How a linguist uses italki to learn languages
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- Опубліковано 28 тра 2024
- Learn 150+ languages with quality native-speaking teachers on italki🎉. Buy $10 get $5 off for your first lesson using my code JONES:
Web: go.italki.com/languagejones
App: italki.app.link/languagejones
I was going to make a video about italki anyway, but they reached out to me, so this one's sponsored!
As usual, patreon is: www.patreon.com/languagejones
merch is: languagejones.creator-spring....
I have been using iTalki on and off for years, and I really enjoy it. The teachers have ranged from good to excellent. I have been learning European Portuguese, and finding classes and teachers in person has been been impossible. Everyone I found was teaching Brazilian Portuguese, but would assure me that it is basically the same (it isn't). I really like the the teacher selection tools allow you to drill down to the specific dialect you want to learn.
I’ve been using Italki on and off for some years now. The teachers definitely vary in quality. I’ve had a few that started off doing what I wanted (at that time, just conversation), but then started trying to “teach” me by making me do worksheets during the session. I don’t generally like doing things like that, because I could do it on my own time rather than paying them to watch me do a worksheet. Also, they were some terribly designed worksheets.
My current teacher, for Kurmanji, is the best teacher I’ve ever had for any language though. He is so creative and has so many different activities. He’s also flexible and if you tell him you want to work on something specific, he’ll have the perfect lesson designed for you for the next session. I’m always recommending him to anyone who wants to learn Kurdish or Turkish.
«Красавица» exists, actually, in Russian as well. I'd wager that Yiddish borrowed it completely.
yeah, no way anyone can borrow a word from any language other than ruzzian. as there's no way ruzzian can borrow from other languages.
@@andrewkuplevakhskyi3562 пане, ви маєте будь-яку претензію до мене особисто, чи у вас взагалі сьогодні поганий настрій, і ви його вирішили зірвати на мене?
@@andrewkuplevakhskyi3562russian borrow many words from other languages. I know many words they borrow from German like Rucksack, Butterbrot, Schlagbaum, Stöpsel and many more. Google for the Wikipedia article about a list of the borrowed words in Russian from other languages.
@@MueschaRussian has an enormous layer of French borrowings. Not just words but phraseology and syntactic calques
Your honest review really sold me on this. Some things are best learned by talking with a proper teacher. There's only so much textbooks and videos can do.
One of the few pretty honest and convincing sponsored content I've encountered. Bajos!
I love italki! 🌵I started using it in the summer of 2020 (hello, language learning as a COVID project!) and have done about 1,000 hours of lessons since then - so about an hour a day. It's what took my Spanish from B1 to C2, and made me so passionate about learning languages that I have now moved on to studying a number of others too. I have traveled and met 13 of my tutors in person and hope to keep meeting more of them! I've actually even planned some trips specifically around meeting tutors.✈ For anyone who is reading, I highly recommend it!
Making connections between languages is one of the most effective ways learn large amounts of vocabulary. As an English speaker learning Spanish, Ive found that even aside from the ~40% of obvious English cognates, virtually all Spanish words can be traced to some Latin word which is also the basis for some English word, even if the meaning has been altered over time.
The first language I studied seriously was Japanese. When I started studying Chinese, I was able to acquire vocabulary so much faster due to the shared writing system and Japanese borrowings of Chinese words. The readings of certain characters are also sometimes (somewhat) similar, which is helpful. Learning Japanese for the first time, however, i had nothing to compare it to, so vocabulary acquisition was definitely a challenge
phylacteries. Phyl as in phylum, which classifies stuff, and “lacter” is clearly related to lactose. So, phylacteries is the classification system for all the modern types of milk. Important subject for barristers.
Flawless logic!
I've been using iTalki for 2 years now and am also addicted. I like the way you describe how you feel being on the website: feeling like a kid in a candy store. That's exactly my feeling too :D
I am using it for Chinese, Telugu and Hindi, but have also taken a few sessions in Russian. I do need to remind myself occasionally to not book too many lessons. I'm trying to find teachers who will teach me using something like comprehensible input or story based learning, but they are hard to find.
