Need some more reliable language learning advice? Check out Matt’s channel here: m.kzread.info And join my language advice Facebook fanpage: m.facebook.com/anming.orientalpearl/

@mattvsjapan

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for having me on!

@bumblebeeisfree

3 жыл бұрын

I'm really tired of all these so called polyglots and the conversations they show on their video is pretty much the same over and over like why not talk about something different in those languages.

@OrientalPearl

3 жыл бұрын

@@mattvsjapan I can’t wait to see your version of the 2nd part of this conversation when you finish editing it.

@JayadUberoi1989

3 жыл бұрын

Man Matt's one of the biggest reason Im able to pick up japanese so efficiently.. a genuine guy

@richs347

3 жыл бұрын

So Polyglots are people who are fluent in speaking and writing the language as well? Not just speak the language but know how to write and read too?

As Bruce Lee said:"I don't fear the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks. I fear the man who practiced one kick 10,000 times."

@BenjjyBoi

3 жыл бұрын

Although I disagree in that statement when to do with fighting as the opposite is true.

@liamperkins5461

3 жыл бұрын

Wow that's a great quote

@bluesdealer

3 жыл бұрын

@@BenjjyBoi it’s absolutely true for fighting. It’s why Kano’s judo students wiped the floor with traditional jujutsu masters and their “hundreds of moves.” Judo just took a handful of effective jujutsu holds and throws, which were safe enough to train at full contact instead of just kata, and focused on perfecting those into muscle memory. It proved FAR more effective.

@littlefishbigmountain

3 жыл бұрын

@@bluesdealer Maaaaan, what does this “Bruce Lee” guy know about fighting anyway?

@Lorenzo_I.

3 жыл бұрын

@John Doe That's unnecessarily rude of you.

My experience with speaking Chinese/Japanese: When you start learning/speaking with natives they will compliment you a lot. Once you actually reach a decent level, your native friends will start to tell you how shit you actually are.

@OrientalPearl

3 жыл бұрын

Lol, they might start to point out the flaws more.

@omegacardboard5834

2 жыл бұрын

Lol yeah it’s a joke in the Japanese learning community that if they say “your Japanese is very good” it means your Japanese needs more work. The true way of knowing when it’s good is when they don’t say anything about it

@nomadsoulkarma

2 жыл бұрын

Truth! I'm still waiting for the day when I'm told my Chinese is s*** as you say.

@lancelyde

2 жыл бұрын

Yes they will humble you!!

@YangSunWoo

2 жыл бұрын

This only really happens for white people. I get shat on immediately lol.

I was inspired to learn french by a fake polyglot , and I really went for it. I studied for 8 hours a day for 5 months. And then I came back to that same video that inspired me, and I couldn't believe it, his french was super basic, he made tons of mistakes and made weird sentences. This time I was able to notice.

@testingsomething5280

2 жыл бұрын

Ikenna?

@prophetmuhammad3890

2 жыл бұрын

@@testingsomething5280 Yes. The dude was pretty basic and stuttering a lot when he speaks other language.

@rupkumarmurmu4840

2 жыл бұрын

Not a fan of ikenna, but I will play the devil's advocate here. If he inspired you put that much effort, you definitely owe it to him. But in conclusion don't believe everything you see on the internet.

@avokokoa

2 жыл бұрын

@@omarm2426 as a french speaker I think Ikenna is pretty fluent at speaking french, he even know how to blend words like ("j'sais pas" instead of "je ne sais pas" as we do in real casual conversation, So I'm curious about which video you're talking about pls ? he just have an American accent no ?

@omarm2426

2 жыл бұрын

@@rupkumarmurmu4840 Absolutely. I wouldn't buy his book tho.

My cousin is bilingual -- Japanese and English (we are Hapa), and he teaches English in Tokyo. He says that his students aren't allowed to join his advanced English class untli they are proficient and fluent enough to have an argument with him. He says that arguing requires a high level of proficiency in a language because you have to defend your stance, and then use a bunch of different rhetorical tools (Logos, Ethos, and Pathos), to try and persuade the other to your side. He says that it's for that reason why couples who have a fight will often flip back to their native tongue when they're really angry because it's easier convey what you want.

@paper.trailing

Жыл бұрын

When my partner and I fight, we use our native languages and it's really disjointed. We make it work though. 😅

@digitalpickles1277

Жыл бұрын

They use the term “Hafu” to describe someone who is half Japanese.

@Xuth54

Жыл бұрын

By that logic I’m not fluent in English because I got kicked out my debate club for just trying 😂

@pedazodetorpedo

Жыл бұрын

This is what convinced me that I had mastered French, when I would have to argue and attempt to reason with my irrational ex in French. She even acknowledged that this showed I really knew the language 😂

@waytospergtherebro

Жыл бұрын

Somebody should tell you that nobody cares what your cousin says in at least one language.

My pet peeve: polyglots claiming "I learned language X in 15 days!", when they should actually say that they studied it FOR 15 days. Subtle difference in a cheap shot.

@kaprisun6486

3 жыл бұрын

I think the video shouldn't be called exposing when there is nothing exposed ,just established. "Talking with matt about youtubers we dont like without saying their actual name" seems more appropriate too, quite a cheap way to get views looking at it from your perspective

@FallingGalaxy

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah anyone can learn some basic words and phrases in many languages in a couple of weeks.

@rawkhawk414

3 жыл бұрын

@@kaprisun6486 Yes, key difference though--and you'll notice a theme here--is that Oriental Pearl explicitly says in this video, why people, including herself use sensational titles, and why there is no sense in denying that using the psychology of headlines and clickbait is necessary to sell your video, literally or just to convince people and the algorithm. You are comparing "claims" to "what the video should be called", you're narrowing his premise for the sake of an exaggeration. Many commenters here defend Laoshu, who also, apparently, does not pretend to be a master of these random languages, but claims to have studied them for a short time. He apparently also claims that his self-taught method for learning languages is repeatable and sells a course to teach that, not the languages themselves as far as I know. People clearly respond to that, and this video. Having a level of proficiency from beginner conversational to 6-year old level language skills are impressive to a lot of people, precisely because language-learning skills don't come naturally to a lot of people without good teachers and practice. I am wanting to say...your sarcasm took me a second to register...because it seems kind of tonedeaf. There is such a difference between clickbait and the content it's on, if the content of the clickbait is also making false claims then you have a problem. A cheeky exaggeration for the sake of drama is pretty universally accepted as long as the first line of the article or video corrects their intentions. Pearl does this immediately. There are those "I learned X language in 2 weeks" that don't. And there are people that just want to study a language for a couple weeks and do a social experiment, they start thinking of themselves as polyglots (they also don't realize how cringey and terrifying it is to approach a stranger in a busy city market in a metropolitan city, and speak their potentially obscure language without explaining themselves first, and if they do explain themselves or ask any questions, they reveal themselves to have no social skill). I think Laoshu is popular also because he has good social skills in general despite some cringey moments here and there from the bits I've seen.

@sunflower7874

3 жыл бұрын

@@rawkhawk414 spot on

@geomax2010

3 жыл бұрын

I'm Brazilian and after 10+ years studying English, I started teaching it at a school (I did it just to get more material for improving myself, but I did my best for the sake of the students). The last teacher was someone who went to Ireland and lived there for 2 months and he said he's learned English in only two months! I don't agree with this kind of thing. They make people feel bad about themselves for struggling so much to learn a new language when they "learned" so fast. And the reality is that they just know the basics...

All these "Polyglots" who know so many ways to say "hello", "how are you", "I'm fine", "thank you", and "I know a little ____"

@loganpatriquin9443

3 жыл бұрын

I think that the real thing to appreciate with these channels is their extreme amount of confidence. They are extremely good motivators because even though they are basically walking through a maze blindfolded they still somehow get to the fine and have a good time doing it. Language skills are not only vocabulary, grammar, etc. but also communication skills. If you aren't confident enough to talk to someone in their language, you will never learn. Laoshu and other "good" polyglot channels that don't have crazy sponsors really just do it for fun, and they are pretty good at getting people motivated. His extreme confidence was what made me able to have my first Japanese conversation, because if he could, why couldn't I?

@alistairt7544

3 жыл бұрын

@@loganpatriquin9443 But if I'm gonna be honest though, they shouldn't call themselves polyglot just by being confident enough to regurgitate basic phrases and words and attempting to illicit shocked responses. Maybe an "avid language learner", but I know that won't get clickbaits lol

@Conn_0088

3 жыл бұрын

@@alistairt7544 Actually, he is a polyglot, he speaks Mandarin, Japanese and Spanish fluently. For other languages, he knows and speaks only the common greeting words to make them happy. He makes his videos to show us people's 'REACTIONS' when he speaks their native languages. We don't watch his videos to see if he really knows, learn and shit. And btw, he never said he is a polyglot. I speak for laoshu in particular, i don't know about others. I think this video is made because they're jealous of his success by knowing what they've already known too (and a bit more).

@Dante20321

3 жыл бұрын

“The reason I learned this language is because ____”

@KhaoticFrosty

3 жыл бұрын

@@Conn_0088 It's weird. Some people say you need to know at least 3 languages to be a polyglot, and others say 4.

I'm Swedish and I used to watch a youtuber who claimed to be a polyglot. It was really fascinating watching videos of him interacting with people in their native tongues. Then one day I watched a video where he walked up to a Swedish girl and started "speaking Swedish". She looked super confused and I was super confused too because he was pronouncing words SO terribly that it was impossible to tell what language he was speaking... The girl clearly had to use all her brain power to be able to figure out what on earth he was trying to say and what really annoyed me was that he put text on the screen that read "She is so shocked that I can speak her language" or something similar to that. It made me realize that he probably wasn't fluent in all those other languages either and that it just seemed like he was since he was so confident and since I only speak Swedish and English.

@PetraStaal

Жыл бұрын

Was it Wouter?

@stelladecircus4002

Жыл бұрын

Vem var det?

@PetraStaal

Жыл бұрын

@@stelladecircus4002 Wouter Corduwener

@mpforeverunlimited

Жыл бұрын

Wouter?

@Gregory-Palamas1349

Жыл бұрын

Interesting, thanks for posting your thoughts!

Read about Ziad Fazah. He claimed to be "fluent" in 59 languages, and was even listed in the Guinness Book of world records. He always rehearsed his "act," and was therefore able to convince people. Then on a Chilean tv show, the show hosts surprised him by having people ask him questions in different languages. He could only answer the first one (Arabic), which is his native language.

@nineteenfortyeight6762

Жыл бұрын

Thanks, I just watched the show and it was hilarious

@whannabi

Жыл бұрын

Looks like the judges where drunk on Guinness when evaluating him.

@annabethsmith-kingsley2079

Жыл бұрын

yeah, we got him! haha

@cookdislander4372

11 ай бұрын

Looking this up now hahaha

@mariahiller

11 ай бұрын

@@cookdislander4372 Let me know if you can't find it. I have rarely laughed as hard as when he tried to speak Finnish (which l know). Incomprehensible gibberish and worst accent l have heard.

The more you know a language, the more humble you become about it. Some real polyglots won’t even tell you because even though they’re almost at a native level they will still be insecure about it.

@user-or5rq6fk1x

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly. The more you know, the more you realize how much you don’t know and that makes humble

@PetraStaal

2 жыл бұрын

@@user-or5rq6fk1x facts!

@lauragoreni3020

2 жыл бұрын

That's it! My German is intermediate level, I can understand not every thing but a lot, and speak enough to get by, but I'd never say I'm fluent in German.

@bluezitrone9731

2 жыл бұрын

@@user-or5rq6fk1x Truth

@Natureguy-le8pl

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah. Brazilian Portuguese is my second language, and I’m always afraid to say I can speak it because I worry that if I talk to an actual native speaker I’ll mess up.

