You might have across people (like me, admittedly), who use the word ‘polyglot’ to describe themselves. But what is a polyglot actually?

I’ll admit it can be a heated word in the language learning community. A polyglot is usually a person who speaks and uses different languages. It doesn’t necessarily mean speaking those languages fluently, though this is where peoples’ opinion vary 😉

What is another word for polyglot?

I’d probably say multilingual. For me, bilinguals also count as polyglots 🙂

How many languages does a polyglot speak?

As many as you wish. I will be honest, I’d call bilingual people already polyglots. There is also the term ‘hyperpolyglot’ which often refers to people who speak an incredibly large number of languages, I’d say more than 10, again this is not set in stone.

What level do you need to speak a language, to be called a polyglot?

This is arbitrary. I know people who will say they speak a language when they can say 5 words and string a few simple phrases together. Others wouldn’t dare to say that until they can have a relaxes, casual conversation with a native speaker.

Why is there controversy about this word?

Well, I’d simply say that as there is no clear definition on how many languages you need to speak as a polyglot and what level those languages need to be at, some people get frustrated when the word gets used too quickly. I have the feeling that people who have worked a long time to get to a high level of a language find it destroys the meaning of the community when people use this word to describe themselves at a low level. I personally don’t really buy into this whole criticism, so I will leave it up to you to decide. I use the word to describe myself as it’s easy and people often know right away what I’m trying to say. And in a world with so much short-form content, it’s simply difficult to clarify and nuance this expression!