Alex Rawlings demonstrates his 11 languages
Many people want to speak a second language, but for some people two can never be enough. Welcome to the world of the hyperpolyglot.
Ray Gillon speaks 18 languages. To be precise, he only speaks
eight fluently. His grasp on the other 10 is merely conversational.
Throw anything at him in Portuguese, Thai, Turkish, Russian,
Polish, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Bulgarian or Mandarin and he will
banter back.
In the UK, where there has been a growing anxiety over the
failure to learn additional languages, Gillon might seem to be a bit of
an anomaly. More and more children have been giving up languages since
the last government made learning foreign languages optional in England
from the age of 14.
