What about Gregg Cox-Greatest linguist?

Answer 1

Gregg Cox linguistIn 1971 at the age of 8, following the divorce of his parents, Gregg M. Cox moved to the Los Angeles, California area with his mother. At this time Gregg, who comes from a non-immigrant, mono-lingual, English- speaking family was exposed to a multitude of foreign languages due to the large number of immigrants in the Los Angeles area at the time. Gregg became fascinated with the languages and soon made friends with several of the young immigrants. As the friendships grew, so did his language ability.

Gregg continued to learn the various languages and cultures throughout his primary school years by living the languages with his school mates and their parents. Though Gregg had to change many schools during these early years due to his parents, Gregg continued to meet new friends and encounter new languages.

By Junior High school, Gregg could already converse in 18 languages and an article was written about him at the local school. At this time Gregg branched out his study to several of the indigenous languages of America and began to take formal classes in the study of languages and linguistics.

As the friendships grew, so did the language opportunities. In 1979, at the age of 16, Gregg assisted as an ESL instructor for an immigration center. This experience helped Gregg to focus on social linguistics and the way languages played a role in various societies and situations. That same year, Gregg enrolled into a Chinese school with one of his immigrant friends.

The early 1980s brought on another change in Gregg's language studies due to the involvement of his mother in the church. Both the church and Gregg's mother felt that Gregg should become a missionary and soon Gregg was introduced to translation techniques, language evaluation studies, and multiple linguistic disciplines. During this period, Gregg became interested in many of the smaller, exotic languages of the world and traveled to Mexico on several occasions to live some of these languages first-hand. It was at this time that Gregg decided to produce a multiple-language dictionary that would contain all of the major languages of the world along with many of the smaller languages, as well.

High School was difficult because of the several moves Gregg was forced to make due to his relationship with his mother and following his decision not to become a missionary, rather to study languages as a passion. Gregg enrolled into several language courses at the local college while continuing his studies at High School.

In 1980, Gregg became very good friends with one of his college classmates, Gary Gillett, who was also passionate about foreign languages, and the two decided to travel the world to study the languages at their respective sources. They left to travel the Continental U.S., studying and working as they worked their way across, then left for Europe in February of 1981.

Europe was like a playground for Gregg and the experience changed his life for good. Languages suddenly became the center of his world, and Gregg became obsessed with learning as much as he possibly could. Long hours were spent in the library, studying with Gary and many others who were interested in linguistics and foreign languages.

Gregg read every book on linguistics he could get his hands on. Dictionaries and phrase books became his everyday read and studies of 12 to 14 hours became routine. But soon his money came to an end and urged by the air traffic controller's strike, Gregg and Gary moved back to the US in early 1982.

By this time Gregg had studied over 40 languages and had done research in well over 200, but this was only the beginning. His dictionary project was slowly taking shape as was his ability to read a variety of writing systems and alphabets.

Over the next couple of years Gregg continued to be engulfed in his language study and research. Then in 1984 another chapter in his language study began.

In September of 1984, following a recruitment campaign for language specialists, Gregg enlisted in the Army as a linguist. The military sent Gregg to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California to study the Russian language and culture. Gregg was finally in his element; his only requirement, to learn a foreign language.

The institute was like a dream come true. There were a multitude of language courses and more references than Gregg had ever seen before. And even though the institute was a nightmare for many, Gregg regretted graduation, for he knew that graduation meant the end of his multiple language study in a relaxed atmosphere. In February 1986, Gregg graduated from the institute.

But the study of languages continued. As a military linguist, there were a multitude of opportunities to continue to study and to use the many resources available, not to mention more time to work on his dictionary. In July of 1986, Gregg decided to transfer to the Air Force in the hopes of being sent back to the language institute for yet another language, this time Arabic. But as the Cold War was still the main threat to the world at the time, the Air Force decided it was better to use Gregg in his capacity as a Russian translator and he was sent to a base in the United Kingdom.

Back in Europe, Gregg took the opportunity to study many of the languages of the former East Block and those indigenous to the United Kingdom and Ireland. By early 1988, Gregg had completed a Celtic dictionary which compared Welsh, Breton, Cornish, Manx, Irish Gaelic and Scots Gaelic to one another. The idea of a series of language dictionaries was born.

Later that same year, Gregg discovered the opportunity the military had offered by taking free military flights to many destinations around the world. Gregg was soon off to the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Asia to study and collect even more languages. The military had become a treasure trove of linguistic opportunities.

As the need for foreign language-qualified service members increased, the military offered a qualification bonus of 125 dollars per month for each language certification passed, though later the bonus referred to only those languages required on a duty status. Gregg took advantage of the opportunity and set out on the task of getting the languages he knew certified one-by-one in two-week intervals. At the same time, the military asked Gregg to join in helping with the INF Treaties, the treaty to dismantle missiles between NATO and the Soviet Union. Gregg joined the team in 1989.

During that same year, the Armed Forces Network did a television interview on Gregg Cox as the most talented linguist in the United States military. The in-depth interview was shown around the world.

In 1990 Gregg was awarded the Air Force Commendation medal for his work with the Soviets. The Soviet Union also presented Gregg with a certificate of gratitude for his work. Gregg now focused on obtaining a university degree, and as the military paid for the classes, it was only a matter of finding the time to complete the courses. During this same period, Gregg wrote and published several phrase books, including an audio course, enlisting his old friend, Gary to design and illustrate the book covers.

