Polyglot Reacts: Learn Any Language in 6 Months? (TEDx)
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- Опубліковано 13 чер 2024
- 🤯 In this video, I react to a popular TEDx talk, where speaker Chris Lonsdale explains how anyone can learn a new language in just 6 months. At the end, I'll give you my Reality Rating - an assessment of just how practical this advice is for regular people in the real world!
Here's the original TEDx video: • How to learn any langu...
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• Live Demo! Olly Learns...
00:00 TEDx - How to learn any language in 6 months
00:37 Fluent in 6 months
02:12 How you learn a new language quickly?
03:35 5 principles for learning quickly
05:07 Relevant content
06:10 Start speaking from day 1?
07:55 Comprehensible input
09:42 How to speak fluently
11:50 7 actions to learn quickly
13:30 Olly’s Reality Rating
Other language learning projects I've documented on UA-cam:
👉 Learn Thai in 14 Days:
• Learn Thai Mission
👉 Daily Study Routines and Schedules
• Foreign Language Study...
And here are some other cool videos I like about learning languages fast:
• Asking a POLYGLOT How ...
• The secrets of learnin...
• HOW TO LEARN ANY LANGU...
Or...
🔈 To ask me language questions, submit a question on my podcast:
www.iwillteachyoualanguage.co...
...or search "I Will Teach You A Language" wherever you get your podcasts! (iTunes, Spotify, etc)
Here's my take on rapid language learning - Italian in 3 months! 👉🏻 ua-cam.com/play/PLQJscr8iS4eEuHPHQerHMBxZ68O8jiq12.html
Awesome video!
Does the sore jaw thing transfer to throat/vocal cords? I've been working a lot on French and Thai, for a few weeks, and I've gotten really hoarse and my throats feels weird.... not like sick sore throat, but having been working on this stuff for so long I figured I would have gotten used to it by now? I'm basically shadowing apps and flash cards a few hours a day.
Prove how good you are learn to speak Irish, let us know when you are starting , tá gaelige teanga is darcear, irish is a really hard language to learn ,that irish guy on the net can't speak it you know the guy language hacking guy
The drawing is a insane proof (I draw myself and I know the effort). But the bear example truly gets me HAHAH
I gonna check that TEDxTalk - thanks for your commentary!
I remember when I was obsessed with the time I'd be able to speak my second language. I was always searching for people telling their stories of learning languages. As time passed, i realized I did have a competition but not one else but with myself. When I stopped wondering if I'd be able to speak a language in 8 months, I really saw the change. I could see my own breakthrough. For me, learning a language doesn't depend on the time, it does depend on the effort you put on that.
Thanks for telling your story. It’s helpful for me to hear How expectations affects people.
Hola Alejandra podrías darme tips de como aprender Inglés o si conoces algún tutor que de clases online estaría super agradecida 🌻
@@ciatileds1509 Lee revistas y aprende las palabras de canciones. Buena suerte. Yo aprendia español en el colegio hace 40 años, y ya aprendo español y otras lenguas.
Learning Language is time-based. Surely you can accelerate via efficient way. But Reestablishing the brain with nerve cells requires time and energy to form right topology
Best point.
It seems to me that Chris Lonsdale mixes a few well-known truths about language learning with a lot of unsubstantiated hocus-pocus. He would have been more credible if he spoke some Chinese, or for that matter other languages that he had learned to speak fluently within six months. I don't see how you can become fluent or native in Chinese without being able to read. He doesn't even mention characters. Mostly I would like to hear him speak Chinese.
I seem to remember hearing him speak very good Cantonese.
There are a number of videos on youtube of him speaking chinese, just search "Chris Lonsdale speaking chinese", he spokes both Mandarin and Cantonese very well.
@@JohnPaulCauchi You are right John! There are 2 30 plus minute videos of how to learn any language in six months in mandarin by Chris Lonsdale. Plus he just recently did about an hour long video on language learning in mandarin with mandarin corner!
I think he speaks very good Chinese.
But he has been in china for long time. I don't know if he has learned another language in six months and have that fluent level.
ua-cam.com/video/BENA8QSPmLY/v-deo.html
I agree with Steve. I have seen Chris speaking both Cantonese and Mandarin and I have asked native speakers about how good he is, and they say he is good.
But when he says "native", he means "decent foreign speaker". Most adults don't reach native level or even very close to that, and if they do, it's definitely not within 6 months. I know at least 10 Swedes who have lived in Australia for 5 or more years and they still say weird things every now and then, and very few of them don't have a Swedish "tell" somewhere.
I think this is a decent talk but doesn't actually give us much to go away with.
This is my method to learn any language.
I am not going to mention the word" time" here.
I practice the 4 skills at the same time: Speaking, reading, listening to and writing.
While I am reading and listening to, whatever podcast, Video, dialogue, you name it, I write down what I hear.
For instance, I listen to a long sentence, an idiom or a word, then I will jot down on a piece of paper to check out if my brain is able to recall what I hear.
While I am writing it down, I say it to myself. I do have dialogues with myself.
I learn sentences structures by heart. I tend to add different words in the same sentence structure.
For example
My friend is from Portugal.
My sister is from New york.
I am using the same sentence structure, however, the words are different.
Most people also need feedback in the 4 skills. The big question is
What is fluency? What does it mean to speak, read, write and understand a language like a native speaker?
There are native speakers in my native language who speak/ write better than me.
Maths, Medicine, Geography are subjects which we can learn through a language.
Can you understand a judge when he or she uses his or her lexicon?
Can you understand a doctor when he or she uses medical vocabulary? That doctor and that judge speak your native language by using some words that are new to you. That concept " Learn a language like a native " is rubbish. Sorry, I don't know all the words in my native language.
A language is a bridge which allows you to reach further information.
