Moving abroad like Derek can be a great way to immerse yourself, but it's NOT a requirement! See how this guy got fluent in Japanese while living in the US! 👉🏼 kzread.info/dash/bejne/hmmcwbmdoa2dpLQ.html

@billyingles

2 жыл бұрын

Hi Olly, could you please interview Paul Soderquist about how he learned Hiligaynon. He has been really helpful with providing resources for this rare Philippine language. He is a Mormon former missionary too. He's really nice so I bet he would talk to you.

@Orion1205

2 жыл бұрын

Hello, Olly I have recently started listening to your Russian stories book through audible and I was wondering with your whole thing being about listening while reading along why the pdf that comes with the audio only has questions and reference stuff? I was really hoping to be able to read along to it while listening.

@bokyoungjulieko

Жыл бұрын

Im Korean and I’m very impressed that Derek has no accent when he speaks Korean. He speaks like how we speak. Well done!!!

@ems4884

Жыл бұрын

Your mentions of the storylearning product are a little bit of overkill. Sorry. I don't mean any offense. You put lots of work into it. You need to make money. I get it. It's just that it's mentioned so often in your videos. So often.

I served with Derek, I remember him coming to Korea as a new missionary and being one of the most determined missionaries that I had the privilege serving with. He is humble, and his faith has always been a great example to others. You the man Derek! 대전 선교 표 🙏🏼

Derek’s closing comments about not judging people’s intellect based on their English (or any foreign language) level is such a huge benefit of learning a foreign language! You really find yourself being more empathetic towards other human beings 🙏

@storylearning

2 жыл бұрын

I couldn’t agree more!

@AfroLinguo

2 жыл бұрын

For real!!! Also, like the people open up to you more and you get to know them on a deeper level you know. Like since I started speaking Chinese, I have noticed that I don't see chinese people as shy and closed off anymore cuz when I am speaking in chinese with them, we really connect.

@gringoglot

2 жыл бұрын

@@storylearning I hope you do not mind that I created a video on my channel reacting to your video on Mormon missionaries: kzread.info/dash/bejne/iIV3t49mkserc9I.html Perhaps you will find some of my thoughts to be insightful. Cheers!

As a native Korean speaker I can confirm that he speaks very good Korean

The best language learning channel on KZread without a doubt

@zahleer

2 жыл бұрын

Trueee! I knew about comprensible input before but learning from Stories is something none talks about

@zahleer

2 жыл бұрын

@@jasondiaz5271 No way. For language exchanges I don't give my WhatsApp.

@zahleer

2 жыл бұрын

@@jasondiaz5271 Then I have less reasons to give you my WhatsApp

I was a Mormon missionary in Spain from 2008-2010. I have to say it was all represented really well here. However, my experience was a little different, more so the after part. Barcelona was great and Spanish was wonderful to learn, but I yearned for Russian. So after it was all said and done I ended up studying Russian at my local university in Montana. Applying what I learned in Spain with my intense desire to connect with Russia and Russian people made my progress grow at warp speed. My experiences living in Spain and Russia were so different. When I was in Spain I went to help the people there, but when I went to Russia they helped me during some extremely difficult times. I consider them family now. I feel incredibly grateful to have experienced the beauty of learning a foreign language twice and connecting with people on a deep level in their own tongue. Even though I don't practice this religion anymore for many personal reasons I'm grateful for my experiences.

@ChrisBattrick

2 жыл бұрын

I am curious in talking with you, if you wish. Serví una misión hablando Español hace 21 años y ahora estoy estudiando el Ruso. Что привело вас в Россию? У вас есть какие-нибудь советы для меня, как лучше учиться?

"You have to make a fool of yourself" WELL SAID! I will (continue to) make a fool of myself every day.

@Olly Richards If you are still interested in this topic of Mormon missionaries, I would be more than happy to chat sometime about my experience learning Spanish in Guatemala from 2006-2008. Love your channel!

@amadeusmalonje8263

2 жыл бұрын

Would love to hear it :)

@stefaniaviterbo8573

2 жыл бұрын

Are you a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ too?