Since there are not so many teachers for Telugu on the platform, I also checked out Preply, but I must say the payment and subscription system there almost feel like it's a scam. So back to iTalki then :D
I have teachers who teach on both Preply and italki and she told me that Preply takes all her trial lesson $ so she has to teach all trial lessons for free. I only book lessons with her on italki
@@jimleu1374 Oh, that's good to know. So it seems that Preply is suboptimal for both teachers and students then
Hi @anikaslanguages6292, just curious, are you a South Indian? How are your hindi and telugu lessons going on?
@@prateekyadav9811 Haha no I'm German, weirdly I feel it's a compliment for people to think I am though - I'm trying a lot to understand south indian culture because my boyfriend is South Indian, so for that reason I am also learning the language. Both are going fine, and I am really quite happy :) Where are you from?
I just stumbled on to your channel and listened to two videos and they are fantastic. I look forward to exploring more of them.
All the points you mentioned are also good criteria to pick a language teacher.
I remember taking a Hebrew class ten years ago in college, and it ruined my college life. As the teacher was proficient in the language himself, he didn’t know much about pedagogy and second language acquisition. What’s worse is that his material is not for self study, because he complained about one student who never attended class but earned good grade on his class.
This makes his class hard to comprehend. And also his lack of flexibility and amicability concocted a nightmare class perfectly.
Anyway, I failed the class. But now I am trying to pick up Hebrew again just find the joy in it. And as a kind of redemption of myself.😢
Teffilin is the case for the body, mezuza is the case for your doors where you put the prayer about how to keep the first commandment (Deuteronomy 11) both keeping your life and soul (at home). The other one is your lips praying as you walk, that is also part of the prayer.
phylacteries are magic containers, where a Lich would keep their soul in order to stay 'alive'. Thanks D&D, I 'know' it's a prayer box adorned on one's head while prayer, but I'm willing to bet it's more complicated as well.
Oh, wow, I hadn’t heard that first one and I can’t say I’m a fan. Could they not have made up a term instead? 🤔
Thanks for the great video! iTalki is now definitely on my list of tools to investigate as I learn Japanese; I have a weekly online class with a native speaker right now, but when I don't have a class, I'll look at iTalki. I appreciate the learning tips as well. I appreciate your viewpoint as a linguist...I don't have a degree, but I love linguistics, and had a few intro classes at university. I do love digging and learning the history, and finding deeper connections in the way Japanese works as Japanese...because it drives me bonkers how textbooks for English speakers try to force English grammar on Japanese. Or roundabout stuff...teaching the formal -masu ending on verbs and "conjugating" sortof-sideways from there, never mentioning the dictionary form, which is of course what I find in a dictionary. To me, that just makes it harder. So I adapt my own learning tools, changing things out until I find something that makes it "stick" for me. Anyway, I ramble, but thanks again!
Great video!
I am sleeping for you! Thank you for your videos!
I’ve been using Italki to brush up my Russian once again and it’s been a true godsend. My only regret, similar to you, is not using it sooner.
Спасибо большое за видео!
Spot on. Thanks for the video. I struggled with Farsi till I got a tutor 1:1.
One tip that was shared with me to help me understand Subjunctive in Farsi -Mi rhymes with bi (Me rhymes with be).
Exمی توانم بروم
I'm getting my bachelor degree in languages and linguistics and I absolutely love your channel, too bad you posted so little videos! Do you have any linguistics related channel suggestions? Looking forward to your next video, greetings from Italy ❤
A phylactery is a lich's box that holds their soul and manifests/regenerates a new body for them when they are killed.
Great video, as always! I liked the tip about viewing each language in its own terms. When I started learning Arabic, I was overwhelmed by the number of translations of a given word. It has become easier to spot the semantic links between the translations as I've become more familiar with the Arabic verb forms.
I'm not sure if I'm remembering the definition from Bible class 15 years ago or if I my mind is creating false memories based on the example you gave, but it seems like phylacteries are the ceremonial garb worn in Judaism, such as the prayer scripts worn on the forehead. I'll look it up after posting this comment and probably never forget again :P
That’s correct! Small boxes with the shema and a few other verses, worn with leather straps, during morning prayers, except on shabbat and some holidays. (For what it’s worth, they’re worn comfortably - I once met someone who thought it was some kind of mortification of the flesh; it’s not). Recently there was a Reddit thread with pictures of 🇺🇦 soldiers wearing them, and the overwhelming majority of comments were asking why they were wearing go pros!
14:26 I don't get too much sleep, or even too close to enough.
