Some learners put pressure on themselves to speak, and to speak well. It doesn't necessarily mean they end up speaking up better. We do better when we relax. FREE Language Learning Resources 10 Secrets of Language Learning ⇢ www.thelinguist.com LingQ Grammar Guides ⇢ www.lingq.com/en/grammar-resource/ My blog ⇢ blog.thelinguist.com/ The LingQ blog ⇢ www.lingq.com/blog/ My Podcast ⇢ soundcloud.com/lingostevepodcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/learn-languages-with-steve-kaufmann/id1437851870 --- Social Media Instagram ⇢ instagram.com/lingosteve_/ TikTok ⇢ www.tiktok.com/@lingosteve Facebook ⇢ facebook.com/lingosteve Twitter ⇢ twitter.com/lingosteve LingQ Discord ⇢ discord.gg/ShPTjyhwTN

@prajna2991

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, sir, I realised just now that I was able to understand a language better after a small break in learning different vocab... I didn't know how... but now I know it was because of the cool-minded break in between...thank you for all the content you provide us with :)

@gordonbgraham

2 жыл бұрын

Production expedites acquisition.

@EvilHamster428

2 жыл бұрын

Wait, you tell me I shouldn't speak English?

@JasonKatsanis

2 жыл бұрын

I prefer the teaching style of having simple conversations from day 1 over trying to learn a ton of grammar and vocabulary before attempting to speak.

@gordonbgraham

2 жыл бұрын

@@JasonKatsanis Simple conversations is all you CAN have in the beginning. First, you'll need to know enough vocabulary and grammar to have those simple conversations...that's not going to happen "day 1"...or day 7...not conversations anyway. The most you'll be able to manage is simple questions or simple short statements. A conversation is like tennis...It's boring if the person can't return the volley.

One term that writers use to talk about that thing you mentioned with your Farsi getting better is "post practice improvement". There have been studies on runners, basketballers and musicians that suggests that after a certain amount of practice, the rest period will actually be more helpful than anything. I don't know that anyone has reached any conclusions on how often it should be or what the ratio should be, but yes I have experienced this in piano and languages.

@marnijay2486

2 жыл бұрын

While I was watching this video, I was thinking about how my piano playing is also better after a break.

@megadethly

2 жыл бұрын

There's no such word as 'basketballers' idiot.

@mcmerry2846

2 жыл бұрын

I get better by speaking early

@Elspm

2 жыл бұрын

@@megadethly there is now. Perfectly comprehensible. لا مشكلة

@megadethly

2 жыл бұрын

@@Elspm I'm sorry but you don't get to invent nouns when a noun for that thing already exists! Making up your own words because someone on the internet told you it's OK defies the concept of languages and language learning.

There's one more thing I've realized: when you start speaking early, since you don't have enough knowledge of the language or you haven't notice some stuff yet, you mispronounce words and they tend to stick around and become harder to fix later on. That's why the silent period is important as Mr. Kaufmann says imo.

@rigierish3807

2 жыл бұрын

What you’re saying is so true in my case because when I learnt English, I mispronounced probably every word I knew (mostly because of the emphasis you have to put on every words, something I don’t have in French, but it’s not the only reason) because I wasn’t listening to any English besides my teacher’s which was pretty rare. And I still have some problems regarding some words I learnt really soon like : “should” which I sometimes pronounce like the word “shoulder”, so with the “L” letter that isn’t supposed to be pronounced, but regardless of the fact that I acknowledge that, I still occasionally do the mistake.

@proverbalizer

2 жыл бұрын

I recommend not shooting a basketball until your free throw form is perfect

@admirallarin

2 жыл бұрын

​@@proverbalizer Basketball is very different. Nobody cares about your basketball ''pronunciation'' or ''grammar''. Each player has their own style. Nobody cares how you move your arms and legs if you're doing it quickly and efficiently enough. Your ability to play Basketball is only dependent on you. In languages, on the other hand, there are social conventions which are formed by centuries and even millennia of native speakers interacting with each other . You need to have a long enough period of listening and repeating words and sentences without creating your own ''style'' (unless you want to invent your own dialect which is fine but remember that you will be judged on your grammar and pronunciation and some people might even think you are intellectually challenged or stupid since there are too many people who judge very heavily and may even ridicule you publicly for using a language incorrectly.)

@bradleyeric14

2 жыл бұрын

You describe fossilized error. Very difficult to overcome as you say.

@kathleencardincpm4435

2 жыл бұрын

@@rigierish3807 If you learn a language by listening, never seeing or giving any attention to the written word until you've achieved basic fluency, you won't be tricked into putting in sounds that aren't really there because you've seen the spelling. In our native language, we learn to speak reasonably well before being introduced to the written language. Imagine how incapacitated babies would be if we insisted they learn the alphabet first, didn't speak to them because they don't understand yet, then try to teach them particular phrases that we think are important, insisting on proper pronunciation and grammar.... Omg, no one would ever speak!