I probably needed to see this comment today. Ive been struggling to move past intermediate level in korean and i didnt know what to do but i’ll be using your method!
@@abcnu9711 Get out of your comfort zone. Take official exams, speak with a native about any topic, avoid small talk.
@@abcnu9711 hang in there. My Russian has been intermediate for a long time, but it seems to me that it's still conversational fluency. I love talking i. Russian. But in the end, what is my ultimate goal? Native level? Professional use? I don't know and so I'm stuck also.
@@joshcoup6440 Sticking on the sec gear is normal. So go as Olly Richards methods, reading a lot of books with precise intonation or pronunciation, It may give u the breakthrough.
I speak here as a Chinese speaker, not a language learner. What's it like to be at a native level is very debatable. I know a student who has passed HSK 6 but speaks with a thick foreign accent and occasionally makes a gramatically correct but unnatural sentence. People know he's good, but also know he's not a native speaker. My grandma is articulate while speaking in Chinese, but she can barely read, which means she might not be able to pass HSK2 or even 1. No one considers her to be a foreigner.
Same question in all languages! Many native English speakers have awful ridden with errors. But you couldn’t claim they’re not native.
@@storylearning There are lots of people who speak a very high "academical" form of the language, Even though the pronunciation is off and the gramatical structures are weird, they are "technically correct". There you know that they probably only made a lot of high prestige exams on that language without any actual interaction with natives in a natural context
@@ndescruzur4378 somewhat debatable. Chinese is not a good language to hold the debate on due to the fact that the language was standardized so recently. Most middle aged, to old, Chinese people have learned standard Mandarin as a second language ( their first being their local dialect). There is a sort of common misconception that young people don't learn local dialects anymore, this is also not true, as their parents and teachers' accents greatly influence how they understand the language. So Chinese is one of those languages that you are almost never speaking to someone who has not been greatly influenced by their local dialect (a great number of which are vastly different from Mandarin). As a result, no one who studies standard Mandarin exclusively will ever sound "native" as there nativeness is solely determined on where they are in the country.
@@vintagegamer889 Great perspective! Languages always change, what we sound in language is merely a fraction of history.
I can definitely attest to the "English deaf" part of this talk. When I first came to England, at age 13, I struggled to understand what people were saying because I had primarily learned English from books and films. The "every day" English was a struggle for me and I was tearful for the first few months, until I finally adapted. I am fluent in 4 languages and I am currently learning Spanish. It helps enormously that I am emotionally motivated to learn this language due to having new Spanish relatives. I am also learning by reading (everything), listening to the news in Spanish, watching UA-cam, reading books, listening to music, watching films and getting used to the speed and rhythm of the language. I add to these vocabulary and verbs - not so much grammar and accent - plus working on my pronunciation. These have helped me enormously - and learning from brilliant UA-camrs like yourself! 😊
Yo también👌
My first language was Russian.
When I moved to States i stopped using my first language and i definitely became near native in English within a year.
There is a change that happens in the brain when you COMPLETELY stop using a native language and replace it with a second language.
Hey
Very weird, but true.
Do you still speak Russian?
I guess it depends on what people's understanding of "native" is, but to me it's pretty clear. You get tons and tons of film, music, cultural, political, religious references, you understand the idioms, the biggest literary influences, the historical narratives. You know the names of the local plants and animals. And most people only get that after living somewhere for a very long time. I am a fluent Russian speaker, worked professionally as a RU-EN translator for nearly a decade, speak at home with my wife in Russian, have Russian-speaking friends and despite all of that, I would not consider myself a near-native speaker.
@@jeffreymason7049
To each their own.
I did explain the importance of NOT using your first language for at least a year to allow the second language to flourish.
Children are in a much better situation because their first language isn't fully developed.
They can easily go on developing two languages to a native level simultaneously.
Loved it. It was so interesting to hear the part about psychology and emotions. "If you're sad and unmotivated you won't learn, period." People often underestimate how much impact this has on their learning time. However, the native-like part didn't sound very convincing to me. Yes, you can have good conversations after 6 months of learning a language, but you need way more time to actually sound like a native. To me, it took me almost 4 years to emulate the American accent in English, and even after almost 10 years of exposure to English, I still feel like I'm learning more and more.
No, no but okay
Yeah, the native in a "bit longer" does seem a touch much, unless he is talking about perfectly mimicking someone's accent. And just one person's.... even then, most people don't listen well enough to eliminate their own accent.
Well, for most people, unless they have started learning their second language before the age of five, they will never be able to speak like a native. I believe part of the problem is because they can't carry a tune. I have noticed a correlation between accent and being able to sing on key, but it's not as important as the age you start learning your second language, IMHO. My dad started learning Spanish when he was 14 and he had such a command of the language that no one thought he was a born in the US. My wife is from Ecuador has been in the US since she was 15 (almost 50 years ago), has as good or better English vocabulary than I do, yet has a noticable accent, and she can't sing. I sing well, and am told that my accent is very good, yet I can barely speak the language. Regardless, communication is the key. Can we carry on a conversation? Then we can speak the language, and that's good enough for just about anyone.
I remember watching the talk and feeling on top of the world... Like i would become an unstoppable language learner.... and nothing happened.
And then I heard Steve Kaufmann and Matt vs Japan say you should just listen to stuff in the language all the time and I actually started learning (or acquiring)
"... you should just listen to stuff in the language all the time..."
which is what Lonsdale also advocates... if you actually listen to the his talk
The more I learn languages and think about how they work, the more I think that "fluent" and "native-like" are meaningless buzzwords.
