Join the Canguro English newsletter: canguroenglish.com/newsletter I’m sorry I don’t have time to reply to all of your comments but I read them all and I am eternally grateful for your love and support.
Great interview. I really think that the most important in the process of learning is to be involved in the language first and learn vocabulary . After that is gonna be easier and the last point would be grammar.
"...the paradox is that if they aren't willing to make mistakes they will continue to make mistakes... perfection is not the goal..." Perfect! My challenge is just this point.
This looks amazing! I'm a native English speaker, and in my lifetime l've learnt - and forgotten - French, Italian, Swedish, Indonesian and Japanese. Now at 76, l'm keen to get into them all again this way. If it works, l'll try Mandarin. Very exciting.
Mandarin is way easier than Japanese IMO Pregnancy wiped my brain clean lol Forgot all the French, Greek, and Japanese I used to know. Sometimes I'd forget my native English during pregnancy and I'd be left trying to order food in French in central Taiwan! With postpartum depression out of the way, now, my mandarin has improved a lot, and I hope to recover the French, Greek, Korean, and Japanese I used to know!
People like Steve ans Christian are bringing concepts of learning languages, which are revolutionary for the most of people. Please, keep spreading your knowledge! There are people who struggle with learning and they need it. YOU are my inspiration! Thank you both Steve and Christian with all my heart!
Well, yes i was frustrated expacting people to judge when i speak or even write comment on youtube, i was full of hopeless but wait what changed me was when i started to not be afraid doing mistake and practiced everday🌟 i know some of you wouldn't believe me what i did! I became nearly fluent after 2 months of keeping my promise. Here i am today🌟
At age 19 I have a child's grasp on Hebrew, Russian, and Spanish. I currently speak English and German fairly well. I needed this because I am able to start this early in my language learning career so I may standardize my language learning in a more appropriate fashion as my learning habits have been quite counteractive as I don't know what I'm missing in the language until I'm stumped
I am now becoming a polyglot! I know English, Spanish (ES) Japanese, portuguese and a bit of Chinese! And I still believe that those who have a great will, is about to enter up to the polyglot fame hall, like Mr. Steve. He is like a inspiration for us , as young language learners! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!
I speak Spanish, Basque, English and Galician and I'm studying German and Norwegian by myself. I try to read books and newspapers in different languages everyday, watch movies and series in their original versions, etc. so I don't lose pace and fluency. Once you fall in love with a language, it's hard to quit.
I’m a Cantonese speaker from Vietnam, had learned Vietnamese one period a day for 5 years, have been speaking English for 35 years. Just started to learn Spanish, Mandarin & Vietnamese 4 months ago. Thank you gentlemen for your insight.
Steve makes a good point that in some countries people routinely learn and become fluent in more than one language. That works beause in those countries children start learning their multiple languages in grade school and get daily professionl lessions thru the 12th grade. In this forum we are talking about adults that want to learn a second or third language to fluency in a year or less in their spare time. That is a tall order. It is just not a realistic time frame and they don’t get regular professional lessions so it only works for the people that have some degree of talent in learning languages. In the U.S. many people are making international trips for business and pleasure and its time that we start teaching a second or third language to children the way it is done in Europe.
I know this doesn’t have much to do with the topic but 6 months ago I manifested a new lenguaje by using certain techniques of meditation... when it comes to the mind it’s very unpredictable what your mind can do... through meditation I was able to “trick” my mind and I manifested the English language in a matter of a few months
He is so absolutely right about how backwards language teaching is (in schools at least). Pretty much any polyglot says similar things about it to what he says and I agree from my own experience, being fluent in Icelandic, English, German, Swedish and Danish and knowing some French.
It is so true that when you learn more languages the better you become in learning languages. I'm Polish 37 years old, I speak Polish, English, French, Italian and Arabic (fusha, Syrian and Egyptian dialect and I'm learning Derja along with my kids as my husband is Tunisian), I read and understand German (I speak a little as I have never had chance to practice talking) and currently learning Chinese. When I was a kid I was also able to communicate in Russian but when I entered school in '89 it was moment when it was cancelled from schools in Poland and my parents focused in teaching me English so at the end I have not learned Russian. But I plan to take Russian after having learned Chinese. My children are already plyglots by birth: as I am Polish, my husband Tunisian, we use OPOL and talking with each other in English and plus we live in France so our kids have 4 languages as a "starter pack" ;) Our 9 years old son, made his Cambridge flyers A2 this year with 15/15 even that he was never learning English (as a foreign language), he is also making in the same time Polish and French school at home and learns to read in Arabic (as he is speaking Derja like his father he needs to learn "new Arabic" so called Modern Standard to read). Our 2 years old daughter alread speaks 2 languages (Polish and French, which she learns in the kindergarten) and understands 2 more (Derja from father and English when we talk together)
Television is one of the most convenient ways to learn a second language. I watched television only in Spanish for two straight years. I did the same thing with Italian language television.