I am really enjoying all the French input and learning I'm doing, but I keep stressing myself out to need to speak immediately. These tips from a language polyglot master helped calm my mind to simply enjoy the process. Thank you Steve!

@loot6

2 жыл бұрын

I'm also learning French right now and I'm already at least at a B2 stage with regard to understanding text and audio, but I quite literally can't say anything in French...and I'm not bothered to. Even if I want to comment on a French youtube video I'll probably do it in English.

@Ryosuke1208

2 жыл бұрын

@@loot6 I'm my case I only write or say something if I'm 80-90% what I'm saying is correct. And I'm between b1 and B2. But maybe I'll wait to get more input so my words come out more naturally.

@loot6

2 жыл бұрын

@@Ryosuke1208 That's a good approach. For me if I do write something in French, I'll do as you do AND check it with google or deepl translate to make sure it's correct.

@Ryosuke1208

2 жыл бұрын

@@loot6 Oh I forgot, I do that as well when I'm not at least 80% 90% sure of what I'm about to say. As for slang I don't have a good reference site other than searching on Google. My hardest challenge right now is understanding everyday conversations in french without context on discord or KZread. They cut words even less clear than in movies or Other KZread videos. So it's quite challenging. The funny thing is that they can understand what I'm saying so I think my pronunciation is not that off, but many times I don't understand a word they're saying. So there's that. 😂

@loot6

2 жыл бұрын

@@Ryosuke1208 Personally I wouldn't even attempt to speak to anyone in French until I have more like C1 understanding.

My enjoyment is making people smile by speaking their language.

@juliusjohnson5967

2 жыл бұрын

That has certainly happened when I watched the videos of this other now deceased polyglot.

@LucasMartin-im5ub

2 жыл бұрын

@@juliusjohnson5967 Like they said in Fight Club. His name was Moses McCormick.

@coconutpineapple2489

2 жыл бұрын

A good listener is popular too.

@DWpeep

2 жыл бұрын

@@coconutpineapple2489 exactly!! Hate certain polyglot that avoid conversation by just speaking nonstop to avoid questions. Wouter is a classic!

@meusisto

2 жыл бұрын

@@juliusjohnson5967 Who?

I'm following these tips and just focus on input in Italian. No stress at all.

@juliusjohnson5967

2 жыл бұрын

I search for advice here and elsewhere.

@zahleer

2 жыл бұрын

If you haven't check out Podcast italiano, what are you doing?

@paulocmsantos

2 жыл бұрын

@@zahleer I don't know why, but the type of content I consume in Italian is different from what I consume in English. In Italian, I don't like watching grammar videos or videos that teach language learning. So I watch a lot of anime, series and read some manga, manhwa and stuff. Ps: I didn't understand if your question was really a question or a recommendation, so I answered.

@zahleer

2 жыл бұрын

@@paulocmsantos A suggestion, I thought it was really clear

@paulocmsantos

2 жыл бұрын

@@zahleer hahaha ok, my bad... and thanks for the suggestion!

You are approaching languages from the right perspective. Sadly, many people try to magically learn a language at the very last minute due to a job opportunity or a trip and they think paying for lessons unlocks some sort of osmosis. I've been trying to avoid that type of student by being brutally honest about their intentions. Learning does include taking a break from studying and things really seem to sink in during that hiatus.

I wonder if your experience is something like "the consolidation of memory." There is an old saying: You learn how to ice skate in the summertime, and to swim in the wintertime; the idea being that you consolidate muscle memory over time.

@LucasMartin-im5ub

2 жыл бұрын

Very insightful. I think that's how love works too.

@mostafachineso1425

2 жыл бұрын

@@LucasMartin-im5ub could you explain this more , about love

@NewYorker8312

2 жыл бұрын

I learned this in my teaching credential classes. I teach English online and I tell my students not to worry about speaking but focus on understanding. Understanding is much easier because it's passive while speaking is active

Maybe it’s like building muscle, it grows only after letting it rest after a strenuous workout. I notice the same trend as well, but with memorizing song lyrics in my target language. I just let them sink in for several days and all of a sudden, recalling becomes easy, and it often surprises me

@Tehui1974

2 жыл бұрын

It's exactly the same. There's a gestation period when 'acquiring' the language.

@gustave772

2 жыл бұрын

Very interesting

@mathewfamer8183

2 жыл бұрын

That is what I was thinking.

@k.5425

2 жыл бұрын

Interesting. I'll try applying this to my language learning

@sleepsmartsmashstress740

2 жыл бұрын

Music helps a lot that is what I use mostly because I am learning 22 languages to be able to enjoy music videos of hot singers.