I had an interesting experience. I had been in Japan for about 2 years and was visiting Tokyo to renew my Visa. I had to stay in a hostel in Ikebukuro. In the evening I was sitting with some tourists. One guy was from the US with his Japanese American girlfriend (nisei) and there was this girl from Europe. She had basic Japanese down but was claiming to know more than me. I didn't call her out on it. I let it slide. So I asked her how many languages do you speak? She said that in Europe most people can speak multiple languages. I speak French, English, Swiss and German. The American guy asks "You speak German?" looking surprised. The girl was so proud of the fact she is a polygot and said yes. And he asked, at what level? She said, University level. Then the American guy started speaking absolutely fluent German... and it sounded so cool. Apparently he was from a military family and he had lived in Germany for about 10 years as a child. He was just so excited to be able to speak with someone in German. And the so called Polygot girl from Europe couldn't understand a word of what he said (because he spoke so fluently and at a natural speed, it was too quick for her to pick up) and she had to admit her German was that of a 4 year old. She thought she was safe boasting among us simple Americans and Australians... no way did she expect that the American guy spoke fluent German. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen. So you never know. Best policy is to be honest about your abilities.

@TrullaDerBergzwerg

3 жыл бұрын

I just ask out of curiosity. What country was she from? When I read she claimed to speak "swiss" I thought she might be swiss and assumed, she was speaking german as mother tongue (is this correct english?). I am swiss, from the german part, and learned french and english in school. Unfortunatly i lost almost all of my french :-( In the french part they do learn german in school, but not swiss german, so i'm a littel confused about her homecountry 😅 I also try to learn japanese for about 7 years now and I'm still so bad it hurts. I don't know how my japanese teacher has so much patience with me honestly.

@Svetlana-says-it-as-it-is.

3 жыл бұрын

I agree:)

@ZolFox

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah wait...last time I checked, there is no language “Swiss”. In Switzerland, they speak France at the French border. German near that border and Italian near the Alps and Italian border. So she must have been more than full of shit. She must have been flat out stupid. Edit: oh I missed the part of your comment @TrullaDerBergzwerg where you said you’re actually Swiss, that’s great so I can ask you...is my comment correct? No language “Swiss” just the languages of the countries that border you? And yes “mother tongue” is a correct way to say that...also “first language” is probably what I would say. Also it’s on my bucket list to visit Switzerland. However I’d be in the Italian region, as I’m half Italian and trying to learn the language. My Spanish is better though (I’m half Mexican too). Oh and is it true that you have your whole country rigged to blow up with the push of a button in case you’re like invaded and as like a last resort you can take out yourselves as well as the invaders? I heard that somewhere and now I can find out if it’s true :D

@Svetlana-says-it-as-it-is.

3 жыл бұрын

@@ZolFox Yes, that girl was full of shit and to my knowledge the languages of Switzerland are: French, German, Romansh and Italian. No such as thing as Swiss language however these people in Switzerland have accents and their own cultural ways of speaking. In Belgium they speak French, German and Dutch and they have their own dialects there too and again there’s no such thing as Belgium language. It’s really shallow and plain silly that there are people out there trying to impress others hoping they will always encounter uneducated or people who are simply unaware and don’t know foreign just to get a compliment and feel better about themselves.

@Svetlana-says-it-as-it-is.

3 жыл бұрын

Let me tell you a story I’ve just remembered. Years ago there was a woman that stopped talking to me because her brother fancied me, she preferred his ex at the time and I was not that interested in him but that’s all besides the point. At the time I was unaware of my Prussian ancestry and I was talking to someone next to her about how German language and it’s spoken in Austria bla bla they use a few different words here and there and this woman that didn’t speak to me decided to butt in the conversation and just to show off about the words she knew and she wasn’t even involved in the conversation and after that we have barely spoken, her German level is no higher than A1-A2. Some people just like to show off. As it was said in the video real polyglots work extremely hard at their passion and don’t go around showing off.

I think it's cute when "polyglots" like XiaomaNYC learn a few phrases of rare languages to surprise people at markets and restaurants and stuff. It seems to warm people's hearts when a foreigner learns basic things like how to order and say "thank you" or "this is delicious." If you're not pretending to be fluent and are open about how you only know a few words and phrases I think its ok.

@NUSensei

Жыл бұрын

The thing to be careful of is misinterpreting cultural cues, which is a problem I have with these videos. The polyglot pitches the videos as impressing native speakers, but they can't read the room. Instead of being impressed, they are politely tolerating the guy who is holding a camera grappling with a few lines in their language. It's why these videos can sometimes come off as arrogant, especially when there is a mix of cultures that are verbally expressive versus people who are more inclined to be stoic.

@MrCB555

Жыл бұрын

@@NUSensei What I've noticed, too, is that the videos are always about "I fooled these people and then they were SHOCKED when I spoke to them in their native language!" I have only seen a few of these videos, but they seem to be much about shock/headline value.

@xdranzer0004

Жыл бұрын

I have always felt something off about that guy…. There is something not very genuine about how he interacts with people. If I’m not mistaken it’s always the same phrases also.

@jameverywhere

Жыл бұрын

@@xdranzer0004 well yeah, people tend to ask the same introductory questions (where are you from, is your wife [ethnicity that speaks my language], etc), so he learns what he needs to learn to answer those questions and order food and that's about it. I don't think he claims to be fluent in anything other than Mandarin.

@ConsciousnessInc

Жыл бұрын

@@jameverywhere He has gotten pretty good at Spanish as well now

As a polyglot lady, I am always forthcoming in the fact that I am not fluent in every language that I speak. Coming from a multicultural family, I grew up in a multilingual environment. From a young age, I gained a passion for languages, watching my father switch effortlessly from French to English, to Spanish. That inspired me to learn different languages when I was in high school, and then university. While I am now able to converse in seven languages, I am by no means fluent in all of them, and I don't pretend to be. Learning languages is difficult. It takes a lot of time, effort, and dedication. Chinese classes exhausted me, I used to cry in frustration whilst doing my homework. German grammar is extremely tough to me, it made me wanna drink lol! Just be wary of people who pretend to be polyglots, because they count on the fact that you have little to no knowledge of the language, in order to fool you into thinking they're fluent. If you wanna learn a new language, I fully encourage you. It has opened doors for me, and I have been able to make new friends from all over. It also helps immensely on the job market.

@teamwomad7775

Жыл бұрын

I really relate to what you said. I am kind of aiming to be where you are and can probably converse in 3-4 languages with others more basic and inconsistent skills (listening good, reading bad etc.) and I feel these youtubers make it so black and white when it isn't at all... for me and I'm sure for a lot of other people, learning languages is a very personal journey that involves a lot of self-critique, self-reflection etc and a lot of time and commitment... most of the language videos just scratch the surface of that lifestyle and give a false view of it.

@seguaye

Жыл бұрын

that’s impressive as hell- I’ve been learning german for a little over a year now, i can’t imagine learning another language on top of that, let alone seven! side note, ive heard a lot of people say that german grammar is confusing, and it is, but I actually like it a lot. I’m the kind of guy that likes to break down intricate things to try and understand them, so ive been having fun learning the grammar. Except for flavoring particles, flavoring particles can kiss my ass lmao

@mcmerry2846

Жыл бұрын

I just speak 3...but I'm fluent in all of them. I can wannabeing in french, Japanese, Portuguese and Italian...but I'm garbage In those languages 😂😂😂

@goldenhourss

Жыл бұрын

SO RELATABLE. that’s why i find so funny those who claim to be native speakers and know 0 about the culture of that language and have horrible accents and know 2 phrases

@mariahiller

Жыл бұрын

True. I am learning my 7th language now. Although languages are very much my thing, l most definitely did *not" learn to speak anything by studying "15 minutes every morning." The problem is that there are so many people out there who claim to know a language without even having the ability to order coffee in said language. It makes those who do not know two or more languages feel inadequate, and those (like us), who spent entire chunks of our lives on living in different countries and studying, seem "average." Time and time again have l caught someone pretending to know a language having to admit they didn't (with excuses, of course), because l knew the language and tried to talk to them.

Person: "Hi, I'm a polyglot. I speak 10 languages!" That same person: *Only speaks one language fluently, has basic conversational skill in one, and knows how to say "hi, how are you" and "thank you" in 8 languages and "read" badly Google translated phrases.*

@sokidanz

3 жыл бұрын

That's Wouter basically

@felicia2472

3 жыл бұрын

@@sokidanz aha 😂

@smrtfasizmu6161

2 жыл бұрын

@Kalevipoeg There's no need to lie, we all see that English is not your native language

@Taesune

2 жыл бұрын

@@smrtfasizmu6161 what?? it's believable..

@jeromestavrosyeo4333

2 жыл бұрын

Hahahhah!!!

When I watch polyglot channels, I don’t expect them to actually know the language. It’s just for entertainment purposes. I don’t take them seriously.

@OrientalPearl

3 жыл бұрын

This is good advice!

@k.5425

3 жыл бұрын

Check out Lindie Botes and Luca Lampariello. They're genuine polyglots.

@vinnyx4526

3 жыл бұрын

The problem is that they try to make people believe that they actually are fluent in these languages, and the ones with a lot of subs make a lot of money out of it, which is unacceptable. It's basically linguistic fraud.

@amphibeingmcshpongletron5026

3 жыл бұрын

@@vinnyx4526 Well, their channels are mainly about entertainment and interactions with the public. That gets more views than most "real polyglots" who are simply fluent in a language. Unless they can find a way to market that skill and make it entertaining and addicting to watch, people who have a cursory understanding of many languages but are charming and extroverted will rake in far more views than a channel just focused on the nitty gritty of learning a few languages in depth. Most don't tend to even make claims of fluency, people just complain that they aren't fluent, as if they did claim fluency. Most are just curious people who like to talk to strangers. "Real polyglots" seem to take themselves REALLY SERIOUSLY and seem to be jealous that their content doesn't have as much of a pull. I don't think many of these "fake polyglots" are fooling anyone. With someone like Laoshu505000, who people LOVE to hate on for only knowing a few phrases in over 50 LANGUAGES fail to see how quickly he's able to tackle the basics of so many different language families and tend not to see the videos where he truly does have impressive range and a wide variety of languages. He's really good at Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Somali, Spanish, French, etc and can have basic conversations in many many more. The fact people find this contemptuous is laughable. Especially if they go as far as to call him a "fake polyglot" which many have directly accused him of being for daring to have a beginner conversation with someone speaking a language he just started learning a week ago. His whole method is about practicing in this way, as it's the best way to make mistakes and have them corrected as well as to stay motivated. Language is a living thing, I'd rather see people practice with strangers at a beginner level than stay studying in their rooms or on skype calls with teachers. People say he's just in it for the reactions...well, sort of, yes? The reactions are what's motivating for him and many others to learn. Is that so bad? Half of his videos are him explaining he just started learning to the people he engages and he merely films himself practicing with people. He makes mistakes and gets corrected all the time. He makes no claims of fluency in his 50+ catalog of languages he's attempted. People live to find one example where he preformed poorly and then claim this is proof he's a charlatan who has no business telling anyone how to learn a language. They forget he's interested in ALL languages and if he only knows a few words or phrases, he'll use them in public if he has the chance and maybe he learns something more. It's hard to argue that he doesn't have a good method for learning. If he stuck with one or two languages at a time and really focused on them, I bet he'd be fluent quite fast. His issue is he's obsessed with learning so many and keeps going back and forth with which ones he wants to learn.

@vinnyx4526

3 жыл бұрын

@@amphibeingmcshpongletron5026 it may get more views, but it's way less impressive

Translator here, native Italian speaker. I understand the entertainment value of the "I've learned X language in 3 hours" videos, but I've talked to a lot of people/students who literally decided not to study a certain language anymore because they got SCARED by these "polyglots" and completely gave up their studies for fear of being inadequate at what they did. That's incredibly sad, knowing that many people think these videos are realistic. (I have to add, their learning method is so WRONG most of the times. They don't even try with the basics, they just go and learn some sentences without grammar/vocabulary and that's... useful for a trip? But nothing more?)

@HasufelyArod

Жыл бұрын

You're totally right.

@GloBear801

Жыл бұрын

That's what gets me. Learning only the basics is the bare minimum. I want to know WHY it's said that way. People just want to know phrases when I really just want to learn the language, genuinely, because I find it fascinating. So I am studying grammar. It's important! And I hate when people say it isn't. Saw some polyglot channels that were saying that is the method. "I read the dictionary in that language" yeah sure you did and learned nothing about conjugations, I see.