@gringoglot

2 жыл бұрын

@@stefaniaviterbo8573 yes I am, and a former missionary that fell in love with languages (Spanish, French, Portuguese)

@stefaniaviterbo8573

2 жыл бұрын

@@gringoglot cool! I'm a member from Italy too

@gringoglot

2 жыл бұрын

@@stefaniaviterbo8573 very cool! And also Italian is my next language. I will be documenting my learning of Italian on my channel next year. You might find that interesting 👍🏻

It's incredible how all of these missionaries come back with a great deal of fluency from their mission. Especially since most of them have just turned 18/19 when they start their mission. Although currently missionaries aren't able to do what they've always been doing which is really sad for them, just being stuck indoors most of the day.

@AfroLinguo

2 жыл бұрын

I guess it is also quite brave of them to just move to a foreign country and learn the language and get adapted to life there. It is really amazing.

@Ajia_No_Envy

2 жыл бұрын

@@AfroLinguo Ya, although I've talked to a lot of missionaries that have come back home after their mission and they've said it was an amazing and spiritual experience. Often missionaries find themselves while they are on their mission.

I've been in Korea for 17 years, and I struggle to pick up the language. I have excellent pronunciation, which fools people, but getting the right words out of my mouth, and engaging in anything beyond simple conversation basics (with still-rusty grammar) is a monumental hill to climb. I have cherry-picked lots of vocabulary, but lack the glue to string them all together coherently. The study books I've looked through are all overly-academic, stilted, absurdly honorific (or not at all, oddly), and the sample sentences make you scratch your head. "The manager opened his briefcase and handed out copies of the prospectus to all members of the team. " (That kind of thing). Argh!

@acrawford01

2 жыл бұрын

Maybe try looking up “Intermediate Korean grammar” or something around that level. I’m 100% sure there is something out there that is perfect for your level, it’s probably not a book, more likely an online resource.

@canadianroot

2 жыл бұрын

@@acrawford01 I'm currently doing online courses with individual tutors through Say Speaking. I'd give it a passing grade, but that's mostly due to a couple of tutors that I've narrowed it down to. The materials themselves have many awkward sentences, and some of the English translations are brutal. I swear, if Koreans paid attention to detail, and stopped rushing everything they do.....but I digress. I like when grammar isn't the lesson, but finds its way into the lesson. Real stories. Real conversations. Oh, and by the way, we say it this way because....and here's a substitution.....now you try it. That kind of thing.

@CrisOnTheInternet

2 жыл бұрын

@@canadianroot what about the content you consume? I kind of self-taught English for 17 years based mostly on input, you know, watching TV Shows, listening to music, reading. Now we have even more options like podcasts, audio books, KZread and so on.

@nicoleraheem1195

2 жыл бұрын

@@canadianroot seems like you're at this level where you have to start reading native Korean novels and using your Google image and Korean English dictionary to learn the meaning of new words

@nerzenjaeger

2 жыл бұрын

You'll have to dig into some Korean novels.

As a former missionary for the church, it is a full 24 hrs a day. My niece and nephew both had to only speak Spanish to their companions. It is very rigorous and very quick. Having the Spirit helps a lot.

Class Olly, I’m delighted to see your subscriber count increasing, you deserve it 🙌🏼

@storylearning

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

Awesome video Olly, this was really helpful and inspires me in my language learning. I’ve been learning Korean for 3-4 months and still feel like a beginner sometimes but it’s getting better. I also liked what Derek said , that “fluency comes from living.” ( not studying) which is something I’m trying to do as well. I wish I had more opportunities to talk to Koreans but right now I’m just self studying, but for now I read, use apps, and record myself speaking and it’s been helpful for me

@storylearning

2 жыл бұрын

Keep it up, when the time is right you’ll be able to practise to your heart’s content!

@AfroLinguo

2 жыл бұрын

I started taking korean classes like 2 weeks ago and it is so interesting. I am using chinese to learn Korean, so I am really enjoying it. I hope we can reach get fluent in it someday

I love your take on these videos! Thank you for keeping it about language, and not sharing opinions on other people's beliefs. I and my family members have served missions. I learned Spanish (Bolivia), my nephew learned Spanish (Uruguay), his brother learned Korean (South Korea), another nephew learned Armenian (Armenia, obviously).

@storylearning

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing!!

Great interview! I never achieved that level of Korean fluency on my (18 month) mission. I joked at the time that I wanted to grab a Spanish book to take on the plane home, so I could claim I learned a language on my mission. I'm eating my words now that I'm learning Spanish in earnest (and working with Colombian colleagues). Spanish is easier than Korean, but it's still a learning curve. Great advice in this video!