I am an introvert learning Spanish and German basically just for fun. I can't really pinpoint precise reasons for doing so besides I like learning and I find the similarities they both have with English fascinating. All these video on KZread about having to talk to natives on a regular basis gets me discouraged from time to time so seeing these kinds of videos help me get motivated again.

I find that 'hearing' the language is a pre-requisite to speaking it. So, trying to speak it may be a somewhat futile exercise with out being able to 'hear' it.

@gordonbgraham

2 жыл бұрын

I find that playing the piano actually helps improve my ability to...play the piano

@titifatal

2 жыл бұрын

@@gordonbgraham me too.

@titifatal

2 жыл бұрын

@@1MarkKellerin my experience it takes quite a bit of listening before hearing.

@sandroselladore3506

2 жыл бұрын

like babies!

@sleepsmartsmashstress740

2 жыл бұрын

When your brain gets overflowing with listening the excess words just spill out spontaneously

I’ve learned French from 2012 to 2019 as an adult. I decided to learn German in 2019 and after 6 months my listening skills in French improved by a lot. It was almost magic. I think because German was so new and harder to me all of a sudden French become music to my ears, as if I was giving a nice break to my brain from German.

I almost never spoke italian in my first year and a half learning the language and suddenly I found myself... Speaking! The amount of compreehensible input that I listened/ read during that period (at least one hour everyday) sort of "unlocked" my speaking/ writing. I'm learning languages for more than 10 years (spanish, english and italian) and what fascinates me is how the brain develops new ways to learn. In the past few weeks I'm struggling with the idea that I need to let go of Italian in order to let another language in because I kind reached a plateau (a higher one, but nevertheless a plateau) I think I'm gonna try that "beging neglect", it makes sense. It can only be beneficial to let go of Italian and English, to let go of an insane amount of daily listening hours that are not bringing any major improvments (apart from the content - History, news, TED talks, etc). And really start Lebanese Arabic (that I'm "rehearsing" to start for a long time, fighting with the fear of faillure ).

@MarchingBandsFromHome

2 жыл бұрын

For a second I thought i wrote this. 😁 Exactly my scenario. All Italian input for one year. And speaking has been so much easier. Not perfect, but easier. 👍🏼

@johnpenaloza1797

2 жыл бұрын

Good luck with Lebanese Arabic!

@infinity3530

2 жыл бұрын

I understand but I cannot speak. What should I do😓

The same thing happened to me when I starting learning Japanese again after giving it up a year ago to focus on Korean. It seems like I still remember a lot and everything that I did know makes much more sense contextually (like word particles or verb endings and speaking formally opposed to casually)

Steve, this is exactly the message I needed today! Thank you! I’m at the plateau of comprehending so much in either written or spoken Italian, but speaking or writing it is a tremendous struggle. This video was the validation that I need to just continue to focus on the comprehensible input & allow the progress to happen.

After taking a break your self-expectations drop lower so you are more relaxed and tend to forgive mistakes here and there, it helps to stay focused on the right things

A voice of experience and simplicity Your advices are always breathtaking

@sleepsmartsmashstress740

2 жыл бұрын

A voice of experience and simplicity

I think that as long as you've learned the phonetics, have a decent ear for hearing yourself, and are seeking to copy/emulate native speakers, then actively speaking from early on is highly beneficial teaching your mouth to form the sounds. I think it can be a huge confidence boost (aka, motivator), for someone to how to SAY phrases in their target language. I am someone for whom accent is highly important, and I don't think someone can expect to have good pronunciation without actively practicing the sounds (ideally with SOME sort of feedback, like a tutor). We don't learn to sing just by listening to music, and I don't think we can learn solid pronunciation without learning to voice the proper sounds and forcing our mouth to adapt.

@thecasual1482

2 жыл бұрын

You don't need to speak to practice pronunciation you can simply read out loud, that way you're not creating incorrect grammar patterns in your speech that will then become a bad habit.

@gustave772

2 жыл бұрын

You can't speak well something you don't understand. First, learn to understand. Then, speaking a lot will be a piece of cake.

@levipatrickdiaz

2 жыл бұрын

I agree! You’re right. I like to read out loud. I also like to say out loud what an app shows me, or practice with something like Pimsleur or a tutor. I guess I should have specified that there should be structure/guidance!

@levipatrickdiaz

2 жыл бұрын

I think Pimsleur can be a great start for this reason, as it makes sure that you understand what you are hearing and trying to say. Understanding is definitely key, but I still think learning to speak is largely a phonetics exercise, whereas much of understanding and vocabulary, grammar, etc is also hopefully coming through reading, study, etc

@coconutpineapple2489

2 жыл бұрын

I leaned pronunciation by pronunciation videos, and repeated sentences later on. I've never read out loud. Reading aloud gives you fake pronunciation.