@hunterwilk

Жыл бұрын

I was one of the people who watched those videos and thought, "wow, I guess they're a genius and I'm pretty dumb." I know better now, thanks.

Thank you. I've felt terrible struggling with learning german and in the mean time seeing all those "I've learned a language in such a short time!" videos. It really makes you feel just ... not capable enough?

@vizeath

Жыл бұрын

I know right... You started to think that your brain is weaker than many people...

@swizzysaf9914

Жыл бұрын

Don't give up! German is a really tough language if you're coming from English, and way harder than French or Spanish. Du kannst es schaffen 👍

@tem-roy4202

Жыл бұрын

Lmao...why should that discourage you?? You should know that people have different paces in learning languages..it's normal..I am also learning german and some of the people I started with are far ahead of me now..it's nothing bad cos some people have that talent of learning languages fast

@jordan8213

Жыл бұрын

Like someone else said everyone has their own pace at learning. Iv been learning German for 11months now and I’d say I’m in-between A2-B1. Compared to those people that be like “I learned German in just 6 months” scams. Everyone moves at their own pace and that’s perfectly alright

@MrKoalaburger

Жыл бұрын

Me too! I'm two months into German and can form some.... Very simple phrases. Id be comfy ordering a coffee, basically lol. But I saw one guy claim that A1 proficiency in a romance language should take 2 months minimum. I felt like an idiot, like maybe I don't have what it takes to learn a second language. Thankfully I haven't been discouraged, I learned that A1 takes like 200 hours of legitimate training, and piling that into two months would mean you probably have no job lol.

When you realize the average 5 year old has a vocabulary of 10,000 words in their native language, you realize how little you know and how far you have to go.

@daysandwords

3 жыл бұрын

Just checking if this is a legit statistic? I completely agree with the sentiment but I'm pretty sure a 5 year old doesn't have a vocab of 10,000 words in their native language.

@pumpkinsandme6238

3 жыл бұрын

@@daysandwords a 5 year old has an active vocabulary of around 2200 words and a passive vocabulary (they can understand) 10,000 words. By age 6 it's 2600 active and 24,000 passive.

@Dante20321

3 жыл бұрын

I learned English since I was like 4 years old. However I barely speak English in my daily life so I still struggle with speaking.

@UczuciaTM

3 жыл бұрын

Hah, I know 75 words in Korean 😎😎😎

@ballba11ball

3 жыл бұрын

@@UczuciaTM hah I know 400 words in Japanese

I speak 700 languages and learn them all in 700 days take that haters *troll grin* hola bonjour namaste nihao . I just killed the language game

@97carrera

3 жыл бұрын

¿Dónde está la biblioteca?

@genderalsynarchy2156

3 жыл бұрын

@@97carrera A tu izquierda

@alistairt7544

3 жыл бұрын

🤣🤣🤣

@e.k5855

3 жыл бұрын

7829Moriarty como una manzana y bebo el agua 😀😀😀😀😀

@Laneuric

3 жыл бұрын

Kingkong bling blong

I speak three languages at C1 / C2 level and still feel like I could improve so much. Even in my mother tongue I could be more elegant. I could never be arsed to learn another one ever!

@nanadecarvalho7840

Жыл бұрын

I can relate. My friend invited me to take free Korean lessons with him, but I don’t want nor need to learn another language. I know 5 languages at different levels and I have to study them frequently to better them (and not forget some of them). My brain is overloaded 😩

@InternationalScoop

Жыл бұрын

how did you learn them? i’ve been learning German on and off for the last 3 years and i still think im at a basic level

@abcd-hw8io

Жыл бұрын

I think C1/C2 is about grade 8/9.

@kiwuuspurr1927

Жыл бұрын

@@InternationalScoop I think the key here is consistency

this has made me realize that the face of “shock” and “awe” that someone knows their language in those videos is actually just a person’s face when they’re desperately trying to understand what you’re saying and don’t know what to do lol

It's the pronunciation that does it. Some people are just naturally good at pronouncing sounds that don't exist in their native language. Other people aren't. I remember watching an American diplomat speak German on German TV and his pronunciation was _horrible..._ but he knew all sorts of words I had never heard before. Having knowledge on that level shows the amount of effort that was put into learning the language.

@emmachomao

3 жыл бұрын

A lot of people in east Asia can read and write English very well, but have really bad listening skill and pronunciation.

@SmallSpoonBrigade

2 жыл бұрын

Sort of, but it's a skill that can be developed, and I doubt that most of those folks weren't practicing it in some other context before trying to learn. Before I tried to learn a foreign language, I had to go to speech therapy for my native English and then later I got interested in trying to replicate the weird sounds I heard in rap music. Then, by the time I did start to try learning languages, my ears were in fairly good condition. The only real tricks are to stop trying to make sound out of foreign words at first, and minimal pairs that underlie the differences between similar sounds. It's also worth noting that most language prep programs teach pronunciation for a few sessions at the beginning and then ignore it from then on. There's also a shortage of qualified teachers teaching pronunciation, as properly doing it requires a lot of training. Speech therapy itself requires an advanced degree. Accent coaching doesn't require quite as much, but it's not typically taught to people just looking to teach language. It's also worth noting that if you are better at hearing accents and mimicking, it tends to push you forwards as the native speakers won't let you off the hook for not knowing the language as easily as if your accent sucks.

@mxd-1990asn

2 жыл бұрын

@@emmachomao That isnt only a east asia thing, i know many ppl in southeast asia where its the same. And its most likely the case for other many several other countries around the world too.. Coming from a asian family myself (My whole family is from thailand, but ethnically our family is asian mixed: Chinese/Thai/Viet/indian) most in our fam. can read and write english ...but when it comes to speaking they dont really know much... (and those who can speak at least on a basic level of english , still wont speak to anyone in english , bcs they think its too bad so they wont use the language at all...)

@appleslover

2 жыл бұрын

My German pronunciation is flawless but my grammar and vocabulary are terrible 😩😞

@alexandernoe1619

2 жыл бұрын

As a German, I always wonder why other Germans cannot learn how not to spit p, t and k when speaking french. I understand that people don't notice until you really point them to this problem, but it's doable...

I speak Tagalog, Bisaya and Waray. I’ve seen a few prank videos of white people speaking 12 or so different languages and whenever they speak to Filipinos I could barely understand them because they’re accent was so bad. It was painfully obvious they had only memorized a few sentences.

@OrientalPearl

3 жыл бұрын

I'm glad someone who knows the language is here to confirm this.

@djrikardokiroz

3 жыл бұрын

I joined to Philtalk thanks to you and I'm happy learning tagalog.

@jamesmccloud7535

3 жыл бұрын

This is true

@awancah7309

3 жыл бұрын

indonesia join talk, even if language in close region and same root, but in end up 80% different. And u completly not understand what other talk. liek java and maluku is completly diferent. even in same country indonesia

@eatsmylifeYT

3 жыл бұрын

What about the Filipino boy whose video of him "speaking" 20 languages or so that went viral? That was pretty lame.

Laoshu505000 is missed so much these days for this very reason. He was so humble and so honest about his progress in certain languages and you can watch him ask foreigners to help him learn rather than him just bloviating his own ego. Rip. Moses.

@Kordoras

Жыл бұрын

I miss him, too :-/

@ybloc

Жыл бұрын

Rip

@magnumdongsen2141

Жыл бұрын

big RIP, i binged his videos in early covid days. really enjoyed him

@jacksdad734

Жыл бұрын

He was rad.

@yongary01

11 ай бұрын

Such a great human being.

The illusion of fluency by just spitting out a lot of words in basic and probably rehearsed sentences is seen in so many creators.

@mariahiller

Жыл бұрын

Yes, yes, yes. Very rehearsed.

@Universal-Logic1900

4 ай бұрын

yes, that is so true, I have seen a few. one is the american XioamaNY and the the dutch man wouter. they takeover the conversation and start talking at great speed

There's also a difference between fluency and proficiency. "Fluency" usually refers to how automatically you are able to produce language, relatively free of internal translation or native language interference. In this sense, a toddler is "fluent". "Proficiency" refers to a depth of knowledge (that high-level vocabulary, for instance) and nimbleness with the language--responding to native speakers, noticing and correcting one's own mistakes, mastering intonation, etc. You can speak a bunch of stuff fluently and not have anywhere near native-level proficiency (I have an MA in applied linguistics, btw).

@egeberkayimamoglu4905

3 жыл бұрын

good point

@ohwaititsbait

3 жыл бұрын

Love this comment.

@patrickmcnally1532

3 жыл бұрын

Interesting, so the toddler is naturally fluent when he speaks his native tongue. But there seems to be a lot more to proficiency than just more advanced vocabulary. Learning the critical core of the language would seem to be the first step to native like proficiency. Very interesting, thank you for your comment. .

@raenastra

3 жыл бұрын

"Fluency" gets thrown around so much that it doesn't have a single meaning anymore. I agree with your definition, just pointing out that it seems like everyone has their own definition, which makes it difficult to have a discussion about.

@jmawhite6761

3 жыл бұрын

@@raenastra I agree completely!

Worse than that are videos like "I learned italian in 7 days". Bruh, not even a native could do this, how did you do that?

@muttlanguages3912

3 жыл бұрын

They started the week knowing Italian

@marioboiata2403

3 жыл бұрын

Italian here, in the video he spoke pretty crappy, but he was understandable, some months later he came in Milan and did a video in italian, he's accent can be terrible but I can ensure you that his italian is very good

@Alison0305

3 жыл бұрын

My understanding is he had learned it previously and was saying he forgot it and therefore was starting fresh. Even if you don’t have immediate recall though, you have a foundation so it isn’t quite the same as learning in a week

@myers4067

3 жыл бұрын

Wow .. Here we see another Italian who says that Italian is difficult .... Kkkkkkkkkk ... You are like Brazilians, Spanish, French, English, Swedish speakers etc. You have to accept, YOUR LANGUAGE IS EASY ...

@marioboiata2403

3 жыл бұрын

@@myers4067 dude calm down, I didn't say my language is difficult, just saying that it is possible to speak it a little after one week or two of studies

I've been learning French since I was 10 years old. I went to a French-speaking college in my country (curriculum taught in French) and then moved to France to complete my studies, staying for a couple of years. I'm a professional translator and I use the language on a daily basis. You could say I'm fluent, or even on a near-native level. Yet, I've never stopped feeling insecure or that there's always new things to learn. I can't help but wonder how many people expect to be fluent in 6 months, or even claim to be...

@jordan8213

Жыл бұрын

If you don’t mind me asking are you from Canada by any chance?

@mpforeverunlimited

Жыл бұрын

Was gonna ask the same thing. He could also be from africa

@christoskoutsikopoulos4715

Жыл бұрын

@@jordan8213 hey! No, I'm from Greece :)

@christoskoutsikopoulos4715

Жыл бұрын

@@mpforeverunlimited hi there! I'm Greek

@AnimaLibera

Жыл бұрын

@ Christos: I have lived in France for 27 years, I'm married to a Frenchman and I speak, read and write the language on a daily basis. I worked as a translator and a court interpreter for a number of years so I guess one could say that I know what I'm doing, but I still feel insecure sometimes (though not very often). People who were born here and have spent their whole life in this country tell me that they still need a dictionary from time to time. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that in French it is impossible to tell how something is spelled by simply listening to the sound. You have to know how it's spelled in order to understand it. You have to know the vocabulary and you have to know the rules. Just think about the fact that *o/ô/os/au/aux/eau/eaux* are all pronounced the same way. Same for *sot/saut/sceau/seau* How much more complicated can it get for someone who is trying to learn the language.

I would add one thing: you don't just learn a language to buy stuff and impress people, you learn it because it enables you to understand the culture you're in (the way people think and why they do what they do) from a much better vantage point. So when a Vietnamese native extols praise on you for just learning a few words, it's also because that person implicitly assumes you to be more willing to learn about them and their culture as opposed to "my way or the highway" thinking. I wish more language teachers would emphasize that learning a language allows you to see things from a different viewpoint and the more viewpoints you understand, the more well-rounded a person you generally are.