That's why my Greek and Polish and Lithuanian are rusting down from the levels they had 1993, Summer 2003, early 2004. Wait, reverse the last two, I _said_ I was sleeping inadequately!
I'd like to make that promise, but surroundings where I am are doing their best to stop me from keeping it, so, I won't promise what I suspect I can't keep.
Musical composition and poetry, necnon novella writing, not to mention writing more chapters on a fan fic called Chronicle of Susan Pevensie are equally collateral or intended victims of sleeploss, and so is the Rosary.
I wish for all babies to sleep soundly all across the world including yours thanks for the great video Jones! I appreciate the interrupts of side comments and clips of the italki experience. It kept my attention the whole 15 mins 😂.
I've heard "phylacteries" before but can't remember its meaning; using my knowledge of Ancient Greek I'm guessing it's related to guarding (φύλαξ)
Awesome video! I was wondering though - why is "native speaker" controversial in linguistics? Do you think you could make a video on that?
I think I know what he means. Is someone a native speaker only if they grew up hearing the language from their parents? Or does the definition include those who have learned the language outside of home to a native level? If so, at what age can you learn a language and still be considered a native speaker?
In all of these cases, it doesn’t ultimately matter at what stage we assign someone a ‘native speaker.’ It’s a completely arbitrary decision. What does matter more is their level of fluency in the language, which is easily measurable and has several diagnostic tests (CEFR, HSK, JLPT, etc.)
Thanks for the vid and the continued inspiration. I’ll go to bed before 1am just for you.
Could you please make a video of your thoughts on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis? I saw you refer to it in another of your videos but you didn't elaborate
Thanks for the video! I´m trying to learn bulgarian. I´m struggling to gather learning material. What kind of material you think is better to have around. I miss some audiovisuals for like kids to acquire the basic vocabulary. My plan is to learn it as "natural" as possible and then make it better from there studying. That´s what I´m doing for French.
You need to get Stuart Jay Raj on your channel man. Loved this video as per usual. liked, subscribed, and commented.
I’m embarrassed to say I am not familiar - time to go do some research!
While this entire video is one big, paid advertisement, it was actually rather interesting.
I hope it was very clear they paid me, but they did give me free rein to say whatever I wanted. I’m glad you got something out of it - I was already planning on talking about how I use italki, so when they asked about a sponsored video, I jumped at the opportunity
Dude, you are cracking me up. 😂 I am just about to start my journey learning Greek, and your videos are going to save me a lot of time finding the first couple steps. Phyllacteries… Phil’s breasts?
I had five years of French classes in Canada and it was translating ENGLISH into FRENCH and vice versa mainly …certainly with very little conversation. Taught by anglophone teachers all of whom had little to no training, one had an interesting accent I am not sure but I think she was from India. All I remember is the French for …my name is Linda….I do not speak FRENCH, I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO SAY…that last ironic phrase I use all the time . I read competent cereal box French as I am left handed the French list of ingredients and nutrition labels are presented when I pick any carton up I don’t even notice I am reading French until I see an unfamiliar ingredient in the list luckily the translation is not that far away on the other side of the box. In the early 1970’s I worked with a young woman who had immigrated from Israel. I don’t remember every thing she taught me but I can count to five where I at one time could count to ten😮. I still remember how to tell a man I love you. I love to listen to classical music on the radio. 😊 I never could say I am a Library Clerk due to pronunciation issues 😢 oh well I also can’t say I was a Library technician as I took the course a few years later and she had moved away. Thank you for inspiring my walk to the distant past …as my Mum would say Mercy buckets her version of merci beacoup forgive my spelling I am not a competent speller but I try😂 sometimes I succeed by accident 😮. Adios amigo 👋🧓🏻🤚I think I am an amiga that is almost the full extent of my Spanish vocabulary. 🖖🖖🖖🖖thanks to Mr. Spock we have live long and prosper may you and your family do so. Baby nap times should be parental nap times too. 🤔😉🌺🌟🍀👍👍👍👍🍀🌟🌺
This video now has me curious about you Dr Jones. So, first off, I would like to say that I am still very much anticipating that video on verb modality (because I'm a nerd) and also wondering if evidentiality will be mentioned at all as well. But for this video, I would really like to know all the languages you've studied and what levels you reached with them (even if you do not practice them anymore) and what languages that you'd be interested in learning in the future. I'm also curious to know if any signed languages made the cut or all just spoken languages. And because I'm a huge orthography nerd and I don't think it ever gets enough recognition, what scripts and orthographies have you learned or wanted to learn as well? Love the channel! I hope to see your face on my screen again soon. PS: I shall double your offer and sleep 2 extra hours for you
I try and learn different Native American Tribal language's., Also, I'm working on Mandarin, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, and many more ,as possible. I want to serve my country if needed. Love talk!
