a 17-year-old.
So yeah, maybe the kid really is a genius? It’s possible.
Well I think that everyone is a genius in their own way, but its the idiomatic opinion of a proverb I have seen once, however the reality is the majority of the public understands a “genius” as someone who has abilities way superior to most other people. In that sense, well I wouldn’t really call him one because anyone who puts in the time can accomplish the same thing, learning 23 languages to any level.
I also do not think nor believe that he “mastered” these 23 languages and neither does he himself think so. I mean I think he can have a gift for languages and a sort of talent, but that does not make him superior to other people because reality is, anyone can have a language “talent” or “gift” if they put in the time to learning whatever language(s). Tim is no different.
I mean I can understand that learning multiple languages is not very common at all, however still, I would not call him a genius. Tim is however a great person and is really good in languages in my opinion.
@landho: “…anyone who puts in the time can accomplish the same thing, learning 23 languages to any level…”
Yes, I don’t disagree with this.
But we have to remember that the guy is only 17 years old! Assuming he didn’t start this before the age of 10, he has had only 7 years in which to learn these 23 languages! I’m not good at math, but I think it works out at somewhere between 3 and 4 months per language, on average?
I find it implausible that he has become proficient in Hebrew in a week having had no previous experience with language learning. Even if he was a genius, I would not find it plausible. The only way I can imagine this article to be accurate is if the person who wrote it defined ‘proficiency’ as being able to repeat a few basic phrases to a taxi driver, and get lucky a few times guessing what the taxi driver’s responses are meant to mean.
I also find it implausible that he has ever mastered a language in a few weeks. Once again, this can only be true with a somewhat liberal definition of the word ‘mastered’. Has he ever claimed any of these things, or is this something made up by a journalist?
J 4 J wrote “It seems to me there are only two possibilities: either he is a truly gifted, or he is a very big fraud.”
I think that there is a more plausible third option: he really believes what he is saying (and he is not alone in this).
You can’t really blame people because those who have never studied a language for ten or more years really have no idea what is involved. Most people never get very far and (this is one place where Clugston gets it right I’m afraid) the “popular” textbooks available on the market are only the very, very tip of the language iceberg.
If there were willing buyers, there could very easily be a Teach Yourself Hebrew 2 through Teach Yourself Hebrew 22 and then someone who claims to have finished TY book 1 would have a more realistic reference point for what they have accomplished.
However, I don’t have a problem with Tim and there is one fact that cannot be denied - he does have a talent for accents. I kind of feel sorrow for him in that he will probably spend the rest of his life trying to study and catch up to his media reputation.
My issue was more with the media “hype” of “hyperpolyglots”.
I think Steve’s most recent video with Luca and Richard made a good point: most people don’t know that they CAN learn another language and so they view it as some kind of miraculous feat. They have been conditioned to believe that it is impossible for them. Unfortunately, articles about people mastering languages in two weeks or three months do not help the cause and only perpetuate the myths that language learning is either super easy and can be accomplished in no time with minimal effort or that you have to be a genius with super brain power to learn a language. Neither of which are true.
I first came across Tim Doner when I watched the Canadian program featuring Steve and a host of other Canadian polyglots. These guys in the group which included Steve seemed like a really knowledgable bunch who had obviously put a lot of work into language learning over the course of their lives. When the program switched to a Tim Doner worship-fest I could barely watch anymore.
The kid is obviously talented and definetly has put a lot of work into language learning. Still, the way they put him above Steve and the others really disturbed me.
I’ve heard Tim Doner’s arabic, hebrew, and french, and they all indeed sound great. The thing is, I’ve heard kids from much more modest origins (Doner attends the most prestiguous prep High School in the US) who have done the same thing, also on their own.
Of course, I would never blame Doner for the attention he is getting. This all is, in my opinion, just another example of media sensationalism.
1-He is very good, and clearly has a good learning environment.
2-He appears to be intermediate, at best, in many of these languages.
One of the issues with internet polyglots is that they are sometimes jack of many and masters of few, but draw attention to themselves by uploading saying simple things in many languages.
Agree with the comment that he will spend many years studying in the future to maintain / reach his reputation.
In the past, I questioned what is the purpose of being A2-B1 in many different languages. I think one answer is that it just broadens your horizons and social sphere – and this isn’t a bad thing.
yup…it’s mainstream media rubbish, not Tim’s fault. Some German media was saying the same thing that he’s “beherrscht” 20 languages.
@djvlbass: “…The kid is obviously talented and definetly has put a lot of work into language learning. Still, the way they put him above Steve and the others really disturbed me…”
I guess that’s the way that modern media works: a bunch of 50+ geeks with expertise in several languages isn’t considered a story. (I seem to remember Steve saying at the time that they filmed a two hour discussion, of which only a few minutes were included in the actual broadcast.)
But a kid of 17 who speaks 23 languages - now THAT is a story!
I agree with the point made above by several people: if his abilities have been overstated by the media, and if as a result he gets an international reputation as “the guy who is fluent in 23 languages”, the rest of his life could be pretty difficult.
I have talked to Tim on skype several times and met him personally in NYC last May. I have found him to be a very likeable person. He is friendly, helpful and cheerful. That is what I like about him: He actually enjoys what he is doing and I’m sure he doesn’t mind the media attention he is getting either. I guess nobody would if they were in his position. Besides, we must never forget that he is still very young and sometimes I have a feeling he is taken advantage of by seasoned reporters who know exactly what kind of story they need.
If a German newspaper actually wrote that he “mastered 23 languages” (that would be the meaning of the word “beherrschen”), then that’s obviously pure nonsense. And, just for the record, Tim never said that himself.
