Mahmood Akram, a 19-year-old prodigy from Chennai, is a polyglot who can read and write in 400 languages and is fluent in 46.
His fascination with languages began early. By age four, his father, Shilbee Mozhippriyan—a 16-language speaker—noticed his talent. Encouraged by his multilingual parents, Akram memorised the English alphabet in six days and learned all 247 Tamil letters within three weeks. By six, he was deeply engaged in learning new languages, and by eight, he had mastered 50, earning the world record as the youngest multilingual typist.
At ten, he set another record by writing the Indian national anthem in 20 languages within an hour. Later, in Germany, he competed against 70 linguists, translating sentences in 400 languages within three minutes and winning the Germany Young Talent Award.
Despite his accomplishments, Akram faced challenges in India, where schools’ curricula lacked support for his multilingual abilities. “They insisted I start again from the sixth grade. So I studied through the National Institute of Open Schooling and cleared my exams that way,” he said.
A talent show led to a scholarship at Danube International School in Vienna, Austria, where studying alongside peers from 39 nationalities further honed his skills.
Now 19, Akram is pursuing three degrees simultaneously: a BA in Linguistics at the Open University, UK, and BAs in English Literature and Animation at Alagappa University, Chennai. He credits his language fluency for making further language learning much easier.
