How many languages ​​does Ekaterina 2 know?

Knowledge of two or three foreign languages ​​today does not surprise anyone. In the context of globalization, perfect command of several languages ​​is the main condition for career growth. Those who know four foreign languages ​​are called polyglots, and those who know more are called hyperpolyglots. In Switzerland, for example, there are four official languages: German, French, Italian, Romance, so every average Swiss is a polyglot. Knowledge of two or three foreign languages ​​today does not surprise anyone. In the context of globalization, perfect command of several languages ​​is the main condition for career growth. What kind of person is considered a polyglot? Those who know four foreign languages ​​are called polyglots, and those who know more are called hyperpolyglots. In Switzerland, for example, there are four official languages: German, French, Italian, Romance, so every average Swiss is a polyglot. It has not yet been established exactly how many foreign languages ​​a person can master. What is known for sure is that in the history of mankind there have always been people who could speak not only their native languages, but also many foreign languages. According to legend, Buddha spoke one and a half hundred languages, and Mohammed generally spoke all the languages ​​of the world. A certain Cardinal Giuseppe Mezzofanti spoke fluently sixty foreign languages, wrote poetry in almost fifty languages, and translated from one hundred and fourteen languages ​​- and at the same time never left Italy! True, the Guinness Book of Records mentions the more “modest” capabilities of Cardinal Mezzofanti, who spoke only twenty-six languages ​​fluently. When the cardinal was asked how many languages, in his opinion, a person is capable of knowing, he replied: “As many as the Lord God pleases.” In those days, they still remembered the story of a Finnish student who was burned at the stake only because he could easily and quickly memorize foreign languages: it was believed that this was impossible without the help of evil spirits. The world has changed a lot since then. People who know many foreign languages ​​are no longer sentenced to death. But still, science has not yet unraveled the essence of the phenomenon of hyperpolyglots. And even in the times that replaced the Middle Ages, knowledge of foreign languages ​​was already considered a sign of a high level of culture. For example, Bohdan Khmelnitsky had five languages ​​in his linguistic arsenal. Catherine II, in addition to German (which was native to her) and Russian, knew three more languages ​​perfectly. Among scientists and writers there were also many hyperpolyglots. Leo Tolstoy knew English, French and German perfectly, and easily read Polish, Czech and Italian. In addition, he knew Greek, Latin, Tatar, Ukrainian and Church Slavonic, and also studied Dutch, Turkish, Hebrew, Bulgarian and a number of other languages. Since his youth, Alexander Griboedov spoke German, French, Italian and English, and studied Greek and Latin. Later he mastered Persian, Arabic and Turkish. The fabulist Krylov knew French, Italian and German perfectly. Then he learned ancient Greek and also studied English. By the age of 16, Nikolai Chernyshevsky had thoroughly studied nine languages: Latin, Ancient Greek, Persian, Arabic, Tatar, Hebrew, French, German and English. The German scientist Johann Martin Schleyer knew forty-one languages. Perhaps this is what allowed him to create Volapuk – the first artificial language of international communication in history, which became the predecessor of Esperanto. The famous archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann spent his free time studying foreign languages. This was his hobby, and during his life he learned about fifteen languages. It goes without saying that knowledge of languages ​​helped Schliemann many times during his excavations in different parts of the world. There are real hyperpolyglots in our time. For example, the architectural engineer from Belgium Johan Vandewalle, in his early 40s, knows 31 languages. And professor-linguist from Italy Alberto Talnavani speaks quite fluently in all languages ​​of European countries. At the same time, the future polyglot spoke seven languages ​​already at the age of 12, and at the age of 22 – by the time he graduated from the University of Bologna – his “linguistic baggage” numbered 15 languages. And the writer and translator Kato Lomb, who lives in Budapest, speaks fluently nine languages ​​and translates texts from another 6, both technical and literary. At the same time, she learned all the languages, being already an adult and an accomplished person, and in a very short time. For example, it only took her a month to learn Spanish. With all this, while studying at the gymnasium, Kato was by no means considered a capable student and was even known as a linguistic mediocrity. But what is polyglossia, or multilingualism? A special talent or a matter of perseverance and motivation? And is there some kind of maximum that no one has yet managed to go beyond? Research shows that there is probably no maximum. Today, scientists believe that, if desired and necessary, each person can learn as many languages ​​as he wishes. We are limited only by our own desires and the short-term nature of human life. We can learn as many languages ​​as we have the strength and time to do. It has been proven that the average person’s brain operates at only 10% of its capacity. That is, we can work 10 times more efficiently and absorb 10 times more