Gregg left the military in 1992 and obtained his bachelor's degree in 1993. In the same year, he moved on to complete a master's certificate in International Marketing. focusing his language learning and cultural experience in the business world. During this time Gregg was interviewed by radio and newspaper reporters from various countries, had given speeches and presentations to many business organizations, schools and universities around the country and offered book signings during various events.

Following the path he had started in the military, Gregg decided to continue with his foreign language certifications. By mid-1995, Gregg had completed 64 exams and had written another 80 books dealing with foreign languages, but his greatest work was still at hand, the dictionary he had begun 15 years earlier.

The study of foreign languages continued, as did the writing and the compilation of more books. In the evenings, Gregg taught at a language institute while working as an international manager during the day. In 1997, following the pleas of a friend, Gregg contacted The Guinness Book of Records to inquire about a record. Two years later in 1999, the Record of World's Greatest Living Linguist was awarded. During the same year Gregg completed a Master's Certificate in International Negotiations and received an Honorary Doctorate in Linguistics.

The year 2000 was filled with more interviews, including talk shows around the world, another large number of dictionaries and phrase books and another doctorate degree. During this same year Gregg also invented a device to simultaneously translate several languages and their dialects. A patent was applied for later that year.

Then towards the end of 2000, Gregg's life-long dream was suddenly about to become a reality. An investor had decided it was time that the dictionary project should be given to the world. A contract was made and the task of translating 225 languages was given to native speakers throughout the globe. The largest multiple-language dictionary to ever be conceived was in the works. From 2000 to 2003, Gregg traveled the world and worked closely with the 1,000s of translators and interpreters involved in the project. By mid-2003, the project was completed, a dictionary of 225 languages which could be translated from any language listed into any of the other languages listed, maps, introduction and a cross-reference for each of the 225 languages in both their original writing systems and in phonetic script. The dictionary embraced more than 5 million words and 45,600 pages into 25 volumes, a project which was for many simply unbelievable.

After nearly 25 years, the dictionary was now sitting in front of Gregg. His project had finally been realized. It was an amazing feat, especially considering that 12 of the languages included in the dictionary had never been translated in that depth before, and for some of the languages, it was the first time.

But even with this accomplishment, Gregg continued on with his language study and compilation of more languages, dictionaries and phrase books. Immediately following the page layout of the 225 Dictionary, Gregg traveled to Syria to follow up on an Aramaic project he had started there a year earlier and to investigate some ancient writings on clay slabs recently found in the area.

While Gregg was in the field, a marketing company was working on the final touches of a large marketing campaign for the 225 Dictionary. The intention was to make the dictionary available to the libraries of the world, behind the walls of which Gregg had spent so many years. An internet site was completed, as were 15,000 packages including a small book which introduced the dictionary. The packages went out to libraries across Europe and North America.

As the packages were being delivered, Gregg completed several military phrase books for the multinational troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Gregg knew that communication could break many barriers and hoped it would help many to understand the people in the area. As thousands of these books we being printed, Gregg waited for the response of the marketing of the 225 Dictionary.

But to the amazement of many, nothing came. There was a follow-up with hundreds of libraries, all of which indicated that they couldn't believe it and that if it was genuine, they would only be interested in an electronic version. Devastated, but determined, Gregg began work on the electronic version.

Meanwhile, letters from heads of state, including the Presidents of the United States and Germany sent personal letters to Gregg thanking him for the military phrasebooks.

By the end of 2003, an electronic version of the dictionary had been produced and letters were sent out, but again, no response.

Following this, Gregg returned to Syria and received the final pages of the comprehensive Aramaic Dictionary, another first of its kind in both the Biblical and Phoenician script. The Vatican, among others, thanked Gregg for his work.

Discovering that language material had more in common with humanitarian work than with business, Gregg returned to his initial concept of studying languages and linguistics for pleasure and using language as a communication tool in business. But as Gregg had spent so many years producing material in foreign languages, it was not an easy task to simply stop.

In 2004 while giving a speech in Southern India, Gregg was approached by the city council and a large number of the area's citizens to create an alphabet for their language. Gregg agreed and nearly eight months later an alphabet had been created and developed into a computer font. Over 10,000 booklets and CDs were distributed to the area. At the end of the year, Gregg was presented with the title of Professor, Head of the International Department at the local institute. During this year Gregg also became a lifetime member of the Linguistic Society of America.

Languages continued to be a focus in Gregg's life, even though he had spent most of his money on the dictionary project, which had turned out to be a financial disaster. In 2005 Gregg was officially recognized as an ancient language specialist by the government of Syria and awarded the position of Professor of the phonetic department at the university.

During the same year Gregg decided to take some additional language courses via correspondence at another university located in Africa. Another wave of disappointment came as Gregg received notification that three of the courses could not be given passing marks as they followed too closely to the textbooks. Convinced that the university was only interested in monetary gain, Gregg abandoned the studies and began work on a book focusing on the phonetic disabilities associated with improperly-fitted dental implants. In 2007 Gregg donated a large section of his personal library to a major university.

Gregg has now returned full-circle, maintaining his languages studies to that of a personal nature. Although Gregg continues to document languages in one form or another, his goal is to leave documentation of languages he is sure will not exist a hundred years from now. Gregg hopes to document more than a thousand languages in his lifetime, and to be able to use at least 100 languages in one capacity or another.

Answer 2

why does he like to learn languages