Just started learning Korean 2 weeks ago. Using a mix of Memrise, anki, a few books, and some good KZread lessons.

@AfroLinguo

2 жыл бұрын

Me too. I found that italki is also very helpful. I have a teacher who I love taking lessons with.

@foreverdreamwithinadream6871

Жыл бұрын

So, how is it going so far? Since it seemed like you posted this almost a year ago, you might be farther a long in Korean now. I also used Anki and all that; but for French.

OMG this is so great~! I stumbled across an LDS video on You Tube several months ago regarding the intense language learning process of this church and really enjoyed it - so when I saw this thumbnail in my sidebar "How Mormon Missionaries Learn Languages Fast" I clicked it immediately to view what I thought would be a "follow-up" to my earlier "find" ... and wow!... to my surprise there was my buddy Olly Richards on the screen! LOL :). What a great video you've made here - SUPER-Motivational! ....and what a great guy your guest is. Well done Olly and thank you! Daniel

Yay I’m so excited about a video being about Korean 💕💕💕 I’ve been trying to self study for a year and it’s been hard.

This is the best I’ve ever heard a non-Korean speak Korean. It literally makes my jaw drop. He understands the nuances and subtleties so well 😀

I wish I knew how to find you on Twitter and Facebook, Olly. You seem to know so much about about Latter-Day Saint missionaries and what REALLY motivates them to serve, with language learning being just one aspect of that. I could tell you so many stories about my own experience as one of the first missionaries to be called to teach in Greek since the time of Paul (yes, THAT Paul!) more than 40 years ago. My experiences were similar to Derek's, but they were also very different, and my approach to learning Greek (which I can still speak fluently today) would be much different knowing what I know now. One important thing Derek didn't mention, by the way, is that in addition to learning the language of the people missionaries are called to teach, they also learn about the culture in which they will be living. It's an indescribable adventure!

Nicely said at the end. Our image, create a perception of ourselves and then we are fearful of making a mistake because it's not the mistake it's our self image, arrogance of perfection without mistakes. But, we make mistakes all the time and as adults, hide this. Yes, make mistakes, learn our vocab, drop your ego Infront of others

I really liked this video. A lot of parrells between his missionary work on the streets of Korea and my summer experience in Ottawa Canada fundraising for charity. Big bilingual city but a lot of people spoke only french. Had to adapt but really thankful for a very limited scope for conversations.

Next video: How Jihadi Jack learnt Syrian Arabic in just 8 weeks from his bedroom in Sydney! Just kidding. Really interesting insights here on immersion and the value of being thrown into the deep end.

@clairegittens3707

2 жыл бұрын

Ummm... so I would actually watch that video. Lol

@laur-unstagenameactuallyca1587

2 жыл бұрын

@@jasondiaz5271 can u stop spamming this, it's hella creepy

Congrats on 80k subs

Thanks for this! I learned Spanish the same way, as a missionary in Venezuela (a long time ago). Now I'm trying to recreate that experience as much as possible to learn other languages, that's why I love the stories you provide.

Very interesting. I feel like there is a lot to be learned from the Mormon approach. Might be interesting to try setting up an immersion where the daily life output is the hyper focus. Super-agree on the willingness to make mistakes. As a teacher in Japan, many people don’t have the confidence to make mistakes and so they will never speak because of it.

Yo aprendí mi Español viviendo y sirviendo una misión en California, pero tuve suerte en tener compañeros nativos de diferentes países hispanohablantes, incluso Chile, Argentina, Honduras, Panama, Puebla Mexico, etc.

@NinaHansen2008

6 ай бұрын

Gracias por compartir.

thank you for storytime Olly

I'm about to do the same thing! I was called to Japan and start MTC in just under 2 months. I've been learning Japanese for about a year. I'm curious to see how much my studying will help and how long it'll take for everyone else to catch up to me 😅

His accent is impeccable! Impressive!

It's interesting he brings up the idea of the image we project when speaking our native (best) language vs a foreign language. It's really different. I'm sure some things are the same - like if you're a kind person that should still project. I like to think of myself as very open minded and non judgmental since I've had so much experience studying languages. But still, if I've only ever heard someone speak accented English and then one day I hear them speak their native language (assuming I've studied it), it never fails to shock me. Wow! This is the real them! This is what they're really like!

