Alexander Sabino Argüelles (often spelled Arguelles; born 30 April 1964) is an American linguist notable for his work on
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
. He is highly committed to the learning of foreign languages, and was profiled in
Michael Erard
Michael Erard (born 27 December 1967) is an American non-fiction writer and journalist. He holds an M.A. (linguistics) and a Ph.D. (English) from the University of Texas at Austin.
Notable works Books
*Erard, Michael (2007). ''Um…: Slips, Stumb ...
's ''Babel No More''. He is one of the
polyglots listed in
Kenneth Hyltenstam's ''Advanced Proficiency and Exceptional Ability in Second Languages'', and has been described by ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' as "a legendary figure in the
olyglotcommunity".
He has taught in
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, and
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, and was a Group Director of Immersion Language Programs at
Concordia Language Villages
Concordia Language Villages (CLV), previously the International Language Villages, is a world-language and culture education program. Since beginning in 1961, it has grown to offer summer camp in 15 modern languages and school-year weekend progr ...
in
Bemidji
Bemidji ( ) is a city and the county seat of Beltrami County, Minnesota, Beltrami County, in northern Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,574 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. According to 2021 census estimates, the city ...
,
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
.
He is the son of the poet
Ivan Argüelles and the nephew of the
New Ageist José Argüelles
José Argüelles (; born Joseph Anthony Argüelles; January 24, 1939 – March 23, 2011) was an American New Age author and artist. He was the co-founder, along with Lloydine Argüelles, of the Planet Art Network and the Foundation for the Law of ...
.
Language learning
Highly driven, Argüelles devotes an average of nine hours a day to language learning, though stated that in his twenties he spent as much as sixteen hours daily learning. He advocates working on multiple languages daily for shorter periods (as little as 15 minutes), working on different areas in different languages, from reading novels, to writing grammatical exercises. He sets daily goals to language learning and has recorded his daily progress in logbooks going back over 20 years.
Argüelles is highly proficient in 10 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Catalan, Swedish and Korean,
[ and is accomplished in many more, such as Latin, Greek and Sanskrit, which he had studied by the end of college. He has studied over 60 languages to various degrees of proficiency. He stated in 2019 that he had learning resources in his library for 142 languages.]
Notable works
On Korean
*Argüelles, Alexander, and Jong-Rok Kim (2000). ''A Historical, Literary and Cultural Approach to the Korean Language''. Seoul: Hollym.
*Argüelles, Alexander, and Jong-Rok Kim (2004). ''A Handbook of Korean Verbal Conjugation''. Hyattsville, Maryland: Dunwoody Press.
*Argüelles, Alexander (2007). ''Korean Newspaper Reader''. Hyattsville, Maryland: Dunwoody Press.
*Argüelles, Alexander (2010). ''North Korean Reader''. Hyattsville, Maryland: Dunwoody Press.
Other works
*Argüelles, Alexander (1994). ''Viking Dreams: Mythological and Religious Dream Symbolism in the Old Norse Sagas''. Doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago.
*Argüelles, Alexander (1999). ''프랑스동사변화안내: La Conjugaison des Verbes''. Seoul: ''신아사''.
*Argüelles, Alexander (2006). ''English French Spanish German Dictionary''. Beirut, Lebanon: Librairie du Liban.
Notes
References
External links
Interviews
August 2006
July 2008
July 2009
January 2012
March 2012
April 2012
June 2012
January 2017
September 2017
Other links
*
Alexander Argüelles's old website
on the Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arguelles, Alexander
1964 births
21st-century lexicographers
American expatriates in Germany
American expatriates in Lebanon
American expatriates in Singapore
American expatriates in South Korea
American expatriates in the United Arab Emirates
American lexicographers
American orientalists
American philologists
Columbia University alumni
Koreanists
Linguists from the United States
Living people
People from Chicago
University of Chicago alumni