@Trassik

4 ай бұрын

well said.

I learned how to say "Good day my friend. How are you?" in 7 languages. Am I a polyglot yet??

@OrientalPearl

3 жыл бұрын

Ha ha, nope but that’s enough to make KZread videos! LOL

@k-town873

3 жыл бұрын

You have to add "I am self-taught"

@Diotallevi73

3 жыл бұрын

You are a polygreet, I'd say 🙂

@murufufufufuuu8209

3 жыл бұрын

@@Diotallevi73 Nice ! 😆😂

@scottvelez3154

3 жыл бұрын

Casi. ¡Aprende más!

I lived in Japan for 22 years. Within a given week I would always be asked, (in Japanese) Where are you from? How long have you been in Japan? And when are you going back to your country? Do you like living in Japan? I got tired of answering the same questions. I was always polite and friendly... but it did make me feel, that no matter how long I lived there, I would always be seen as a foriegner that had just arrived in Japan and was just visiting for a short time and would go back to my country in the near future. And the looks I got from arguing with my children in Japanese in the street. My kids look more Japanese than foriegn and can you imagine me a grown man dragging a crying two year old down the street - with them screaming at me in Japanese. Someone must of thought I was kidnapping a child LOL.

@kullkriss

3 жыл бұрын

Lol

@sasuke1243

3 жыл бұрын

[Copying this list to learn in jaoanese]

@Z5Z5Z5

3 жыл бұрын

Oh no 💀💀💀

@ZolFox

3 жыл бұрын

Damn dude that’s rough. Yeah I’ve heard that Japan is quite a xenophobic culture. I didn’t know how true it was but it seems to be the case in your experience.

@Diego-wm3ey

3 жыл бұрын

What motivated you to move to Japan if I may ask?

It is kind of funny that in a video about fake polyglots, even in the comments, people feel the need to mention how many languages they speak. They do it in a sort of humble way, "I speak 7 languages, but only 4 at an advanced level". There just seems to be something about speaking multiple languages that make people want to let everyone know that they do

@droptherapy2085

Жыл бұрын

To be fair, learning a language takes a lot of dedication so it's definitely an achievement and I can see how someone would want to express how proud of themselves they are for accomplishing that.

@_PM__

Жыл бұрын

@@droptherapy2085 In a way I do understand the pride in learning something, but that applies to anything a person becomes proficient in. Still, you can watch a video on math, and you don't often see people posting how they are great at algebra, trigonometry, and calculus, Their comment may be at a level that is beyond my understanding because they use the lingo, but that's about as far as it goes.

@jamcast725

6 ай бұрын

@@_PM__ You have a point here, but I also think there's a difference in how they can express their proficiency in their field. A math practitioner can show his proficiency by solving the problem, giving a walkthrough, or discussing the solution. People who know multiple languages can't just randomly speak other languages to express their point or converse and expect everyone to understand. What they can do is give a short introduction and provide their statement. I do not think it is just about letting everyone know for no reason. It would add value to a statement, especially if it is one about sharing an experience of how to learn languages.

Interesting video. I have interested myself much in the “who is a polyglot” question. When I started to listen to Steve Kaufman, it was because he was interesting, and I got helpful tips for learning. One thing I noticed. When I was still studying Russian, I got a lot of positive feedback from friends as to how well I spoke. That told me that I was speaking poorly enough so that friends wanted to encourage me. I knew I was really making progress when they started complaining that I was missing the point or simply misunderstanding what was being said.

@martinengelbrecht5384

Жыл бұрын

You point is very deep. Sometimes we misinterprete a complement, you speak well, which should be translated as well done for trying. Much later do people actually correct us and depends on humility.

I had a moment of realization about this polyglot fakeness a few weeks ago.. I speak Greek fluently and saw a “polyglot” video claiming they learned Greek among other languages in a short time. Needless to say this was my face when he started speaking in my mother-tongue... 😐

@sazji

3 жыл бұрын

Ακριβώς. :-))

@Dante20321

3 жыл бұрын

😂

@jennysvshowtime

3 жыл бұрын

Ποιον λες ;

@Crossword131

3 жыл бұрын

What a μαλακά!! How do they think they are going to explain the smackdowns in the comments section? How does it benefit them to look like a moron? Also, I want the link so I can see it spoken poorly. Please?

@smrtfasizmu6161

2 жыл бұрын

What's the link to that video

God, it kills me when polyglots claim they speak Mandarin and their Mandarin is absolutely TERRIBLE. Idk, I had to do an hour long presentation about the differences between Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism totally in Mandarin so it’s like hearing someone say a few basic sentences then claiming fluency just... bothers me lmao.

@ejinchina4630

3 жыл бұрын

The September 11th example was really good! Yes! Get it girl! God, yesterday my 导师 did a three hour meeting critiquing our research and it was like... lord, Jesus. My brain was melting because it’s hard to understand even in English 😂！Y’all are awesome!

@maya-cc2sx

3 жыл бұрын

I kinda wanna see this presentation now lol

@pablodelsegundo9502

3 жыл бұрын

It SHOULD bother you! Americans certainly heap scorn on heavy accents and poorly pronounced English, especially if they're from certain areas (Central/South Asia, Arab countries, North Africa).

@ejinchina4630

3 жыл бұрын

The presentation was okay, I could have done better on the content side. I am thinking about filming my dissertation introduction in two weeks and posting it. Talking about sex education in China for an hour, woo!

@loneneotank.5687

3 жыл бұрын

I agree,i don't speak any mandrin,but i know it's hell to get all the pitches and writing right.

When I was in high school back in the 60s I took 4 years of Spanish. I was really into it. In my senior year I could hold a slow conversation with my teacher, a Cuban exile. Now, over 50 years later and never having a chance to use it, I've forgotten 99% of what I learned. I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, one of the biggest things about a learning a different language is sentence structure. I remember I was really good at memorizing words in Spanish but to use them in a sentence was very confusing to me.

@nostressjustcress-fr1uv

11 ай бұрын

For me the structure comes more naturally, but that’s because I was raised with Welsh, which has nearly the same syntax as Spanish. That said, I’m having such a hard time with the tenses. It’s never too late to get back into learning!! I’ve been doing Spanish for 6 months now and I’ve been really enjoying myself :)

@Dragonsinger71

9 ай бұрын

I hear you on this, at least as far as memory. I took a year of Latin, then 3 years of German, with the 2nd year of Latin simultaneously with German 4. Yeah, the I had the same teacher for all of the German, my senior year of English and then, because he somehow talked me into taking the Latin and German in the same class. I did well in the beginning, ending each year in the top two until senior year. Like you said, vocabulary was easy to memorize. German 3 was strictly a translation of literature class, and of course that was formal German, not conversational. I adjusted to the odd, (for an English speaker), sentence structure fairly well until that last year. Trying to slam both languages at the same time, in the same class with the same instructor proved nearly fatal. Additionally, I should note that I had no native speaker with whom to practice the language in a real world sense. That last class was 1969. Very recently I started messing around with with a free language app, and I now realize how little I remember. That combined with other personal situations leaves me feeling pretty dumb and defeated. Nonetheless, I'm continuing to plug away. I hope you can, too. At the very least, I wish you very good luck in your efforts.

@ALEX-fq7hh

6 ай бұрын

​@@nostressjustcress-fr1uvSo, you mean welsh is not that hard to learn for a Spanish native speaker? :0

@nostressjustcress-fr1uv

6 ай бұрын

@@ALEX-fq7hh compared to other languages, I think spanish speakers would have an easier time. It’s probably a geographical thing as well, since the uk and Spain are considerably close, and there was a big migration of welshmen going to Argentina years and years ago. Even though one is Latin and the other is Celtic, they borrow similar words from eachother.

@azariacba

5 ай бұрын

Sometimes it's sentence structure, sometimes it's having 50 different versions of every word (like in Slavic languages), sometimes it's pronunciation. One thing that trips me up when I haven't practiced Spanish in a while is the ordering of words. It's very different from English; you have to read sentences in a different order than you're used to. Like, how instead of "I like ", you say "Me gusta ". So instead of "I like Mexico", it's "Me gusta Mexico", which more literally means "Mexico pleases me" or "Mexico is pleasant to me". Except, the words are in a completely different order from English. If you translated the Spanish word-for-word into English you'd get "me pleases Mexico". Spanish puts pronouns before verbs quite a lot, and it uses pronouns in places you wouldn't expect. You don't say "I shower", you say "me ducho", which is more like "I shower myself". You wouldn't just say "ducho" (which means "I shower"), you need the "me" to specify that you are showering yourself and not your child/dog/etc. Putting that all together, reading Spanish newspapers involves a lot of pronouns-before-verbs, lots of "me"/"te"/"le"/"lo"/etc. Sometimes I'll read multiple pronouns before I even see what verb/verbs they're attached to, so it takes some effort (especially at first) to parse what's going on and figure out how the pronouns and verbs link up. Spanish logic and English logic are different. I enjoy Spanish, but certainly each language has its challenging bits, and I think that public schools do not go about the best way of teaching languages. I didn't like Spanish until I started practicing it outside of school.

Kudos to you both for acknowledging that even though the clickbait polyglot videos may be misleading, it can be potentially inspiring to beginners. I admit I was drawn in by those videos at first, but it did inspire me to learn more and eventually start my real language learning journey.

When I was in high school I used to be so impressed by the KZreadrs claiming to speak 12 different languages but now that I have gotten to a high intermediate/ advanced level in 2 languages I realize that I would personally much rather learn 3-4 languages over the course of my life and speak those really well rather than speak 10 or 12 languages poorly or at a very low level. Maybe that's just a personal preference.

@gotaro69

3 жыл бұрын

I have 1-German Goal:C1 2-French: Goal:C1 3-Spanish Goal:B2 4-Russian Goal:C1 5-Japanese Goal: B2 Reason i am learning All of this is because i love literature specially novels so i wanna enjoy them in their true language no matter what

@gotaro69

3 жыл бұрын

@@22_Briel-us6rh it is the CEFR:Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

@gotaro69

3 жыл бұрын

@@22_Briel-us6rh The CEFR organises language proficiency in six levels, A1 to C2, which can be regrouped into three broad levels: Basic User, Independent User and Proficient User

@angelicpapillon

2 жыл бұрын

I can understand that but alternately it can also be useful to know basic conversations in places like NYC where you may run into a lot of different people and languages. I studied French for many years and have used more Spanish (very basic phrases) in real world situations.

@c4yrr696

2 жыл бұрын

I love languages i feel like it would be cool to know basic self introductions in a while bunch of different languages but like knowing and focusing on a few like I speak English and Spanish Im currently learning Korean and Portuguese Next id like to learn Tagalog and Arabic (I'm not really looking to be like FLUENT) And MAYBE Chinese or Afrikaans of German y'know but that a big maybe

The problem with being a pretend polyglot is that you may initially inspire people to learn other languages but because you were basically lying to them you, in the end, end up totally turning them off due to the hard work that one needs to put in. I feel it does a huge disservice to those who honestly want to learn.

@roseforeuropa

2 жыл бұрын

I always try to discourage people from trying to learn a language unless they are fully committed daily and are willing to put in the time for many years. Too many people get motivated and think they will be fluent after using Duolingo for a few months but that is never the case. It's grueling, boring, and we all go through the phase of being discouraged, especially if it's our very first L2. Sadly, many people would rather believe that I'm just somehow gifted which is far from the truth. I've spent over 400 hours just to learn A2+ spanish but without the subjunctive and over 200 hours just to know A1 German but without the declensions or the split infinitives :(

@rocknroll909

2 жыл бұрын

@@roseforeuropa keep going, I'm right there with you. There's no deadline for fluency, you will get there when you get there. The most important thing is consistency; ever since I started making italki lessons a priority I'm already feeling a lot more comfortable in the language. I've been at it for over two years. Sigue adelante amigo

@roseforeuropa

Жыл бұрын

@@techtutorvideos I mean... I'm already pretty fluent in 日本語。There's no risk to injury if you study hardcore in a language, unlike the weight lifting analogy you used. If someone wants to attempt to learn Japanese for example, good luck. In my experience, about 90% of people who attempt it fail to become fluent and it's almost always because they didn't know how much effort it would take. That time attempting to study, then quit was a waste of time in my opinion. It's like people who want to be a navy SEAL then realize how difficult it is and that the dropout rate is around 85%. You really have to know what you're getting into before potentially wasting time.