Been learning Korean for several years following two separate stints living and teaching there and am slowly practicing every day towards fluency. I will be doing an intensive language immersion program in the summer and hope to teach it in the future. This is the same way I taught my students English there. Just purchased your book Olly!

yo you are great man

For some reason, Olly gives me Neil Buchanan from Art Attack vibes :) The takeaways from this video make me realise that the key I'm missing is the mission for learning, which is something you've mentioned other polyglots do. Also makes me think of how can I set myself up with a faux immersion experience when the real immersion experience isn't possible.

Nice video Olly

So glad I found your KZread channel! Do you have plans to increase the number of languages in the near future?

I agree, you have to make mistakes. Have the humility to set your own needs and self image aside and just speak. People for the most part are very understanding when someone is trying and struggling to speak their language and will help.

This is great. I was able to learn Spanish as a missionary, even though I was assigned to the US. You can get immersion without international travel! I have also tried learning other languages even in the country where it is most spoken and haven't been able to replicate the same speed in learning that I did as a missionary. (Perhaps the story method would work)

@joemahoney7690

2 жыл бұрын

another benefit for your situation would be that staying in the states is cheaper than abroad missions lol

@lizmcguire8649

2 жыл бұрын

@@joemahoney7690 (FWIW) The cost is standardized across missions, so it doesn't change based on where you are sent. This didn't used to be the case, but has been for a long while now. The exception is missionaries who are coming FROM economically developing countries. Their costs are subsidized to nearly zero. Those in any country who can't afford the cost can get help to defray or eliminate the cost to them.

@joemahoney7690

2 жыл бұрын

@@lizmcguire8649 ah i thought that going abroad would cost more lol my dad used to mow lawns and do other yard work things for people in his neighborhood to earn money for his mission. when im asked where i want to go, although i know i dont get to choose i always say Japan. people would always tell me that it would cost more :/ maybe its specifically Japan, ive heard its not a cheap place to live, but maybe im just plain wrong lol

I'd like to see you talk about French Foreign Legion for non French speakers and American Foreign Service Institute language program level 1-5.

That was the smoothest transition for the like and subscribe 😂

@storylearning

2 жыл бұрын

I do try :)

@clairegittens3707

2 жыл бұрын

I hat the like and subscribe spiel most times, but Olly just slips it in there. Makes me smile every time.

I'd like to see you talk about the Defense language institute (DLI)

@firdauskhalid4466

2 жыл бұрын

Talk about DLI, French Foreign Legion and Language Programs for ambassadors that have level 1-5 (American Foreign Service Institute).

@ryanlarkin2212

2 жыл бұрын

As someone who went through DLI I’d love to see that video too, just from an outside perspective and see what other’s think about it

@NinaHansen2008

6 ай бұрын

He did. He has a whole video about the DLI.

I've been teaching myself korean for 6 1/2 months. It's been a roller coaster ride but im not giving up

Hello Olly, any thought on making some Thai story books? thanks and keep up the great work

@storylearning

2 жыл бұрын

Possibly, but they’d have to start from intermediate

@MrTobypowell

2 жыл бұрын

@@storylearning OK great... i'm at an intermediate level and looking for something just like this. I live in Thailand and there is a large expat community who learn Thai. Have you got anything in the works? thanks again.

My high school French teacher wouldn’t answer any questions that we asked in English. She pretended not to understand English. We students had to find away to communicate. This was mostly in the French 7-8/AP classes (junior/senior level). She was more lenient to the sophomore classes.

Hi, what do you think about making a top of the most translated websites?

