Forums » Smalltalk » AMA: Polyglot & real life cyborg!

Hello hellooooo,

For this year I'm participating with two topics:

1. I'm a polyglot, I speak at minimum 4 languages (Limburgish, Dutch, German and English) with a specialty in nailing accents and sounding native born in all of them. I also understand and read a range of other languages but I don't speak or write them as I have no reason to. Within Limburgish there are also dozens of variations of the dialect, each with their own accents and specific words that differ between them, that I'm fluent in. The same is true for a variety of German dialects along the Dutch border.

2. I'm also a real life cyborg as of about a month ago! I'm a type 1(.5) diabetic which means my immune system destroyed my beta cells which produce insulin. I'm insulin dependent for life and have up until recently been using separate pieces of technology to manage my condition. A CGM (continue glucose monitor which measures my glucose in the interstitial fluid and sends it to my phone) and before 2023 an insulin pump that delivered insulin at pre-programmed rates into my body through a small tube. From 2023 until last month I was doing manual injections.

My sensor and pump never communicated with each other, so even though I had technology doing the work for me, I was still directing the tech manually.

I'm now on a combined system where the sensor and the pump work in tandem and automatically regulate my insulin delivery with minimal input from me, just like my own pancreas would! This classifies me as a full fledged genuine cyborg (more so than before)! My sensor is the Dexcom G7 and my pump is the T:Slim X2.

I'm extremely active in various diabetes communities online and have a very thorough understanding of the various types of diabetes (there are about 8+ different kinds).

Feel free to ask anything about either topic! There are no stupid questions as far as I'm concerned.

How old were you when you learned your last language? Are you currently working on any more?

If we're talking about learning to speak and write fluently, then that would be English at age 12. The rest I've learned tidbits of have been happening continuously since then.

I'm not actively learning any new languages, but I kind of just absorb what I'm exposed to pretty easily. I primarily want to learn languages I will have an active use for, so learning them just for the sake of knowing then isn't on my radar.

I'm sure you know I'm fellow dutch, but Limburgish... for me it's Luxemburgish (with a 'dialect' for almost every village).

I know what it means to be polyglot.
So my question, as this is MY biggest issue when speaking languages.

Do you mix up different languages?

An example eventually and éventuellement (same etymology for the words, but totally different meaning in two different languages) I mixed up for a very long time.