@roseforeuropa

Жыл бұрын

@@techtutorvideos Yes, wasting 100s of hours and not achieving fluency is not better than wasting zero hours and not achieving fluency. If someone one wants to impress their family and friends with a few cringy (and incorrect) phrases such as こにちわ！(total cringe due to lack of ん, and incorrect particle), and be an anime nerd, fine. If someone is serious and wants to achieve fluency, then spending 100s of hours to not get there is a total waste. Let's not give people false hope. Language acquisition is not an easy journey, if it was, I would have mastered the subjunctive and future perfect in Spanish by now.

@rtj6874

Жыл бұрын

@@techtutorvideos Yup. Because pretending will lead to inspiring people into believing it's easy. Then they will be smacked upside the head with the dirty smelly rotten mackerel of truth.

I’m lucky to have found your channel early on, instead of one of these fake jokers. Your hard work and skill is amazing and inspiring. Keep on learning and guiding others!

Finally someone said it. I'm so tired of people saying they speak something when all they know is a few phrases or small talk. I speak a few languages but I also say clearly that I speak 3 fluently, one intermediate level and one I can understand but can't speak. The whole "I speak a language" when they cant is so annoying. I always tell people to say "I need to run upstairs real quick to get bread that grandma gave me for my friend". If they can't say it, they can't speak the language. It's a lie. As someone who speaks french fluently, I always find these polyglots bad at it. However I do disagree with the writing part. I knew someone who lived in Japan for 5 years and was totally fluent but couldn't write. Some people focus so much on writing 400 kanji, but don't know the sentence structure, or basic adjective. My kanji isn't great but I can ask for help reading it.

@aricin

Жыл бұрын

日本語をしらない, however I manage to boast as a trilingual living in Russia. Sometimes I hate myself for capitalizing on those 50 hours I tried japanese, and I feel like I'm not the only one who feels that about them, even not considering languages, I can fake tons of stuff like I'm good at it for someone who has no clue. I have 50 hours in JavaScript, 50 hours in japanese, thousands in english, better than average Russians' russian, goes for maths, physics, games, you name it... Now I want to kill myself, because I'm only good at pretending to be so.

@AylaMarianna

Жыл бұрын

@@aricin Sounds more like you're experiencing impostor syndrome! 'Cause in reality, what you "have" are the basics that you can build on-a foundation upon which more information & knowledge can be attached to. And that's not "pretending to be good", that's being GOOD ENOUGH to go even further & deeper.

@FelixO20

Жыл бұрын

​@@aricinI sympathize with what you said because I often feel the same way. However you shouldn't be so hard on yourself because the thing you describe naturally comes with having a lot of different interests. You only have so much time in a day and you simply can't be great at everything, it's just not possible.

@moonslave90

8 ай бұрын

Imagine effectively rendering yourself an illiterate in the country you move to. That honestly sounds like a nightmare to me.

thank GOD for this video. these “polyglots” got me feeling real insecure for struggling at a language for 6 years and still feeling like i suck

@CallmeXtina80

3 жыл бұрын

please keep trying! It is totally normal to get frustrated or to have a hard time forming your own sentences. You will get there eventually :)

@SparklesNJazz

3 жыл бұрын

@@CallmeXtina80 thank you i really appreciate it ❤️❤️

@haeymzmdlcccc

3 жыл бұрын

Same

@DanteOokami

3 жыл бұрын

My Dad would always remind me that learning language is like walking up a mountain. You think you're going good and you're rising and then all of a sudden you drop, only to climb up again, then to drop. And you're going, "But WHY!?" You can do it; quality not quantity when it comes to languages. Example, I can always say, "Oh, I know five languages," When in reality, I speak one fluently, one semi-fluently, one basic level, one like a baby, and the fifth one I can't even read that well let alone speak it.

@j-t4436

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I have been learning Spanish for 6 month, and one of these guys appeared to be better than me after 7 days. Really made me think that maybe languages just weren’t for me.

Non-Japanese who say they can speak the language tend to mean they can order food in a restaurant, or hold a simple conversation. People who have got much further along the road than that tend to be more cautious, less likely to claim fluency, more aware that, despite all that they know, there is still more that they don’t know.

@OrientalPearl

3 жыл бұрын

That’s right. Ordering food is the simplest thing to do in another language.

@7sea

3 жыл бұрын

My Chinese friend said he spoke restaurant Chinese

@loveexposure3351

3 жыл бұрын

This is me with Russian and Spanish

@luminareflare4914

3 жыл бұрын

It's the Dunning-Krueger effect.

@loneneotank.5687

3 жыл бұрын

there is always more you can know about your own language too,like japan has like 50,000 kanji,i don't think they can remember all those characters,and i'm a english native level and i like to learn rarely used words in my language.

I had a French teacher in high school that was a polyglot. Dude spoke like six languages which is nuts. He was an awful teacher though. Just goes to show that just because you know it doesn't mean you can teach it

@ZootBurger

Жыл бұрын

Haha! Same here... Back in 1977, our secondary school French teacher Mr Bladon was fluent in seven languages, and was also an accomplished pianist and basso profundo singer, but he hadn't the slightest clue about how to control a class! It was very easy to distract him away from the lesson in hand, and he was very popular with staff and kids alike. 🙂

Thanks for this. Especially when he said "talent isn't really that relevant." I remember one of the real polyglots (I think David Kaufman) saying this same thing. He actually said talent only speeds up the process by 3-6 months, after this, it is just time and practice. I have actually studied two languages, and can agree with this. When I was learning Albanian earlier this year, everyone was like wow, your so good. Then after about 3 months of lessons, the acquisition tapered off. Same when I started learning Czech about 6 years ago. Now, it is just time and practice, and unfortunately, I don't put the time in either, so both have plateaued. But heres to hoping the rest of this year I spend more time studying Czech.

I'm very impressed by Matt's Japanese speech. He sounds like a native Japanese speaker. I can say this since I grew up in Japan.

@ayszhang

2 жыл бұрын

Not native level. He makes consistent intonation errors throughout, and there's a major pitch error for the word yesterday "kinou." That sentence was translated from English anyways and isn't very natural at all in Japanese. His words don't flow from one to the next, and he doesn't reduce certain sounds as a native would. Also many consonants are not exactly accurate either ... The list goes on :) Seems like your ears aren't so sensitive

@BrendanishLeo

2 жыл бұрын

@Akira S you seem to have a strong distaste for people who learn languages, my partner is a native Japanese who moved to the US 3 years ago, I showed her Matt and she didn't believe he wasn't born and raised in Japan. It's fine to say he isn't perfect, but it doesn't seem debatable that he's essentially native level, considering natives also frequently fail to speak their language perfectly.

@joshuddin897

2 жыл бұрын

But he is not a polyglot

@MrJerrylu2424

2 жыл бұрын

Matt sounds very good speaking Japanese. Let us praise his commitment, motivation and skill to learn Japanese. I am still learning, my wife is Japanese and its very difficult for me. Kudos to Matt! Bravo to Anming also! I am a native mandarin chinese speaker and I understand her. As long as you can communicate who cares for the pronunciations or errors they making the effort to communicate and that alone is commendable!

@BrendanishLeo

2 жыл бұрын

@@MrJerrylu2424 I wish you the best of luck! Matt's Japanese is near amazing, you're a native Mandarin speaker, so English is second language to you? Anyone who goes out of their way to learn a second language, let alone a third deserves praise :)

I’m glad I’m not the only one who sees this. I can’t stand those “polyglots” who only know beginner level phrases. It’s so easy to tell if someone is actually proficient in a language. It makes me appreciate true polyglots even more.

@kviaak7979

Жыл бұрын

Any KZread "polyglot" speaking Finnish has always made me feel kind of sad. Their grammar is bad, their pronunciation is bad and there is no doubt they don't know how the language works but have learned some basic phrases and kind of guess what people say to them. But yet you should compliment them because they are learning such a difficult language and are "interested" in your culture, even if they only do it for the views and likes (money).

I loved the concept of “the fluency illusion” by Matt. It used to happen to me, I would watch and believe they could speak all these languages. Then I tried learning some of them, some just a bit…. and wow the shock! When I checked again, they were not even trying hard enough, not even B1 level stuff… This gave me a lot of reassurance in my own abilities and methods. Great video!!

Interesting what you say about native speakers reaction in Japan and China, because as an L2 French speaker I have had almost the opposite experience. French people expect foreigners (specifically anglophone foreigners) to speak French, but badly. When they hear me speak they ask me things like "why don't you have an accent" or make surprised comments that I don't sound American. I only got compliments on my French when I was at a very high level. Interesting how expectations really influences reactions.

The most prosperous "polyglot" on YT is Xiaomanyc, as we all know, who never claims to be a polyglot! He always says that he knows "just a little" of each language that he features, even when he is fully fluent in some. He mentions that that he has been studying Mandarin for 10 years! He doesn't have 4 million subs by accident. He is humble, very talented and the real thing.

@wenley5303

3 жыл бұрын

he is the one who inspired me to learn Mandarin im planning to go to China in 2023 Inshallah 🇨🇳🌚

@KnowYourChi

3 жыл бұрын

@@Jess-737 i heard he passed away... so sad Edit: i've been helpfully (and quite a few times) informed that this is not the case. It was Laoshu (Moses) who passed away in March 2021. Keeping this comment here because of the replies; take care!

@fruticetum

3 жыл бұрын

Actually, every video of his features these inaudible natives allegedly saying how 'amazing' he is.

@_VISION.

3 жыл бұрын

I wonder why this one didn't get a like from the uploader

@himasf

3 жыл бұрын

@@_VISION. It's very telling, isn't it?

I'm Brazilian, every time some polyglot speaks in Portuguese we understand because in our culture there is a huge ability to deduce things, even speaking wrong we will know what you want to speak, people speak Spanish we understand what they want to say even don't knowing Spanish, if you speak in a broke Portuguese missing The conjugation and words we will say "you spoke well" because we are happy only to have someone speak our language and we support the person in learning

@claudiadeviena

3 жыл бұрын

I am learning Brazilian Portuguese and I can only agree with what you said. Always a pleasure talking to Brazilians. 🥰

@erikaInDR

3 жыл бұрын

I went to Brazil with broken Spanish 🤦🏽‍♀️

@iagobroxado

3 жыл бұрын

This illustrates what most Brazilians act and think like when meeting a foreigner speaking Portuguese (or trying to) very very well. Heck, sometimes people only do mimics and we go like "oh sure, I understand what you mean" with all patience in the world.

@user-ru1rw9hc7b

3 жыл бұрын

Aí.. Agora entendi porque a gente sempre me tinha dito "Vc fala muito bem!" kkk

@manofiske3318

3 жыл бұрын

"Portuguese" is [ Lol ] ...like Spanish, merely, a dialect of vulgar Latin.

I learned Spanish for about 6 months and was really enjoying it. Usually 2-3 hours a day and was improving very well. Then I had some family and work problems and couldn't put the time in. Within 3 months of stopping I could barely remember anything. It can get boring if you are not regularly having conversations and just listening, repeating and writing it. A bit like learning music theory, scales, modes etc without having an instrument to practice on.

I’ve been “studying” Japanese for 22 years. I watch anime, movies and read and listen to books in Japanese. But I can’t keep up with a normal conversation in Japanese. I’m sure that’ll change quick if I could stay in Japan for a while. But I can’t afford that. I can get by in many languages but I’m not the definition of a polyglot. These KZreadrs are cute to watch but I feel so bad for their “victims” lol 😅

@OrientalPearl

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your comment. Have you considered getting a tutor twice a week? That’s gotten me on track with learning Korean.