Learning a language for a mission is tons of pressure. I think it comes from the fact that we don’t go to learn a language, and we feel a duty to God to teach the gospel. To be effective teachers, we have to learn to speak whatever language we’re called to serve in. So it’s a lot of pressure. I remember being nervous too, even though I was fairly confident I could learn the language at least “well enough” to do what I needed to do. I figured so many already had before me, and a lot of missionaries believe God will help them learn the language. I believed that, and I think He did. But yeah, there’s real nerves, especially the first few weeks you’re in the country. It’s scary enough to strike up conversation with random strangers, let alone about religion, but to have to do it in a foreign language. Yeah, it’s intense and nerve-wracking. I served in Korea too, 2008-2010, and it sounds like they changed the program a bit after I was there. We were there for 12 weeks, for one. We weren’t fully immersed day 1, for two. But we did learn Hangul the first day. And if I remember correctly, we were praying by the end of that first day as well and expected to start praying only in Korean from then on. But we weren’t taught only in Korean, especially during the gospel study portions of our class time. We were encouraged to speak to one another in Korean as much as possible, even if it was just subbing one word here or there in an otherwise English sentence, but there was still a lot of English being spoken at the MTC, and even throughout my mission between missionaries, even Korean missionaries spoke quite a bit of English around us native English-speaking missionaries. Perhaps not coincidentally, I never got as good as Derek, and I’ve lost a lot of my language ability now. But I still love to hear Korean and still speak it from time to time, though I’m super rusty. And something I know I’ll *never* lose is the love I feel for the country, the people of that beautiful place, the culture, language and food. That intense love for the place you served is, I think, something any missionary will tell you. My husband served in Peru, my sister in Mexico, and they both feel the same way about those countries and its people, culture and food. My husband’s grandfather served in Sweden and still speaks of it fondly too. I’ve had family and friends serve all over the world: South Africa, Canada, the Philippines, England, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Brazil, France, Florida, Arizona, Texas, California, Ireland, New York. No matter where someone goes, if they go to a different country and learn a new language or not, they fall in love with the culture and the people in that place, and they never regret or forget that time.

I am trying to sign up within your website -- it's not working. Also, the contact link does not work!

I think the key words in that video are about motivations. You would not have done what he did unless you had very high levels of motivation.

Do you have any plans for learning and teaching Russian? Or any advice on how.

@hotrodjones74

2 жыл бұрын

To learn Russian you'll need lots of input and motivation. I was once a Mormon missionary in Spain, then I applied many of these methods in the real world to Russian with great success. I was a laureate of Russian studies at my university and I'm certified as a B2 speaker of Russian from Moscow State University. I'd go for C1, but I'd rather read Dostoevsky in Russian instead. Things you should do: 1. Listen to Viktor Tsoi or other good Russian music everyday. 2. Read short stories or children's stories avoiding old fairy tales with archaic vocabulary. 3. Get a good grammar book like the New Penguin Russian course (study it for 20-30 minutes a day after reading short stories). 4. Read RBK news everyday when you have spare moment. You'll need to understand how Russians see the world to communicate with them. It's good and easy filler practice. 5. Watch a couple of Russian/Soviet films per week on the Mosfilm KZread channel. 6. Reach out to Russian speakers on Tandem app for good practice. 7. Put your cellphone and or laptop in Russian, it'll force you to use the language more. 8. Last step be a русский speaking badass ;) Удачи с русским языком! Всё получится если ты стараешь братан 🇷🇺💪

MTC used the same technique to non French speakers who joined French Foreign Legion. The differences are French Foreign Legion for military and only offer French language.

@olly richards, do you have short stories hebrew?

Is this Olly interviewing Derek or is Olly just doing commentary on somebody else's interview with Derek?

@joshuddin897

2 жыл бұрын

🤣😂😅

언어 구사만 잘하는 수준이 아니라 한국어 특유의 발음, 강세까지 뭐 하나 빠질 것 없이 완벽하네요

Korean is a very difficult language. I spent 2 years there as a missionary in the 80s. Sounds like he has never stopped studying it for the past 10 years and has even gone back there to work and live, plus he has a degree in korean studies. It's all about what we put time and effort into.

Olly, please talk to Adam Bradshaw (Ajarn Adam) about how he learned Thai.

This makes DLI’s language program look like a joke, and I still think that’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done

@tristanfoy9073

2 жыл бұрын

How are its techniques different from the DLI (religion aspect aside)? What language did you learn there?

@ryanlarkin2212

2 жыл бұрын

@@tristanfoy9073 everything is mildly similar, minus the total immersion bit, the sheer amount of time you spend in a day (for me it was around 12-13 hours of my day). I think the biggest difference was time. At DLI you get 9-18 months depending on the language, and in my experience and the experience of most others I knew while I was there it wasn’t total immersion. Concepts during the first 3-4 months would be explained in English with the target language sprinkled in. And towards the last 3-4 months of the course almost everything was in target language with English sprinkled in. Again this was my experience, so it may not be the same for others and it’s also very dependent on the language you learned as well. I know someone who only spent 8 hours on their language a day and I know people who would spend even more time than I would, like 14-15 hours a day. It’s all very dependent on outside factors

A little niche maybe, but would be cool to hear about this experience with Hungarian.

Do you have stories but in Japanese?

