A language a day keeps him happy and gay. He has set himself a target of
learning three hundred and sixty five
languages
and has already mastered three hundred. Wow! Mind blowing!
Dr.Herbert Schruz, 70, a German, living in Frankfurt, literally talks, walks and sleeps books. He sleeps with books strewn around him and one can find a few tucked below as headrest, as if the mind is constantly imbibing and deciphering newer scripts.
In a recent interview, Dr.Herbert has admitted that till his 30th birthday, he had known only his mother tongue. Thereafter suddenly one fine day he realized he was just wasting his free time. He vowed to use his spare time productively. Finally, he acquired a fancy for
learning new
languages. In a span of ten years, he mastered three hundred languages. What started as a spare time hobby developed into a hunger for more in lexicology for over forty years.
Dr.Herbert did not attend any formal school to learn any new languages. He self tutored himself with the help of books and of course had to put in lot of hard work. He does not allow even a single minute to go waste as he has set a target of learning another sixty five languages, so that he will be able to use a new language every day for the whole year. His house resembles a big library with books stacked in every nook and corner. He is the proud owner of a vast collection of books from across the world. Wherever he goes, books seem to beckon him and very obligingly he picks them as add on.
There perhaps is no other individual in the small world, who can match the linguistic aptitude of Dr.Herbert. If books were to speak, they say “Well Dr.Herbert, may your tribe increase”.
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Abstract by: J.Prabha.