The easiest way to get fluent in any language in 6, 3, 1 month in any language is to redefine "fluency" to suit your purpose :p
Two observations: First, being on a very long train or boat ride can improve your chances of finding a language partner--and in China in 1981 even more so. In 1981 My husband and I were among the first Americans in Wuhan, teaching English at a teachers' college; we few foreigners in the city at the time were objects of intense curiosity. Chinese people were keen to learn English, especially from a native speaker, and would have been thrilled to do a language exchange. I admire the TedX speaker's tenacity in learning a difficult language, but listeners should not assume that they'd find the same circumstances for themselves. Second, I think if you claim a native speaking ability you have to demonstrate your skills to the audience with one or more native speakers in an unrehearsed exchange.
Agreed on the first point. On the second, I think a TEDX talk is not really the ideal format for unrehearsed audience interaction. There’s a lot of time pressure and he’s already rather rushed! (overplanning perhaps)
I moved to China for the year nearly 10 years ago and I'd regularly interact with Chinese that had never seen a white person in person before. There are still places like that if you don't mind leaving larger cities. It's going to be a while before large sections of the country aren't like that as there's still very poor penetration by tourists into most of the country.
I would like to thank all UA-camrs who have language learning channels or post videos like Chris, whatever the approach, you all move us forward as foreign language learners even if only in inspiration. You guys really keep me motivated to keep learning every day!!!!
This is amazing content, Olly! A refreshing change of pace. Cheers!
Thank you! I enjoyed making it.
Thanks for attaching your learning Italian. I will definitely check that out
Great analysis! I watched this myself earlier in my Spanish learning journey and found it helpful. It was nice to hear your thoughts now that I understand more about language learning and have applied these principles to myself. Well done!
Glad you enjoyed it!
3:22 As an artist, I just want to say if his standard in language learning is the same as his standard in drawing, then I can safely assume by "fluent" he means "good enough" at best. 😜 (Not necessarily a bad thing per se, but I have different expectations when I hear someone claim fluency.)
That's 5 days, if you can get "good enough" in any language in 5 days, then whatever you were doing was very effective
Wow, another great video Olly, very interesting and so many things that hit home. Thanks very much, David.
Wow! What a great idea Olly! Looking forward for more content like this one. Btw, I really enjoy reading your short stories in German. Thank you so much 🙏 ❤️
More to come!
I have lived in two foreign countries and that approach did not work for me. When I decided to learn Spanish I used a very different approach, and I learned the language fine. I know many people that live here in America and they hear English all the time and still they cannot speak the language. Comprehensible input is the key. I believe a multi approach works better. Like some of the ployglots recommend. Which is listening, reading, speaking and writing. It worked well for me. But just trying to acquire a language just by listening did not work for me. I worked in pediatrics for 10 years and if we are to learn like children it will take three to four years. A baby has heard ten of thousands of words before they utter one word, and that is usually mama or daddy. Phrases and sentences comes much later, usually two to three years in many cases.
Golden Rule 1. listening words or vocab before got meaning is useless. :)
I agree, and to "learn as a child" (first language) you also need a 24/7 teacher (mom/family) who encourages you, teaches you and corrects you.... most people forget that tiny detail.
I appreciate how eloquent you are in your native language. My level of English is close to native but there are still many new phrases I pick up on occasion. This is the first time I heard "Point of contention"
Brilliant analysis Olly. Perhaps the action that is missing is 'Management' of the learning process. To set a structure that provides routines and periodic achievable goals and a means to measure them to ensure focus/intensity and therefore success.
Hello, i clicked on this video because I wanted to share my experience with japanese. I'm learning japanese since August so 6 month( i made 2 pauses :1 of 2 months and another of 2 weeks) and my level is now near the N4. I think what matters in language learning is motivation firstly and time. When you have them both you can go really far 🤩🤗
Motivation, time, and the ability to notice. The holy trinity!
Just curious, what was your motivation? Did you plan to travel there, or do you have Japanese friends, or was it just the challenge? Arigato!
Great idea for a video Olly. Good thumbnail and title too. Thanks chap
thats great point of view
I love this type of content!
That's nice to hear, Nick! There's a lot more like this coming. I enjoy making it
You like charlatans?
Apart from the time available, environment and resources, I believe that it also depends on the ability one has to learn a language. Some can do it with ease, whereas others may need to figure out their learning skills and pace first. Plus 6 months is too little time, speacilly if one has a life aside learning a foreign language.
Here's what I love about this video: It showed up in my feed right next to the raw TEDx talk by Chris Lonsdale. (Thanks, UA-cam algorithm!) The title of the TEDx talk gave me some BS vibes, so I decided to watch your reaction video to it instead and I was positively surprised. You're videos are super useful, Olly. Thanks!
Thanks from Colombia
Thanks Mauricio!
Thx Olly for putting the thesis in a practical perspective for the average language student. Imho this Tedx talk is responsible for millions of frustrated language learners that quit learning a new language because they think they are to silly to be fluent in 6 or 12 month. The first point that is missing is a definition of being fluent in a language, And don't forget that Mandarin has nearly no grammar but lots of need to work on you're face and mouth muscles to be able to pronunce the strange sounds of this language. And the second point is how do I find a Chinese person in a train that is willing to talk with me the whole night. - You mention the good points and I like to learn with you with the story based method.
Thank you Victor!
Exactly! I needed to learn fluent German for my job and I realized a lot of UA-camrs call B1 or even A2 level „fluent“. They learn some basic grammar and a few simple phrases and then say they speak 8 languages (which they’ve learned in 7 months, of course). I get that it means better views, but come on..
@@suzana8805 Right. This is ok for private conversations, holiday, etc. but if you apply for a job you have to have a way higher level.
Thanks for reacting to this, I’ve seen the tedx and always thought it was bogus (at least within 6 months)
Bogus is too strong, I tihnk. Worthy of evaluation though.
This is a very reasonable take.
The language parent was like the most important part! I was hoping to hear your opinion on that.
Ollie; I saw an 'experiment' with a guy who learned Icelandic in ONE WEEK. I understand it's a Germanic language and there are some cognates and such but still. He went on TV before and after. Amazing.