Listening and understanding are the first steps. That is the natural language acquisition order. Listening is passive and speaking is active

Thank you for your videos and work! You inspire me😌

I've been saying this my whole life! I learn all languages more or less the same way I learned my native tongue: Exposure. Letting my brain do the processing as it deems fit, until eventually words begin to spring from me. How long this takes depends on how much exposure I get. I certainly do not focus on reading and writing until I've achieved basic fluency-- that is, the level of a verbose three-year-old. The fact that so many language courses actually start out with the alphabet and pronunciation is exactly backwards and the reason why so many folks with years of classes in a language still don't actually speak or understand it.

@kathleencardincpm4435

2 жыл бұрын

What earthly good is knowing how to say "Where is the airport?" if you can't understand the answer?? 🤣

I always appreciate your advices, thank you.

I really like your approach, learning languages should be fun before anything!

Wow! I experienced the same breakthrough- leaving Levantine Arabic alone for awhile and learning Hebrew! I feel like after that short break I can understand Arabic without concentrating as hard! Thanks for this video!

My brain will certainly surprise me when I meet a native speaker of my target language, by my talking coming out more natural and not a lot of pauses. I will be very happy and full of joy when this occurs. I have met this customer that spoke the language that I am learning at my workplace. He showed me his cellphone with his Google translate message. I then asked him, you speak Kiswahili. He said Yes. I don't know why I was keep talking to him in English when he said, " he speaks little English.

@gringa23

2 жыл бұрын

Swahili is so beautiful, I know few phrases from it.

@juliusjohnson5967

2 жыл бұрын

The noun classes in swahili, i really do not care much of. Unlike in English, Swahili plural forms begins in the front of the words. Would you say it is beautiful if you start practicing it? I would!

I relate to that "benign neglect" effect, because I experienced it so many times. It's so familiar and so strange at the same time, kinda mystery to me. Thank you!

@sleepsmartsmashstress740

2 жыл бұрын

that "benign neglect" effect, works well with master brains like Steves not everyone

I am always so happy to see someone learning Czech language. It's not very popular language. Good luck

@xianwuxing

2 жыл бұрын

It's a beautiful language and one of my favorite languages. But it is difficult for native English speakers. If I knew some Czech people in my city or a church I would perhaps try to learn. The grammar is difficult. If I lived in Europe I would definitly try and learn.

Great video, Steve. Thank you 😊

I'm learning german, doing this. Only imput. Learned until A2 in a course, but now B1 i'm learning by myself, apps, reading, podcasts. When i'll feel confident i'll find someone to practice speaking 😊

So I have used this method by a happy accident then! Now, I am native to Norwegian, fluent in English and started learning Spanish a few years ago. My motivation for learning Spanish properly was sky high. I spent a year studying hard, and then I went to southern Spain and got a "fist-punch-in-the-face"-experience. I was baffled at how difficult understanding The Andalusian accent was. So I quit. And about a month went by, and I felt so annoyed that it was so hard to understand them, especially in Cadiz, so I went right back, and you sir are right! Each time I came back again from a break, I was better, I understood more! But I am no fan of learning multiple languages at once, so I just keep focusing on Spanish until I have improved to a level of cemented language in my brain, just like my English.

¡gracias Steve por las palabras!, estoy aprendiendo para mi carrera de Lenguas extranjeras inglés (hablo y entiendo pero mezclo gramática) y francés (lo puedo leer y estoy aprendiendo a escribirlo, no lo hablo) apenas llego 8 meses. Sigo tus consejos con disfrutar el proceso y buscando temas que me gusten. Me ha ayudado mucho. Te volveré a platicar cuando pase 2 años o 3... Saludos

That thing about getting better after a while when leaving it is very similar to my experience with practicing piano. I may struggle a lot with a certain part and practice for hours, several days. Then, leaving the entire part alone for a week and coming back to it, and suddenly I can play it. I had the same experience with learning german. I took german in "high school" (equivalent Norwegian version), but really had problems with it. But a couple years later, I tried watching german movies and I felt like I understood more than I did then. My completely unfounded hypothesis is that the brain takes a while to properly "store" new knowledge or skills. Kind of like a harddrive needs to defragment itself to be able to easily access information. It has more information than you are aware of, but when it's still fresh it's still a mess. And as long as you keep it fresh, the brain never goes into the "storage mode" to properly stack your knowledge in a good way. Currently working on learning korean and mandarin, I try to use the same technique by letting the sessions rest a while in my head before moving on. It seems to work.