There is a lot of confusion about the meaning of expressions such as “speaking a language”. Personally, I think there is a difference between “speaking a language” in the sense of feeling comfortable when using it and being able to converse about different topics, albeit with the help of your conversational partner, and “speaking IN a language” which is a much easier task because it simply requires you to recite a few sentences.
I’m convinced that nobody will ever master a language at all times under all circumstances. We are humans and as such we are prone to make mistakes.
As far as I can tell, Tim is very good at 6, 7 languages and has studied (to different degrees) many others. That does not make him a genius or an expert in 23 (or whatever the actual number may be) languages but it does not mean that he is a fraud either.
He is one of the most enthusiastic people I have met in my life (some of it may be due to his young age; weren’t we all a bit like him and just forgot about it maybe?) and he is willing to share his enthusiasm.
With every new language you study you will benefit from certain synergies but you will inevitably also take away time you could have used to study and/or practise other languages. Practice is key to any learning process in my opinion.
I think it is possible to study 100 languages or more, but this does not mean that you will be able to speak all of them at any given time. You might actually lose the ability to use half of them but whenever you decide to get back to them you will have an advantage over someone who has never dealt with these languages before.
Personally, I like studying new languages. I have tried to stop but - as with any other addict - it is hard to do so and as long as I enjoy doing it, I probably will continue. However, I am very much aware of the fact that I will never reach a professional working level in any of the languages I am studying as a hobby. I would have to invest much more time and that would have to be to the detriment of so many other things I enjoy doing in life.
So, in essence I think Tim is an incredibly enthusiastic, extremely likeable and obviously talented person who has achieved some pretty impressive results. He is no more a genius than any other person excelling at things they enjoy doing and dedicate a lot of time to. The fact that the media has turned him into a superstar is a sign of our times where news are short-lived. However, it is good to see people write about something positive and reading about a young guy who is so keen on learning more about other cultures and people is definitely a much more enjoyable piece of news than reading about another youngster wasting his/her life doing drugs, joining gangs etc.
And, I have to say that watching his videos always motivates me to keep going myself. I just love his enthusiasm. I don’t really care what reporters write about him. The only problem I could imagine in this context is other youngsters starting to feel bad for supposedly being “not as good” as he is. But since Tim is not out there to compete or show that he is better than others, I think most young people will simply be motivated and reading the comments on his site this seems to be the case with many of his viewers.
Adults need to be experienced enough to differentiate between the media hype and the actual facts which are still very impressive.
P.S. And if Tim were my son, I’d be damned proud of him 
You are all talking about a 16-year-old boy, now turned 17, who managed to learn, to varying degrees, 23 languages.
That is an accomplishment in itself!
So what if he doesn’t speak them all fluently? Or equally well or badly for that matter? Why should he?
He’s a wonderful example of what is possible. Imagine reaching the age of 16 and having delved into 23 languages.
No-one expects him to speak fluently, but wow! What a feat! He has gone into territories others wouldn’t dream of and he is enjoying his language ventures.
If you look at his video clips you can clearly hear him coping rather well in several languages including French and if I am not mistaken, Robert Biegler has had Skype conversations with him and stated in another tread that he was very impressed by his German.
Power to you Tim!
More power to you!
Way to go kid!
Excellent, my memory didn’t fail me, while writing the tread above, Robert confirmed my recollections, and has reiterated the same here 
While other teenagers spend their time on X-box and video games, Tim spends his on languages.
Just look at the videos, his face is genuine, he is in earnest, a great kid who loves languages.
In my opinion, it would still be impressive even if Tim was only at A1 level in all of his languages (that’s about the level the average kid has after three years of language studies in school…).
It just confirms what people already think. The average person (in Anglo North America anyway) assumes that anyone who speaks multiple languages must be a genius. People like stories about geniuses and people who can do extraordinary things. There’s also no element to a genius story where the viewer hears that they could do the same thing if they only did x, y, and z.
I’m always amused by my own experience. After not learning any languages when I was young (even though my dad was an immigrant), I moved to Japan and learned halfway-decent japanese after living there for 8 years. Suddenly people around me would refer to me as being “very good at languages”. It’s just what you’re used to. Learning decent Japanese after 8 years in the country is not a particularly impressive feat. But people who haven’t learned a language don’t realize that.
So when you’ve got some 17 years old kid who can talk in a bunch of different languages, of course people are going to jump right to the genius card.
I have heard that in the US at least for politicians speaking other languages is not necessarily a bonus but can also be perceived as elitist. John Kerry, Jon Huntsman and Madelaine Albright come to mind. The funny thing with Kerry is that his French doesn’t seem to be that good after all at least he wasn’t willing to use it at a press conference recently.
Well, there you have two Secretaries of State and one former Ambassador. I think state department leadership tends to speak a second language well (Kissinger’s first language was obviously German). In the case of these guys, I think the average American would understand the value of foreign languages being spoken.
I’ve heard Obama can converse in Indonesian. He has a hard enough time already; constantly being accused of being a non-christian. If he did a speech in Indonesia in Indonesian, the media would go crazy.
I heard the French in Kerry’s visit to france a month ago. I think he was just making a joke about switching back to English. I heard an off-the-cuff interview with Albright in French and it was understandable, but definetly with a strong accent. She coulden’t remember the words “Homme d’affaires” and said “businessman” instead. I think she grew up speaking German at home though.
But what am I saying anyways, I’m just a kid who speaks with a strong accent as well!
Also I always find it interesting trivia that both President Hoover and his Wife spoke Mandarin.
“Also I always find it interesting trivia that both President Hoover and his Wife spoke Mandarin.”
Yeah, I had read that as well. He must have been a real language keener.
Given the lack of resources at the time, you can’t help but wonder how well they could have possibly spoken Mandarin.
I am sure there was the odd Chinese person around. Maybe they did a language exchange.