Regarding "Principle #2" - Krashen mentions this in his books and talks, the idea being that conversation can give you lots of comprehensible input. In other words, the point of a conversation with a native speaker isn't to talk a lot, it's to allow the native speaker to speak in a dumbed down version of his/her language and make it comprehensible for you.
In this guy's train ride (if it really happened), I doubt he was doing much of the talking, considering he says he knew zero Mandarin... probably his Chinese friend was acting out and drawing and trying his best to explain what he was saying. Basically, through "conversation" this guy probably got a free 8 hour TPRS or story listening lesson.
But, of course, if what I hypothesize here is actually true, then it defeats the entire purpose of his second "principle" - in reality, his "Principle 2" is actually just "Principle 3" (Understand the Message, Acquire the Language) in the context of accidentally meeting a really nice stranger on an 8 hour train ride.
Yeah, I agree. Hence why I think it's just better to get the CI in a more reliable way -- reading.
@@storylearning TPR, TPRS, and picture drawing are god level at the very beginning. Reading becomes amazing later on though.
I actually never had the face hurting but my gf did. She spoke with me in English despite speaking Spanish at home all the time. So she told me that after some of our late night talks her face started to hurt. But I still haven't had that with Spanish, even though I've maintained hours of conversations and (while that's the thing I want to improve the most) I'm still not that bad at speaking, either. I just wanna flow more naturally.
My problem, I don't like to talk a lot, and the language I'm learning is not the one I prefer, however it is the one that is the most practical for me to learn because of where I live, therefore motivation is difficult.
I have this same problem - the most practical languages are not the ones I'm most interested in & that hurts motivation. I would think it might be common, but you're the first person I've heard talk about it.
OMG!!!! YOU'RE OLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!
I have your "Intermediate Short stories in Korean", even though I'm only a beginner.😏🥴
I found your book to be so intriguing that I figured I'd use it as a reference guide to highlight beginner phrases that I've learned through TTMIK, just to reinforce what I've learned through reading.
☺️☺️☺️💜I'm glad I found your UA-cam.
#Subscribed✋🏾
Thank you for your hard work.👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾💜🖤🌙🖤✨💜
Anyone have a source for the quick drawing principles he is talking about?
It is useful for sure, I agree with the method too, but the time is not realistic for most people: you only need to go to that country and focus only on learning that language.... I would love to be able to do that, a dream come true.
Please do more content like this. You could also do videos like: Olly tries XYs-Weekly language routine for a week (kinda as a selfexperiment). Keep up the great work, Olli! I love your books, ordered your climate change book in spanish this month and have it here already. Can't wait to start :)
Thanks for the support, it means a lot. Interesting idea about trying other methods. The problem is I think that any method needs to be done for some time in order to work.
@@storylearning Ah I get it, you are right. Nevertheless, keep the refreshing reaction-format running :)
Climate change? Sounds great. My favourite topic! Can you please do one in European Portuguese?
Just found your channel and love it.
This is sooooo overdue!
His video helped me understand Australian!
he is a kiwi.
@@nn-uj1iv hmm
Prof. Brown at Poly-glot-a-lot gives the simple instruction using comprehensible input and I add in context. On an individual basis children's books are used. BUT fluent speakers reading and telling the story are needed. At least 1,100 hours are needed for conversational fluency. In the Philippines this is a major problem. Begging friends and yelling at spouse is needed. Also hiring someone who is not a teacher to avoid grammar, translation and correction is best and keeps cost down. Passive acquisition. Practice or using the language too early may be counter productive. As children none of us practiced our first language. We listened and then language as we thought appropriate. We also correct ourselves. Many of these points are presented by Prof. Krashen over many videos online.
3:35 He's talking about Betty Edwards' "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain." He should have given her credit.
My experience is Olly is always interesting and shares useful insights. I don't recall clicking away from any of his videos. One thing I thought odd was that ACTION #7 "direct connect" was for me the most useful and interesting aspect of the TEDx talk and yet it was almost completely edited out of this review. For those who haven't seen the TEDx the idea is basically consciously mapping the new language over the same mental constructs you use for your mother tongue. The few seconds that were left of it in this version didn't convey it at all and as I said for me it was a very deep and useful observation.
Thanks for the observation. Yes, the video was getting too long, so there were some casualties! There were lots of excellent points in this talk, I just felt it lacked a coherent narrative.
Really nuanced perspective, I really enjoyed your take. The reality rating of 8 I thought is a little generous. His definitions of "fluent" and "native" (as others have pointed out) are missing, so what does this actually mean?
Also, the entire lecture is pretty short on practical things. As someone who was new to learning languages, I wonder how useful a video like this (his, not yours) actually is. What can someone *practically* do about it?
Yes, that was my main reservation, but I couldn't fault most of the points made
yes
I learned to speak English, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese and I don't see myself learning a language up to a native level without reading, this tips would perfectly work for a beginner but for an advanced speaker; reading, listening and speaking has to be the center of a daily routine.
I completely agree
I clicked the thumbs up as soon as you brought up the point of how to actually get comprehensible input. Too many people talk about language learning, use the word "comprehensible input", and never provide and explanation as to how their method is actually comprehensible input or the best way of obtaining it. They just want to say it as though it it there method that IS the way to this mystical comprehension or talk about theory all day. In reality, speaking about the theory of language acquisition is not the same thing as language acquisition and you have to get down to business like the example you gave, reading and listening.
The power of Krashen’s theories is that they “sound like they should work” to regular people, which leads to them being name-dropped a lot without any substance. Well said!
lol @11:06 So that's why my language learning has ground to a halt during a global pandemic.
is possible? Only if you are in the country doing daily stuff and forcing yourself to talk in language you want to learn.