Very helpful advice, thank you!

thanks a million for those precious advice

I am so happy to see this video. This is the first thing I've heard that reflects what I often experience. I often hear its best to study only one language at a time, but I've always enjoyed studying multiple at once. Maybe I'd improve faster if I did one at a time, but I just enjoy doing many at once and enjoyment is my top priority, and I've always said, somehow, I seem to improve in the ones I'm temporarily not studying while I take a few weeks or even months on another. I came back to Icelandic after a few month break while I was focusing on Russian and Spanish and Japanese and my teacher said, wow, have you been practicing, you've improved. Same thing when I took a break on Japanese. And I had not been practicing. Usually when I say this happens, people think it's strange, but it happens all the time for me. So glad to see this video!

I have experienced this too! With language and with reading music. I've since adopted the approach of if you hit a plateau, quit. Completely quit, and only come back to it after it's no longer a habit to think about it

Thanks and keep up the good work 💪

Muscles don't get bigger at the moment you're exercising, it grows after it when you're resting.

@Inglessemtraduzir

2 жыл бұрын

So you don't even have to go to the gym to get in shape lol

@victoriousfox

2 жыл бұрын

@@Inglessemtraduzir That's not what I mean. But, you know what I mean.

@Inglessemtraduzir

2 жыл бұрын

@@victoriousfox actually I don't. My point is, if you don't train your speaking you will not get any better at it

@victoriousfox

2 жыл бұрын

​@@Inglessemtraduzir Of course you do need to exercise, but the growth takes place when you're resting AFTER the exercise. Too much exercise without proper rest will get your muscles weaker. I'm no neuroscientist, but I think the same happens with the brain.

@Inglessemtraduzir

2 жыл бұрын

@@victoriousfox you're right! It's called diffused mode. Just don't buy this story of not speaking the target language. You will take forever to learn it

I got really happy for you, now that you're learning Persian, because I'm a native speaker of Persian language. Good luck to you کامیاب باشی

Awesome! I should do this with my Italian learning effort

I'm glad I put off speaking my German for so long (about a year). People would say that's ridiculous, but I had such a good foundation in vocabulary and therefore felt so confident when I finally began speaking.

awesome as always

Thanks! Very helpful 😃

I teach French and I so happy to see you talking about that! I finally found someone who thinks like I do. Thank you ⚘⚘

As someone who would like to learn multiple languages at the same time, this is nice to hear. I'm not sure exactly how well it's been working for me, but if it is possible as a viable experience that would be fantastic

I enjoyed this video a lot because I'm in a moment of my learning process in which I already feel and notice that I can understand practically any native english speaker and so I'm moving to my next goal which is improving my ability to express myself (both written and speoken expression) in the language. Some of the hints and suggestions you've given to us here are great to me. Thanks very much Steve, take care. 👍

This is something I've experienced myself very recently! I have been studying primarily German. Every day for about an hour or so in the morning, on my own. But recently I began to learn the basics of Chinese as a sort of side project. And I noticed that after expending myself in German, reaching my limit so to speak, with some relatively complicated stuff in German, I would turn to the most basic fundamentals of Chinese and write some Chinese down. And I noticed that this process of going from being expended with German to then back to the basics with Chinese, it improved my German so much. When I turned back to German I noticed an improvement. In other words my mind feels not so loaded down, and I feel my German is more fluent in listening and in thinking to myself. Really interesting!

Thank you Teacher 👍

I also think this is why modeling can be a much better form of "correction" for anxious/self-conscious students than the standard form of pointing out the error (though some students may prefer that, which is why each student should be treated as an individual as often as possible)

Thank you so much. I think I am experiencing the same "syndrome" here. I started learning German a couple of days ago, and I spent much less time on my English (I'm Vietnamese btw). Just yesterday, when I practiced speaking English, I suddenly felt more comfortable conveying my thoughts and ideas, with just some minor pauses. Anyway, thanks for telling me not to put too much pressure on my English skills. Have a great day everyone.

Disclaimer: I've only learned one language aside from my native language. This lines up with my experience. I think trying to have conversations earlier can help get you communicating faster but can build a lot of wrong habits that are hard to break. Along with daily exposure I found it useful early in learning Tagalog to focus on getting the pronunciation/accent right.

Children learn their mother tongue long before they start talking. So this makes sense. Watch what you say in front of that cute little tyke in the high chair 🍼. They understand more than they let on. I haven’t visited your channel in a long time. Good to see you still active on the Tube.

This actually works for my practice of different instruments. I’ve been concentrating on guitar for quite a while. I picked up my banjo this morning after nearly a year, and I played stuff I had never done before. I think the rest period is essential and there is subconscious ‘cross-over’. On the other hand, speaking a target language is a process of testing assumptions and correcting them. That is the L1 process, but takes effect in second language learning too.

Speaking to soon is like building a building without a good foundation. Use input (reading and listening) to build your vocabulary.

I'm currently making a concerted effort to speak my target language regularly (without pressure). However, my main goal in language learning is to improve my comprehension.