Comprehensible input, but not all is comprehensible.

the fact they taught grammar in that 9-week course with NO english is crazy... like i can't see how just using example sentences and stuff can actually drill in the usage and meaning of some grammar points esp when they mostly occur in the same place in a sentence 😭

@chloe8387

2 жыл бұрын

anyway that process sounds like both my dream and my nightmare... the partner shadowing thing? amazing. but public speaking as a beginner? terrifying 😭

@hotrodjones74

2 жыл бұрын

They send you out with enough knowledge to be functional and learn mostly on your own and with help from others. The other missionary partner who changes every few months and the locals who attend the church help a lot. I had some guy spit in my face for no reason when I was in Spain. Surprisingly it wasn't a big deal to me. Like many who returned I no longer follow the church. Too much hypocrisy for my blood and a lot of personal stuff. It was still a good experience.

@knmid

2 жыл бұрын

We did the same thing in my university Mandarin Chinese course. Only Chinese was allowed in class. We only used native lang on day 1 and around once a month to go over any questions. It did work very well for the disciplined students. :)

They made an exception with Coffee?

Not particularly important, but you actually do have a small degree of choice in where you go. In the application, they asked two questions: your desire to learn a foreign language and how successful you think you'd be with a foreign language, both on a one to five scale. I'm not sure how your responses factor into the decision, but it's something...

@mattchtx

2 жыл бұрын

I had 3 years of German in high school, 3 years of Japanese in college, and I’d spent a lot of time learning French on my own. At the time I decided to go on a mission (I was 23, old for a missionary), I spoke better Japanese than my friends who had been missionaries in Japan. I was capable of speaking it all day long with my friends at college, who were almost all Japanese international students. I was beginning to be able to read newspapers as long as I had a way to look up kanji here and there. I expressed all of this in the application. I fully expected to go to Japan since I had such a head start. But nope. I was assigned to learn Spanish and go to Texas. Out of 2 years I spent a whole 3 months in a Spanish-speaking area. I had to seek opportunities to speak it. I was fluent in Spanish within 6 months of coming home. It just took being able to immerse myself in it and seek opportunities to use it without my schedule being controlled every hour of the day.

@TheRozylass

2 жыл бұрын

Small degree of choice? I think not. I wanted to learn a language so much, already knew quite a bit of Spanish, and scored really high on the language aptitude test; but no, I was sent to Florida Tallahassee (at that time it was northern Florida and southern bits of Alabama and Georgia). I got totally fluent in Southern, y'all.

@legaleagle46

Жыл бұрын

@@TheRozylass And I wanted to serve in Italy, since I had already been studying both Italian and Latin for about four years, and I wanted to be in the land of the Romans to experience their history and culture first hand. You know where I was called to serve? New York New York City (Greek)!

Met a bunch of American missionaries here in Germany. Their German is either horrible or poor. Only missionaries who started learning German in high school have a decent grasp of the language.

So he kind of used the Comprehensible Input method.

I just can't fathom the idea of explaining grammar concepts in only language you don't know yet and don't have enough vocabulary yet to under the grammar concepts. Seems like it would be quicker to already use a language the learner knows in order to explain these things. The former seems like it might take more time than the latter, no?

Excellent video Olly, I lived in Korea also, but there was no forced imersion and I did not learn the language. I was there in the military at a time, I did not want to be there so it would have been almost impossible to learn. the language.

I'm thinking of becoming a Mormon just so I can learn a language in 9 weeks. Is that wrong? Also, magic underpants.

@girlwhomustnotbenamed4139

2 жыл бұрын

Haha, I know it's a joke but yes, it is. Learning lgs is wonderful but you'd have to pay a high price for it. Trust me there are less harmful ways of language learning (literally almost all of them lol).

@brettwood8379

2 жыл бұрын

Man missions are brutal. The schedule is strict and you feel constant pressure. 1 day off a week to do laundry and get groceries, and it's not even a full day off. Constant brow beating for doing nothing wrong. I did my mission in Mexico. I no longer go to the church. Learned Spanish though

The ideia it's interesting, but it can't create some traumas hahahaha

You kinda look like 'this guy' lol. In the thumbnail I couldn't even tell the difference lol.

나도 열심히 살기 싫어요 한국인이 모두 열심히 사는 것은 굶어죽지 않으려고 하는거에요

I misread the title "this m o r o n missionary learned ...."