I can speak Polish, German, English, Russian, Esperanto, and a little Italian. You can learn languages without courses, teachers, grammar because you can simply watch on TV, hear podcasts, read newspapers, etc. Look at the children how they learn. Repeat, repeat and the key is listening, reading and after this speaking. There is, for example, a helpful approach to learn languages - The Birkenbihl Approach. But you can find much more methods to have fun. Why is it important to have fun? Because your brain simply loves it!
I'm a teenager, I'm also a polyglot. My native languages are Portuguese, English and Spanish; I learned French and I'm on a very advanced level (from now on it really is just about practicing and talking which I do a lot); I've been learning Hebrew and Galician and I'm planning Mandarin and Arabic next (I kind of started getting familiarized with Mandarin but not yet started). When Steve shared his point of view about how language teaching is upside down, I felt so related to it! I see people at school struggling with badly spoken English and that backwards method is what gets them stuck, and really, the more you learn the better you get at it. Languages are fascinating, they're beyond any translations, they're a whole different way to see the world and a whole new culture that comes with it.
Hi bro! I know only Russian and english.Can you advice me how can i learn other languages maybe french or german. On the internet or individual myself??
This was such an honest interview. I loved it! I speak two languages fluently and now I decided that I want to learn a third one. I'm at early stage of the process and it can be daunting. But I see these polyglots online (some better than others) speaking other languages and it inspires me. I'm hoping I can get passed the basic pronouns and conjugations soon so I can actually start practicing putting together my own sentences together soon. I'm giving myself 1 year to be conversational in a third language.
I have been following you both for many years.. you are both a source of inspiration..I really love Christian accent and his style as well..As far as Steve is concerned I would only say that he is a well known and accomplished polyglot..thank you
Yes, some people do struggle with learning their first second language, but it can be interesting to dive into geographically prioritised ones. For example, I am from Azerbaijan, but due to our history closely related to the Soviet Union, almost everyone can speak or at least understand Russian. Then, we can more or less speak Turkish, which is kind of similar to Azerbaijani, but it is certainly a different language. Some of us speak English as well. What about me, I am learning Italian now. So, never stop going on for more ✌🏻
You know when you are getting the hang of a language when you start to dream in the language. I have dreams in German, Thai, and Spanish. It's funny when in the dream I'm speaking Thai to a German person and we both understand each other. lol
I'm 54 - native language is English, 2nd language (studied in school for 4 years) is French, and I've picked up some Spanish along the way because of where I lived. It so SO much easier to learn languages now, especially with so much awesome UA-cam content! I *hated* the old school way of language instruction! Did I learn to speak French in school? Sort of. But after 4 years, my progress was minimal. All my life I've wanted to be a polyglot... So now I'm studying German on my own, and also trying to advance my French and Spanish, but I want to add Italian and possibly Vietnamese. I actually love the study of languages as a science so much that I'm going back to school to study Linguistics with Minor in German and a TESL as well - but the language *speaking* is something I study on my own. I use massive amounts of listening to native speakers (mostly UA-cam content) as well as other resources that help me learn languages in *context.* I do make my own flashcards and take notes, but my flashcards are not *words,* but rather complete phrases/sentences. ....What he says is correct - we don't start off learning our native language by studying grammar. We start by listening *a lot,* then speaking - *a lot* - before we ever learn a single bit of grammar. ANYWAY - thanks for this video! The gentleman is inspiring for those who might think they're "too old" to do what they want to do. Thank you! Happy accident that this came up in my YT feed. 😁👍
Steve es una persona absolutamente admirable, un referente del que aprender. Las sensaciones que transmite al escucharle hablar, desde luego no son las de una persona infeliz.
I quite agree after living in Greece & Germany. Being out & about & listening to the language before trying to learn. As one hears the internations etc. Listening every day to the radio, the weather report then slowly & steadily the language starts to sink in. In my humble opinion. I lived in Israel years ago & i learned to count in 5 days just listening. I cannot believe I could do that but I did & 35 years later I can still count in Hebrew.
Hi Christian, thank you very much for this interview with Steve Kaufmann. He is such an amazing person, with a strong and clear voice and thoughts and mainly knowledges how to learn foreign languagues. I 've made sure myslelf I 've been taking the right way to increas my English level up. Jarmila.
I also dream of reading Tolstoy and Chekhov in their own language. I believe that in translation the flavour is lost. Now looking at STEVE I am motivated . Shall try learning Russian soon.
Promises made by language learning apps, courses, etc. are always exaggerated, but that doesn't make them bad (though some are). It just means that they have to compete for your dollars. Pimsleur and Speakly are two examples. Both probably exaggerate the promised outcome, but both are also excellent, serious programs in language learning.