@lilygreen221

Жыл бұрын

Im shure you are better than you think, ganbareee

@Freakazoid12345

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, I grew up speaking German and my family moved to America when I was a kid and I've found it's can be almost impossible to learn a language without being surrounded by natives to practice with.

@g60force

Жыл бұрын

@@OrientalPearl agreed make he can exchange his language in order to EARN a tutor.... like for example if he can do GERMAN-ENGLISH fluent and helps someone ... the perhaps that person can help him with ENGLISH-JAPANESE

@helenHTID

7 ай бұрын

Studying Japanese for 22 years? I would expect you to hold a conversation by now! Maybe not native level as you have not experienced Japanese culture, But you don't need to, to learn a language. I guess this all depends on how serious you have taken this subject and if you have been frustrated over the years? Have you ever taken up any professional tutoring, Had tutoring in your school days, Or have you just been doing this on your own back?

"The positive about these polyglot channels is that it encourages people to learn another language." As long as they're not telling you how to learn, I like this

@KristinGrady

3 жыл бұрын

This truly the best part of promoting these polyglot channels. This is a globalized world and learning other languages helps people understand other cultures from a different level.

@oreradovanovi5204

3 жыл бұрын

I dissagree, it may give false expectations, especially since that there is a myth that learning a language comes out " naturally" just one needed to " want to.." as this hies for all self help up to curing cancer, " just let yourself be..." And the rest will mysteriously unfold.

@KristinGrady

3 жыл бұрын

@@oreradovanovi5204 I don’t believe it comes naturally for most people. It’s damn hard work learning another language, but if you truly study it as you learn then you start to understand the culture, even if just at a simple level.

@amphibeingmcshpongletron5026

3 жыл бұрын

@@oreradovanovi5204 Acquiring a language is different from learning one. One comes more naturally from hanging around native speakers. One comes from intense study. Guess who tend to become conversational faster? People who hang out or work with people who speak another language and have the intention of communicating with them. It's a different style. You think babies and children bury themselves in textbooks? That's helpful for improving vocabulary and deepening your ability to use grammar correctly and whatnot. Being able to understand and be understood, while making plenty of forgivable mistakes, is quite possible through "natural" acquisition. That said, if you hope to become fluent, you will need to put the work in to studying. People act like being able to casually converse is a bad thing and shows a lack of discipline or even disrespect for the people you're talking to. I think that's rubbish. If you see someone speaking simple phrases and think you can become fluent in no time by doing the same thing, you're a fool. Those videos are entertaining, not instructive, and I think most people know that.

@cassandraandrews6656

3 жыл бұрын

I agree I also like the fact that many are self taught because sometimes the problem is not so much the student but how languages are taught in school which is why people often study a language for several years in school but never learn to speak it.

I don't think enough people realize that there is great pride to be found in acknowledging that you are still learning and practicing. Rather than needing to look like the smartest and trendiest polyglot (who can't speak beyond the first chapter of a Rick Steve's pocket phrasebook), there's a lot of merit to be found in foregoing the show-off video and, instead, uploading your real-life practice sessions. I would love to find more channels with "Mandarin Speaking Practice, Day 39" or "Japanese Shadowing Practice, Week 12" because it's a far more realistic guide to what someone can expect to achieve in that same amount of time. These weird exhibitions of people rapidly cycling through 14 different languages in one video feels like the linguistic equivalent of trying to be the prettiest and richest girl on the first day of school :')

@raeannuria5691

2 жыл бұрын

BROVO!! 👍👍👍

@ArielaShines

2 жыл бұрын

OMG Rick Steve's travel guides HAHHAHAHAHHA

@avocado5387

Жыл бұрын

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

@5Gazto

Жыл бұрын

The last analogy was bizzare, but, yeah, it's better to be authentic. There is so much fakery everywhere because people that shouldn't have access to potentially enriching technology abuses of it.

@petedavis7970

Жыл бұрын

I was actually reading a blog or maybe watching a KZread video years ago by a polyglot and he said he never says that he "knows" a language. He always says that he's "learning" a language. I thought that was really humble and cool.

Wouter Corduwener is the first one that comes to mind; he studies a set of words that are most used and says a lot of gibberish in between and pauses so he would appear fluent. Let him hold up a conversation for an hour in that language about a real topic instead of just "hey how are you, you also speak [...], wow I studied this language for..."

@Camila-db1oi

Жыл бұрын

I'm sure he can't have a conversation for 10min

@tinylittleanj2

Жыл бұрын

I was wondering about this one. I watched his polyglot talking to a polyglot video the other day, and the subtitles said things like “are you doing that tomorrow” or “would you like a drink” which I thought were weird to throw in the middle of a conversation that he was trying to have. In my opinion, if you were switching languages during a conversation it should just be a continuation of the same conversation but in a different language. If you have established the basic greetings during a conversation you don’t keep looping back to them… Dunno. Interesting though.

@cedric871

Жыл бұрын

@@tinylittleanj2 You're right, I had the same with Russian, I understand it, can read it but speaking is difficult (no opportunity) but I can def recognize when someone is either faking it or saying a few words and gibberish in between. So yeah you're def right in that, even those without fluently speaking a language can detect whether you're faking it or just talking basics with gibberish

@Herr_Flick_of_ze_Gestapo

Жыл бұрын

His native language is Dutch. He claims to speak Afrikaans ( a sister language) but even his Afrikaans pronunciation is absolutely terrible

@zakmorris7023

Жыл бұрын

I think he’s very good at recognising which language is being spoken to him and then he always says something like I speak X, I love X I have friends from X etc and that’s his main patter

I found your channel by pure change and I appreciate you bringing up this topic. Thanks for being forthcoming and transparent.

Technically, those "polyglots" do speak many languages....at a beginner level. No, you are not gonna learn Spanish in 6 months. No, you didn't learn Portuguese in 7 days.

@Gadottinho

3 жыл бұрын

I had like 4 years of spanish classes, already speaking portuguese and I can't speak Spanish at all.

@Crossword131

3 жыл бұрын

Is that accurate? I was under the impression that a true polyglot speaks 6+ languages at a solid proficiency level.

@antoniorodrigues1345

3 жыл бұрын

Even for us ( Brazilian and spanish speakers) who share about 70/80 percent of the same words It takes a lot of time to achive fluency ( like 3/4 years of hard work) the same amount of time for french and italian,not to mention the pronounciation. By the way ( we came from the latin). I' ve been studying english for fourteen months Now .can understand you pretty well ,but... I guess I still have a long road to Go If I want to say to myself ( I nailed It) 😀😀

@AnnM223

3 жыл бұрын

As an English speaker you can totally learn Spanish in six months. It’s an easy language. But you have to be committed.

@bluechiefawesome5587

3 жыл бұрын

@@AnnM223 There’s a distinction in what "fluency" actually entails. Both a 12 years Mexican kid and a University teacher from that same country are fluent in Spanish but the level is definitely not the same. When you see a KZread polyglot speak 10 languages and such, their level of fluency is that of a native child. It's good enough for small talk but nothing more. I'm sorry but if an Hispanic came up to you and spoke with his natural speed, expressions and accent, you'd be quickly overwhelmed. There’s absolutely no way your 6 month of Spanish can handle a native machine-gunning you with words at a speed he has been practicing his/her whole life.

Thank you for shedding more light on this topic

@OrientalPearl

3 жыл бұрын

It needed to be said.

I think a really constructive thing to do would be for you and Matt to review language videos and point out what is good advice and what is not and explain why. You can either feature the video or just analyze it in the background and share some "general" tips and what to do and what not to do if you want to avoid potential drama. This will help beginners spot useful videos and videos that may be detrimental to their learning process.

This video is really helpful. Thank you. I always thought too that learning any language takes many years, but after seeing people learning two or three, I started questioning my original belief. Now I'm sure that I was right, and I don't have to feel bad about that.

Being a very passionate person about learning languages to a high level and discovering the culture along with it. When I see a fake polyglot speaking one of "my languages" poorly pretending to be fluent, it really upsets me, because theres so much that a language can teach you and allow you to discover, it aint just a party trick

@johndoe-cb1xg

3 жыл бұрын

You must have a good life being able to get upset about that, or maybe you're just a prick believing to be the grand master of languages. I would assume the last one 😂

some people isn't even fluent, or "eloquent" in their own language, even a second language that you use everyday will have a point where you don't know a word or make a grammar mistake. Legit language learners all agree on this: Learning a language is hard, it requires a lot of dedication, motivation and lots of time and effort.

@Ryosuke1208

3 жыл бұрын

Some people aren't*

This is so interesting! Never even thought to think about that. But it totally makes sense. I love what you do and I’ve followed you for a bit now. And now I’m going to follow Matt vs Japan.

I really appreciate this so much. I didn't realize how much these people online had distorted my perception of what language learning is like for most people. I'm learning Korean, and despite all the progress I've made in the past few years, I've been feeling super discouraged after comparing myself to people who seemingly master languages like it's nothing. It's a great reminder that this is not often the case, and you can be easily deceived by what you see online. I agree with what other people have said, I'd love to see more people online showcasing the reality of how they actually learned their mastered languages-- what classes they took, what textbooks they used, what strategies they used when they lacked motivation and didn't want to study-- and then not try to sell anything.

I think speaking a lot of languages at a basic level for the sake of making anyone that you run into feel human (especially in the and UK where there are a lot of immigrants but mostly english speaking white people) has a lot of value. I speak several languages kind of poorly, but I find that people really enjoy being able to communicate in their own tongue even if you don't speak fluently. So where I would not qualify as a true polyglot, I think being able to communicate with anyone is a valuable skill as well.

@craigllacour649

3 жыл бұрын

Who even cares. As long as you can have a basic conversation. The majority of Americans don't speak proper English but they get through life just fine.

@tehblizz

3 жыл бұрын

Sure, the difference is that you aren't selling courses online!

@suzannejones6627

3 жыл бұрын

@@tehblizz true

@Layorgenla

3 жыл бұрын

I 100% agree. Its very respectful for us, as native English speakers, to learn another language rather than expecting everyone else to learn English for us. It makes them feel more comfortable being able to speak in what they feel most confident in and it is so refreshing to find that someone has taken the time to learn how yo communicate with you. In my personal opinion, it just shows how much that person cares if they dedicate that much time and effort if only to ask basic questions and hold a short conversation with the person and I think that's beautiful and so important that more English speakers do this

@existenceispain2074

3 жыл бұрын

you know, other than English speakers, they get irritated easily if you do not speak good English even in the countries that English is not the native language, some English native speakers, as foreigners expect people to speak good English to them. ok I am not saying all native English speakers is like that, just want to vent a little.

I love this video. My skepticism meter goes up when I hear "you can learn a language in a month." Really bro? I speak fluent Spanish, and I'm still learning, and that didn't come easy.

@samaraisnt

Жыл бұрын

RIGHT! But "Spanish is the EaSiEsT language to learn!' Like, really Gringo? That why you sound like a 2 year old who still can't roll their R's? 🤣 That easy illusion holds them back from actually developing/ not knowing they sound like mierda. No offense but it's trueee

@catsnekos5002

Жыл бұрын

Yeah same here…. Im a French and almost English native. Even for me (as someone who already knew very well a latin language) it took me years to speak correctly.

Thank you both for pointing out this issue. You have courage and strength. Also, a lot of persistence to take your deep dives into language. May you find the key to big bank for your honesty.

At 8:23 you described me. Thank you! I am a legitimate polyglot and am working on putting out more non-English videos without feeling like a dumbass while I do so. I love using KZread in other languages to retain it in my brain. I am going to attend a few virtual Toastmasters groups in Germany, Spain and Hungary because in the American chapters, they are fabulous. The German ones I attended in 2020 were so interesting and fun. Real conversations. Real people. I can’t imagine giving lessons on KZread in another language. I’d have to do that in person, and even then I’d have a hard time enjoying it (unless I’m tutoring one-on-one). So kudos to you teachers! I’m first generation American and can appreciate those who studied (and were raised in) other languages for so many years, like myself. Hard work but it becomes a part of you.

