New York Teen Learns 20 Foreign Languages in Just Four Years!

Doner is what is known as a polyglot – someone who speaks many different languages. While this is common in many parts of the world (17) __________ where most people speak one language, or two at most.

His ability with language led him to produce YouTube videos about his experiences and (18) __________ in the past year. One of his videos has already been viewed a million times. It shows Doner, a student at The Dalton School on the Upper East Side, speaking French, Hausa, Wolof, German, Yiddish, Hebrew, Arabic, Pashto, Farsi, Mandarin Chinese, Italian, Turkish, Indonesian, Dutch, Xhosa, Swahili, Hindi and Ojibwe – at varying levels of proficiency.

Most of the languages Doner speaks come from places that are not important in the American understanding, such as Pashto (19) __________. Many of his fans from other parts of the world are simply astonished and delighted to hear someone (20) __________ speak their languages at all.

“We don’t learn a lot about Arab or Islamic history in school,” Doner said. “And I think that by learning languages (21) __________. You are learning about the culture, everything from cooking to TV, to poetry, to politics, to whatever it may be. And I think that fosters a much better understanding.”

Doner just finished the SATs and does not know (22) __________. He is considering a career in translation or working abroad in general. But he can also imagine himself teaching languages in the U.S.