As a linguist, language teacher and learner, I agree with everything except for one thing. I don’t think the first thing to learn is the writing system, because some systems such as English are inconsistent, especially when comparing the writing system with the sound system (e.g. “a” doesn’t always sound as /a/). So I believe the first thing to learn is the SOUND system, then after learning all the sounds, you incorporate it to the writing system.
Both characters I have been listening and I love them. The point is having both of them at the same place (video) it is amazing to me. I´d like to say "thank you a lot" Christian and S. Kaufman you are very precious for anyone who wants to speak no only English but also any language at all. I keep listening... both... and again... thank you very much!
I wasted 4 years in college studying English Language. Then one year scholarship in the US introduced me to the Language again. I had already forgotten the fucking Grammar by the time I traveled to the US and started developing my mental Grammar unknowingly through real life interaction with natives. When I read Grammar after that, it all just made sense. It was just giving names to concepts that are already known to me subconsciously (mental Grammar). I also came to enjoy Syntax very much after years of despising it.
The English do not see American speech as true English...most words are misspelled...the wrong syllable is accented...poor usage...comprehension...and weak vocabularies!
Everything he is saying is so true. I started to take French in high school because I had to take a language and I didn't want to take Spanish because I already spoke it. At first I wasn't very interested because I had no relation with the language, but soon I started to really like it, mostly because I fell in love with French cinema and music. Now I am constantly thinking about French and trying to improve on my own. 10:58 very true. I really enjoyed this video.
I completely agree with SK when he says that "practice makes master" (not literally). I am now trying my best in writing and it goes better with the time.
I thought about ask my english professor at school for teach all the class or 90% of class, on english. But she isn't polite enough. Probably if i ask for it she'll answer me with agressivity. Here in Brazil, on my town all we that learn english at school, learn just grammar. After some years at school, i learned just english grammar. 3 - 4 months ago, i decided learn it by myself, and i've to say that was the best choice of my life. I was able to learn a lot of different strategies about acquire it and here i am. 3 months later speaking with you.
Mate great channel and great interview. I am a native Aussie speaker but your advice and Steve Kaufmann's wisdom have helped me a great deal in not only learning Norsk but how language works in general and my poor brain will never be the same.
I agree totally about MOTIVATION as a most important reason succeeding in learning a new language, at any age, I may add. Success feed motivation...it’s also correct!
My way to learn a new language is through similarity between words and languages structures. I learned to speak Spanish, Italian and French because there are very similar to Portuguese. Now I'm learning German through its similarity with English and Latin. Languages' courses are too standardized. I like to learn by myself, using my one strategies and methods. I learned English watching TV, especially News programs and documentaries. Even when I did not understand what they were saying I keep watching those programs in English. It helped me a lot. English and Italian are my favorite languages ...
"You acquire the appetite while eating." I like that expression, I've found myself struggling to get started in many things, but once I get moving I'm really enjoying myself. But I seem to always forget this once I'm starting something again... Now I have a saying to help focus the mind and build up a new appetite!
I studied Spanish, German, French and Italian in college, and I am fluent in Spanish with good grasp of the others. I recommend listening to music in the language of choice because a person will listen to it over and over without viewing it as a chore. Moreover, he or she will learn the correct pronunciation of the each word and phase. Before going on an overseas trip, I always find music in the language of the nation I will visit. I usually can find the rhythm of the language within a week or so before my trip. I also make notes of where the band is from so that study the regional aspects of the language.
Christian Saunders, it would be very interesting if you'd invited Linguamus as a guest to your channel. He is one of the greatest polyglot- linguists we have ever seen. Many, many years ago, we heard almost the same thoughts that you are now trying to explain to people. You are so similar in terms of approach to language acquisition. He definitely knows a lot more words than the average native Russian speaker and speaks better. İt is not just my personal opinion. This is the official assessment of some Russian linguistics professors about his knowledge of the Russian language. The name of his channel is Linguamus. it would be so interesting and also useful to see you together.
I have young nieces who live in the Philippines and since birth the have listen to UA-cam and they can all effortlessly express themselves in English. Their parents start "teaching" them how to write their abcs and how to count etc. They learn this no faster than their native language.
Those were GOLDEN ADVICE. I agree since I've been learning and hopping from one European language to another European language. Motivation is everything in Language Acquisition. On one hand, I also adhere to the fact that one acquires language for the purpose of using it. I believe that the existence of Language Community is vital in the existence of Language Courses online.
The Latin languages are all connected so if you learn Spanish for example you're essentially learning Italian and Portuguese too along with French, Romanian, Catalan, Napoletano, Siciliano, Lombardo, Piemontese etc.
7:00 ;) Important to remember. So, thanks. I've only been learning potuguese since.. the beginning of april I think. And in the beginning, when I was watching a Brazilian speak in a video, it was like they spoke so fast. They still do a little bit, but I can understand some easy conversations when there are portuguese subtitles. It's amazing how fast one can improve, but you have to look back every once in a while, to realize you haven't always been on this level and you actually made quite some progress already.
