At 46, the American Vaughn Smith is what is called a “hyperpolyglot”. The man is able to speak 24 different languages such as Russian, French, Icelandic or even Slovak. In detail, he perfectly masters 8, is able to have a long conversation in 24 and has at least the basics of 41 languages. What is the life and brain of someone so exceptionally good at languages like? the Washington Post devoted a long format to this atypical American and his story is surprising.
A hyper-polyglot carpet cleaner
Vaughn Smith therefore speaks English, Spanish, Bulgarian, Czech, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian and Slovak fluently. He is able to tell stories in Finnish and Italian and can carry on a conversation in French or Norwegian. But what job can a person with such abilities do well? The answer may seem surprising. Vaughn Smith is indeed a carpet cleaner. During his life, Vaughn also worked as a bouncer, delivery man and house painter. Either trades not really related to his ability to speak an impressive number of languages.
Born to a Spanish-speaking mother and an English-speaking father, Vaughn discovered the existence of other languages during a visit from a distant cousin from Belgium. Frustrated not to understand the words used by this man, “I told myself that I wanted to have this power“, Vaughn explains to the Washington Post. Motivated by this thirst for learning, he then spent countless hours at the library to indulge in this new passion.
He was never understood by his teachers
But how is it that he has never used this exceptional asset at the professional level? As the Washington Post explains, Vaughn didn’t necessarily have it easy at school. His teachers even complained about his lack of attention and his inability to follow certain instructions. In his late teens, Vaughn applied to graduate school to become a medical assistant, but was denied. He then tried to get a job that could allow him to use his potential. But “nothing ever worked”he explains to the Washington Post.
With such assets, how is it possible? The newspaper evokes the track of autism. “Maybe that’s why he was never understood by his teachers […] for this reason he never knew how to search and what steps to follow to obtain a more qualified job”writes the Washington Post.
Anyway, Vaughn assimilated an ocean of vocabulary and grammatical rules for pure pleasure, without wanting to impress anyone. “Vaughn doesn’t reveal his language skills to almost anyone. He wasn’t the one who came to see the Washington Post, he just agreed to let us hang out with him. One of Vaughn’s friends had mentioned his story to a fellow reporter. In the space of two months spent with him, I was able to see the extent of his Vaughn language skills.” explains the journalist.