30 Inspirerende Citaten over Talen Leren
Toevoegen aan Chrome 
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Woorden van filosofen, polyglotten, schrijvers en leiders over waarom het leren van een taal alles verandert.
Taal Vormt Hoe We Denken
“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”
— Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921)
“Language is the dress of thought.”
— Samuel Johnson, Lives of the English Poets (1779–81)
“Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.”
— Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., The Professor at the Breakfast-Table (1860)
“A different language is a different vision of life.”
— Federico Fellini, Italiaans filmregisseur
“Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.”
— Flora Lewis, The New York Times buitenlandcorrespondent
“The diversity of languages is not a diversity of signs and sounds but a diversity of views of the world.”
— Wilhelm von Humboldt, Duits filosoof en taalkundige
“I was beginning to think in Greek. That is the great Rubicon to cross in learning any language.”
— C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy (1955)
Waarom een Taal Leren
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”
— Nelson Mandela, voormalig president van Zuid-Afrika
“He who knows no foreign languages knows nothing of his own.”
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Duits dichter en staatsman
“Knowledge of languages is the doorway to wisdom.”
— Roger Bacon, 13e-eeuwse Engelse filosoof
“One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.”
— Frank Smith, psycholinguïst
“You can never understand one language until you understand at least two.”
— Geoffrey Willans, Brits auteur
“To have another language is to possess a second soul.”
— Toegeschreven aan Karel de Grote (Heilig Rooms Keizer); de toeschrijving wordt vaak herhaald maar is niet historisch geverifieerd
“You live a new life for every new language you speak. If you know only one language, you live only once.”
— Tsjechisch gezegde (van het gezegde: Kolik řečí znáš, tolikrát jsi člověkem. — “As many languages as you know, as many times you are a human being.”)
“To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world.”
— Chinees gezegde
In het Brein van een Polyglot
“Language is the only thing worth knowing even poorly.”
— Kató Lomb, Hongaarse polyglot en simultaantolk (werkte professioneel in 16 talen)
“Language is not a genetic gift, it is a social gift. Learning a new language is becoming a member of the club — the community of speakers of that language.”
— Frank Smith, psycholinguïst
“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”
— Toni Morrison, Nobelprijs voor Literatuur dankwoord (1993)
“He that is acquainted with only one language, will probably always remain in some degree the slave of language. But the man who is competent to and exercised in the comparison of languages, has attained to his proper elevation. Language is not his master, but he is the master of language.”
— William Godwin, The Enquirer (1797)
“Reality is constructed by languages, and the existence of a variety of languages means the existence of a variety of realities, a variety of truths.”
— Minae Mizumura, The Fall of Language in the Age of English
“In what language am I, suis-je, bin ich, when I am inmost? What is the tone of the self?”
— George Steiner, After Babel (1975)
“Every word is a bird we teach to sing.”
— Daniel Tammet, autistisch savant en polyglot, Every Word Is a Bird We Teach to Sing (2017)
De Reis: Oefening, Fouten en Doorzettingsvermogen
“Invested Time × Motivation / Inhibition = Result.”
— Kató Lomb, Hongaarse polyglot — haar formule voor succesvol talen leren. Motivatie staat in de teller; faalangst in de noemer.
“Not having heard of it is not as good as having seen it. Having seen it is not as good as knowing it. Knowing it is not as good as putting it into practice.”
— Xunzi (荀子), Chinees filosoof, 3e eeuw v.Chr. — de oorspronkelijke bron van wat later evolueerde tot “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.”
“Sbagliando s’impara.” (Je leert door fouten te maken.)
— Italiaans gezegde
“I have learned more languages since the age of 60 than prior to the age of 60.”
— Steve Kaufmann, Canadese polyglot en oprichter van LingQ (spreekt 20+ talen)
“If you’re going to learn a new language, you can’t try to be perfect. You’ll stop yourself from talking. You just have to let go.”
— Yao Ming, Chinese basketballspeler die Engels leerde na zijn overstap naar de NBA
“There is no such thing as an ugly accent. Saying there is, is like saying there’s an ugly flower.”
— David Crystal, Brits taalkundige
“Aim to make at least 200 mistakes a day. The more mistakes you make, the faster you become a confident language learner.”
— Benny Lewis, Ierse polyglot en auteur van Fluent in 3 Months
“We acquire language in only one way: by understanding messages, or obtaining ‘comprehensible input’ in a low-anxiety situation.”
— Stephen Krashen, taalkundige en taalverwervingsonderzoeker, The Power of Reading
Talen leren gaat niet over aankomen — het gaat over groeien. Elk nieuw woord, elke nieuwe zin, elke nieuwe fout is een stap naar een wijdere wereld. Zoals Kató Lomb het zei: zoveel talen, zoveel jaren om ze nog te leren.
Als deze citaten je hebben geïnspireerd om een nieuwe taal op te pakken, biedt OpenL gratis vertaling in meer dan 100 talen — handig wanneer je snel een zin wilt begrijpen in een taal die je net begint te leren. Voor een diepere duik in een specifieke taal, bekijk onze gids over Catalaans, een Romaanse taal met een rijk politiek en cultureel verhaal.
Bronnen
- Ludwig Wittgenstein — Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus — Proposition 5.6
- Samuel Johnson — Lives of the English Poets — “Life of Cowley”
- Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. — The Professor at the Breakfast-Table (1860) — Chapter II
- Wilhelm von Humboldt — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — on the diversity of worldviews
- C.S. Lewis — Surprised by Joy (1955) — Chapter IX
- Nelson Mandela — Oxford Essential Quotations — verified quote
- Goethe — Britannica — widely anthologized in Maxims and Reflections
- Roger Bacon — Durham University — on languages and knowledge
- Charlemagne “Second Soul” — Quid Plura? blog — tracing the misattribution to 1989 UPI
- Czech proverb — Wikipedia Reference Desk — analysis of the proverb’s origin
- Kató Lomb — Polyglot: How I Learn Languages — free English translation (TESL-EJ)
- George Steiner — After Babel (1975) — on translation and multilingual identity
- William Godwin — The Enquirer (1797) — on the multilingual mind
- Minae Mizumura — The Fall of Language in the Age of English — Columbia University Press
- Toni Morrison — Nobel Lecture (1993) — Nobel Prize in Literature
- Daniel Tammet — Every Word Is a Bird We Teach to Sing — memoir (2017)
- Xunzi — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Chapter 8, “The Achievements of the Ru”
- Quote Investigator — “Tell Me and I Forget” — origin tracing to Xunzi
- David Crystal — official site — British linguist and author
- Steve Kaufmann — Montreal Gazette — profile of the Lingly founder
- Benny Lewis — Fluent in 3 Months — Daily Mail interview on embracing mistakes
- Stephen Krashen — The Power of Reading — on comprehensible input and language acquisition
- EF Education First — 50 Inspiring Quotes About Languages — reference quote collection
- Flora Lewis — New York Times obituary — career overview; the language quote is widely attributed to her body of work as a foreign correspondent
- Frank Smith — psycholinguist bibliography — Ourselves: Why We Are Who We Are (2006); his language quotes circulate widely in literacy and language education contexts