Good to hear Steve speaking the truth . You simply cannot become fluent in any language in 3 months or whatever the claim is .It is not possible unless you are some kind of highly unusual genius. Learning a language takes years .In fact it is a life long endeavour .
one must distinguish a reading knowledge of the language and a speaking knowledge of the language. they are two quite distinct goals that require quite distinct learning processes. a speaking knowledge of a language is best acquired by actual immersion in the country that has it as its mother tongue. a reading knowledge can be had without leaving one's own country through exposure to the literature of that language.
I'm also a polyglot! I can speak French, Spanish, Portuguese, English and I have an intermediate level in German, also looking forward to learn Italian or Russian in January.
@@jeffkardosjr.3825 Germany and Russia have an interesting relationship as well. I've always wanted to visit Kaliningrad and I'm currently living here in Switzerland
I experienced my self learning Turkish within 3 months and the result is i can speak the language for daily convo.. my native language is Bahasa Indonesia.. I am a language keener also sir 😁
I'm both a language tutor and learner, and this interview was SO interesting looked at from both perspectives. I already give out a lot of very similar advice to what he says, so I feel affirmed in my intuitions about language learning. At the same time, I feel like I only had a surface level understanding of it until I became a language learner myself. It's a very different view from this end.
I think it is easy to learn new language that has similarity to your own language. English speaker will have easier time learning Spanish and goes on and on. Look at most polyglots who speak English as mother language, they speak more language from western side of the world but have very few languages from Eastern world and if they do it’s usually simple greet and essential conversation.
You have a point. I'm Brazilian and learning Italian isn't so hard. Portuguese is very similar to Spanish and Italian (because both are Romance languages too).
As a polyglot myself (Greek, English, German, Spanish) I can only say that learning languages gets easier the more you get exposed to a certain language. I taught myself Spanish. 3 days ago I started learning French and I feel extremely confident that I can easily reach the B2 level by just putting in the work and hours.
I like that idea of one sport helping you learn another sport. My grandson played a lot of soccer where he because very good at running fast and then took that into his playing tackle football.
Once, i had to call to french embasy here in Brazil. The girl who answered spoke in french, I asked her, in english, if we could speak in portuguese, she said yes.
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I’m sorry I don’t have time to reply to all of your comments but I read them all and I am eternally grateful for your love and support.
Great interview. I really think that the most important in the process of learning is to be involved in the language first and learn vocabulary . After that is gonna be easier and the last point would be grammar.
"...the paradox is that if they aren't willing to make mistakes they will continue to make mistakes... perfection is not the goal..." Perfect! My challenge is just this point.
you mean the mistake makers mistaken paradox ?
Yep me too!
3:01 is a profound observation: "once you discover you can do something, then you're motivated to do more of it"
This resonates with me. When I begun to understand Russian and began to speak, I had the next 2 languages planned in my head.
@@louisronan5903 why did you start learn russian?😄
This looks amazing! I'm a native English speaker, and in my lifetime l've learnt - and forgotten - French, Italian, Swedish, Indonesian and Japanese. Now at 76, l'm keen to get into them all again this way. If it works, l'll try Mandarin. Very exciting.
Diane Philipson keep it up :)
Good luck. I hope you will be able to relearn those languages
Go on, you can do it. You will find it so easy.
Mandarin is way easier than Japanese IMO
Pregnancy wiped my brain clean lol
Forgot all the French, Greek, and Japanese I used to know. Sometimes I'd forget my native English during pregnancy and I'd be left trying to order food in French in central Taiwan!
With postpartum depression out of the way, now, my mandarin has improved a lot, and I hope to recover the French, Greek, Korean, and Japanese I used to know!
Buona fortuna!
Jesus, Steve looks well for 73!
Yeah, when he said that Steve had 73 years old, I was impressed!
He looks very spry for the guy his age. I guess, in part, it's because he's studying languages.
I'm your 73rd like.
Yess! Indeed, 73, wow!
Could pass for 60's 👌
People like Steve ans Christian are bringing concepts of learning languages, which are revolutionary for the most of people. Please, keep spreading your knowledge! There are people who struggle with learning and they need it. YOU are my inspiration! Thank you both Steve and Christian with all my heart!
I'm brazilian and my main language is Portuguese, but I speak Esnglish too. This video helped me a lot with many doubts and fears. Thank you guys!
Well, yes i was frustrated expacting people to judge when i speak or even write comment on youtube, i was full of hopeless but wait what changed me was when i started to not be afraid doing mistake and practiced everday🌟 i know some of you wouldn't believe me what i did!
I became nearly fluent after 2 months of keeping my promise.
Here i am today🌟
At age 19 I have a child's grasp on Hebrew, Russian, and Spanish. I currently speak English and German fairly well. I needed this because I am able to start this early in my language learning career so I may standardize my language learning in a more appropriate fashion as my learning habits have been quite counteractive as I don't know what I'm missing in the language until I'm stumped
I am now becoming a polyglot! I know English, Spanish (ES) Japanese, portuguese and a bit of Chinese! And I still believe that those who have a great will, is about to enter up to the polyglot fame hall, like Mr. Steve. He is like a inspiration for us , as young language learners! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!