In my opinion 6 months is just enough to get to A2, if you reach that you've really done a great job! If you want to get to a really fluent stage in 6 months you probably have to study all day long and be a genius in languages. I think this man is exaggerating here, doesn't seem realistic to me. If you listen to this and expect you can achieve what he postulates you will most likely be disappointed with your success which is no good for staying motivated.
And then of course the ultimate difficulty in establishing a baseline for any type of a comparative talk on language learning, the ever subjective term "fluency." Using Olly Richards' Story Learning courses as the central part of my learning material, I managed to get to a point in 6 months where I could speak comfortably for hours on end, but it was (still is) very far from elegant. Am I fluent??? No idea. I think not. Am I happy that I can participate in long spontaneous conversations with native Spanish speakers without stressing them out or causing fatigue to them? Unbelievably so. Do I understand everything? Absolutely not .. but my language skills are such that I can catch on through context or simply ask for clarification. Based on my experience in 6 months, and then the subsequent 4-5, I too back Olly's score of 8. Lonsdale's advice is sound. I doubt that I will ever speak Spanish as an absolute native, but perhaps at least naturally. So, I anticipate another solid year of really getting after it to be that person. Said another way - breach the B2 level in 6 months?? Sure! C1, or whatever it is that Lonsdale calls "native level?" Many more months or years and multiple times the work that it took to get achieve B2.
You’re an inspiration for all of us Perry!
One of my biggest issues when it comes to assessing my level in Mandarin is that since I self-studied so much of what I know, it's difficult to place myself. There are things that I don't know that even most beginners would know if they learned in class. But, there's also things where I'm quite advanced. It's all a matter of what I felt was important enough to learn when I needed to be able to do things on my own.
@@SmallSpoonBrigade Self-assessing is really a hurdle for language learners. That's why reading is an efficientest way just coz a book can provide consistency. Throughout reading a book many times, the crucial importance is that you can see what's you gained. And thus this really motivates us to go further
Cool vid Olly. I remember this vid. He gives some good advice but his timeline is way way off. Also why is everybody in such a dang hurry?
DLIFLC
Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center
Monterey California
3 months, 6 months, 1 year language courses.
I have seen all the UA-cam videos and old films but I still really don't fully understand the method they use.
A full review of the methods, lessons, daily routine, and total program would be interesting.
Other immersion courses would be good too.
I agree. I'm searching for an intensive study program to create for myself and I can't find anything revealing daily routines.
So, here I am, thinking about starting a language I had no interest in learning, Japanese, to see how far I get in 6 months, If I follow the advice of these Polyglots. Then, whatever I come with,I could share....🤷🏽♀️
I've already been studying both Korean and Chinese for over 10 months but I've been inconsistent. For me to start over and claim that I have learned it in six months would be unfair and untrue.
Idk but I would like to test this theory of at least, see how it's done
I'm one of those people that can't stand ambiguity. It's not so much that it bothers me, but I find myself getting tripped up by it. As soon as I hear/read a word I don't understand it stops me dead. I try to take a whole phrase/sentence in as a whole, but when I let some things go I end up not listening to any of it. What can I do to be able to relax my brain regarding ambiguity?
I'm already starting to get the accent for Korean, although I don't know anyone who speaks Korean, I go into Korean streams, and try to replicate their accent in front of a mirror
With lot of time a day and a structure plan, i think you can achieve a good level, maybe a speakable level. However a structure plan could eventually make you do things you don't like. Finally, i think learn a language have to be more enjoyful than a contraint to achieve.
Learning language in 6 months is possible through story learning only..My brother bought Chinese uncovered last week and his progress seems fast paced. I am going to buy German Uncovered Intermediate level as soon as they launch the course....!!
Over three-years studying Spanish every day on my own and I'm not near fluent, but I could get along ok in Spanish-speaking countries. I dislike when anyone says an adult can learn a language in a few months.
9 months ago I was able to understand just a bit of english. I encountered that video, his advice wasn't useful. The only thing that drops me directly into all this was "Ten things that polyglots do differently" from Lydia Machová, because he mentioned that she learnt german watching Friends in german, so I got it. Thanks Lydia
Go to a country that speaks the language you want to learn, make friends, then keep in touch. This is easier if you already speak some of the language and want to get better, of course.
It is such an important point of view that he was presenting how a NORMAL adult could learn additional languages.
However, he seems to have inducted his theory from his own experiences when he had been living in China. How many normal language learners would be able to live in a country where their target language is mostly spoken? In that sense, I agree with Mr. Richards saying that reading and listening could be effective since it is accessible wherever and whenever it is.
I am a person who desires to seek out for strategies which will be genuinely helpful for any language learners (even too insecure people to start speaking and all), and polyglots like you are actually very supportive to such people. I would like a person like you to keep stating such commonly useful strategies, exactly because people tend to think polyglots are sort of "language learning mutants" just like XMEN. You guys might be, but still there must be so many things that we can learn from you.
Excuse my quite long comment, but I genuinely appreciated the content. Thanks.
How do you feel about the video titles like “How I got fluent in Spanish in 30 days?” etc.
"HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE ACCESS TO THAT KIND OF PERSON" (the kind that will have a conversation with a beginner language learner. This is the thing. I've been living in the country of the language I'm learning for more than 2 years, and I don't have access to anyone like that.
@brexit brexit Exactly! He personally gets access to people like that because he has a UA-cam channel. Most people don't...
The question is "why do you need to learn so fast"? We can see that this guy Chris is a quite nervous person. So I can guess he wants to rush everything he does. What's the point????????? What's the urgency?
Olly, if you see this: Have you read the book "How to Learn Any Language" by Barry Farber (www.goodreads.com/book/show/185562.How_to_Learn_Any_Language). If so, I would be curious to hear your thoughts. I've heard that it's somewhat outdated, because it was written prior to the Internet becoming mainstream. But some reviews say it contains principles for language-learning which are still relevant today, albeit through digital tools like UA-cam and mobile apps instead of analog tools like newspapers, restaurant waiters and strangers on the train (similar to what you're talking about in this video).
