I’ve just returned from my first Polyglot Gathering. Whilst I was in Teresin, Poland, lots of people asked me and others: “how did you find out about the Gathering?”, and from my side, I’m not really sure. I must have fallen down a polyglot rabbit hole on Google, which left me flabbergasted that I’d never known about this event, running since 2014.
Others shared similarly vague recollections. Yet, considering the amount of veterans at the event, it’s clear that it’s a case of – once you’ve been to one, you’ll always come back.
What is the Gathering?
The Polyglot Gathering is the world’s biggest international event for polyglots and language lovers. It takes place between May and June every year, in a different European city. This year’s event took place in Teresin, a small town outside of Warsaw, in Poland, and next year’s will be in Prague in the Czech Republic! Here’s a snapshot of the 2019 event (pre-COVID!):
10 reasons to attend next year’s Polyglot Gathering
Meet people as nuts about languages as you are
If you’re crazy about language learning, then this is absolutely the place for you. You’ll meet people working in the language industry, academics, content creators, language hobbyists and more.
Practise your foreign language(s)
When you register, you’ll be asked which language(s) you speak, which will go on your lanyard. This is a really easy way to find others with whom to practise your languages.
There is also an hourly rotation of language tables, meaning that you can sit with a big group of people as passionate about your languages as you are at any point in the day! Whether you want to practise your Spanish, Japanese or Kazak, they’ve got it covered.
Attend talks
There is such a wide range of talks and workshops on offer; this year’s programme featured sessions on beginner’s Ukrainian (by Zuzanna Yevtushyk and Maciej Jaskot), brain surgery on a polyglot patient (by Tristan Baliński), the link between knitting and languages (by Tanja Orme) and more. Some of my favourite talks are pictured below:
Left to right: Richard Simcott’s talk on The Politics of Language Learning, Emily Martyn’s talk on A Brief History of the Languages of the World and Josep Marti’s session on Slaying the POR and PARA Dragon: A 30-Minute Game to Master Them.
Dance, sing and everything in between
Once each day’s talks finished, the social events came rolling in.
Across the 5 days, you could attend a disco night, karaoke, a couple of concerts and even Zumba and Salsa classes. There was even a talent show!
Get Quizzical
Every evening, Emily and Charlotte from Utalk put on a different quiz, covering topics including a general language knowledge quiz (did you know that written Burmese doesn’t have spaces?), quizzes to test your Esperanto and Interslavic and more. A music quiz was also put on by Matthieu Desplantes.
These ranged from individual Kahoots to team efforts, all resulting in prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.
Eat, drink and be merry
One evening featured an international culinary festival, made possible thanks to the many participants who brought food and drink from their home countries, to be enjoyed by everyone. I’ve never tried so many different things in one place!
As a participant, you also had the option of signing up for all meals across the 5 days or just some, e.g. just lunch, if you weren’t staying at the hotel. This provided ample opportunity to get to know people, debate, exchange and raise a glass to language learning.
Exchange ideas, books, business ideas and sell your products
The Gathering put on two book stalls, one featuring books in Esperanto, as well as a language book swap, making other peoples’ trash your treasure, and vice versa.
Other brilliant features included the networking session for job seekers, employers, start-ups and content creators looking for new recruits and collaborators, as well as an exposition where language professionals showcased their products, from courses to apps and books.
Meet the people behind the apps
As well as the Utalk team, the Babbel team also came to the Gathering, interviewing us polyglots and making fun videos with whomever fancied a moment in the spotlight!
Keep an eye on the Babbel Tik Tok account for upcoming polyglot madness.
Explore a new city
Attending the Gathering is also an opportunity to get to know a new place. I set aside a couple of days to explore Warsaw, where I did a walking tour, visited the Chopin museum, and met up with other polyglots who were doing the same.
This was a really nice opportunity to wind down from the event, swap contact details with a few people I’d not yet connected with at the event, and eat some fabulous Polish food.
Meet the people you’ll also see at the Polyglot Conference
The Polyglot Gathering and the Polyglot Conference are often confused, but they are indeed two distinct events.
The Polyglot Conference was created by British hyperpolyglot Richard Simcott, who I had the pleasure of meeting at the Gathering. Many of the people I met at this year’s Gathering plan to attend the conference too.
The Polyglot Conference is usually outside of Europe, but this year, it’s in Budapest, in October.
I hope to see you there!
Final thoughts
If you are a language lover but the name of this event makes you feel unsure about whether you would fit in here, fear not! The first time I heard the word “polyglot”, I thought “poly WHAT?” And when I finally pinned down a definition (and there are MANY), I thought, oh, that sounds like an Ivory Tower… This is a great misconception, of course.
Languages are for everyone; if you love language and you love talking to other people who love language, then this event is for you. Whether you speak one language or many, there is something for everyone at the Gathering.
There were many things I loved about this event, but my absolute favourite was the connections I made with so many different people. It’s this that will keep me coming back.
Please get in touch if you’ve got more questions about the Gathering or the upcoming Polyglot Conference. If you come with an open mind, you’ll feel right at home.
Have you ever attended or thought about attending the Gathering? Did you attend this year? What was your favourite moment? Comment below!
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