Yeah I also cringe every time someone pretend they "speak 20 languages" and all they can is to say few phrases in those languages, I was always like "come on, whom are trying to fool"

Growing up trilingual these "polyglotts" just made me feel like crap and I was ashamed that I could not speak/read/write one language 100%😂

@OrientalPearl

3 жыл бұрын

Matt and I believe that a lot of people feel discouraged from the videos because when they go to study the languages they can’t do it in 3 weeks like their KZread idols “seemingly” do.

@letiziaroselli9395

3 жыл бұрын

Honestly, same. German is my second language and when i was younger i had huge difficulties learning to write it properly. Seeing these “polyglots” just made me feel even worse

@kireidoll

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly this. Sure it's great speaking several languages without "effort", but not being able to express yourself comfortably ever is a bit depressing. Some people are trilingual and can indeed express every nuance with ease (orally), but then there's us who can't? XD I guess we aren't exactly gifted in languages, in opposition to what people think.

@kerryh3833

3 жыл бұрын

If it makes you feel better, even monolinguals probabaly don't know their language 100% 😉

@essennagerry

3 жыл бұрын

@@kireidoll To be completely frank, to express yourself comfortably even in your first language is something that you have to put effort into learning, as it doesn't come naturally to all natives. This is much more the case when your native languages are not one but three. I believe you're not supposed to be able to do it like magic, but having grown up with all three puts you in a really good position to learn that skill if you wanted to, for each of your languages. You're a solid above C2 at all three lol, they may all be far from perfect but getting into a solid C2 is no easy feat if you had to do it from scratch.

I can relate to so many topics you have touched. I have been learning Chinese for 8 years now and still don't see myself as fluent. I can have conversations about many everyday life topics and someone who doesn't know the language would probably think I am fluent, but there are so many situations where I am cannot understand or express something. Just today I tried to have a deeper conversation in Chinese and I was struggling with my too limited vocabulary. I'm not saying that it takes necessarily 8 years or more to become fluent - it also depends how much time you invest. But fluency in a sense to be able to have deep meaningful conversations about any topic in 30 days - I cannot believe that is realistic and I also somehow dislike such claims. I see how it discourages people around me because they know exactly they cannot do it - and then think they just don't have the talent for languages. I'm still getting reactions like "your Chinese is so good", even if I only say a simple sentence. If they really think my Chinese is so good, why do they tell me that in English and not in Chinese? So, I hope I will at some time get to the point that people don't tell me anymore that my Chinese is good, but just start a normal conversation in Chinese. What you say about skipping half the effort if you don't learn to write, i think it is true. But I kind of took the middle road. I learn to read, but not writing by hand. And I realize how much deeper the experience is being able to read Chinese characters.

Love your channel, started learning Japanese this year after a very embarrasing encounter at work. I worked at a famous museum in Amsterdam and they encouraged the staff to learn some opening phrases in several languages. So i knew a few basic sentences including a few Japanese ones and when a Japanese Family approached me i greeted them in Japanese and their Granny went of on a question spree in Japanese and i lost the plot after maybe the 2nd word she uttered. They quickly understood and were very apreciative for the effort to make them feel welcome but i decided then and there that would not happen to me again!

My Japanese instructor in college actually knew 11 languages, and he said of taking decades for them all to learn and be fluent in them. He also said he only considered himself a small linguist. A problem I have is of when trying to learn a language that no one around me knows, and so it just disappears as fast as I learn it, regrettably.

@bestrafung2754

2 жыл бұрын

That's the thing, it's possible to know 11 languages well, but it would take literally YEARS to do that. I've been learning Japanese for 7 years and I'm high intermediate, while I've been learning Korean for about 5 weeks. I know very well it's gonna take me a few years until my Korean is as good as my Japanese, but I'm humble enough to accept that. Heck, my Japanese isn't even truly "advanced" yet lmao.

when I first saw the thumbnail I thought Matt was being called out as a fake polyglot lol. I think one of the negative aspects of youtube language learning videos is that so much of the draw is seeing people get that extrinsic validation and not necessarily being inspired to learn a language because of interest in the language itself but a desire to receive that same kind of extrinsic validation. Early on when I was getting into chatting with native speakers in Japanese I was often thinking about what fancy words or expressions I could use to impress them and it pushed me towards learning those sorts of things rather than developing my overall ability to communicate and exchange ideas clearly. It turns language learning into a parlor trick instead of a means to get to know people and their culture better. I think that's one of the reasons why although I have a pretty decent vocabulary and know a lot of somewhat obscure or specialized words, there are a lot of holes in my Japanese ability where I struggle to say even really simple things. When it comes to youtube polyglots, they do something similar where the goal is to get a reaction, and maybe they learn some idioms and more traditional sayings to make their level seem higher than it actually is, not because they're bad people but because the way the youtube algorithm creates a financial incentive to make this sort of content.

@OrientalPearl

3 жыл бұрын

Ha ha, nope. Matt is very good at what he does.

@AConnorDN38416

3 жыл бұрын

@@OrientalPearl for sure, I've been following his language learning advice for a while now and it's helped me tremendously :)

@k.5425

3 жыл бұрын

@@AConnorDN38416 have you been using his MIA method? Which language are you studying?

@itsshrimpinabag9544

2 жыл бұрын

Well said, we all need to beware of the self-obsessed method of practicing where we are always trying to show off how amazing we are. . . I also was confused by the thumbnail haha!

Wouter Corduwener.... First ever polyglot I saw on youtube and I was stunned by his knowledge... I watched a few videos and in one of them he spoke Greek. I speak Greek natively. His level wasn't basic or amateur it was less than 30 words put together on repeat barely making any sense and masked as a "conversation" with another speaker. That was when I suspected that this might be the case with many of the other 20something languages he claims to speak. I looked for signs that I saw in greek in his use of other languages like constant stuttering, blank stare of the other speaker in response (Meaning that they couldn't make sense of what he was saying), constant repetition of words and very long pauses between sentences. And I noticed in almost every language he claimed he spoke except for two or three.... So yeah... :/

@giovanni-cx5fb

Жыл бұрын

LOL he's same with every language I know besides English (Spanish, Italian, German). I wonder whether he's actually fluent in anything besides Dutch and English.

@user-xs9hj2vz3g

Жыл бұрын

I ve just listened to his russian, it sounds fake tbh and at very low level.He himself said that only 6 of these languages he speaks fluently

@stefgelderblom6861

Жыл бұрын

yeah i heard the same in his french... (and that's a language we're taught in school as well in the netherlands)

@danielfarrell3534

Жыл бұрын

He spoke some Japanese to me and my wife when we ran into him selling his paintings at the windmills in the Netherlands. To be blunt...his Japanese sucked. Wasn't intelligible really, couldn't hold a conversation with me and my wife so puts my trust in his ability to speak other languages that I don't speak to a high level. Saw him in a video with Xiaoma interviewing him and his Japanese was still bad :/

@jerryenerva

Жыл бұрын

He just picks the common words he can to be able to put together a simple sentence. I am a filipino and his tagalog is composed of something in english like " I have never been to Ph and I want to visit soon, i learned this language with my friends" and thats it...its barely a conversation because he is somehow not "talking" to the person...

Great video! I have a rough idea of some of the channels you're referencing. I do like watching them even if they are only speaking introductory type conversations. It's still kind of cool to have atleast that much of a grasp (even if poorly) of many languages. I've only just found your channel and I find myself enjoying your conversations way way WAY more. You're so fluent that the interactions are more than just superficial. Superb! Thanks for your videos!

The higher your proficiency in a non-native language, the less likely you are to claim perfect fluency in it..is my experience.

@mohamedsaleh8138

3 жыл бұрын

Dunning Kruger effect

When I was a child, there was a TV show that has a segment that "unmasked" self proclaimed polyglots with native speakers asking them a random questions. This was like 30 years ago! I loved it. I wanted to learn so much languages and to me it was great that they unmasked the false ones and recognise the real ones, who used to spoke less languages, usually 3-4 tops. My mum has a polyglot friend. She's a lady in her 80's already, have lived all over the world and has experienced so much!

@bestrafung2754

2 жыл бұрын

Do you remember which show it was? I would love to see it!

@samaraisnt

Жыл бұрын

what was the show called in your original language? I'm also interested! :)

@chilenapromedioRU

Жыл бұрын

@@bestrafung2754 I think it was a segment in the Chilean version of "Sábados Gigantes", with Don Francisco, because I remember him being there. But there's a video here from the TV show "Viva el Lunes" where they put to test polyglot Ziad Fazah. It was the same kind of "test".

Your video came up in my KZread suggestions. I'm so glad you guys covered this topic as I've long been tired of watching those kinds of videos, that are purely about shock reactions... I also didn't get much out from them. Thankfully I have since found foreigners speaking particular languages and going around to speak to people and introducing what he is experiencing to his fan base, which is far more fascinating and I have been able to pick up some words and phrases in my target language.

I don’t have time to fully commit to learning a new language even though I reeeaaaally want to but I’m very skeptical when it comes to who I’m going to search to help me in that department Love your content Pearl and congratulations on the views!🎊

@myyoutubechannel6280

Жыл бұрын

search dr stephen krashen, if anyone. he’s an ACTUAL linguist.

I also think that this kind of content can be really discouraging to beginners. People will produce videos like “I learned x language in a week!” and beginners might hold themselves up to a standard that’s not realistic. Edit- they touched on this :)

@OrientalPearl

3 жыл бұрын

This is true. No one can learn a language well like that.

@JHuatuco

3 жыл бұрын

You are basically shouting out his name

@caromela2031

3 жыл бұрын

@@JHuatuco not really, there are several youtubers who have done this kind of video

@williamhogge5549

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I definitely hate those titles but that's a KZread sensationalist thing. To his credit, he usually shows his work (as math teachers say). He makes it clear that when he says he spent "15 hours learning...", that he crammed vocab and spent a lot time with tutors. He showed it more in some videos than others of course. I'm a fan... It is getting a bit ridiculous though. I'd like to see him take his more recent languages to a higher level before selling me more international cookies.

@caromela2031

3 жыл бұрын

@@williamhogge5549 Totally agree with you in a lot of ways! I just think a lot of what people portray on youtube is totally unrealistic and people don't really think about the fact that these KZreadrs essentially get paid to learn languages. Due diligence is so important, and knowing whats realistic for a person who has a job and priorities.

Prof. Arguelles does not get the recognition he deserves, because he is not focused on speaking like most fake polyglots, but rather learning to read and listen in order to consume literature, movies and other works of culture and the sciences etc. in their native language. The material he reads in a lot of languages is pretty advanced (I can vouch for my native German, as well as Russian and French that I both learned for a long time). He does not claim to speak all languages he studies, he just wants to create more access points to cultural and scientific knowledge for himself.

@imadelk5040

3 жыл бұрын

Prof Arguelles speaks Arabic at a very high and native-like level, he read Najib Mahfoud (Nobel prize winner)' s novels in Arabic and had a long, deep talk with an Arabic literature University professor.

@FOXMAN09

3 жыл бұрын

Oh this dude is legit for sure. Just look at his daily routine video and you can tell this guy is a high functioning autistic and uses that hyper focus power for language.

@sarak6860

3 жыл бұрын

I am not as smart as, or anywhere near as learned as, Prof. Arguelles. But like him, I am much more interested in developing very high listening and reading skills than in speaking. I love reading quality literature in the original languages.

@03e-210a

3 жыл бұрын

@@imadelk5040 same man when I saw him talking about Najib I couldn’t believe it because Najib’s books are a pain to read. Even though I grew up in Oman speaking Arabic my whole life, I sometimes need a dictionary to read Najib Mahfoud’s books

@emmad4308

3 жыл бұрын

@@FOXMAN09 yep and with autism when you are very interested in something, it stays in your brain super well. For example, I'm autistic, when I was 9-11 I was EXTREMELY interested in Australian native insects, which is a very normal interest for 9-11 year old girls (not). It was to the point that even though I don't have such an intense interest anymore, I can still identify a lot of Australian insects, even though it's been 10 years since I've gone over a lot of it. On the other hand, I can't remember my times tables at all. Like I got the autism but I'm shite at maths which is very rude of it tbh. I've done the posters in the bathroom and flash cards, it's just slipped out like a phone in a jean pocket. Might be the ungodly combo of both autism and ADHD though so my special interests tend to change more rapidly than someone with just autism, though I have kinda "core" interests that I regularly come back to. And no, Australian insects and bugs aren't part of that lmao.

