4 reasons to learn a new language | John McWhorter
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- Опубліковано 27 жов 2016
- English is fast becoming the world's universal language, and instant translation technology is improving every year. So why bother learning a foreign language? Linguist and Columbia professor John McWhorter shares four alluring benefits of learning an unfamiliar tongue.
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My favourite is when a language has a word for something that doesn't exist in your native tongue.
Mutterseelenallein
One of germans sadest and most beautiful words
merienda
Kintsukuroi
Yeah how about starting to learn finnish then?
Lol
Speak to someone in their second language and you speak to their brain, speak to them in their mother tongue and you speak to their heart
Édit: this was 3 years ago and I had forgotten about this comment, but yes, these are not my words and it is not a correct quote. My guess is that at the time I remembered it vaguely and thought the sentiment fit with the video.
I love this!
verifiedmartian how about couples who speak different languages and fall in love?
Didn’t Nelson Mandela say that?
@@ingridp4457 their brains fell in love 😂😂
Romell Mazon. Exactly! I have ever known this sentence from Tim Donner
My native language is Spanish, and took me a lot of time to be good at English. I can understand how hard can be to learn a new language, but also I know how wonderful is to become a bilingual person. The feelings you have when you are finally understanding and speaking another language are great. All the time I spent studying English was worth. Also, I'd like to learn French, Japanese, and Korean.
Carolina Mariana Vargas , as a native Spanish speaker, I can understand your feelings when we're learning a new language, mostly English. It's a new and different key to open a door where it would be something like the land of Alice (...in the wonderland).
I need to learn español
why dont you try to learn Vietnamese? It really challenges you. i beg
I need to learn Spanish because around here some people speak that and it would be cool to speak to them
@@jaymeswhite2567 no querrás cuando escuchaes gente diciendo BUENAAAAAAARDO NDEAAAAAA
I'm Korean, and I learn English to speaking in English.
I read English newspaper and see CNN news before I sleep. And from now on, ted is great for speaking in English. because I can listen to the English, and learn something from many people in ted. TED is so great program that I see for twelve years(I'm twelve years old)
꾼쨤! Omw you are so clever!
Wow, you are so smart! I'm so proud of you as a Korean! I just found that ted is a great for English few days ago.. TT Anyway 열심히해!!
꾼쨤! i am learning Korean. if you are interested, we can exchange languages
WIZONECHU can we exchange languages?
Hey man can we become friend and study english together
Video Summary:
Learn a new language because:
1. Everyone is learning english so if we don't learn a new language they will all but disappear
2. helps to prevent dementia
3. makes you a good multi-tasker
4. it's fun
end
Finally the first comment in 100 that's not saying "i know languages x y and z and am enjoying the 4th one hahaha its so much fun". Thanks :P I didn't feel like watching the video, just wanted to see his 4 reasons.
thanks you saved me 5 minutes
I thought that the first one was the ability to participate in others culture.
But thank you for helping me to figure out the fourth reason because I kinda lost tract.
josh mcgee so you would rather take someone else's summary which actually is wrong rather than spend 5 mins on a video that deals with quite an interesting issue in world affairs and make your own mind up.
Ryan your summary is not an accurate summary. Do you do such summaries of all videos you watch? I can see the point of summarising a 2 hour video but a 10 min one? Are people so pushed for time they can't watch a 10 min video all the way through? Most Ted talks are 18 mins so this one is short and succinct. This talk in my view is one of the best Ted talks I have seen in a long while. Most Ted talks are statements of the bloody obvious by people who want to say they have done one on their CV. I just think you picked the wrong target on this occasion.
A new language teaches you culture, and often the experience of learning a language does change one's personality enough to be quite noticeable... I have different personalities in both my native languages. I've seen more than a few outspoken Americans live in Japan for a few years and come back speaking softer, more pleasant (my personal opinion) English... at times, learning another language teaches you concepts you've never thought about in your own language; therefore, making you realize your ignorance. In turn, you become a little more humble and open-minded. Learning a language does change how one sees and feels the world.
I totally agree! ❤️
True
This opinion is very interesting！
Thank you so much as I made a speech from your comment for my exam
My favorite word in my second language, Portuguese, is “camaraoes,” the plural of “shrimp.” It sounds so beautiful! Having learned Portuguese, eventually passing my proficiency exam graded by a Yale University professor, has opened the doors to many friendships and cultural understanding. Most importantly, being in the right place at the right time, I was able to translate for two adopted Brazilian boys (formerly living on the streets in Brazil) who were being seriously abused in the home. The adoptive father ended up in prison for what he did. In the Police car, the lady Officer asked me to ask the boys what was the thing they liked best about living in the USA. The 9 year-old replied these haunting words: “in America, when someone beats us, there are people to make them stop.”
