Savant skills

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I don't know if it's savant skill or not, but I've never made any ort or grammar mistake in Polish (my native language). I started to write when I was about 3 and I always did it correctly. How? I don't know. I just know if the word is correct or not. Incorrect words look strange and I know that something's wrong with them. I used my skill in many ortography competitions, with success.

I have great memory, I remember dates and circumstances, I see the time axis in my mind, I learn languages quickly, I don't use a calculator, I have perfect smell and taste, but I think I'm just gifted.

I can easily learn a language to fluency in a month or less. I don't know if that's savant or not. Maybe a week is a savant. I can learn them as fast as I can see and hear the material. I don't have to study, just absorb.

Seriously?! I wish I had that skill. I think I am the only person on this site who is actually bad at languages

Yeah. Oddly enough though, I'm a very slow reader and my verbal skills are kind of weak. I have a hard time getting through, say a novel (too much text jammed together) but grammar, or anything dissecting the nature of language itself where the categories are clearly delineated somehow strikes a chord with me and everything makes sense.

Happymusic, próbowałaś polskiego? Myślę, że zajmie ci więcej niż miesiąc

Ha! art thou challenging me?

If I had opportunities to speak it I might take you up on that. I've heard it's difficult, but I don't see how that could slow me down. I know that sounds arrogant, but languages are just easy - especially if they are written in a roman or Cyrillic alphabet. Their patterns are crystal clear. For instance, I can see in what you wrote, Indo-European roots that give hints as to the meaning. "próbowałaś" has the same root as probare, to try. "polskiego" is obvious. "miesiąc" having the same root as "mes" or month. The other words I don't know.

I'd just have to learn verb tenses, clause structure, declensions, vocabulary (prefixes, roots, etc.), and so on - all the standard IE stuff. Then I'd have to figure out those things that are absolutely unique to Polish, which is really only a percentage of the language - maybe 30% - I'm guessing. That makes the actual learning (as opposed to making connections) a much smaller task. At the same time, I'd figure out where the linguistic influences have come from and draw connections to those other languages and cultures. It's like a web.

They're all categories. You put all the pieces in their categories and then just implement the formulas of structure. The formulas contain variables and the possible values are the things I mentioned in the last paragraph. You just plug them in.

Anyway, thanks for inspiring me to think about it, Valoyossa. You've actually cheered me up regarding my job, which I really dislike.

Gotta try this one: Do you speak Polish? See if you understand this message.
(That's the grammar-free method, guessing wildly :p)

By the time I was in high school, I had memorized (without trying) the statistics of every roller coaster in North America (year of build, designer, builder, height, length, ride time, etc.).

I am also a talent savant in that I am able to play (without lessons and in little time) musical instruments I am fascinated with. I became a professional musician in high school.

Happymusic, have you tried Polish? I think it would take you more than a month (to learn).

Spoiled it.

Some one can dump a box of toothpicks on the ground and I know right away I will be the one to clean them up.

Music! I can play most anything on guitar by ear except more skilled say classical pieces but within the more basic playing yes. I remember a ton of trivial facts,but if you asked me what I ate yesterday I couldn't tell you.

I really admire the musicians here. I play violin and piano but really have to work at it. You are so lucky!!

Dokładnie! W takim razie zapraszam do działu językowego, ciekawa jestem jak radzisz sobie z naszymi wspaniałymi rodzajami, trybami, końcówkami i odmianą. Google nie zna polskiego za dobrze i w ogóle ma problemy z językami słowiańskimi. Polski to język dla hardkorów i językowych świrów!

Heh? You want me to do what now? I don't speak Polish, sexy devil girl!

I'll repeat it next month

I said:
Exactly! So I invite you to languages section, I'm interested how you manage with wonderful Polish genders, cases, sufixes and declination. Google doesn't know Polish so much and generally has problems with Slavic languages. Polish is a language for hardcores and language geeks.

My problem right now is I'm just not that motivated...though talking with you would be really fun. You could keep my grammar in line and help me pronunciation...I guess if I were to do it I'd need proper materials. Hm, let me think about it. My energy has been low lately.

I went into the languages forum but I only saw your thread about with questions to Americans and Brits. Did I go to the right place?

You know what? I'll look to see what they have at the library. I already feel half-hearted about it though. I think I need more motivation. Got any ideas?

*sigh*

A wager?