Ioannis Ikonomou

Ioannis Ikonomou
Native name Γιάννης Οικονόμου
Born Irakleio, Crete, Greece
Occupation Translator
Nationality Greek
Education University of Thessaloniki
Alma mater Columbia University
Spouse Tomek

Ioannis Ikonomou (Greek: Γιάννης Οικονόμου, born in Heraklion, Crete in 1964) is a Greek translator who has been working for the European Commission in Brussels since 2002. Considered a notable contemporary example of a polyglot, he knows 32 living languages including Greek, English, German, Italian, Spanish, French, Finnish, Danish, Russian, Swahili, Hebrew, Arabic, Mandarin and Bengali, and reportedly as many as 47 languages including dead languages like Old Church Slavic. He speaks 21 out of 24 official EU languages.[1][2][3] He considered Mandarin language as the most complicated language to learn.[4] Chinese is also his favorite language. He is the only in-house translator of European Commission who is trusted to translate classified Chinese documents.[5]

Education

Inspired by foreign tourists visiting his hometown Crete,[6] he began to study foreign languages at the very young age: English at age five, when he moved to Athens with family, German at seven, Italian at 10, Russian at 13, East African Swahili at 14, and Turkish at 16.[7] He had learned 15 languages by the age of 20. He studied linguistics at the University of Thessaloniki before pursuing an MA in Middle Eastern languages and cultures at Columbia University in the United States. He continued with a PhD in Indo-European linguistics at Harvard University.[8] The subject of his dissertation in Harvard was a text by Zarathustra written in Avestan, a form of Old Iranian.

Personal life

He is married to Tomek, who is Polish. He would stay up to chat online with native speakers from all around the world to maintain his language ability every night.[2] His favorite hobby is reading Chinese books and taking notes.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rice, Xan (2015-08-03). "The man who speaks 32 languages - and counting". New Statesman. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  2. 1 2 Schiltz, Christoph B. (2014-06-09). "Der Mann, der 32 Sprachen fließend spricht" [The man who speaks 32 languages fluently]. Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  3. ↑ Jovanovska, Svetlana (2009-06-05). "Ioannis Ikonomou beherrscht 47 Sprachen" [Ioannis Economou mastered 47 languages]. Neue Ruhr Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  4. ↑ This Man Speaks 32 Different Languages.. Great big story.
  5. ↑ Ioannis Ikonomou: The man who speaks 32 languages. linguesenzasforzo. 2013-01-15.
  6. ↑ I SPEAK 32 LANGUAGES
  7. ↑ Tsagari, Daphne (2014-09-19). "A Greek Translator Equipped with 32 Different Languages". Greek Reporter.
  8. ↑ "Nee's Language Blog: A Greek Who Speaks 32 Languages". Nee's Language Blog.



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