Thanks for that.
Achei seu comentário fofo. 🇧🇷
Muito bem. Parabéns. Eu também falo e escrevo em três idiomas: o inglês, o português que é uma das minhas línguas maternas e o francês.
I see many people stating the number of languages they speak.
I always find those statements somewhat difficult or misleading, because it could mean several things.
1. You know a few sentences in 5 languages(doesn't count in any way, but I really have spoken people who thought it did)
2. You can survive if you had to live in an environment where you had to speak one of those languages on a day to day basis. (usually with bad grammar, sentence structure and accent, but could get your point across to others)
3. You can have a reasonable conversation in 5 languages.
4. You are fluent in them.
If I take myself as an example: I am completely fluent in 2 languages, I am reasonably conversational in 1 and could survive in another 1. How many languages do I speak? When can you say you speak a language? Is that point 2 or point 3? I myself think it's 3, but I could be too strict. I am curious what others think.
Bram den Braber speaking a language in my point of view means to be able to pass a message and be understood, accents and gramma mistakes are just details, I mean; in my situation, I'm fluent in Portuguese coz it's my primary language and I also was educated in this language, but 10 years ago I moved to a Dutch speaking country so I learned Dutch and I speak it in my daily bases, I taught myself Spanish coz a lot of my weekly customers only speak Spanish, later I started speaking French too because it's so close to Portuguese and Spanish, that it just came naturally, And I speak English too. I think only you can determine whether you speak a language or not.
Bram den Braber Thank you for expressing my thoughts. Suddenly, i see everyone in the comments section claiming to be a polyglot. I am pretty much sure 95% of them speak two languages, their native one and English. Possibly are conversational in a third language, know how to say a couple of sentences, but that's all.
It is not surprising at all, though. People like exaggerating and bragging out, a lot.
You do certainly pose an interesting question, one that I've briefly thought of an multiple occasions, and I think that I've come to my answer; I believe that you cannot approach this from a clear cutoff between each 'point", and that these things must be decided on a case-by-case basis by one's own self, but if I had to answer by your metrics then I suppose I'd say somewhere between 2 & 3 but a little closer to 3.
Even I'am spanish native speaker, I think that I could improve It very much. For me, speak a language it's not only to survive, rather than understand how people use it and what can offer.
Yeah me too.Creole is my mother tongue,and I learned French at school.I'm a french native speaker BTW.And after that,i took ESL classes for english and I speak,understand it as well. Now,i'm taking Spanish classes..which i'm intermediate and also German online,i just know something a little bit in German but I can understand it.I say this because I think you don't have to know 95% or 99,99% of a language to be a speaker.If people understand you and you understand others that means you are able to speak and convey information.
I learn languages because I enjoy meeting people and understanding their culture. Now on my eighth language - although it's been really difficult to get to this stage I've enjoyed every minute spent learning a new language (((:
how old are you?
Conversational fluency isn't that hard compared to a formal degree. Not trying to say it was easy for this guy but a lot of people are capable. you don't have to learn absolutely every rule, dialect and vocabulary.
omg 8 languages?????how??,I'm 19 ,speaking english a litlle bit and trying spanish and french
Alvin Tossler I agree. But I know people that study a language as a degree and they're still not near fluency. Everyone is different((:
Arthur souza constant practice(:
I teach foreign language. I understand that there are “shortcuts” like translators and so forth. But learning a language extends your first one. Learning a language helps people better understand the struggles of someone learning English. Learning a language is a means of expression and a way to delve into a new culture.
It also takes you way out of the conversation. The robot uses and intentionally dead neutral tone so as not to add implied meaning.
There is no way technology can replace this knowledge, without brain implants.
Because the audio can not overlap with your spoken word, so there will be a delay and separation from body language, tone of voice and other non verbals.
English is easy bruh
Me: *learning Japanese*
Why?
To watch animes without sub.
So true!!
Just wondering, are you still learning? A lot of people give up when they discover existence of Kanji
lol，i--a chinese-- have the same reason to learn Japanese.
s a m e
@@nekopushyo I have set a goal to learn 30 kanjis each week. 5 per day, and revision on Sunday😉. Yes, I'm still learning and Kanjis are fun (for me atleast)🤭
And he missed one of the primary reasons for being bilingual or more.
It has been conclusively shown that it increases brain plasticity. And that has larger implications than just fighting dementia and Alzheimer's.
It has implications for learning new things and being able to look outside of rigid mindsets.
Math is a language for example. Chemistry is another one.
And cultural languages gives you a bunch of new tools to interpret the world. They all do.
I would argue that being multilingual makes you more able to tackle the worlds problems. Seeing more options.
