On speaking multiple languages

Some interesting articles just out from the BBC, for the language wonks amongst us:

1. How do you become fluent in 11 languages? - A 20 year old who does quite a good job in the video; I appreciate his optimism about meeting new people.

2. The cult of the hyperpolyglot - About a fellow who speaks 18 languages.

'So what enables hyperpolyglots to seemingly pick up a new language at the push of a button?

Erard says it is hard to explain, but whatever an individual's biographical reasons are, he believes there is something that distinguishes hyperpolyglots neurologically.

"They have a neurological hardware that responds to the world, that's fed by the world, that is suited to a pattern that is recognition-heavy, sound-heavy and memory-heavy - that is very structured, and also very sociable.'

The article also includes this line, but I'm not sure I believe it: 'Easiest language for native English speakers to learn is said to be Dutch.'

Time for some language study

If you've read me the past few years, you know that language courses (and education in general) are my weakness areas. Even in Germany, where I didn't like the sound of the language, I still fell into the trap.

The past few years, I've been distracted with other things: the UK driver's test, law coursework, and my work permit paperwork. Finally, some free time, it's time for language study again!

I have an Excel with various options and my requirements to rate them against.
Here's my short list of languages:

german
dutch
spanish
portuguese
polish
lithuanian
french
british sign language
italian

You may notice, I'm taking it easy and aiming for the continent languages. I love my Asia colleagues to death but I'm awful at tonal languages like Chinese.

And my criteria for judging:

ability to find a native teacher in the UK
ability for native practice in the uk
future location for living
ability to move towards fluency
worth of learning, when locals can speak english instead
current knowledge level
enjoyment of the language

For background, my levels are the following:

-I've tested out at German B1

-I have an undergraduate degree in Spanish. My fluency 10+ years on? I can lead business meetings and fully get around as a tourist amidst local dialects. I'm not going to improve that one until I live there.

-Polish: A1

Thoughts? Anything I'm missing?

The snow in my corner of Essex

We had the most delightful snow, Sat night into Sunday. It started around 22.00 and continued on heavily into the morning. It was the first snow of winter in my region.

Slocombe the cat was curious but decided not to venture out onto the roof terrace:

I decided to venture to the park, with my snowshoes as we had 4-5 inches. The last time I had the opportunity to use my snowshoes was in Germany, in Feb 2008. We've had a few UK snowstorms since I've arrived, but never on a weekend. Fortunately the weather predictions were good so I had done all of my food shopping on Saturday so to be able to fully enjoy Sunday.

It was good packing snow on the roof terrace, so I made a snowman. We're supposed to have above freezing drizzle tomorrow, so we'll see how long he lasts.

I was a little surprised on Saturday night when I called home to the US; my relatives had not heard about our 'deep freeze' in Europe, or the snow that has been raging across the continent. Usually they keep an eye out for news over here, so it seems that it did not get much coverage over there on this go round.