I think the emotional aspect is really important. When I first arrived in Germany I hated all germans and the German language simply because they did not match my expectations of "cool American society". I really had no idea about the culture before coming here. I found the average humor really painful, I found people cold and distant and boring. After a few years of staying in Germany and accepting the culture I started making significant improvements in my language abilities.
I’m heading to Germany in September- I’m in the same boat… any suggestions?
Wow,,,that is amazing and motivating, if you want to learn a foreign language give it a life. Thank you so much.
"Prawdę mówi, polejcie mu wódki!"
- Paolo Coelho
to really speak i recommend vodka?
I'm not able to make sentences, speak and I can't read to good yet in korean. Where I live there's very few koreans if any. Only thing I can do is watch kdramas, watch korean cartoons, listen to kpop and podcast
Even native speakers continue to learn and refine their language over their lifetimes. Reaching native fluency within a short time is a pipe dream, but with effort a good level of competence can be reached fairly quickly.
@Rei Ren As an adult you’ve never learned new words or expressions in your native language? And you don’t need flash cards.
Six months in languages like Spanish to Portuguese is possible be kind of 'fluent'.
Yep I learned French in 6months !!
@@booksnlanguages how bro? I'm learning French right now. I've been studying it for 1 month by myself. What path should I follow? I'm an Spanish native speaker and I know English at an advanced level.
@@nevermind2509 so what worked for me was that i was a Romance language native (Portuguese)!
Here's what i did:
1- learned alphabet, numbers, polite phrases, introductory phrases, pronouns, people vocab etc.
2 - i did a immersion in music sing along every single day (this step was important cuz it help me a with phonetic, so i dont worry about letter that are not pronounced in a word)
2- read read read and read , i found a french library here in Brazil so i basic read and reread all the books in level A1, A2,B1,B2.... each level until I understood 90%of the books (ps.:all of them had audio so I listen a lot of times too)
3- choose a text book that is full in french (as u r a Spanish speaker, it'll not be that hard to understand. (Go for 1 unit each week )
4- set up all you devices in french....but if i sont understand?? don't worry about i guess 2 months u get used to, i mean u already know how to find this in your phone.
5- creat a UA-cam account and follow just thing that interested you in french .( like this account that in talking to you is my Russian account )
6-easy podcast in french , I recommend: innerfrench its has transcripts and français authentique!
7- just enjoy yourself its the best way to learn is having fun with . Find this that u like doing amd do it in french .
8- i did not care about the process, if i was learning or nor i just immersed myself , and then one day I realize i was speaking and even thinking in french !
9- thats not a tip but a clarification: THATS WHAT WORKED FOR MEEEEEE OK ?! DONT TAKE AS A METHOD CUZ THE TRUTH IS THERES NO SUCH THING AS A PERFECT METHOD TO LEARN A LANGUAGE , ITS ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT WORKES FOR YOU !!!??
So i hope this could be helpful for you !!!
Ps.: have you tried to use the same method that u learned English in French?!?!
@@nevermind2509 i also fund this list on tumblr:
Sometimes it can be tricky to know what to learn if you are teaching yourself a language. Here are some ideas for what you can focus on learning each day for the first two months of learning a new language! I formatted it so there is the general topic for the day and then in parentheses are some ideas to get you started but you can definitely learn a lot more than what I’ve written down! These are just to help generate some ideas!
This definitely would move pretty quickly if you covered all this material in 2 months so you could definitely spend more time on each topic if you need! This would require quite a bit of time each day in order to learn it all. This could totally work for a 4 or 6-month challenge where you spend 2 or 3 days on each of the topics I listed if you don’t have enough time to cover each topic in just one day!
1.Polite phrases (thank you, please, yes/no, you’re welcome, I’m sorry)
2.Introductory phrases (hi, my name is, I’m from, I speak, how are you?)
3.Pronouns (I, you, he, she, they, we)
4.Basic people vocab (girl, boy, man, woman, person, child)
5.Basic verbs in present tense (to eat, to drink, to walk, to read, to write, to say)
6.Sentence structure (how to form some basic sentences)
7.Negative sentences (I do not __)
8..Question words (who, what, where, when, why, how, how to form questions)
9.Numbers (0-20, 30, 40, 50, 100, 1,000, 1,000,000)
10.Time (hour, minute, half hour, reading the time)
11.Meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, dessert, appetizer)
12.Basic foods (apple, banana, rice, bread, pasta, carrot, soup, water)
13.More foods (beef, pork, fruit, vegetable, juice, coffee, tea, chocolate, cake)
14.Kitchen (stove, oven, kitchen, fridge, table, chair, bake, boil)
15.Eating supplies (knife, spoon, fork, plate, bowl, cup, glass)
16.More verbs (to make, to have, to see, to like, to go, to be able to, to want, to need)
17.Family (father, mother, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, cousin, grandmother, grandfather, parents, grandparents)
18.Transportation (car, train, plane, bus, bicycle, airport, train station)
19.City locations (apartment, building, restaurant, movie theater, market, hotel, bank)
20.Directions (north, south, east, west, right, left)
21.Adjectives (good, bad, smart, delicious, nice, fun)
22.More verbs (to give, to send, to wake up, to cry, to love, to hate, to laugh)
23.Colors (red, yellow, blue, green, purple, black, white, brown)
24.Emotions (happy, sad, calm, angry)
25.Physical descriptions (tall, short, blonde, brunette, redhead, eye color)
26.Body parts (arm, leg, hand, finger, foot, toe, face, eye, mouth, nose, ears)
27.Descriptors (rich, poor, beautiful, ugly, expensive, inexpensive)
28.Basic clothing (shirt, pants, dress, skirt, jacket, sweater, skirt, shorts)
29.Accessories (belt, hat, wallet, gloves, sunglasses, purse, watch)
