This was just kind of sarcastic, Ines, I am sorry, I hardly ever use sarcasm. I do not believe anybody can learn any language in 10 days, or even in half a year: learning a foreign language is a complex process, which takes at least a few years. Knowing a few phrases is not really knowing the language.

In fact it's a fast way to get your ear familiarized with the language. TV and everyday life in a new country. Of course this is not enough for learning a language, but it's a good start. It's just like a melody you hear for the first time. You can tell who is talented in getting fast the notes and reproducing them in the same way.

Anyway there are two (first) approaches with a new language. Vocabulary and grammar. What I meant in my previous post is not only the vocabulary but mainly the grammar. First you have to be talented and secondly you should have good to excellent knowledge of at least 1-2 languages (grammar) in order for you to get familir fast and easily with a new language.

I would like to remind you of the meaning of the term polyglot, one of which is: A person having a speaking, reading, or writing knowledge of several languages.

By this you can tell if you are a polyglot or not. The way you learn a language then, is up to your talent and your will. The important thing is to be capable to speak, read or write good enough in a language in order to build a good communication and also to be able to articulate your thoughts.

I agree with you Liliana.

You are making a difference between basic and professional knowledge of a language. I totally agree that the latter is a product of years of experience. I think that you can never tell of entirely knowing a language as it is a continuing process that lasts a lifetime.

I was not just talking about us profesionals here, but also about them that have a good basic knowledge of a foreign language, and who according to the definition of the term, can be called polyglots.

The other ones that you mentioned are linguists/translators. Please make a difference, this is a profession, while the other is just the everyday life and can be achieved (almost) by anyone.

Concerning the soap operas, they really have a relatively easy level of communicating, but sometimes this can by tricky. As Ines mentioned, this can be percieved only by translators, as sometimes you should have an excellent knowledge of the language and context background in order to better understand their thoughts and communication.

And by the way, Ines, you do an excellent work. Your language skills are really excellent.

Hi Daniela.  Welcome to Translatorscafe.  You make some excellent points and you seem to have some experience behind them. You are right - language learning is indeed a multifaceted affair taking a number of years, and a distinction should also be made between the professional and non-professional polyglot or bilingual.

Maxi

Thank you Maxi.

Indeed I have an experience of more than 10 years behind and I can tell that it has been my best teacher in all these years. I love my job and as such I am very passionate when I discuss about it

Have a nice weekend,

Daniela