From Tamil to Portuguese: This multilingual Singaporean can speak 11 languages

Most Singaporeans are bilingual, being fluent in English and their respective mother tongue. Some are even trilingual, but have you met a Singaporean who speaks 11 languages? 

Meet Jonas Tan, a Year 2 psychology and linguistics student at Oxford University. 

In a video interview posted on April 28 by fellow Oxford student and TikToker Ollie, Jonas showcased his extraordinary language skills.

The 22-year-old managed to greet Ollie in 11 languages, starting off with English, Mandarin and Hokkien. 

@cropd I wonder how he ever got into Oxford 🧐 #oxforduni #linguisticsmajor #linguistics #studentinterview #polyglotcheck #languagelearningapp ♬ Storytelling - Adriel

Then he flexed his linguistic abilities by saying 'how are you' or to that equivalent in Spanish, Portuguese, Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese and Italian. 

It's safe to say that he also knows all the four official languages of Singapore, having spoken in Tamil and Malay as well. 

And to round things up, he even managed to say 'hi' in Swedish and Norwegian. 

"It started as a hobby when I was in secondary school and [it] then evolved into an obsession," said Jonas when asked how he managed to learn all these languages. 

He also explained that he has helped non-governmental organisations with translation work, which made him see a "practical use" in learning these languages. 

Passion for languages

Speaking to AsiaOne, Jonas shares how his love for languages started. 

"I've been interested in them since I was a child, but I never had the diligence or patience to actually follow through with it. 

"However, when I was in secondary three, I happened to chance upon a video of this teenager in America who could speak 20 languages, and me, being an insecure teenager, thought if I could be like him, it'd make me cool," Jonas reveals.

Jonas first started off by learning Spanish as he thought that it would be the "most useful" foreign language. But soon after, he lost interest.  

"Ultimately, my original motivation fizzled out and I almost gave up," said Jonas. "However, I came to find that I really liked seeing how Spanish differed from my native languages, like its complex verb conjugations, and this curiosity pushed me to study further and more languages, as I came to appreciate the differences between them."

As to how he learned 11 languages, Jonas credits his attention span or the lack thereof as the main factor. 

"I'm someone who can't keep focusing on one thing, and after a while I'd get bored of a language and move on to learn the basics of another. 

"This led to me hopping from language to language for a long time when I was younger, never really reaching any semblance of fluency, but it meant that I got quite a wide variety of exposure.

"I found that many of the languages, especially ones spoken in Southeast Asia, helped me to better connect with others, and that pushed me to actually commit to better learning them. 

"Similarly, when I got to the UK I met many people from around Europe and more crucially Latin America, which led me to drastically improve my Spanish and Portuguese. 

"I also feel that for me just using them practically and speaking to people helped me improve, especially when I made mistakes. 

"In that sense, I don't claim to have learnt all 11 to fluency or perfection, but they just happen to be the ones that I speak the most often." 

Jonas mentioned that he can have complex conversations in Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai and, obviously, English.

At a functional level, he can speak Hokkien, Tagalog and Malay. And he can hold simple conversations in Tamil, Vietnamese and Italian. 

Toughest language to learn

Out of all the languages he speaks, Jonas finds Tamil the most challenging. 

"The language has very intense diglossia (variation between literary and spoken forms), and few resources are available to learn kotuntamil (colloquial Tamil), specifically the one spoken in Singapore. 

"Furthermore, the grammar is complex, with a complex conjugation and, especially, case system, which I find difficult to wrap my head around, given none of the other languages I speak use cases."

It's only natural that we are curious to know if he has actually used the popular Duolingo app in his language learning journey, right?

"Duolingo has actually been the backbone for some of the languages I've studied," Jonas replied. 

But he also highlighted that the app isn't the be-all and end-all of language learning. "I feel that it gives an amazing foundation to build on, but it doesn't substitute real language experience." 

He personally finds speaking to someone or consuming content in that particular language more useful when it comes to learning a new language. 

Netizens in awe 

The comments section of the video, which garnered 1.6 million views at the time of writing, was filled with praise and astonishment. 

Not only were netizens impressed at the number of languages he could speak, they applauded him for his authentic accents as well.

 

Some users were impressed that he spoke in Tamil, a language that Jonas found hard to learn. 

ALSO READ: 5 language apps to help you make the most of your next trip

venkat.gunasellan@asiaone.com

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