Giuseppe Mezzofanti (1774-1849) was an Italian Cardinal who was perhaps the best language learner ever. He spoke more than 38 languages fluently. He never left Italy but he learned to speak these languages without an accent. People from all over the world came to talk to him in their mother tongue. All of them were amazed at his fluency. At the age of 12, Mezzofanti spoke his native Italian, as well as German, Greek, Latin, and at least five other languages. Then he learned Arabic, Russian, Hindi, Old English and Maltese. He also learned Chinese. This was the hardest language for him to learn: it took him four months.

Some stories say he also spoke 30 other languages quite well and that he could understand another 20 (for example, Tibetan and Icelandic.)
Another story says that he heard there were two foreigners in a prison in Rome. So he learned their language in one night and spoke to them the next morning!
It’s hard to know if all these stories are true. Some people, for example, ask, ‘How did he learn Old English without meeting anyone who spoke it?”, or ‘Did he really learn a language in a few weeks — or in one night?” We don’t know for sure, but we can say for certain that Giuseppe Mezzofanti became a language-learning legend.

b)Read the text again and listen. Write T (true) or F (false).

1.Mezzofanti spoke over 38 languages. T

2.He travelled to other countries. F

3.For Mezzofanti, Arabic was harder to learn than Chinese. F

4.One story says that he learned a language in one night. T

5.He never met anyone who spoke Old English. F

c)Do many people in your country speak more than one language? Which languages do people speak?

In my opinion, in Armenia people speak in 3 languages, Armenian, Russian, English.