30.More verbs (to keep, to smile, to run, to drive, to wear, to remember)
31.Animals (cat, dog, horse, cow, bear, pig, chicken, duck, fish)
32.More animals (turtle, sheep, fox, mouse, lion, deer)
33.Months (January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December)
34.Seasons (fall, winter, spring, summer)
35.Weather (sunny, cloudy, hot, cold, snowing, raining)
36.States of being (I’m hungry, I’m tired, I’m thirsty)
37.House (bedroom, living room, bathroom, stairs)
38.Furniture (bed, lamp, couch, door, window)
39.Electronics (phone, TV, computer, camera, radio, headphones)
40.Nature (tree, flower, plant, animal, grass, animal, outside, sky, sun, moon, clouds)
50.More verbs (to teach, to learn, to understand, to know, to listen, to hear)
51.School (classroom, elementary school, high school, college, student, class, grade, homework, test)
52.School subjects (math, science, English, art, music, chemistry, biology, physics)
53.School supplies (book, pencil, pen, paper, notebook, folder, backpack, calculator)
54.Classroom features (student desk, teacher desk, whiteboard, chalk, clock, bell)
55.Jobs (teacher, scientist, doctor, artist, dancer, musician)
56.More jobs (surgeon, manager, engineer, architect, lawyer, dentist, writer)
57.More verbs (to buy, to sell, to work, to ask, to answer, to dance, to leave, to come)
58.Comparisons (less than, more than, same, __er than)
59.Languages (French, German, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, English, Japanese)
60.Countries (France, Germany, China, Russia, Spain, Mexico, United States, Japan)
61.Religion (church, temple, mosque, to pray, Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
62.Past tense (I was, he ran, she wrote)
63.Hobbies (shopping, sports, soccer, chess, fishing, gardening, photography)
64.More verbs (to describe, to sleep, to find, to wish, to enter, to feel, to think)
65A.rt (paint, draw, painting, gallery, frame, brush)
66.Morning routine (to wake up, to brush teeth, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, soap)
67.Future tense (I will run, he will write)
68.TV + internet (online, internet, to watch TV, TV show, movie, documentary, cartoon)
69.More verbs (to look for, to stay, to touch, to meet, to show, to rent, to wash, to play)
I guess if u matches with immersion it may work !!
I agree. I was able to do it in 3 to 4 months. Well I was able to start talking in Spanish. You never stop learning a language.
I'm willing to concede to the idea that some people have talent for certain languages that put them ahead. The story about the train is hard for me to jive with, but on the other hand I can read and understand Spanish with virtually no Spanish under my belt. That's a fluke though. I would never use that kind of language based anomaly as a measuring stick for everyone else with every other language. I wouldn't even use it as an example or proof that anyone can learn a language. Nope.
Heck, my main focus is Japanese and that's taken me YEARS AND YEARS of conscious and constant effort. Ability to seamlessly pick up one language with an insane amount of ease shouldn't be treated as a norm everyone can accomplish. It really can end up causing people to give up when they aren't having that easy of a time.
I agree with his comprehensible input thing. I have to wonder if the guy on the train REALLY took the time to pantomime and be practically parental about it? I spent time with a deaf coworker signing and was able to hold conversations but it often came with some pantomiming and correcting my signs. I could at least finger-spell and he could kind of lip-read and speak... so there was the ability to bridge that communication barrier. Sans that though... no. Not unless your brain is just REALLY ATUNED to that language for some reason.
Lesson 1 listen a lot: I did that, I didn't understand it, I did it pretty close to 24/7 for a period of years and made no progress. I wouldn't throw that in there like they can just pick it up through osmosis. Some people can! I've seen people who picked up a lot of Japanese from Anime, with the English subs ON! but I suspect most will hear the same gibberish day 1 and day 730.
Most of the rest of everything else I can't really complain about. I think they can or should have been expanded on more... but that's just me.
wierd I jut watched that vid, and your vids got suggested to me lol
Oily, can a person really become fluent in 6 months? I have studying on and off spanish 2 years.. im only A2.
It depends what his definition of Fluency really is! And what is yours. Don't assume anything.
You can - conversationally fluent. But it’s a lot of work.
@@storylearning So C1 level in 6 months
I'm currently taking an A2 class for 2 months, then im going take B1 and B2 for 4 months each. I also read Paco Arndt, Juan Fernandez, and your books ever night.. Is your Spamish books more at B1 level and above?
Would you consider doing a video on graded level language books for language learners?
@BatJoker My B1 class is 4 months My B2 class is another 4 months long. So C1 would take additional 6 to 8 months after tha?
Video quality seems really good, out of curiosity what camera do you use?
It’s not too shabby considering the box-like conditions I have to film in 😅 I just about got the light to shine in the right direction. Moving house in a couple of weeks and will get a proper setup. Canon 80D, but it’s more about the lens than the camera.
@@storylearning ah nice, thanks for sharing! I just bought a Canon M50 and am trying to get used to it
I knew a blind polyglot who could learn languages just by listening to native speakers. She did not need to be told what was being said. No learning vocabulary or grammar, just listen to conversations.
I am learning English and I tried to obtain a job, bit I can do it, I know the grammar But I can not do questions (speaking) I need a Lot to practice, and the passive voice, can You Made a vídeo about that. Thank You, I recently follow You and a Lidya Machova. Thanks
I think part of the reason Chris Lonsdale says you can get fluent in any language in six months is because he says a learner need 3,000 words and the rest is 'icing on the cake'. Steve Kaufman claims based on his experience you need 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 thousand words! Could you explain the discrepancies?