@sleepsmartsmashstress740

2 жыл бұрын

Switch your main goal to having fun it would work out superbly

I'm from Egypt I can say انتا راجل ميه ميه 😍

@maa7528

2 жыл бұрын

The best comment I wish that he will read it, Write for him names of easy Egyptian movies

@maa7528

2 жыл бұрын

أحلى كلام مافيش أجدع من ستيف ستيف ده حبيب الكل ممكن لو سمحت تقترح عليه أفلام سهلة شكل الأستاذ بتاعه مش بتاع أفلام Steve is the best and I think that his tutor is not interested in movies otherwise he was going to suggest some movies with easy languages from the cities not the countryside and without idioms and slangs

Totally agree with your point in this video. Speaking in the targeted language too early without being able to construct a proper sentence and also unable to respond to other person’s reaction is catastropically stressful. And the way mainstream language schools/classes are designed for students NOT to learn a language naturally. Thank you for sharing these lovely advices and I really hope language learners take them seriously.

A great video! I've been reflecting on my own language learning process lately. In Highschool, I took two years of French followed by a year of Latin, and I remember next to none of it. It was taught in boring, compartmentalized ways, memorizing vocab lists, etc... the usual failure of a curriculum. But now, in my own study of learning Thai, I am doing it primarily for its own enjoyment, and I'm picking up the language faster than any other I've tried to learn. I'm not pressuring myself with expectations to speak it well, I'm just enjoying learning it bit by bit, and I know that eventually those bits will add up to functional fluency. =]

@elephantheart9114

2 жыл бұрын

I think the term "Functional fluency" is important here, at least to me. We all want to be fluent in a language, but what most people mean by that is, they want to speak it as well as they speak their native tongue. They want to know every word. But in everyday life, we only use a thousand to 1500 common phrases and words. Learning to understand these essential parts of communication is what I call "functional fluency". My goal is to get functionally fluent, and then build my vocabulary from there.

@marcosantoniodasilva4100

Жыл бұрын

​​@@elephantheart9114 Hi. I think its almost 1 year after your comment. Im really curious to know how's your skills in the language that you was learning now. Im learning english.

I also noticed that on myself. I stopped learning English for couple of days now. I started learning Spanish and I've noticed that my English got better. I can speak better than I could before.

GREAT! INTERESTING. MANY THANKS

You have to live in Egypt itself for s while and trust me: Egyptians will give you free language lessons all the time 😂 As an Egyptian: I've seen other foreigners, some of them are actually my relatives, learning Egyptian Arabic so fast in a matter of months, and I suggest a quiet place like red sea resorts in Egypt. Where you can build genuine friendships and learn the language so fast, you can watch Egyptian songs with English subtitles as well. They will help a lot for someone who is learning Arabic on an intermediate level.

I began learning Thai a few months ago, and then stopped almost entirely for about 60 days before resuming my study, and I found that on coming back I already understood it better and more smoothly, I've been picking up phrases faster, and understanding more of what I hear. I think it's mostly a function of leaving it, and then returning.

There's a joke among classicists: if you want to improve your Latin, begin studying Ionic Greek. In truth, there are parallel elements that become easier to comprehend in comparisons, and the greater complexity of Greek renders the complexities in Latin so much simpler to manage

@monicacruz62

2 жыл бұрын

In my case, when I want to study a language, I start listening and reading Greek. And magically the another language I want to learn starts being much easier!! Amazing!!!

@monicacruz62

2 жыл бұрын

I studied Greek for a year. I couldn't understand the listening. Only could write it. So, I stopped fully frustrated. Some months later, I could understand a video spoken in Greek fully!!

@stnhndg

2 жыл бұрын

It's a common thing that learning your 2rd or 3th foreign language is easier than your first one. I guess, at first you build up some "language muscles" and then use them more and more effectively with other languages.

@MrCmon113

2 жыл бұрын

You want to fetch 1 liter of water? Just fetch two liters of water and throw one away. Genius.

Hello mr Kaufmann, the phenomenon of leaving a language and doing something else (other language) I have personally experienced it. I was living in Norway and struggled to learn the language and then found out that I was moving to Germany and started studying German. It naturally improved my Norwegian! I thought it was attributed to the fact that they are both Germanic. But I think they are not too related.

Interesting, I would agree with the point that when I learn something new as language, and then leaving it for a little period of time, and when I get back I find myself improved

Rest and recovery are essential for our physiological development. It makes sense that this would apply to learning a language as well. Sometimes stepping away for a moment is the best way forward. 🙏

Thanks Steve

Im 3 months (around 150 hrs) into Portuguese and when I feel like I've had enough of it I go and practice my mandarin with an italki tutor or listen to French or Russian on Lingq because I'm deciding which language to try next. 😹 then when I go back to Portuguese (dedicating the next 6 to 9 months or 600 hrs) I'm reminded how far I've come after 3 months

Sir, i hope i could give thumbs up more than once.