I agree
Fantastically amazing !
I agree also
Wrong. I can introduce to you several language teachers who are narrow-minded and really dumb.
I guess I speak 3 languages then ... English, Spanish and Chemistry haha who knew
Learning any new language has always been very useful. It gives you new job opportunities, one feels fulfilled , cultures and idioms are learned. Speaking English is already an official language in many parts of the world and allows you to communicate with different people
The reasons are in:
1 4:26
2 6:04
3 6:28
4 8:23
44 years old and I started learning German 2 weeks ago, as it's something I've been wanting to do for years, but keep putting it off. My goal is to be able to speak it fluently within a year's time. Wish me luck.
Learning a language at an older age is far more difficult than learning 2 languages as a child. I'm also on my journey with learning german. You just have to be very patient. Good luck!
Hello everyone! l would happily encourage you to learn Arabic. We , Arabs, have a famous proverb that says: if you learn a new language , you'll be safe from the deception of its speakers !
Is it why English is so popular to learn all over the globe? )))
I agree
Um timo Arabic and Spanish has many similarities
No, thanks.
How do I know you're not trying to deceive me?
This guy is one of my favorite linguists. I watched his entire video series on language and cognition and linguistics from the early 2000's. I highly recommend it though I don't remember the name.
Jianzhi Feng no you
MrC0MPUT3R yeah he's imformative
Please watch this video and tell me if it’s useful for learning languages or no 🙏🏻 🌹ua-cam.com/video/zVjlRMGVV74/v-deo.html
I really like the fact that the idea is shared that motivation is an important factor in being able to learn new languages every day, and that it also opens the doors to worlds that we did not know.
I speak English as my native language. I'm fluent in French, having been born in Brussels and lived there for 18 years. I am native level in Spanish, because I have lived in Spain for 25 years and my wife is Spanish. I have self taught myself Polish, and I am now learning Japanese. Language learning is one of the best things a human being can do for himself. It's hard, it takes a lot of time, but if you enjoy the process it can be so much fun!
I am from Peru and I speak Spanish, for a few months I set myself the goal of being able to speak English fluently to meet professional goals, watching this video has completely changed my goal of learning this language and continuing to learn others too. I found the health benefits you can get from learning and speaking two or more languages very interesting. Finally, it also seemed so important to me that the fact of learning another language involves learning and understanding about the different cultures of other people. This is my favorite phrase from the video (The language channels the culture).
I started learning Esperanto about two weeks ago, and I'm enjoying it! Learning a new language is like opening a chest that contains a new perspective of reality, a new point of view. I'm definitely going to learn as much languages as possible.
Hey! Are you fluent by now?
Are you fluent?
@@Electrostatic_Fusion nope. He's still a komencanto.
bro not giving updates 💀💀💀💀
I genuiely can't describe enough how amazing it is to know more than one language! most of the time I just forget about it (and I'm sure almost every bilingual does) till you see someone's reaction WOAH! YOU SPEAK ENGLISH PRETTY WELL!
it feels nice to have more than one source to get information, to explore a new culture, to understand almost everything without asking for help, also the confidence that comes with it.
there's many many benefits of learning a new langauge.
I love learning languages! My native language is English, but I’m studying Spanish and I am working towards a minor in the language. I hope to learn Korean and many more languages in the future but for now I’m dedicated to learning Spanish and becoming more fluent. Being able to understand the Spanish that I do has already opened so many doors with me in terms of friendship, education, and simply being able to help people. I love it 🥰
How's everything?
Yo te puedo ayudar con el Español y tu me ayudas con el ingles@@nicoleraheem1195
What the Sr. mentions is very true, since English is the most indispensable language today, in every profession it is already very necessary; mainly if it is traveling, doing business, sales or in order to teach someone else.
I´ve been following you for some time now and I absolutely like the way you present the language learning process. Your enthusiasm is so contagious! I recommend your videos to my students. Thank you for being such a great asset to the community of lifelong learners all over the world. :)
Spanish, French and English. Hopefully will get back to German, but currently teaching myself Korean. And I agree, it's incredibly fun!
I'm using:
- the Korean Grammar for International Learners book,
- a number of UA-cam Channels I'm sure you've heard/will hear of (TTMIK, Margarita's Weekly Korean Lessons, LearnKorean101.com etc),
- I keep up with the tumblrs iwillbeapolyglot.tumblr.com (her Korean tag, but she has a wide range of other languages) and fromirelandtokorea.tumblr.com,
- the Memrise "0-1000 Most Common Korean Words" course for vocabulary (it goes from 0 to 5000, and honestly I'm only through halfway this particular course and I'm able to get a general idea of, say, BTS tweets which are completely in Korean),
- watching lots of variety shows (2D1N, Sister Slam Dunk, etc) and dramas on a weekly basis for oral comprehension. I try to stay away from historical because it's supposed to be a different speech style (but I mean it's hard - there are so many good ones).