Thank you for this! I have been struggling learning Portuguese, incorporating various methods, and kept telling my teacher I must be really bad at languages because after 5 months I was still at a fairly basic level, she said I was making very good progress, but it didn't feel like it. I remember watching a "Polyglot" KZreadr with my Brazilian friend who told me that the KZreadr's Portuguese and Spanish was poor, but it really didn't click with me until watching this video.

Thank you for your video. It made me think of a few youtubers that do this. It makes me feel better about obly speaking one language. But also i want to say that even if they are fake polyglots they have for sure inspired me to keep at learning my irish and their videos do get me amped up and inspired to keep going. Thanks again for the video ❤

Anming: “A simple introduction isn’t a lot” Mandarin learners: 👁👄👁

@SmallSpoonBrigade

2 жыл бұрын

TBH, it really isn't if that's what you're training for, and you don't worry about being able to write it up front. You can choose to include things that are easy to say and memorize the relevant words. If you're in a place where they're speaking the languages, you're going to get to say the same things over and over again. From what I remember of the PRC, they tended to want to know where you were from, whether or not you were married and what your job is. You would then add onto that anything in particular that you wanted them to know, and you'd say it so many times that you could rattle it off fluently before too long. Even without effective language instruction, I managed to learn enough over the course of a few months to get around on my own. The amount of Mandarin you really need for most things is a lot less than you'd think. Obviously, there's a ton of things that I couldn't do, but I could get around the country, get myself fed. If a taxi would actually stop for me, I could take a cab. Most of the time they wouldn't stop for me, so I wound up taking the bus a lot, or just walking places. Whenever possible, I would prelearn the vocab that I needed to conduct my business and pray to every available god that they wouldn't ask me something I didn't know or that there would be no problems with the task. If I really needed to, I'd mime things out. That was nearly 10 years ago and I didn't have Pleco to help smooth things out either.

@ArielaShines

2 жыл бұрын

Legit LOL I am still stuck in the classics. LOL

@frankozrin5611

2 жыл бұрын

Well, a simple introduction in Mandarin is at the end not that hard, as long as you dont have to "write" it 😂😂😂

I like how you get into character when speaking Japanese. Bowing and nodding constantly.

@k.5425

3 жыл бұрын

Yh, it's really cool to see. I think when you get into a culture so much and especially with the language you tend to add those subtilities like hand gestures, certain facial expressions etc.

@cazkiwinz4300

3 жыл бұрын

Don’t forget the giggling

@AngelGarcia-lx9jz

3 жыл бұрын

Speaking certain language you switch to a different personality, for sure. People can be weirded out you are just a different person.

@bunnyrabi

3 жыл бұрын

Its not so much get into character. It's like... imagine speaking Chinese with both American Standard English accent and American Standard English mannerisms, it really doesn't fit well, and in fact can actually drag down your conversational skills. I don't know any professional words, but when learning another language if you purposely ignore the accent and mannerisms that come naturally when speaking in the environment for awhile can really be bad. When I lived in China I had a high school teacher that lived and worked as a counselor in the school for years and had family, however after all these years he still kept his American accent when speaking Chinese and it really caused people (including me) to not know what he is saying, he didn't realize I think that people had to really strain to get what he is saying. So if your language teacher is talking a lot about culture and accents/pronunciations, don't ignore those topics XD without them you will never be able to speak clearly and accurately enough.

@mavsworld1733

3 жыл бұрын

When everyone around you is doing it you learn to to, because otherwise you feel silly not fitting in.

I was a NATO Advisor in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the only American in the building. My coworkers were either Austrian, Italian, Czechoslovakian, Slovakian, or Turkish. I know basic Spanish and I took it upon myself to say good morning and thank you in each of their languages. After a while I perfected the accent. But those are the only words I knew. They were so proud of me.

Always gives me a great feeling to see compatriots such as you speaking difficult languages so well...

I was just waiting for a collab between you and Matt Vs. Japan! And thank you for calling this stuff out, this has been my biggest frustration with these "polyglots" on KZread.

@OrientalPearl

3 жыл бұрын

It's been that way for Matt and I too.

there are really two sides to this argument. There are a lot of bullshitters in the polyglot community. And you can pick them out quickly. I'm cautious anytime I see a twenty year old that claims to speak six languages. The immediate question is how well do you speak? You can discount the more extravagant claims. But several of the polyglot youtubers I watch are quite clear that they want to speak a lot of languages at B1/B2 level. they are mostly just interested in communicating with lots of people from different cultures at a low level. there is nothing wrong with having a specific goal like this. The problem comes when you begin to mislead people. But not everyone does this.

@sofitocyn100

Жыл бұрын

I agree with you. This said, b1 and b2 levels are actually fluent levels. Sure, you won't be able to give a philosophical speech in that language, or understand the medical terms in a series like House or defend yourself in court. You get my drift. But you will most likely succeed in saying almost everything you need and want. Intermediate and upper intermediate levels are no low at all. C1 (let alone c2) take years and years of daily practice to reach. Probably a dozen. The higher you get in the scale, the harder it is to make fast progress. There is a difference between being fluent and being so sophisticated that you could be hired instead of a native for the same job. When you are hired abroad for something else but your mothertongue, you know your level is very very good. But until you reach that level, you remain intermediate. And that's good enough to live decently by being able to express yourself without feeling overwhelmed.

@elaffairwittgenstein.7791

Жыл бұрын

so b1 or b2 is not enought to be considered a polyglot? a I think it is enough to understand, for example, all the content of this video, that is, to communicate in non-artificial contexts

@staciestudies4177

Жыл бұрын

B2 is very much a fluent level. Also age doesn't mean anything when it comes to how many languages you know.

I watched a polyglot girl claiming that she spoke 14 languages. My native language is portuguese, and one of the languages she's spoke through the video was portuguese. She seemed like she had rehearsed it, but I can't tell if she was faking it, because according to some english speakers that is learning my language, they claim that words in portuguese isn't easy to pronounce, so IDK... I love japanese. I wish I could speak it, but I'm learning english first and it's been a hard path

This was so necessary to say. I've seen these pathetic videos posted by people claiming to be polyglots but all they can do is stumble through rudimentary greetings. The irony is some of them are selling language courses!

In defence of non-fluency: I just want to greet my girlfriend's parents in Japanese, I would like to be involved with my French coworkers' conversations, I want to understand the Latin phrases we use in English. For none of these things is fluency relevant.

@SpencerYonce

2 жыл бұрын

@Akira S I disagree. If someone tries to speak another language, regardless of their level, I will always immediately try to speak it with them.

@njuvanrui2951

2 жыл бұрын

Agreed. And linguists may know a huge amount number of different languages without having to be fluent in any or the most of them, while still being really knowing those languages better than some native speakers. If you can write awesome poem in, say, Italian, and your readers who are Italian native speakers can appreciate it. No one cares whether you use your own brain or a printed table or a programmed software to conjugate verbs...I guess.

@Kikan319

2 жыл бұрын

@Akira S You do understand you're a very good example of someone of what NOT to do, right? You don't do that to someone just b/c you are too impatient. I bet if people gave up on you you wouldn't have gotten anywhere either. People who are trying should be spoken to in a way that helps them. Not tell them to f off in a passive aggressive way. You're better off not learning the language and speaking to anyone if that's your attitude towards people who are honestly trying. Would you do the same thing to a young kid that speaks it natively and is still learning? You're a douche my guy.

@da96103

2 жыл бұрын

"I would like to be involved with my French coworkers' conversations." Don't. The rest, carry along.

@scusachannel1682

2 жыл бұрын

@@njuvanrui2951 Linguists know *about* a huge number of different languages, they can describe them and how they work. This doesn't mean that they actually know how to speak them, even at a beginner level. My linguistics professor knows that Russian has the verb in the past tense specify the gender of the subject, but she doesn't speak a word of it.

Great video. I studied French for years and lived in France but still cringe hearing myself speak French. I went to a restaurant with friends and was perfectly happy ordering but I was the last person to order and the person before me ordered exactly what I wanted. They all ordered in broken French or English. I said “bah...même choses pour moi.” The waiter assumed then that I was French and everyone was impressed. I basically said “same thing.” It’s very easy to appear much more fluent than you are in the right situation with the right phrase. Luckily, I could keep up with the rapid fire conversation that followed, but at the end of it he did say “sorry, I just assumed that you were French due to your eye rolling and ease with saying ‘I will have what he had.’ 😂

@user-hh5bx8xe5o

2 жыл бұрын

By the way, a native French speaker would have said "la même chose pour moi".

@appleslover

2 жыл бұрын

Language isn't just words and grammar but also gestures, body language etc.

@lawtraf8008

2 жыл бұрын

@@user-hh5bx8xe5o tg, comportement typique des francais

@lawtraf8008

2 жыл бұрын

It's okay, don't worry. I bet your french is really good

@gabbisss

2 жыл бұрын

I'm a French native and I could have said "même chose pour moi". You can drop the "la", it doesn't sound weird.

It is definitely very inspiring and exciting for people to see the videos where the polyglots (real and fake ones) are speaking multiple languages. But learning the language, even to the conversational level is hard (I mean in real life, when you have to communicate with real native speakers, and not just some self-talk by which you could literally just write down everything and memorize the words), cause the listening comprehension is the most difficult part! I have been learning German for a while and have finished my C1 course, and I thought I was quite good at the language. But as I went into the real German world, where I had to USE German at work, I realized how difficult it really is. To be able to just understand what native speakers are really saying (like real communication, not just “talking-to-a-foreigner” mode) would take years of work….

My daughter studied Japanese language and Asian studies and just finished grad school and is now teaching foreign language students at University and she tells me all the time she isn't fluent. She can communicate in Japanese with Japanese people and read and write Kanji, Katakana and Hirigana but says she isn't quite fluent. When she says this it reminds me of my bilingual English-Spanish friends who I always thought were fully bilingual until native Spanish speakers told me otherwise. Its important to be sure that who you learn from really knows the language, just think how someone would sound if they learned English from someone who barely spoke it.

Omg! I just rewatched Nathanial Drew’s video called “I learned Italian in 7 days”. For the first time i watched it i didn’t speak Italian, a year ago so i thought he sounded very fluent. Then I did erasmus in Italy and studied italian for 9 months almost everyday now i’m able to understand pretty good but bad at speaking. So I rewatched the video and i was sooo disappointed by him, he sounded very very beginner level and it must be pretty easy for him since his native language is Spanish! oh gosh... just sad. Implying that he learned italian in 7 days is just disrespectful to other italian speakers who studied it for a long time yet struggles a lot, not giving up.

@livavapa

3 жыл бұрын

Watch his other videos speaking Italian and you'll feel better.

@OneBiteoftheCherry

3 жыл бұрын

His native language is Spanish? Thought he was American??

@rarelyuse4107

3 жыл бұрын

@@OneBiteoftheCherry his native language isnt spanish he learned spanish in argentina when he was already pretty gorwn up when living with some old narcissist who mentally damaged him

@ayszhang

2 жыл бұрын

At the beginning of that video, he had already a basic grasp of Italian... He improved his Italian in 7 days more like

@bodigames

2 жыл бұрын

did you know its easier for an Italian to learn Spanish than it is for a Spaniard to learn Italian?

I have been calling people out for this for some time now. Everyone called me a hater. Its not that I'm a hater, but I don't like being lied to. It is impressive to know very basic level of multiple languages, however it isn't cool to pretend you're fluent. (To profit from illusion)

I've been studying Scottish Gaelic for over a year, now. The grammar is very difficult, and I still speak at a beginner's level, but I am determined .to speak it fluently. I have no interest in being a polyglot or deceiving people about my level of fluency, I am learning Gaelic because I love the language. David