Timothy Doner
{{Short description|American hyperpolyglot and a former internet personality}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Timothy Doner
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1995|10|25}}
| birth_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
| education = Dalton School
| alma_mater = Harvard University
University of Cambridge
}}
Timothy "Tim" Doner (born 25 October 1995) is an American hyperpolyglot, former social media personality and a foreign policy analyst at the Washington-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies, specializing in the Middle East and Central Asia.{{Cite web| title=Krost Symposium: Multilingualism Matters | url=https://www.tlu.edu/events/krost|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129210133/https://www.tlu.edu/events/krost | url-status=dead | archive-date=2022-01-29 | website=Texas Lutheran University|language=en}} A graduate of Harvard University{{cite news|last1=Talkoff|first1=Emma K.|date=September 25, 2014|title=A Talk With the Polyglot|publisher=The Harvard Crimson|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/9/25/talk-with-polyglot/|access-date=14 November 2021}} and the University of Cambridge,{{Cite web|title=Achieving Awesomeness Now: Now You're Speaking My Language with Timothy Doner on Apple Podcasts|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/now-youre-speaking-my-language-with-timothy-doner/id1474544835?i=1000485452097|access-date=2022-01-29|website=Apple Podcasts|language=en-US}} he rose to prominence at the age of 16 when he released a YouTube video in 2012 in which he spoke 20 different languages.{{cite news |last1=Leland |first1=John |title=Adventures of a Teenage Polyglot |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/nyregion/a-teenage-master-of-languages-finds-online-fellowship.html |access-date=14 November 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=March 9, 2012}} He is a native of Manhattan, New York City and resident of the East Village.
Early life and education
Timothy Doner was born to Betsy and Ezra Doner on October 25, 1995 in Manhattan, New York City, United States. Tim's prelude to learning languages apparently began at the age of 13 when he started teaching himself Hebrew out of interest in 2009{{Cite web|date=2013-04-10|title=TIMOTHY DONER: Teen speaks 23 languages|url=https://www.theweek.co.uk/world-news/52422/teen-timothy-doner-speaks-23-languages-video|access-date=2022-01-29|website=The Week UK|language=en}} after memorizing the lyrics of his favorite funk band Hadag Nahash.{{Cite web|date=2015-04-09|title=Why I taught myself 20 languages — and what I learned about myself in the process|url=https://ideas.ted.com/why-i-learned-20-languages-and-what-i-learned-about-myself-in-the-process/|access-date=2022-01-29|website=ideas.ted.com|language=en-US}} He then moved to Arabic{{Cite news|agency=Reuters|date=2013-04-13|title=Teen polyglot speaks of affinity for Hebrew|language=en|work=Ynetnews|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4366036,00.html|access-date=2022-01-29}} and other languages, like Persian, Pashto, Hindi, Indonesian, Wolof, Hausa, Swahili, IsiXhosa, Ojibwe, Dutch, Italian, Japanese{{Disputed inline|for=Japanese is not mentioned in the Times article. seek reliable source|date=October 2024}}, etc. Doner studied at the Dalton School.
Languages
The languages that Doner has publicly displayed that he can speak, fluently or not, are these, in no particular order.
| role="presentation" class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
| colspan=2 | List of languages Doner has been shown to speak | |
| Language | Source |
|---|---|
| English (native language) | |
| French | |
| Yiddish | |
| Hebrew | |
| Arabic | |
| Persian | |
| Turkish | |
| Dutch | |
| German | |
| Pashto | |
| Mandarin Chinese | |
| Swahili | |
| Hausa | |
| Ojibwe | |
| Indonesian | |
| Italian | |
| Hindi | |
| Russian | |
| Bengali | {{Citation needed|date=October 2024|reason=No evidence (so far) provided.}} |
| Japanese | {{Citation needed|date=October 2024|reason=No evidence (so far) provided.}} |
| Xhosa | |
| Wolof |
Personal life
During a short interview on the Australian breakfast show program Sunrise, Doner revealed that Persian is one of his favorite languages and is fond of reading the works of 14th-century Iranian poet Hafez-e-Shirazi.{{Citation|title=Timothy Doner talks about his favorite language| date=27 May 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63WouKfPDH4|language=en|access-date=2022-01-29}}