There's an incredibly wide variety of resources, a bit overwhelming at times if I'm honest, but if you go to the studyblr or langblr community on Tumblr you'll pretty much set to go.
Good luck!
I'm Korean! It's always nice to see someone who's learning my mother language 😃
I'm learning Korean too!
Isabel Minerva I speak Spanish ,English ,and French and I’m learning German ,too!
I just saw this video and read your comment! how's your Korean going? haha 화이팅!
Great talk. The intro where he addresses all the concerns is perfectly disarming
I've never heard it explained that way when it comes to fully taking in and understanding a culture. Very good stuff
I speak Czech (native), English and currently learning Korean, Spanish and a little Mandarin through UA-cam or Memrise. I always get so excited when I'm watching something in one of those languages and understand something (once I heard someone say 갑시다 - gapsida - let's go and nearly fell of my bed 'cause I was so excited that I understood it haha)😁
Nice 😊
Lol 😆 niiiice
How is everything?
Technology in recent years has had exponential growth, a couple of years ago we would not have imagined that we could have a meeting in real time with different people sitting in different countries.
This help has been given by technology in different areas, also in learning, today there are platforms, applications, videos and documents where access to information is instantaneous, easy and accessible that a few years ago, without this technological advance we would remain based in old models such as the teacher teaching in a classroom.
I'm learning Mandarin and Korean and I freaking love these languages. They are so beautiful.
It's nice to put a face to the voice! I've been listening to his podcast for a couple of months and have just stumbled across his Ted talk! :)
Very well spoken, just remember you can’t really become fluent in a new language without being fully Immersed.
Fluency means different things to different people.
I always enjoy what Mr. McWhorter speaks or writes. I truly love his passion for language.
Indeed a language is another way to know a culture because each language tells the story of what happens in the region in which that language is spoken since there are unique words in each culture so each language has its own phonetics and meaning giving life to foods, places, experiences, beliefs and experiences that only exist in that specific place.
stunning!!!!! definitely one of the best talks I've ever heard. John said in the video that if you speak 2 lenguages dementia was less likely to set in, pretty interesting, I'm probably gonna be searching for more information abaut that. after whatching this video i end up seeing like 10 more related to this topic. I'm a native spanish speaker, and if i had never learned english, I'm sure i would have been five times less smarter than I am today, being able to speak english had led me to masive amounts of information (like this video) that if i had never known English, i wouldn't be able to understand. no wonder this video has been seen by 1.7 millions of people, its fantastic. thanks to the person who uploaded this to the internet.
I really liked your presentation since you are very right, English is a universal language which will open the doors to various types of situations, whether in work, education or daily life. In these times learning another language is no longer a thing of another world, it can be learned from home, with a cell phone or a laptop, it only requires will.
John McWhorter is my favorite lecturer! I am a college prof now and I always try to emulate his teaching style when I lecture
great video 👍
just a small note:
Aktubu أكتب = I write
Yaktubu يكتب = he writes
Taktubu تكتب = she writes/ you write (addresing a male)
Yaktubun يكتبون = They write
Taktubeen تكتبين = you write (adressing female)
Taktuban تكتبان = you write (adressing two people)
Taktuboon تكتبون = you write (adressing more than two males)
Taktubna تكتبن = you write (addressing more than two females)
As I see it, learning a new language is quite difficult and so time consuming. I really admire people who master different languages and study them at the same time. In my case, I’m just looking for learning and improving my English.
As John mentioned in this video, nowadays it is easier to learn anything thanks to internet. I think internet has given us the possibility to have limitless resources with just one click. So, it’s up to us taking advantage of these resources and applied them wisely to get the best out of them.
I always wanted to learn English, but for different reasons I never had the discipline to do it. However, a year ago I promised myself to do it once and for all! I’m not going to lie; Learning English has been one of the most challenging things I’ve ever faced. Even though it’s been overwhelming and frustrating, I’d say it has been extremely rewarding. I still have a long way to go, but I’m sure I’ll reach a good level of English. There are a lot of things I have to learn, but I am committed to do it.
Even before I saw this lecture, I always thought I had to learn a language other than my native language. I also think that language is a means of communication and the best way to learn the culture of the country directly. I want to be good at English, but I don't think I can. Haha. In the past, my parents used to go to an academy to learn English, but I didn't understand it at that time. But now I feel that I have to learn, and after seeing this talk, I decided to learn a language again. I think the effect of learning a language is very great. Nowadays, it is worth as much as I think that language is important enough to become a qualification for a job. By learning the language, I think the effect of the language is great, not only the culture of the country, but also people's relationships, other jobs, and thinking of it as a spec. As it takes a long time to learn a language, I think I should definitely learn it. I am taking an English class at school. When I do it by myself, I can't do it well, but I hope I can get closer to English through this lesson.