I learned the korean alphabet unintentionally and learned a few korean phrases just because we have a fuck ton of koreans in my area which was poggers. Friends of mine are shocked on how i can read korean names easily. For now i can read korean but i dont know what most of the words mean.

Спасибо большое, Олли, отличный контент! Благодаря вашему каналу, мой русский язык очень улучился с тех пор как, я подписался... Любовное послание к мормонам, и всем: kzread.info/dash/bejne/e4WCscSkYtSnp9I.html

At least before COVID, missionaries were required to talk to a lot of people a day. Language classes don’t have homework like “go knock on 200 doors and go up to 20 people on the street so you can get practice in your foreign language today”. Missionaries do (or did) that every day. It forces you to use it. At some point you also realize that if you can understand someone speaking broken English, they can probably understand you speaking broken whatever, and you just stop worrying about being precise with grammar all the time. You can usually tell when they don’t understand and you just back up and try again. When people talk to you you can notice how they speak compared to you and make adjustments. You can pick up extra vocabulary from context or say you don’t know what something is and let them explain. There’s nothing magical about how missionaries learn languages, it’s just a ton of study and immersion for 9 weeks, followed by studying an hour a day as well as strong institutional pressure to use it to talk to anyone you can find for 2 years straight.

LoL nice segue.

Eeh, not gonna lie this sounds dangerous, and risky. 100% respect, just wouldn't want to have been in his shoes.

@BecciBuck

2 жыл бұрын

I can see why you’d think that. This video makes it sound like we’re just plopped into a foreign country without much support and before we even really speak the language. :) It *is* an intense experience linguistically and can be a large culture shock for the first 3-6 weeks, but missionaries are definitely not alone or unsupported. The Church is so organized, and they take care of pretty much everything. I think it’s safer than going on a vacation or going to college. I typed up details to show just how much careful organization goes into missions. And honestly, this is probably just the tip of the iceberg. I doubt I fully understand or appreciate how much the Church does on their end. But this is what I remember and noticed. So read on if you’re curious. And feel free to ask questions! This is something that is definitely kind of bizarre (and super intense) and unique to our faith. Details: I served a mission too, in Korea, actually. :) Before you leave for the MTC, they give you a checklist of what to pack and how much of everything to bring and even walked us through applying for a passport. They direct you to get certain shots even, if applicable. I got my final dose of one of them at the MTC. So they pretty much walk you through everything you need to do to prepare. I’m pretty sure they filled out the visa paperwork. I know we had to have visas to be there for as long as we were. I’m pretty sure they took care of all of that. I don’t remember having to do anything for that, anyway. I probably had to at least sign some stuff, and that does kind of ring a bell, but honestly, I don’t even remember. They even arranged the flights and everything, too. There’s also an elderly couple assigned to watch over the missionaries in each mission. The man, called a mission president, is responsible to direct the missionary work and do all the ecclesiastical paperwork and communicate with Church leaders above him about how things are going. And there’s at least one other senior couple assigned to the mission office in each area who look after all the more “secular” paperwork (like passports, visas, flight arrangements, missionaries’ mail, rental agreements, finances, etc.). The mission president meets with missionaries once every six weeks at least. And every so often, we’d all meet together for guidance about how to be more effective missionaries. Once or twice while I was there, they had a doctor and a therapist at these meetings. They presented about issues missionaries sometimes have and gave general wellness guidance. Missionaries could also schedule appointments with either, if needed. I went to Korean doctors, too, a couple of times, and they were fantastic. We were supposed to call the mission office if we needed medical attention. They wanted to be aware of it/follow up with us to make sure we were ok. They also could help direct us to providers. Missionaries occasionally develop conditions (not because of the mission, just that that sometimes happens while they’re serving) or get injured and are sent home. Oh, we all also had to have physicals before going on missions and be deemed physically fit enough to serve. It’s not like we have to be athletes to qualify. They just want to make sure we’re all in reasonably good shape, no major underlying conditions. Missions do involve a lot of walking and a grueling schedule-you do not have one moment of downtime from 6:30 am to 10:30 pm from the moment you enter the MTC until you go home 18-24 mo later. Every moment is scheduled of every day. So missionaries’ health is something that is monitored closely and taken very seriously. The mission president and his wife and some missionaries serving in the office meet new missionaries at the airport when they first arrive, and they take them to the airport when missionaries go home. They take them to the mission home the first night in the country, feed them, put them up for the night. They give them a little orientation and take them by the office to give them anything else they need in the country. For example, that first day in the country, we were given debit cards and told how/where we could access our funds. Then you’re introduced to your first partner, and like Derek said, they’ll have been in country at least a few months. My first partner was Korean, so she not only knew the culture and country well but spoke Korean fluently. Your partner helps you get your luggage to your area, helps you get settled into the apartment, and helps you get acquainted with the area. The apartments are all arranged for by the Church as well, so missionaries don’t have to do any of that. They literally just show up and get to work. Each missionary team is also given a church-issued cell phone. It stays with the area as missionaries transfer (which happens every 3-6 months: new area, new partner-missionaries serve in at least a few different areas in the mission during their 18-24 months). Missionaries always have a way of contacting the mission office at any time, if there’s ever an issue and they need help. Korea is also a super safe place, but some missions aren’t as safe as Korea or the U.S., and they sometimes have even extra rules about certain areas missionaries aren’t allowed to go. The Church also won’t send missionaries at all to some locations, and they have (rarely) had to pull missionaries if some sort of dangerous situation happens. Like, if civil unrest breaks out in an area or something. Also, I think they mentioned in this video, but one standard mission rule for all missions around the world is you have to be back in your apartment by 9:00. Then we’d go over our schedule for the next day, make a few calls to set up more appointments, and get ready for bed. Lights out was 10:30. There are even rules about teaching the opposite gender. So female missionaries can’t teach males (unless he’s married and his wife is there at all times). And even the male missionaries can’t teach women without some kind of chaperone. I forget the rules there (since it didn’t apply to me). But it’s all to protect missionaries’ safety and to keep them out of situations where they could be accused of inappropriate conduct (or be tempted to be inappropriate). So with all of these strict rules, missionaries rarely get into any kind of danger or trouble.

