Why do you want to be a polyglot?

Stop doing things for the wrong reasons

I was recently asked by someone on YouTube why I wanted to become a polyglot in the first place. I was quite surprised by the question because I’ve never really been a heavy fan of the word “polyglot”—I’m actually quite repelled by it.

When I first started learning English, I was deeply invested—I had everything in the language and consumed content made for native speakers. Later, when I began learning French and Hungarian, I stumbled into the polyglot corner of YouTube and started following creators like Luca Lampariello, Lindie Botes, Olly Richards, Steve Kaufmann, and—my personal favourite—Alex Rawlings (sadly not on YouTube anymore). They were genuinely inspiring, and most shared great tips. But eventually, I realized I was spending more time collecting new tips than actually implementing them or immersing myself in the language. That’s when I decided to change my approach.

With extension blockers on YouTube, I started treating it as a library—largely free of algorithmic influence. I would have some go-to resources in different languages, and when I wanted some input, that’s what I would look for. As a consequence, my interaction with this polyglot side of YouTube has been steadily decreasing. Still, every now and then I disable these blockers to discover new creators or see what’s trending.

While there are people who really seem to be well-intended and actually show the reality of learning a language plus their real level, the platform is nevertheless infested with many claiming to be something they aren’t—supposedly interested in culture and language, but really focused on selling courses—and boasting about speaking numerous languages, only to completely butcher them or use gimmicks to embellish their skills. And, mind you, these were the ones getting the real views. The more languages you add to the list, the bigger the ego. The cooler you are. The more social status you have.

And that’s where my disgust towards the word “polyglot” came from.

Do things for the right reasons

This is, of course, the extreme of it. Not everyone who has polyglot aspirations needs to necessarily be put in this courtship displayer group. But I must confess it’s still a little weird to me.

I never set out to be a polyglot. I just followed my interests to the hilt, sometimes quite obsessively. English was my first love because it was a bridge towards different opportunities and it allowed me to watch my favourite shows without being bothered by the lips moving differently from what I was hearing. French was an almost demand for the degree that I studied—International Relations—and it sounded incredibly appealing to me. Hungarian was a moral obligation towards my grandmother: speaking with her in her native tongue. And Romanian and Spanish were the languages that I grew up with.

So I just “accidentally” became a polyglot. It was never the target.

That’s why it sounds so strange to me to be asked why I wanted to be a polyglot. That’s why it’s interesting to hear that people want to be polyglots… just to be polyglots.

It’s okay to do things because they’re cool. I started calisthenics precisely because of that. But besides looking cool, it’s extremely difficult to maintain calisthenics as a lifestyle, so for me, doing things just because of coolness isn’t quite enough—maybe to you it is, and that’s perfect.

But I need to see some sort of outcome. I need a why. Something to anchor me when things get tougher.

“Okay Cris, I know it’s frustrating to read these Agatha Christie pages and not understand what’s going on, but it will get easier and over time your English will open doors for you that you didn’t even know existed.”

“Okay Cris, you just spent 4 hours on Hungarian grammar because you want to have fluent conversations with your grandma and you need to understand how this language works first.”

“Okay Cris, you have to study these words and do these hard exercises in order to pass this French exam and have better career opportunities.”

There are myriad reasons to learn different languages. And, of course, learning for the sake of learning is also incredibly powerful: it’s good for your brain health, can be very fulfilling, and allows you to discover yourself in ways that only languages can.

But beyond that, it serves the purpose of connecting with people who are different from you.

The amount of connections I have managed to build thanks to speaking these languages has been extremely important to who I am today as a person. I am lucky to have people around me that I get to call friends, people who I would still be calling strangers if it wasn’t for the amount of effort and passion that went into the learning.

But this passion and commitment didn’t just come from “I want to be a polyglot.” It came from a genuine interest in people, culture, and understanding the world through different lenses. It came from a place of curiosity.

And that’s the element I often find missing online: genuine interest. Too often, people seem driven by social clout, money, or views, rather than by the irrational, wholehearted desire to grow as a person and truly understand one another.

Without that genuine curiosity and drive to connect, the online world risks becoming a shallow arena of performative gestures and hollow metrics. True growth—both personal and collective—can only happen when we pursue understanding for its own sake, not for applause or profit.

How about asking better questions? Why were you so invested in learning Hungarian? What drove you to start learning French? How did your English become what it is today?

And hey, be a polyglot! I have no problem with that.

But at least do it for the right reasons. For you inner desire to learn, understand and connect different dots of different parts of the world. Not for somebody else’s attention.

I hope this helped you somehow, I hope you can help someone, and I will see you in the next one!