What a great man Steve Kaufmann is! Hats off for his wisdom and sharing his experience. Thank you very much!
I speak Spanish, Basque, English and Galician and I'm studying German and Norwegian by myself. I try to read books and newspapers in different languages everyday, watch movies and series in their original versions, etc. so I don't lose pace and fluency. Once you fall in love with a language, it's hard to quit.
I’m a Cantonese speaker from Vietnam, had learned Vietnamese one period a day for 5 years, have been speaking English for 35 years. Just started to learn Spanish, Mandarin & Vietnamese 4 months ago. Thank you gentlemen for your insight.
Steve makes a good point that in some countries people routinely learn and become fluent in more than one language. That works beause in those countries children start learning their multiple languages in grade school and get daily professionl lessions thru the 12th grade. In this forum we are talking about adults that want to learn a second or third language to fluency in a year or less in their spare time. That is a tall order. It is just not a realistic time frame and they don’t get regular professional lessions so it only works for the people that have some degree of talent in learning languages. In the U.S. many people are making international trips for business and pleasure and its time that we start teaching a second or third language to children the way it is done in Europe.
I know this doesn’t have much to do with the topic but 6 months ago I manifested a new lenguaje by using certain techniques of meditation... when it comes to the mind it’s very unpredictable what your mind can do... through meditation I was able to “trick” my mind and I manifested the English language in a matter of a few months
He is so absolutely right about how backwards language teaching is (in schools at least). Pretty much any polyglot says similar things about it to what he says and I agree from my own experience, being fluent in Icelandic, English, German, Swedish and Danish and knowing some French.
73 years old, but he still looks good holy crap...
He does such a daddy
It is so true that when you learn more languages the better you become in learning languages. I'm Polish 37 years old, I speak Polish, English, French, Italian and Arabic (fusha, Syrian and Egyptian dialect and I'm learning Derja along with my kids as my husband is Tunisian), I read and understand German (I speak a little as I have never had chance to practice talking) and currently learning Chinese. When I was a kid I was also able to communicate in Russian but when I entered school in '89 it was moment when it was cancelled from schools in Poland and my parents focused in teaching me English so at the end I have not learned Russian. But I plan to take Russian after having learned Chinese.
My children are already plyglots by birth: as I am Polish, my husband Tunisian, we use OPOL and talking with each other in English and plus we live in France so our kids have 4 languages as a "starter pack" ;) Our 9 years old son, made his Cambridge flyers A2 this year with 15/15 even that he was never learning English (as a foreign language), he is also making in the same time Polish and French school at home and learns to read in Arabic (as he is speaking Derja like his father he needs to learn "new Arabic" so called Modern Standard to read). Our 2 years old daughter alread speaks 2 languages (Polish and French, which she learns in the kindergarten) and understands 2 more (Derja from father and English when we talk together)
Would be very interesting to know how well they speak these different languages in like 10 years!
Such an inspiring story, thank you! Hope everything goes well since then.
intelligent, smart and handsome Mr. Steve Kaufman is, an apple of truth💚
Television is one of the most convenient ways to learn a second language. I watched television only in Spanish for two straight years. I did the same thing with Italian language television.
I can speak Polish, German, English, Russian, Esperanto, and a little Italian. You can learn languages without courses, teachers, grammar because you can simply watch on TV, hear podcasts, read newspapers, etc. Look at the children how they learn. Repeat, repeat and the key is listening, reading and after this speaking. There is, for example, a helpful approach to learn languages - The Birkenbihl Approach. But you can find much more methods to have fun. Why is it important to have fun? Because your brain simply loves it!
I'm a teenager, I'm also a polyglot. My native languages are Portuguese, English and Spanish; I learned French and I'm on a very advanced level (from now on it really is just about practicing and talking which I do a lot); I've been learning Hebrew and Galician and I'm planning Mandarin and Arabic next (I kind of started getting familiarized with Mandarin but not yet started). When Steve shared his point of view about how language teaching is upside down, I felt so related to it! I see people at school struggling with badly spoken English and that backwards method is what gets them stuck, and really, the more you learn the better you get at it. Languages are fascinating, they're beyond any translations, they're a whole different way to see the world and a whole new culture that comes with it.
It's easy for a Latin language speaker to learn another Latin language
Hi bro! I know only Russian and english.Can you advice me how can i learn other languages maybe french or german. On the internet or individual myself??
@@kishanchali8752 Easy to read, not to write, talk and listen to.
The best teacher of the world!! I'm so Grateful. Thanks a Lot for inspire us. I'm Leaning a Lot with your contents.