Congratulations on your new baby. Is it your first? If so, welcome to fatherhood. 👍
Sorry, can’t sleep more, too busy watching languagejones
At what point/ in your language learning process do you reccomend starting Italki? should I learn some basics first? self study for a few weeks a few months?
I am learning Arabic, want to learn Darija because I have a Moroccan connection. Btw, "mies" is a popular German word as well, I mean o course it is. I think it means more so-so (meh) or a bit crap, rather than ugly, though.
The Hebrew tutor certainly enjoys his boardgames.
12:10 That's like "ponere" - sub-ponere, participle "sub-positum" literally means "put below sth" ...
You may recognise it as "suppose" ....
Recte subponis, ad textum.
תודה רבה, אני גם לומד עברית ועומר היה המורה הראשון שלי! אני אוהב את italki
I am using italki and Duolingo to learn Spanish. The combination really helps. But italki can get expensive over the long run.
It's an option but I think it's easier to make friends and become part of a community / get invited to things if you just do language exchange in person. Then your conversations can also be more interesting because they are not lessons or smalltalk.
You want to be safe and meet in public places, but it's not that scary and if you want to leave you just say sorry, I remembered I have an appointment or some bs. I'd recommend to anyone to try exchange, just like the internet free is better, no one is passionate about something they have to do to pay rent.
Im studying around 6 different languages. Id love to find someone to talk with slowly in their native language. Where do you find a safe exchange.? Online only? Thank you,
OK I'm going to Google it in just a second but if I had to guess I think phylactery would be some sort of clothing piece maybe? Maybe it might have something to do with gifting I'm thinking like philanthropy in a way
oh that ok cool
2:13 Cha-ee, mikhahm!
12:30
tefillin = too fill in, or it is a medicinal drug
phylacteries = leaf collections?
Have you ever tried to learn a signed language? On italki or through any other method. I'd love your linguistic analytical perspective on what it's like to learn a signed language....:)
The biggest flaw on iTalki is that I struggled to find any teachers on there who have a low enough level on English. I'm looking for A1 and below teachers, I don't want them to be "helpful' thinking they're going to take my money AND get to practice English. I want a monolingual classroom. But way too many teachers, no matter what language you search on iTalking, are B1, B2+ and above. Ridiculous imho. I had no problem finding a teacher in Colombia who didn't speak a single word of English, but she was fluent in Italian so she did have an idea about language acquisition.
I shall sleep for an extra hour this week, in your honor.
People talk a lot about wanting to speak a language. And I do want to speak a language. Yet I find that chatgpt is helpful for me looking at Hebrew and stuff. Even though I should probably have a learning buddy sometimes I have it explain words and stuff to me.
The only thing is that you have to know enough to understand if it is wrong.
It is clear that it is throwing words together in a pattern and usually the pattern that makes the most sense is one that is right, but too many times it is wrong
My thought is then
Is this the beginning of it getting better or are we at our limits
That is a freestyle association since you asked please: the immediate thing that came to my head, and I confess I wasn't really following everything before, still!: Tefillin sounds like a molecule that would stick something, somehow. Phylacteries does not, (não necessariamente), but since they must be synonymous, my at this moment insane med-student brain associated phylacteries with some type of beeing that at first looked really into milk, but then in my head it morphed to a general sense of feeding, to aiding, harmonising, thus sticking, again.
What the controvery around "native speaker"?
What was that clip from in the beginning " never alow them to take you somewhere else"
It was a clip on Oprah (that I remember watching in 1991, and it made a big enough impression on me that I still quote it in 2023, so I guess he’s doing an amazing job at keeping people safe!)
@languagejones I thought it night have been from TV..I remember seeing it at some point but wasn't sure where..thank you!
I have started an account at italki but, I have not found how much it costs (by minute, by lessons)?
