I've been asked all of these questions on various occasions in my life, so I thought having an FAQ isn't such a bad idea after all!

•  How many languages do you speak?
•  How many languages are there in the world?
•  Why do/did you learn (all those) languages?
•  Are you a genius?
•  Does your brain function in a special way?
•  How do you learn languages?
•  Did you spend all your childhood reading books?
•  How can you network so much being an introvert?

How many languages do you speak?

First of all, when do you speak a language? Do you need to be able to discuss ornithology and suspension bridges and elections, or know how to order food and find lodging? What if you can discuss ornithology and suspension bridges and elections but don't know what "bread and butter" is called in a language?

I've tried to design my own levels of fluency, and at the lowest level – that of daily communication – I can communicate in 56 languages. At the next level, adding trouble-free writing and a broader set of topics (such as elections, but not ornithology), the number is reduced to 30; even further up the scale, I am "fluent" – meaning daily and scientific communication in all my fields of work – in 13, and able to speak 8 languages with the very same ability I master Bosnian, my mother tongue. So, depending on the level required, you may say I speak 8, 13, 30 or 56 languages. And I do know civilities in 12 additional ones.
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How many languages are there in the world?

The Ethnologue – with all its faults – lists 6912 languages. Although there's a fuzzy distinction between dialect and language (to quote Max Weinreich, "a language is a dialect with an army and a navy"), this number includes all systems of speech distinct enough from each other to be considered languages. There's a good chance we'll lose about half of those by the end of the century, however, if nothing is done to stop language extinction.
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Why do/did you learn (all those) languages?

Why do you eat bananas for breakfast or wear that blue sweater to work? There are a zillion reasons why people do things: my love affair with languages began back when I was a kid, realizing that I learn them with quite some ease. Yet the reason may be curiosity, academic interest, or just plain liking. While some languages may be more or less useful in a certain context, there's no such thing as a "useless" or "boring language".
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Are you a genius?

I am not – and have never considered myself – to be a genius. Geniuses are people who use their intellectual capabilities – including imagination, memory and creativity – in any field to leave a lasting impact in this world. People like Albert Einstein or Nikola Tesla, people I personally look up to. But I'd never describe myself as a genius, even less so merely based on the fact that I can communicate in various languages.
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Does your brain function in a special way?

Apparently, it does. I've had various labels and abbreviations put onto it throughout the years – AS, ADHS, autistic, ODS, HFA, savant, what have you – although I believe that the best way to describe my brain is to say that it is, in fact, just my brain. I don't believe that a person whose profession begins with "psych" can know my brain any better than I do and tell me all about it by just ticking a checklist.
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How do you learn languages?

Truth is, I don't know. I tend to live languages – listen to radio and music, read newspapers and books, talk to acquaintances and friends, write down all sorts of notes in all sorts of languages – and it's gotten much easier with the internet. I do occasionally read textbooks, grammar manuals, dictionaries and phrasebooks, but not more nor less than I would use any other tool to learn them. I listen to patterns – I visualize them, too – so it is basically an involuntary process in which I end up learning languages (and flight schedules, license plates, calendar dates, telephone numbers, and the like). Not that I complain…
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Did you spend all your childhood reading books?

Of course not! I have, however, been reading since I can remember thinking in the first place; my grandmas recall me reading before I was even able to properly speak. But again, I did fall in and out of love constantly as a child, enjoy outdoor pastimes (war permitting) and top all family records for breaking pottery, telephones and other utensils.
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How can you network so much being an introvert?

There's no contradiction in being a networker by passion and an introvert by biology. It just means that I have an individualized approach to getting the most out of my network - and it's an approach everyone can take.
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