You are indeed right 👍👍
머쪄용
Dr. McWhorter is, in my opinion, the best linguistics teacher around. He is really interesting to listen to, and he can teach you a lot. Not only is there linguistic knowledge and expertise in what he says, but there is also wit and knowledge of what is going on in the world in general. I suggest that everyone purchase and read his many books, and also buy the 4 courses he offers as part of the Great Courses series of The Learning Company. You won’t be disappointed. This man has a lot to teach, and he does so with grace, charm and unbridled efficacy.
I think the way he speaks and makes us understand how useful it can be to learn another language is incredible.
I feel that learning another language or a second language can open doors for you to fit into another culture and above all have more possibilities.😊
Leave it to Professor McWhorter to be the most relaxed TED speaker I've ever seen...and I've seen many many TED talks!
"it won't change your mind but it certainly blow your mind” ♥♥♥
i'm native in spanish particulary chilean spanish, a complex and rare derivation of spanish, with a lot of new words
and new ways to speak them, different meaning for same word, depends the tone that you use when you speak can be
a nice word or a word to start to fight.
now i'm trying to learn new languajes, i can read and write in english (i think) but try to speak in a country where
the people don't try to learn new languajes.
it's dificult to put in practise and this is the principal problem
to learn new languajes in LATAM for example.
i think that the best way to test your skills is in a travel and live 24 hours using the languaje skills that your learned in this new languaje i think that it's give's you a lot of confidence and fluence in a short time.
regards to all!
I completely agree with this speaker, it's important to broaden your worldview and gain new insights through learning different languages. I speak Italian, Moroccan Arabic (darija) and now at the intermediate level in French.
You'd be amazed at how much knowledge of one language can help build upon the knowledge of the next language you choose to learn. It's very exciting to experience and connect the meanings across languages!
my native language is portuguese so I love learn Korean and english languages so much and I finally found someone who understands how it is so good to learn a new language in the morning sitting on your couch and drinking a coffee
I do speak English, Spanish, Italian, French. I am learning, German, Portugese, Swedish and Dutch
FlatStella1 omg just like me
En is het gelukt om Nederlands te leren ?
Nossa, é tão bom ver alguém querendo aprender português ❤️
If you want any help, I'm here. I'd like to speak Spanish and French, they are incredible languages 🥰
He talks about the language of the control language that helps us everywhere since it is English that takes control and it is very helpful to speak it and approach it day by day in a correct way
I’m from Chile and I love English language since I can remember. I was really annoying so my mom made me watch movies like “Grease” over and over in English and without subtitle (I was a 3 years old kid so I wasn’t able to read 😅); and my dad loves music so I grew up listening to Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Madonna, The Beatles, Queen, Aerosmith, etc, etc. So when I was in school that language was always easy for me. It is everywhere.
I think people want to learn it to have more job opportunities nowadays. For me is because I always loved it and made me fell in love with others languages and want to learn them because I want to experience what John said at the end: blow my mind.
Learning another language helps us a lot to socialize with other people, likewise when we are given the opportunity to visit other places where they speak English we will understand what they are speaking to us.
Likewise speaking English will give us many opportunities to improve ourselves.
You are very right because when we travel to other places we will have to use it to be able to communicate with others if they cannot speak our language
I'm teaching myself Arabic. And I speak Urdu and English with fluency! I learned French in school, but I'm basically forgetting it. But I want to learn Farsi and Turkish and so many other languages in this one, short lifetime...
In my case, since ever, one of my main characteristic is learning from other people. Each mind in each person is a universe and the only way for obtain all this information is through the comunication. If you want to expand your universe is vital to overcome code limitations.
I definitely agree that "a new language changes the way you think". And is a change that results in constant evolution.
Thank to my first travel for show me how important is, thank me for having a great desire to learn and finally thank to people with passion for teaching.
I am native Portuguese (Brazilian) and even within my native language there are words and expressions that I am not familiar with and it seems that I am speaking another language, which is fascinating, I have contact with English daily through music, movies and series, I recently started to have more contact with Spanish it is a transformative experience, our minds open and expand to other places, realities, perspectives, learning new languages is immersing yourself in the culture of a certain place and we can do that at any time anywhere in the world so just do it and enjoy!
My mother tongue is Bengali. Now I'm try to learn Spanish.