It’s different by the teacher. I think the range is $5 at the lowest and $80 at the highest, per hour
random guess. phylacteries has something to do with that bridge between your nose and mouth. (i forgot the word for that but i know it has a ph sound)
12:36 As just a complete shot in the dark guess: some kind of over the torso covering, sort of like an apron but not really?
Update: I just googled it, that is NOT correct at all
A for effort
Further reinforcing that “phylactery” is a useless “translation”!
And yeah, I had phylactery and tefellin both in my mind, but the meaning and picture in my mind were fuzzy, I just knew it had to do with prayer and it was something worn on the person.
*tefillin* _noun_ a coating applied in the manufacturing of cookware to create a nonstick surface
*phylactteries* _noun_ a bacterium known to enter into casual asexual relationships with itself
I can promise you I'll get at least one extra hour of sleep for you this week. I might have gotten two extra today and didn't even know I had someone I could honor by doing it.
No clue on phylacteries of Teffelin (sp). The ph tells me it's a greek root and before I scrolled too far and saw someone talking about phylax having to do with guarding I was reaching for something . . . well I was running down a lot of blind allies. Anyway, strictly from the context of sacraments and donning things it sounds like vestments of some type or another. A ceremonial robe, hat, or stole of some kind. Perhaps all of the above. (For funsies, I'd guess a hair shirt but that feels distinctly Christian).
Oh, and to embiggen an already over-big comment, I first started using iTalki on the suggestion of Gabriel Werner, author of Fluent Forever. My wife is first-generation Greek. When I started learning when I decided to learn Greek there were basically no resources for learning Modern Greek. (Not even Duolingo, though I tried signing up to learn English as a Greek speaker). Fluent Forever was the book that allowed me to get a foothold in the language.
Thanks for the video. I like how you learn languages, but that's your way. Everyone is different and needs to find their own way to learn a language. One method won't work for everyone.
Definitely. Later, I’m planning on a few videos about the state of the science on learning. There are a few great UA-camrs with PhDs in that domain, and they’ve really changed how I do things
does italki work on microsoft egde
Yes, I've used it with Edge.
A phylactery is what you put on to avoid pregnancy or the transmission of a communicable disease!
Phylactaries: Plural; Noun; a sources of phlegm to be used for ritual purposes.
Sanctifies us with his commandments and enjoins us to don phylacteries.
My best guess is coming out of my video game understanding of phylactories as soul storage. So, I'd imagine this is a daily prayer devoting your actions to a deity, and receiving protection from evil. But honestly, that's all I got.
Also, under that understanding, and that the way you are saying "the standard translation" makes me think of an alternative translation of 'tefillin' being 'armor'. And that immediately makes me think of Teflon, the cookware protection.
Can a $5 lesson really be worth it for either party? Or even a $20 lesson? (And wouldn’t it be andragogy?)
I am not sure about language teachers i really lack speaking practice so it could be useful. but my memories from school make me really not trust teachers. i still assume they not respect me and will just make me do very dull grammar drills and try to force me to do everything their way.
Phylactery... Is a thing where you leave a part of yourself! Maybe? Idk...
different kind of content creation lmao
14:20 I see what you did there...
Good content. You remind me of the former WWE wrestler Edge.
That’s a new one for me, but I see it!
@@languagejones6784 Okay
You S's squeak man, look out for that in your recording and editing!
working on it!
I know teffilin, but not the other word.
Means the same thing! And bizarrely, it’s the “word” “in English” for tefillin. Of course, I don’t know anyone who says it, and all the people who would ever be discussing tefillin jus say “tefillin”
The only reason I know what phylactery means is because I play DnD
Why is native speaker controversial in linguistics?
Glad you asked! I’ll make a video about it, but the short answer is that it carries a lot of assumptions and some of them can be used to harm people (it largely boils down to unexamined assumptions about what it means to be “native,” and given the history of linguistics and anthropology there’s a lot of baggage there)
Also perhaps because multiple belongings create Identity (ies) and for taking a stance you relate to language through affection and experience and not necessarily correct native language and the approach of your cultural background and their language use has also other meanings for you 🙈?
Minoxidil helped my beard to grow thicker 🙂
I would love someone who helps me improve my italian skills but talking to strange people even on the internet freaks me out. What in the world should we talk about? 😅
Why is "native speaker" controversial in linguistics?
phylacteris sounds like a type of bacteria to me. what does it actually mean?
getting extra hour of sleep tuesday!!!!