This was such an honest interview. I loved it! I speak two languages fluently and now I decided that I want to learn a third one. I'm at early stage of the process and it can be daunting. But I see these polyglots online (some better than others) speaking other languages and it inspires me. I'm hoping I can get passed the basic pronouns and conjugations soon so I can actually start practicing putting together my own sentences together soon. I'm giving myself 1 year to be conversational in a third language.
I have been following you both for many years.. you are both a source of inspiration..I really love Christian accent and his style as well..As far as Steve is concerned I would only say that he is a well known and accomplished polyglot..thank you
Yes, some people do struggle with learning their first second language, but it can be interesting to dive into geographically prioritised ones. For example, I am from Azerbaijan, but due to our history closely related to the Soviet Union, almost everyone can speak or at least understand Russian. Then, we can more or less speak Turkish, which is kind of similar to Azerbaijani, but it is certainly a different language. Some of us speak English as well. What about me, I am learning Italian now. So, never stop going on for more ✌🏻
You know when you are getting the hang of a language when you start to dream in the language. I have dreams in German, Thai, and Spanish. It's funny when in the dream I'm speaking Thai to a German person and we both understand each other. lol
Whaaaaaat
Hahaha 😂
rightt and sometimes i be be dreaming in korean and when i wake up i be like wth cos the dreams be wierd and funny loll
Every human is great at thigh language and the stuff in between the thighs
actually
german can understand dutch
I'm 54 - native language is English, 2nd language (studied in school for 4 years) is French, and I've picked up some Spanish along the way because of where I lived. It so SO much easier to learn languages now, especially with so much awesome UA-cam content! I *hated* the old school way of language instruction! Did I learn to speak French in school? Sort of. But after 4 years, my progress was minimal. All my life I've wanted to be a polyglot... So now I'm studying German on my own, and also trying to advance my French and Spanish, but I want to add Italian and possibly Vietnamese. I actually love the study of languages as a science so much that I'm going back to school to study Linguistics with Minor in German and a TESL as well - but the language *speaking* is something I study on my own. I use massive amounts of listening to native speakers (mostly UA-cam content) as well as other resources that help me learn languages in *context.* I do make my own flashcards and take notes, but my flashcards are not *words,* but rather complete phrases/sentences. ....What he says is correct - we don't start off learning our native language by studying grammar. We start by listening *a lot,* then speaking - *a lot* - before we ever learn a single bit of grammar. ANYWAY - thanks for this video! The gentleman is inspiring for those who might think they're "too old" to do what they want to do. Thank you! Happy accident that this came up in my YT feed. 😁👍
Nobody can speak like you diplomatic people 🌼🌼🌼
Thank you, Christian. For all of your videos. Your channel is one of the most useful and enjoyable channels on youtube.
Such a practical thinking polyglot. Really enjoyed that.
Steve es una persona absolutamente admirable, un referente del que aprender. Las sensaciones que transmite al escucharle hablar, desde luego no son las de una persona infeliz.
I quite agree after living in Greece & Germany. Being out & about & listening to the language before trying to learn. As one hears the internations etc. Listening every day to the radio, the weather report then slowly & steadily the language starts to sink in. In my humble opinion. I lived in Israel years ago & i learned to count in 5 days just listening. I cannot believe I could do that but I did & 35 years later I can still count in Hebrew.
Every school student needs to hear this! Everyone in the world could be polyglots!
English is not my first language, but I understand 100%. Wow
Steve Kaufman is the best.
Agree with all of this. Motivation is key and it all starts with listening over and over.
Hi Christian, thank you very much for this interview with Steve Kaufmann. He is such an amazing person, with a strong and clear voice and thoughts and mainly knowledges how to learn foreign languagues. I 've made sure myslelf I 've been taking the right way to increas my English level up. Jarmila.
I also dream of reading Tolstoy and Chekhov in their own language. I believe that in translation the flavour is lost. Now looking at STEVE I am motivated . Shall try learning Russian soon.
Thank you so much for this helping video.... God bless you... 🍀☘️🌿
Promises made by language learning apps, courses, etc. are always exaggerated, but that doesn't make them bad (though some are). It just means that they have to compete for your dollars. Pimsleur and Speakly are two examples. Both probably exaggerate the promised outcome, but both are also excellent, serious programs in language learning.
As a linguist, language teacher and learner, I agree with everything except for one thing. I don’t think the first thing to learn is the writing system, because some systems such as English are inconsistent, especially when comparing the writing system with the sound system (e.g. “a” doesn’t always sound as /a/). So I believe the first thing to learn is the SOUND system, then after learning all the sounds, you incorporate it to the writing system.
8:20 stive is right 👍 in india most of the people speaks 3 languages 🇮🇳 as I speak Bengali Hindi English and learning Spanish, Japanese, Russian
Both characters I have been listening and I love them. The point is having both of them at the same place (video) it is amazing to me. I´d like to say "thank you a lot" Christian and S. Kaufman you are very precious for anyone who wants to speak no only English but also any language at all. I keep listening... both... and again... thank you very much!