I confirm that "benign neglect" theory. I have experienced that too.

Thanks so much

I think there's two things at play here. First is that often, something you learn in one language can be applied in another. The other is that the things you learn need to sink in. My own experience with Esperanto (started with a one-week course) is that some things in German French and even my native Dutch suddenly became clear.. and that I needed a few months to process what I had learned in that week

I think this happens because when we leave a language for a while and you come back to it, your newly acquired material that you were actively trying to get but didn't stick quite well disappears from short term memory. So we are left with only the long term material we acquired in a language that is in our muscle memory. As a result we speak fluently that which we had already learned well. This happens to my Chinese and Korean a lot too, when I don't touch it for a while 🤟 Awesome distinction Steve, keep up the great work!!

thanks for your inspirational comment on learning languages🙏🌈

I've found lately that I start to burn out on a language after a few weeks. So I'll switch between Esperanto and Dutch every month or so. I guess leaving it for a while allows it to marinate in the back of your mind?

Back during my first trip to Germany, I was attempting to talk with someone. Spanish came flooding back to my brain. Now things to note: I had never studied Germany. My last exposure to Spanish was 20 years earlier. It was the only foreign language I had studied. Someone suggested that while trying to speak with Germans I knew that I couldn't speak English so it defaulted to the only other non-native language I "knew", Spanish. I think Steve has a similar experience. The brain is defaulting to a recent language. Hmm, that doesn't sound right. But it is what I have here.

You are right Steve. I couldn't understan the masculines and feminines in Urdu completely despite my efforts but when I stopped forcing myself doing so then I realised that I was being able understand it. I am from Baltistan, Pakistan and my mother tongue is Balti which is a SinoTebetic. language

I have experienced the same with learning a piece on an instrument. Sometimes I learn and think it's okay and the more I try the more mistakes get into it. Then I just don't play the piece for some weeks and when I thought I have almost forgotton what I had learned, I can still play it and sometimes even better than before.

@Momtomany1971

2 жыл бұрын

I see similarities between language learning and piano as well. When I leave a piece for weeks, though, sometimes I forget some of it, but it quickly comes back. I have noticed that if I leave a piece for just a couple of days… that’s when the magic happens sometimes… sometimes the piece improved-in my sleep?! It’s cool… how our brains are working on stuff subconsciously. Even if I haven’t played a piece for years, a piece I may have even had memorized years ago… I find I can hardly even play it… and then I just go through it a few times, and it all comes back to me, the ‘finger-memory’ of it, and I realize it must have still been in my brain for all these years. I’ve heard people say this about language too… that they don’t use it for years, and they think they’ve forgotten it, but then it all comes back very quickly when they are exposed to it again. This gray matter in my head is a marvel!!

Thanks mester

This used to happen in music school. Practice a piece very hard, then leave it alone for a while and practice another piece. Come back in a few days and it’s gotten better.

When I started learning Russian last year in duo I quickly got bored then lol a long break and in the meantime started learning Russian I’m back to Russian now and it’s much better that last year:)

It is excellent to me that shared it, just now what I am enjoying listening, I was wonder if it was normal, not to want to speak so much English yet. But enjoy improve my comprehension every single day, with only are listening !! Of course you're one of the best teacher I've ever had, only listening at you, in your videos. Thank you so much Steve !! from México !!

@gabylopez6990

2 жыл бұрын

@New Apollo 😄 sorry I'm still learning...

@maa7528

2 жыл бұрын

@@gabylopez6990 based on your comment, you can go ahead and speak in English , don't delay speaking ,you will improve your English, or take videos of yourself speaking about topics daily so you can evaluate your progress Go ahead and speak, you are ready

@gabylopez6990

2 жыл бұрын

@@maa7528 🙏😀❤️

imo don't feel like you need to dive into speaking when you may not be ready, but also don't be afraid of it when the time comes. Totally agree speaking to early/rushing can be bad for many reasons, but as I've progressed in Japanese and Korean and interacted with a lot of fellow learners, I also see a lot of people be super hesitant and miss out on progress potential

2:00 this phenomenon i have noticed in many fields, sports and arts mainly, its as if you crouch down to jump higher or retreat to leap further

I love that term BENIGN NEGLECT!

I’m looking to immerse myself more into Japanese. I’ve been watching videos of folks going over grammar and vocabulary and even vlogs with particular themes(all in total Japanese) and I don’t understand much because I’m still relatively new but it has helped me pick up on flow and sentence structure a bit more, and constant exposure to kanji has made learning kanji easier. That being said I’m looking for more stuff to listen to - podcasts, vlogs, lectures, historical documentaries etc. If anyone has any recommendations please let me know :) have fun out there!