I speak Spanish and English as a 2nd, now Im learning French and german, and it's amazing how also the languages are related to the way people behave.. As he says.. The culture, thats amazing.. And being able to pronounce french and german correctly its just so fun!!
Hi, I read your comment and I find it fascinating that you want to master several languages. Do you have any special method? I would also like to master the English language. Greetings 👋🏻
Great talk! The way John explain the importance of learning a new language and how we can immerse ourselves in new cultures, and above all, gain a better understanding of the world, is truly motivating. It encourages us to continue learning and discovering new ways to acquire knowledge 🙌
that's amazing. Thank you for the speech, it's useful.
I love listening to different languages! They're all so fascinating.
I love speaking English because I love traveling, and that's the main reason. I also think that English is the main business language, so in that way it's becoming not only a necessity but also a great tool if you want to improve your life!!
That is how I agree with you, and in the same way I feel that it is essential in any job since it offers us a better curriculum presentation for whatever side we go to apply for a job.
I like to listen to people, speak english, i always liked it but i have been difficult to learn it as i would like, it is a language that i will have doors and new horizons is a world language with which many countries have been able to communicate whether it is for doing business, comercio, friendship, love, etc., i think it is a really the most important language we can learn and teach our offspring.
certainly this language opens many doors and horizons, currently in most jobs they ask you for two languages, the mother tongue and some other learned. Therefore, if you have another language outside of yours, it is easier for them to give you the job and for them to give you greater facility to improve in your work. Likewise, it helps us to understand various sources, call it news, call it modern music, external factors, etc.
I think that English is very interesting and as the speaker said it can be fun too and not only that but it is a universal language and therefore it is a language that we all must learn, because that will open doors for us and it seems to me that The boy who is speaking is right in the part that he says it is easier for other speakers to learn English than for English speakers to speak another language, another thing that caught my attention was that with the passage of time some languages will disappear, But what if we have to do our best to learn a language other than the native one
Last year, I saw one of John McWhorter's talks where he mentions the great new tools for learning languages. After putting off trying for decades, I got a language app on my phone and, as I write this, it tells me I have a 258 day streak going in French. My first goal is to be able to read the news on Le Monde and I can tell, it's going to happen if I stick with it. :)
I speak Cambodian and English. And what he said about Cambodian or Khmer sounds like a bubble bee is so true. We have the largest vowels and consonants of all the languages in the world, probably because we combined 3 roots of Pali, Sanskrit, and Ancient Khmer into 1 language we speak and write today. Learning English has shaped my outlook on the world outside my Cambodian mind too, and I feel privileged to be able to use it in my daily activities such as commenting on this video. In the future, I want to learn French as Cambodia has a history with the French. At least, 3 languages fluently before I die.
I learn myself through learning foreign languages. (I can speak 3 foreign languages) I think It's the most important reason. This is a very exciting activity. I think If you have very strong motivation It doesn't matter which language to learn in our time of Inernet. It's so much easier than before. Good luck to you all!
In my opinion, one of the mainly reasons to learn English is related about the knowledge. If you want to take access to the best knowledge, you will need to learn English (whether you are not English speaker). In my personal case, learning English helped me to travel around the UK with no problems, wich is linked with the speaker idea to imbibe a culture. Furthermore I have written a paper, wich was published in an important journal, etc.
My English is far away to be perfect, but every day I am trying to be better, and for me, taking access to the knowledge is my main motivation.
As John addresses in this video, I totally agree about the importance of learning new languages and how technology has given us a unique opportunity to improve our skills from everywhere we could be at the time. Besides that, in my experience it has been the only way I could take the chance of doing something I couldn't do it in some other way. Another highlight I can take from John is the relevance of learning new languages in order to imbibe the culture. I have a friend who showed me how learning languages could open doors in so many ways. In fact, I saw him growing up in his job and getting new opportunities just because of this. He is a guy whose appetite for learning has taken him further than many of our colleagues at this time. I'm sure that he had not being able to get through this, if he hadn't had taken english classes or if he hadn't noticed the important of going further than you had already known. For me, my friend's experience is another reason to agree with John's opinion in terms of the importance of learning new languages. Also besides all I said before, I totally agree with how much fun it's the process of learning new languages, and in my case, the english language specifically.
Learning more languages has increased my brain power. It’s hard to explain how, but I can solve puzzles and things like that much easier. I was able to participate in Hispanic culture. Also, my mother has dementia and Alzheimer’s
I speak German, Polish and English and about to learn Spanish
Sina Allen dann sag mal was auf deutsch!!!
Ja, jetzt sind wir aber gespannt :D
And why do you want to learn spanish?
BRAVO...👏
Sina Allen .. that's great, what the tips that could help who want to learn a new language as fast as possible? and what is the difficulties that you faced with learning a new language? and please give us a quote that you like in learning a new language and in life.