I wasted 4 years in college studying English Language. Then one year scholarship in the US introduced me to the Language again. I had already forgotten the fucking Grammar by the time I traveled to the US and started developing my mental Grammar unknowingly through real life interaction with natives. When I read Grammar after that, it all just made sense. It was just giving names to concepts that are already known to me subconsciously (mental Grammar). I also came to enjoy Syntax very much after years of despising it.
One day I'll learn Japanese, russian and Arabic, but now I just wanna be fluent in English!
Me too
lmao am i the only person not understanding what makes people want to learn russian
@@zz9557 Yes.
If you like Russian culture, you should learn the language. I like Russian Culture. I also like the country.
The English do not see American speech as true English...most words are misspelled...the wrong syllable is accented...poor usage...comprehension...and weak vocabularies!
z z Russian bias
What a wonderful interview! I loved the conversation. Very instrucional
You touched every corner of a beginners mind when starting learning a new language...
Everything he is saying is so true. I started to take French in high school because I had to take a language and I didn't want to take Spanish because I already spoke it. At first I wasn't very interested because I had no relation with the language, but soon I started to really like it, mostly because I fell in love with French cinema and music. Now I am constantly thinking about French and trying to improve on my own. 10:58 very true. I really enjoyed this video.
Engage with the language and make mistakes that's what makes perfection
I completely agree with SK when he says that "practice makes master" (not literally). I am now trying my best in writing and it goes better with the time.
I look up to him, he is Mister Steve, my Hero
TO him
@@jadorealissawhite-gluz5706 That's right, I appreciate your correction thank you a lot, phrasal verbs are a nightmare
I thought about ask my english professor at school for teach all the class or 90% of class, on english. But she isn't polite enough. Probably if i ask for it she'll answer me with agressivity. Here in Brazil, on my town all we that learn english at school, learn just grammar. After some years at school, i learned just english grammar. 3 - 4 months ago, i decided learn it by myself, and i've to say that was the best choice of my life. I was able to learn a lot of different strategies about acquire it and here i am. 3 months later speaking with you.
That great! You did it!!
Mate great channel and great interview. I am a native Aussie speaker but your advice and Steve Kaufmann's wisdom have helped me a great deal in not only learning Norsk but how language works in general and my poor brain will never be the same.
I agree totally about MOTIVATION as a most important reason succeeding in learning a new language, at any age, I may add. Success feed motivation...it’s also correct!
So interesting...I dream to be a polyglot 🤪🤪🤪
What man can do you can do
Me too
Dont dream just start
@@brobro-qh8ec +
me too, although I speak just spanish and im learning english, I hope I can speak more languages in the future
My way to learn a new language is through similarity between words and languages structures. I learned to speak Spanish, Italian and French because there are very similar to Portuguese. Now I'm learning German through its similarity with English and Latin. Languages' courses are too standardized. I like to learn by myself, using my one strategies and methods. I learned English watching TV, especially News programs and documentaries. Even when I did not understand what they were saying I keep watching those programs in English. It helped me a lot. English and Italian are my favorite languages ...
Christian you are the motivator for me to learn english.
That really motivates me, I’m 16 and I already learned one language fluently, and now I’m learning English, i hope I’ll speak it fluently soon
Sounds good to me so far :)
I look up to you both so much. Thank you ever so much. _ Christian from Thailand
Thanks a million for this great video, Chris. Steve is awesome!
This is very exciting since I’ve been struggling to learn Spanish. I feel like I finally have a strategy that will work.
"You acquire the appetite while eating." I like that expression, I've found myself struggling to get started in many things, but once I get moving I'm really enjoying myself. But I seem to always forget this once I'm starting something again... Now I have a saying to help focus the mind and build up a new appetite!
No way!! You guys did that. What a small world we live today!! Congrats you guys for motivating us in our journey!!!
I studied Spanish, German, French and Italian in college, and I am fluent in Spanish with good grasp of the others. I recommend listening to music in the language of choice because a person will listen to it over and over without viewing it as a chore. Moreover, he or she will learn the correct pronunciation of the each word and phase. Before going on an overseas trip, I always find music in the language of the nation I will visit. I usually can find the rhythm of the language within a week or so before my trip. I also make notes of where the band is from so that study the regional aspects of the language.
I agree with everything he says. I also learned my languages the same way and process that he did !! Good Video!!
I'm also speak and write 5 languages such as Spanish, English, Italian, German and French. I'll be learning Russian as well.
I see
I did NOT know he is 73! WOOOOOOOOOOW. Kaufman needs to do a "What I eat in a Day" video. Jeez. Bless him.
Brilliant; great news for me, trying to learn Mandarin, Spanish & ? now i have some hope, thanks.