information. It all depends on the will, performance of each individual person, his motivation and perseverance. That is, in fact, the main question is not how many languages ​​we are able to learn, but how many languages ​​we will need in life and how many we will allow ourselves to learn. Evidence of high intelligence is knowledge of foreign languages. The biographies of many historical figures and significant figures indicate that they knew several foreign languages, which they skillfully used in their activities and politics. The knowledge of the great Russian scientist Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov in the field of linguistics was truly limitless. Pekarsky found documentary evidence: Lomonosov was a brilliant polyglot. We are talking about a scientist’s written response to a request about what and to what extent he speaks foreign languages. The document is dated 1760 and written by Lomonosov himself. Those languages ​​that he knows perfectly were marked by him with a cross – there were eleven of them. Lomonosov read other languages ​​without a dictionary and could speak and understand quite well. Here is the list:
Portuguese
Spanish
French(x)
English(x)
ирландский
German (x)
Dutch
датский
Norwegian
Swedish
Italian (x)
Polish(x)
Czech
болгарский
Hungarian(x)
монгольский
Finnish
Lithuanian
Livonian
(i.e. Latvian and Estonian)
Chukhonsky
румынский
Jewish (Hebrew)(x)
Greek (x)
Slovenian (x)
Turkish
Tatar
сербский
Permian
Russian (x)”. Scarce information tells us that Bogdan Khmelnitsky knew five languages. Empress Catherine II, in addition to her native German and Russian, was fluent in three more languages. Vyacheslav Rudolfovich Menzhinsky, Dzerzhinsky’s first deputy and chairman of the OGPU, knew, in addition to Russian, thirteen more languages, and was fluent in German, English, French and Italian. Dzerzhinsky himself knew three foreign languages, one of which was Russian, which he spoke without an accent and wrote competently (Polish was his native language). People’s Commissar of Education Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky, when he was elected a full member of the Academy of Sciences, began his speech in Russian, continued in German, French, English, Italian and ended, according to tradition, in classical Latin. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin spoke German and French fluently. He studied them at the gymnasium, where they also taught Latin and Greek. Lenin spoke German perfectly: he had to live for a long time in Switzerland, Austria-Hungary and Germany, where he led an active political life, gave lectures, reports and political speeches. He could speak, read and write in French and communicate quite fluently in English. The English leader of the proletariat studied independently. I spoke with the American attache Colonel Robins and the British consul Lockhart without an interpreter (the topic was delicate), but together with Trotsky, who spoke the language fluently and lived in the USA. I read Italian newspapers and, thanks to Italian opera, knew a number of famous quotes. N.K. Krupskaya studied Italian, something her husband learned from his wife. Ilyich himself, however, assessed his knowledge of languages ​​with the words “I don’t know all three well.” It is alleged that the leader read Polish and Italian and understood Swedish and Czech. Reading speed and language comprehension levels have not been assessed. During his stay in Italy, Lenin communicated with Italians, but how freely is unknown. Regarding Polish, Swedish and Czech, you can guarantee knowledge of at least a minimum of everyday vocabulary. Knowledge of gymnasium ancient Greek could allow one to communicate with the Greeks, since the solemn style of speech – “kafarevus” – of modern Greek is based on it. It would look something like communicating with a modern Russian in Church Slavonic, but there would be understanding. By studying the notes on foreign publications in his library, they discovered that he knew 11 languages. However, it is unclear whether he translated the fragments himself, or took the help of an expert in this language. Thus, it can be argued that Lenin knew three languages ​​(except Russian) at a fairly high level and from 4 to 8 at the level of familiarity. The magazine “Most”, published by the Russian-Turkish Association of Friendship and Entrepreneurship, published in one of its issues information that Stalin spent two years in Turkey and knew Turkish. After the events in 1910, when, after an unsuccessful uprising against the tsarist regime, Stalin fled through Batumi to Anatolia. According to some sources, Stalin knew Georgian, Russian, ancient Greek, Latin, German, Farsi, and French. Others claim that in addition to Georgian and Russian, Stalin read German, studied Latin, ancient Greek, Church Slavonic, and understood Farsi (Persian) and Armenian. In the mid-20s, he also studied French. As for subsequent politicians, for example, Khrushchev once mentioned that he knew the Ukrainian language. Andropov knew English. Chernenko explained himself somehow in Russian. And today, alas, nothing is reported about polyglots in the circle of the Russian President, in the government, in the State Duma. Of course, there are more than a dozen people who speak several foreign languages ​​to varying degrees: for example, the leader of the LDPR Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky knows three foreign languages, and First Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Chubais speaks English quite decently, but they are far from real polyglots .