Y-Arts .. the same question for you.
please habeby.
i highly agree with this guy not only do i speak 4 languages (english spanish italian and french) it helps me connect with other people
wow, i admire you. i am trying to learn english but it is really hard to master it.
It will certainly blow your mind. The energy in the last sentence summed up the entire video;)
I love he mentioned Arabic, I'm looking forward to learning Spanish and Arabic at the same time, as my third language..
But learning a new language need a continuous courage and motivation to be a consistent learner until reaching fluency
Helloo im a native Arabic speaker and i know your comment is abit old but i was curious if you have succeeded in learning Arabic
@@dragox876 hi yeah... I'm progressing a lot... i have basics in Arabic since i learnt for 3 years in school so i was beginner then in one year, i studied by myself in around 2022 until i became intermediate and able to speak, i practiced a lot in free talking apps with natives, i did learned Levantine dialect a lil bit & rn I can pull off Arabic conversation naturally in like 66% and I'm looking forward to complete my Arabic fluency into advanced or even like Arabs (know dialects as well & able to converse in more natural & non formal accents & slang words).
@@mimieariffin8279 I'm glad it's going well how many launguages do you speak now
@@dragox876 3... Malay, English & Arabic only. Spanish still beginner.
@@mimieariffin8279 ohh but only the classical Arabic right
I am Cambodian I was shock when you mention about Cambodian in there . Thanks for your mentioning
Me encanto el final! El remate estuvo genial!!! Buena charla!
Если кратко:
1.Постижение культуры
2.Снижение риска заболеть деменцией(что это за заболевание? Никогда не слышал, но может быть некорректный перевод)
3.Вы лучше справляетесь с несколькими задачами одновременно
4. Это интересно
(По моему мнению эти причины не так важны)
I think what is mentioned by lecturer John is very true, learning a language does not change your way of thinking, but in fact it fills you with culture, a few years ago a teacher in high school told us. "having culture is having something to talk about." and it is something very true, a language is not only to communicate with another person, but to be filled with a little of your culture, it is better to talk with a person with culture than with an uncultured.
The importance of speaking more than one language is that it gives you the opportunity to live new experiences, and as John says, not only do we learn a language, we learn a variety, we have fun with languages. Learning a new language is something beautiful, and although it is often difficult to learn, we do not lose anything by trying.
- "You do not want to learn a new language, you do not know what you can earn from it" - Hag
Really love your comments
My native language is Cantonese and the second one is Mandarin.I learn English in school for around 11 years and from now English is the main teaching language.
Not only does it encourages me to change the language channel in order to use more English,but also useful to communicate with foreigners.
Hopefully,I can learn a new language to explore more interesting ways about language.
By the way, Ted Talk is a good media for me to enhance my listening skills and spoken language!!!
Are Cantonese and Mandarin two different language?
It’s funny because it’s totally true. At the moment I’m learning other two languages (English and italian) that are not my native tongue (Spanish) and the particularities that another language has makes them so special, today they come to us in an easy way thanks to technology and greatly increase our knowledge of the world which it would be a pity not to take advantage of the benefits of our time.
And the best part of this incredible reflection was as he said if you spoke two languages dementia was less likely to set in. Bilingualism is healthy, is amazing how our brain can change and our perception can change.
It was a very good reflection.
McWhorter's sweater game is on point! I listened to a podcast with him on the new books on language network, it was really interesting.
Lithuanian, English and Japanese. A mix you'd never expect hehe ^^
Mary Akinola .. Japanese language is has something cute, I don't really know what is it.
I fall in love with this language.
I think because it is the anime's language.
and we were watching anime when were young.
so our love for this language give us the same feeling when we see something were related to our past.
but because it's an indirect relation between the Japanese language and us.
we don't understand this old relationship..
..
am I right?
Fars mezan Indeed the voice actors of the Japanese language in anime have amazing voice! So beautiful, vibrant! But real Japanese speech is less like anime but still contains that charm. Listening to a Japanese person speak is like music to me :D even the singers are so unique (otaites) with those refined voices and the difference compared to English is amazing, since the way they execute speech is so different. Ahhh it's too good!! ^^
Marius Kajanas ahhahah
same Lithuanian English Japanese thinking of learning Korean to
sfhdsgdb Try Russian or German, it's not worth it to know Japanese and Korean
I like learning new languages because they allow me to communicate with more people around the world, as well as to be able to learn about interesting topics in different languages.
Learning other language can give you more people to communicate, just like unlocking an unknown field in our reality world, expanding your social interaction, learn more about their culture and habit, the internet maybe dominate by English, but still have other languages we can see, at moment, the pandemic still going on, the relationship between country developed on the social media by far, but always good things we learn more language, because the more you study don’t hurt yourself instead it help yourself.