@Infinicat

2 жыл бұрын

@@user-zi7bh8uk8c thanks! It has been fairly challenging I agree, but I’m learning and it’s getting easier day by day. I’m actually particularly interested in native content so if you have channels that you enjoy or follow or any recommendations(maybe some popular Japanese channels?) I would be most grateful!

@coconutpineapple2489

2 жыл бұрын

I bought a Japanese book which was written by an American author last night. I thought if I bought it the English version on line, it would be good learning ,because you don't need to look up unknown words and grammar.

Same thing happened to my French language. I made 3 attempts to learn it (it took more than 10 years). So I failed with 2 first. In the meantime I learned Spanish and Ukrainian. Came back to French and it worked - also thanks to new technologies and internet (YT, online dictionaries / translators with pronunciation etc). But I always enjoined listening to French and wanted to learn it :-)

Actually in recent science the phenomenon you speak of has been quantified! Any time you learn something, if you cease all activity and close your eyes for 10 secs it gives your brain time to “upload” and then you just keep going!

I've been self-teaching myself German for the past 34 days (6 of them rest days), around 4-6 hours every day. Last night I had that awful dream where you're listening to your target language and cannot understand anything. Needless to say, I woke up feeling stressed. I focused primarily on grammar during the first 3 weeks and have only been doing vocab (frequency lists, but mainly comprehensible input and reading) for a few days, so not being entirely comfortable with A2 stuff is to be expected, but it's still stressful considering the tight deadlines. Thanks for reminding me about setting the right priorities. I should really take more breaks. Let my mind soak up the language a little.

I tried to tell this to some professional english teachers - they're confusing activation with acquisition, it leads to bad habits that are hard to get rid of etc. No chance. The classes I attended with supposed B2/C1 "speakers" were embarassing.

This happens with mee!! French is what I practice the most, but recently I've been working on Russian then go back to French I understand everything millionfold times better. I didn't think too much about it until you say thats happened to you!

It will be a pleasure to give a help in Arabic language

Hi Steve! Eu assisti você no blah blah spot da Carina. Parabéns pelo seu trabalho

This is really true. It functiones. But I think the precondition is to have learned a lot.

Wowww it happened to me as well... I thought I have learnt the language A overnight while working really hard in my language B. Thank you Sr.

I'm learning French now by myself, since I have some knowledge of Italian, I decide not to find a teacher. I can understand some French even if I don't look up any word in a sentence, but I totally cannot speak it or hear it in my head when I read. I think speaking will be the hard part thank you for sharing this perspective

Bonjour, Steve. C'est un phénomène intéressant que vous décrivez là. Pour ma part, je n'ai jamais vécu cette situation-là mais je puis vous en décrire une qui est assez similaire. Il y a deux ans, mon allemand oral était de niveau intermédiaire et je suis allé une semaine en Allemagne sans avoir du tout révisé mes connaissances (il s'agissait de vacances, pas d'un séjour linguistique). Eh bien, la remise en contact avec la langue m'a fait passer en quelques jours d'intermédiaire à avancé: j'étais tout à fait à l'aise dans de longues conversations sur presque n'importe quel sujet. L'année dernière, phénomène similaire avec mon hongrois, qui est passé de la même manière inexplicable, et sans étude de ma part, d'élémentaire à intermédiaire, juste en quelques jours de contact avec la langue sur place. Encore une fois, c'était un séjour touristique, pas linguistique. Si quelqu'un a une explication à ce phénomène paranormal :-) ...

I would much enjoy to see you learning Turkish. I am in love with the language but I’m struggling. It’s not yet clicked. I can understand a lot by reading, some by listening yet find composing sentences difficult when speaking. The pronunciation is easy though. It’s the only language I’ve had dreams in other than my native tongue. Çok teşekkür ederiz!

@toleen553

2 жыл бұрын

Turkish is one of the languages I spoke and I advise to watch more Turkish series & movies.. they will help you a lot.

@havvaalexander9520

2 жыл бұрын

@@toleen553 - Thank you! I have been doing what you’ve recommended. I enjoy Turkish films , series and music.

If you are enjoying the process, well that's the best. Do not put too much pessure on yourself but keep learning and practicing, that's the important thing. I remember when I learned Spanish, it was a kind of full immersion in the language, and has been really tough!! But now I speak Spanish as I speak my first language (ITA), with ENG for example is different, I must put some effort into it everyday, otherwise I will get the same level forever, all depends on how people really want/need something (No pain no gain), but if you want just enjoy something it's understandable, I started play Chess and after few moths I noticed that I became very good at, I do need chess in my life so I do not play everyday, but I enjoy it, it's the same.

That is absolutely and brutally true.