I think it simply comes down to the definition of Fluency.
I don't know about their definitions of fluent, but a 3-year old child will only recognises around 1000 words, yet they may appear far more fluent than someone who knows 10,000 words. This is because they are able to quickly and efficiently use a handful of sentences. I suspect Chris is talking more about the 3/4 year old fluency, where you can use your vocabulary quickly and efficiently. There are lots of grammar structures and words that aren't really neccessary to express yourself, and with 3000 words you are able to get the other words or explanations of those you don't know, like a native speaker. In my experience teaching adults, many people view learning language as collecting words they know, so they know a lot of words, but actually don't know how to use most of them, and can't recall them quickly in a sentence (which is what is most important for fluency).
No body:
No body:
Me a kid: *sweats profusely*
I thought the first drawing was quite good 🤣🤣🤣
This is the first time I hear about how much your face hurts when you learn a new language. The more different the phonetics between your native language and the language you are learning, the more it hurts. Trying to replicate sounds that don’t exist in your native language is a physical as well as a mental challenge.
TEDx is completely different from TED. TEDx goes around to different colleges and gets people to stand and speak for a certain amount of time no matter how well they know the topic. TED does extensive research on the individuals to make sure they know their subjects really well.
good
My problem with videos of this kind is always the 'headline'. It says you can 'learn' a language in six months, but that is inevitably misinterpreted by most people. Most people imagine that you learn a language, and then you know it and are fluent. And by fluent, they mean native-like. The figure that a vocabulary of 3000 thousand is enough to let you understand 98% of speech is surely impressive. But he leaves out that to reach the same level of comprehension with a newspaper, it takes 8000 words. For books, it is closer to 9000.
Most people who have never learned a second language, when they hear fluent, imagine that it includes being able to read the news.
Yes I really struggle with this question of the ‘impression given to most people’. At best, it’s no big deal, at worst it can have a really negative impact on someone. I do think that the title of a video is something of a distraction, but in this case he makes the claims very prominently in the talk.
@@storylearning ya, it is a bit of a challenge. I think I would like to see the discussion focus less on how quickly a language can be learned, and rather on how to learn a languange more enjoyably. Fluency may be the goal, but it isn't the point at which the language starts to enhance your life.
I learned English in 6 months and it was hard but it is possible!
How many hours you was studying daily?
And what was your daily program?
I am also very concentrated when i am sitting in the loo and taking shit, so it will be better for me to study foreign language at this moment?
I am know mandarin I want to learn Korean but it so difficult, Chinese still easier for speaking. Korean we need to know the word and grammar
The only reason I’m moving relatively quickly learning my third language (I think I can do it in maybe 6 months) is that it’s Italian and I’m B2 in French 😂
I rate the looped face cam
I really doubt you poliglots really understand what is the situation of regular people learning a new language. I have seen a lot of people claiming they have learnt a language in months and saying It is easy and all of them claim that you can learn It by your own using his or her advice. But Wow what a SURPRiSe! They all have live in the country of the language they learnt for a year or more! They also have gone to formal classes with teachers and classmates and also they did that like full time, 8 or more hours a day but then they say you can do It too by your own, staying in your country and in your free time. Learning a language is hard people, try to follow advices, do research, watch vídeos but dont give Up if your progress is "slow" everyone situation is different and remember that if It was that easy everyone would be speaking 10 leanguages by now and never give Up!
There are a lot of perfectly valid general principles, but the actual program he's pushing is that if you want to learn a language in 6 months, move to that country and constantly communicate and only communicate to native speakers in that language. That's not a realistic option.
Nor an effective one for the most part.
I haven't spoken to a native German speaker yet, but I have reached conversation fluency in 4 months
I do read and listen to German, speak to myself in a mirror, and try to translate everything to my mind, and I am on discord servers for the language, so I type in that question, and I ask them questions
Same here! I reached A2 fluency in a month using duolingo, pimsleur, and Netflix
If you live in a foreign country and don't speak your own tongue, you will learn the basics of that foreign country's language in six (6) months. I did with English, French and Spanish, my mother tongue being Hungarian. It's a question of memorizing the grammar and the vocabulary, and constant repetition.
Let's see, I think it would be relatively easy to learn Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, Faroeese in that allotted time.
He probably means the basics
when he mentioned talking a lot it reminded me of something that happened to me
There i am, in a german server on discord, they know im learning and are more than happy to just let me listen in, if i have a camera on they will comment on things im doing or in the room (ex i have a pphoto of bob ross's face poorly edited onto a rooster, that is also poorly edited onto an anime girls head with her cleavage showing) and even though i didnt understand the entire sentence, i heard "We Special" (my discord) and Bild.. so i know immeaditly what they are asking. However when i did unmute i wanted to ask someone "what is on your ceiling" but i forgot the word for ceiling so you know what i said?
(transaled) "what is on your wall hat?"
im never gunna unllive that moment
While I believe that Lonsdale makes some excellent points about language acquisition I have a strong suspicion that he's not being entirely forthcoming with his own personal journey. What was his previous contact with Mandarin (I assume) before arriving in China? Did he, in fact, already speak some Cantonese? Both points would have an impact on his personal narrative. Olly, you already know that a prior knowledge of a related language makes the proposition "fluent in 6 months" much more credible. I would venture to guess many, many "average language learners " only speak their mother tongue. If that single language happens to be wholly unrelated to the second language (i.e., English --> Mandarin) then good luck with that!
Btw I understand that Lonsdale has lived and worked in Asia (Hong Kong) since the early 80s. So that "little longer" that he refers to is a looot longer than a further six months of learning.
6 months is an incredibly short time to learn mandarin, whichever way you look at it. No getting around that. Unless, as you say, he already spoke cantonese for example.
ua-cam.com/video/rw29fGrXDCw/v-deo.html
Does listening music and watching shows
Help?