Christian Saunders, it would be very interesting if you'd invited Linguamus as a guest to your channel. He is one of the greatest polyglot- linguists we have ever seen. Many, many years ago, we heard almost the same thoughts that you are now trying to explain to people. You are so similar in terms of approach to language acquisition. He definitely knows a lot more words than the average native Russian speaker and speaks better. İt is not just my personal opinion. This is the official assessment of some Russian linguistics professors about his knowledge of the Russian language. The name of his channel is Linguamus. it would be so interesting and also useful to see you together.
Here cause my teacher at graduation sent us! Very inspiring 🥰
Thank you very much, Christian. Very useful and enlightening clip. Waiting for the next one!
I appreciate this interview 😊 thank you!
Thanks a lot for your advice!!
I have young nieces who live in the Philippines and since birth the have listen to UA-cam and they can all effortlessly express themselves in English. Their parents start "teaching" them how to write their abcs and how to count etc. They learn this no faster than their native language.
Those were GOLDEN ADVICE. I agree since I've been learning and hopping from one European language to another European language. Motivation is everything in Language Acquisition. On one hand, I also adhere to the fact that one acquires language for the purpose of using it. I believe that the existence of Language Community is vital in the existence of Language Courses online.
This man is amazing, very smart!!
There is always amazing interviews here. I'm so grateful for everything you have been sharing with us ;)
Спасибо за позитив и стремление делать свое дело на 300%. люблю ваши видео
For a 73 years old. His brain is really sharp and bright
The Latin languages are all connected so if you learn Spanish for example you're essentially learning Italian and Portuguese too along with French, Romanian, Catalan, Napoletano, Siciliano, Lombardo, Piemontese etc.
Thank you for this video! It’s motivated me a lot! I think it’s right to said learners true that learning needs time!
Thanks bro, this is one of the best interview i had ever watch.
7:00 ;) Important to remember. So, thanks.
I've only been learning potuguese since.. the beginning of april I think. And in the beginning, when I was watching a Brazilian speak in a video, it was like they spoke so fast. They still do a little bit, but I can understand some easy conversations when there are portuguese subtitles. It's amazing how fast one can improve, but you have to look back every once in a while, to realize you haven't always been on this level and you actually made quite some progress already.
Thanks, Steve.
Good to hear Steve speaking the truth . You simply cannot become fluent in any language in 3 months or whatever the claim is .It is not possible unless you are some kind of highly unusual genius. Learning a language takes years .In fact it is a life long endeavour .
one must distinguish a reading knowledge of the language and a speaking knowledge of the language. they are two quite distinct goals that require quite distinct learning processes. a speaking knowledge of a language is best acquired by actual immersion in the country that has it as its mother tongue. a reading knowledge can be had without leaving one's own country through exposure to the literature of that language.
I'm also a polyglot! I can speak French, Spanish, Portuguese, English and I have an intermediate level in German, also looking forward to learn Italian or Russian in January.
France and Russia have an interesting relationship where there is a great deal of dual language, translated material between the languages.
@@jeffkardosjr.3825 Germany and Russia have an interesting relationship as well. I've always wanted to visit Kaliningrad and I'm currently living here in Switzerland
That was a very interesting and motivating video for learning my 3rd language. Thank you!
Thank you.
I experienced my self learning Turkish within 3 months and the result is i can speak the language for daily convo.. my native language is Bahasa Indonesia.. I am a language keener also sir 😁
I proudly speak: english, español, português, et le français.
One things for sure: we never stop learning new words.
Awesome! Good luck in the future ))))
I'm both a language tutor and learner, and this interview was SO interesting looked at from both perspectives. I already give out a lot of very similar advice to what he says, so I feel affirmed in my intuitions about language learning. At the same time, I feel like I only had a surface level understanding of it until I became a language learner myself. It's a very different view from this end.
I think it is easy to learn new language that has similarity to your own language. English speaker will have easier time learning Spanish and goes on and on. Look at most polyglots who speak English as mother language, they speak more language from western side of the world but have very few languages from Eastern world and if they do it’s usually simple greet and essential conversation.
You have a point. I'm Brazilian and learning Italian isn't so hard. Portuguese is very similar to Spanish and Italian (because both are Romance languages too).
Simply prime! Greetings from Amazon in north of Brazil!👍😀
As a polyglot myself (Greek, English, German, Spanish) I can only say that learning languages gets easier the more you get exposed to a certain language. I taught myself Spanish. 3 days ago I started learning French and I feel extremely confident that I can easily reach the B2 level by just putting in the work and hours.
Ναι ρε, έχεις δίκιο
I like that idea of one sport helping you learn another sport. My grandson played a lot of soccer where he because very good at running fast and then took that into his playing tackle football.
*Аппетит приходит во время еды* 🙂⭐ You acquire the appetite while eating
That's one great video! Thank you very much, gentlemen.
Once, i had to call to french embasy here in Brazil. The girl who answered spoke in french, I asked her, in english, if we could speak in portuguese, she said yes.