Great talk is well delivered. I highly appreciate it.
I can actually say this speech is amazing, because its a very impacted speech to people like me and also, the time was too quick when i was listening is speech. Good video of good speech....
Btw im from South Korea ;)
I learned Japanese thanks to anime and I love the way Japanese language sounds (it sounds so pretty to me, almost like a melody), I continued learning Japanese and I love writing in their language, now I’m not the best at speaking it but it is still fun. I’m also learning Hawaiian and I find it very similar to some degrees to Japanese where Hawaiian also sounds beautiful to hear.
Your an inspiration ma.
Excellent presentation... thank you John
Great! I'm brazilian man and I'm still learning english, as well. I've been in USA for twice. I can say that english is very important for myself development like worker in aviation and lawyer in Brazil. I love that! Great talk!
I live learning languages for a rather naive and simple reason: because you can! People are capable of speaking so many languages and why not?!!!
"here's the reason why you should learn languages"
...
"and here are some of the most off putting examples to get you fired up for your journey"
Wow, what a great presentation! Honestly, he is a good public speaker!
Learning a new language will open doors for us in this type, in addition to the fact that we know a new culture more than somewhere and we give way to playing with the types of words that we learn
My first language is French but I am more fluent in English (which is sad) so I'm working on my fluency in French. I'm also trying to learn Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Yoruba.
Haha j'avais jamais entendu parler de gens qui devenaient plus à l'aise dans un langage appris plutôt que leur langage natif. Te deseo lo mejor para aprender esos idiomas :)
The same,i feel much more comfortable at english than french
Ciao, come stai?
I taught myself a second language (my 1st is English) and have been gradually expanding my use of it and I have found that it has also expanded my mind. I don't think radically differently, but enough to notice it and I feel that my overall acumen is enhanced. So, I think he missed the boat on that one. His second point is absolutely true that you can "become" part of the target culture and enjoy the many benefits that accrue from that understanding. Yes, it is a lot of fun to speak another language.
What I like most about my studies at University is that you can pick up as many languages as you want. I, personally, speak German, English, Dutch and French on a good/reasonable level and Spanish and Korean at beginner's level.
At school I really struggled with language (I was stuck in special ed until my teenage years, but the hard work paid off), I was trying to learn English and then forced to learn French (year 7 UK school) and later Spanish (year 9), it didn't sink in for me at that time in life. It took a lot of hard work and until I was at University to really master the English language, years on from there I am still improving my native tongue, but I've picked up bits of Spanish (enough to order a round of drinks), I wish I could pick up more and that it would come more naturally to me. May be one day I will have a grasp of another language.
English is amazing my friend. And as a native speaker, trust me when i say that not only does 95% of the USA population have absolutely no concrete grasp on the language, but English is incredibly hard for native speakers as well, in regards to grammar and syntax.
Awesome! Good job!
nobody cares
Husnu Coban
If nobody cares, why did you bother to comment? You clearly cared enough to first read it and then comment on it.
You do realise that by commenting you disproved you're own argument, right?
MoishetheBeadle
It is true English is a hard language to learn (by the way, English is my native tongue, I may be didn't make that clear). In England it is a similar story of native speakers not truly grasping the language.
Well, you cared enough to answer. Which is illogical. Strange how language works, isn't it?@@husnucoban3571
John is so great. Listen to his Great Courses lectures on The Story of Human Language or Language A-Z. He's funny, engaging and shows a true desire to help people understand each other. I have had such a great time learning by Dr. McWhorter's ideas. I would recommend it to anyone.
This guy gives genuinely excellent reasons.
I'm a Thai native speaker. When trying to speak English with international tourists for the first time, I found that I acutally was "a language lover". More importantly, since then, I have become a person who loves talking and exchanging opinions with people from different cultures.
I also happened to learn Japanese and Spanish. Although I'm not fluent in these languages, I'm still glad that I once have had learnt them. ❤
I love how this guy speaks
“No man should travel until he has learned the language of the country he visits. Otherwise he voluntarily makes himself a great baby, so helpless and so ridiculous.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
This is a great video, because give reasons more different than the typical reason which an could answer when other people ask us about “What is the reason to learn a new language?”, for example My friend said “I was learning a new language, because I could have more opportunities from job”. It is True, but John McWhorter who is a linguistic teacher told us that learn a new language channeled your throughts, So I think in the journey to learn a new language you must change to way as your brain is doing the setences and use the grammar, I believe learn a new language is a excellent exercise to your brain and have a lot of benefit, I have never thinked that other benefit is learn about the culture of other countries.