@anastasianelson312

2 жыл бұрын

@Becci Buck Thank you for your response, that is very interesting and good to know they're not alone out there. I'm in the US Army and I've been on training rotations over seas and I do not think I could handle doing that without people who could speak the same language as me. But super cool and mad props to him for facing the challenge head on.

@BecciBuck

2 жыл бұрын

@@anastasianelson312 I agree. It would be very difficult to go overseas and not have someone to help you. Thank you for your service. I can’t imagine being in the military, but have the utmost respect for you all. My father in law was Air Force, and my brother in law was Army. ❤️ our armed forces!

Great accomplishment! But you must be good to convince someone about Jesus visiting America.

@pookiehoney

2 жыл бұрын

They were the other sheep Jesus said he was going to go visit after his resurrection.

아이고 몰몬교방식이 한국의 통일교나 아무것도 모르는 사회초년대학생애들 다단계포섭하는 방식과 너무 유사해요ㅜㅜ휴대폰 뺏고 2명이상 짝지어 다니고 합숙훈련하며 교육시키는 대학생다단계단체들ㅡ

Okay, but I'd really love to see a demonstration of his Korean skills. I think without that it's difficult to take claims of fluency seriously.

@storylearning

2 жыл бұрын

Was the bit in the intro not sufficient?

@caiovinicius5204

2 жыл бұрын

He spoke for more than 10 seconds in the intro.

@peter9162

2 жыл бұрын

@@storylearning Ahh okay. I honestly skipped past the intro so I missed it. My bad. Yeah, his fluency and pronunciation is good. I retract my statement.

@clairegittens3707

2 жыл бұрын

He teaches in the Michel Thomas method... one of the most famous language methods in the world and a method based entirely in speaking. If this video is not enough, you could go buy the MK course to hear more.

If you don't believe in Jesus Christ it doesn't work though

@Tiqerboy

Жыл бұрын

The advantage of Korea is that a lot of people are already Christian, so the obvious barrier of introducing them to Jesus is already knocked down. This isn't the case with countries like Japan where Christianity is something most people aren't familiar with. I don't think the Mormons go to Muslim countries at all. Because most of the people there are followers of Islam and would not be receptive to trying to something new.

i honestly think it is a terrible way to learn ...

@PassionPno

2 жыл бұрын

How is that a terrible way? This is how us Malaysians learn languages. Most Malaysians speak 3 to 8 languages. I personally speak 6. Malaysians are the 3rd best English speakers in Asia. Mandarin speakers from Malaysia are actually recognised as native speakers by China and Taiwan.

What a waste.