If you know many languages you are at an advantage over others. I have written about polyglots earlier. I want to reproduce the last para from there before I proceed further:
I know Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and English. French and German – I have forgotten as quickly as I learnt them; I have retained just enough skill to ascertain the language of an article and perhaps translate the title. Sanskrit was my second language in School. I cannot avoid exposure to Hindi as Modi's government is imposing it on everyone in devious ways.
Info given above may be presented as a table for easy comprehension / comparison.
| Language | Read | Write | Speak | Understand If spoken | Remark |
| Tamil | Y | Y | Y | Y | Studied |
| Telugu | N | N | Y | Y | Local influence |
| Kannada | N | N | Y | Y | Mother tongue |
| English | Y | Y | Y | Y | Studied |
| French | Y | N | N | N | Sufficient to translate titles / headers |
| German | Y | N | N | Y somewhat | Ditto. Studied |
| Malayalam | N | N | N | Y |
|
| Sanskrit | Y | Y | N | Y partially | Studied |
| Hindi | Y | Y | N | Y | Studied |
| Sign Language |
|
|
| Y |
|
It is the last row that brings me on par with dogs and certain other animals. We have a few street dogs that take shelter in our terrace. My daughter and I 'speak' to the dogs in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi etc depending upon our moods. They understand all our languages well but behave as if they are deaf, especially when we want them to go out! Even human beings may benefit If they pretend to be deaf and do not respond, on certain occasions!
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