Why learning languages in 2024 is just NOT worth it
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- Опубліковано 30 тра 2024
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CC subtitles available in multiple languages.
Today is one of those days when I question whether language learning is worth the time and effort it requires.
⏲️ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Why bother learning a language
0:24 My friend's story
1:42 Learning languages is hard work
2:34 Everyone already speaks English
2:53 Lies people spread about language learning
3:38 Is language learning worth it?
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Even as a joke, I think what you said was very serious. I thought a lot about it and it is true. Translators in our devices are very good nowdays and will keep getting better. There really is no point to knowing a language in a few years. That is why I am going to quit my hobby of language learning. Thanks for enlightning me Steve!
It's April 1st by the way.
You got me. I should have been more wary on April 1st.
I understand the point and it is good to have worries before starting to learn a new language. If you don't need it for a job or to live in a country where people only speaks that objective language, you have to be really sure about your reasons of your study. Talking about me, I do it because it is a very healthy habit and i have fun learning japanese. I lose nothing, but maybe i just win entertainment. I prefer doing this than playing videogames. Finally, i think there is a lot of time left before you can talk and understand in real time with people, not being dangerous.
In conclusion, if you don't need a language, and you can't find a way to enjoy learning, you shouldn't bother learning, but if you do like it or need it, it is a very good idea to begin this healthy habit.
oh, i just realize it is april...
The Winning Side
The righteous person faces many troubles, but the LORD comes to the rescue each time.
-Psalm 34:19
From the moment we come into this life, there are all kinds of troubles. Life is filled with challenges, and it seems as though when you have one problem finally resolved, three more take its place.
In fact, the Bible says, “People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire” (Job 5:7)
Some people may say that if you accept Jesus Christ, then all your troubles will go away. The implication is that if you become a Christian, then your problems will be gone. On one hand that’s true, because when you become a true follower of Jesus, many troubles do go away. The issues of an ever-present guilt, an emptiness in your life, and the fear of what happens beyond the grave are resolved.
But in all fairness, other troubles start once you give your life to the Lord. The moment you decide to follow Jesus Christ and seek to do the right thing, the devil will do everything that He can to stop you.
But you also need to know that God is far more powerful than the devil. And God will do everything He can to strengthen you. You are on the winning side.
That doesn’t mean you aren’t going to be tempted. It doesn’t mean you aren’t going to face hardships or that you won’t have obstacles in your life. But it does mean that you will ultimately get through these things with the help and power of God.
When the disciples were afraid, Jesus gave them some words of assurance to bring calm to their anxious hearts. He said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me”
(John 14:1)
We could also translate this to say, “Don’t be agitated or disturbed or thrown into confusion.”
Jesus didn’t tell the disciples to mull over their problems. Instead, He told them not to be troubled. He was saying there are reasons to be troubled in life, but there is a greater reason not to be.
Yes, we have all kinds of troubles in our lives: health troubles, family troubles, relationship troubles, and financial troubles. Things don’t go the way that we hoped they would go.
And there are times in our lives when things happen that we just don’t understand. Why did God do a certain thing? Or why did God not do a certain thing?
When I don’t understand something about God, I try to always fall back on what I do understand. I understand that God loves me and that He’s looking out for me with my best interests in mind. I do understand that no matter what happens, He will get me through it.
Nothing is too hard for the Lord. There is no addiction so strong that He cannot free someone from it. And there is no problem so complex that He cannot unravel it. There is no hope without God. But with Him, you have all the hope that you ever will need.
Thanks for the April fools joke.
I get it now 🤣
I thought it was real
oh gosh....yept..and I wrote a long text...lmao
almost fell for it
I fell for it.
"If you read well , people will get jealous at you , if you read badly , they'll laugh at you "
So true .
So screw people, nothing good comes out of this
No.
I read well in french class and this is true. people look at me with soul-less dead looks in their face when they speak their anglo french.,\..
@@13hehe Ikrrr. My classmates think I'm an insanely good TTS machine when I'm reading in my English class. Although some of them can't even read properly in their native language.
@@13heheSe llama vivir en un mundo competitivo
Why learn a foreign language when you could just kidnap Steve and force him to translate for you?
Work smart, not hard (ง ͠° ͟ل͜ ͡°)ง
You're super genious
Made my day 🎉🤣
That would definitely be harder than it would smart. He already learned Cthuluan so he'd prolly just summon something to ruin your life
best comment here
Ah yes, a fellow Lenny fan ( ͡° ͜^ ͡°)
I agree completely. Language learning is a huge waste of time these days.
A fallen hero
Yooo hahaha I just came from your videos hahaha 😂
Cuando vas a continuar tus lecciones de vasco? Duolingo is waiting
Ahora me acuerdo que pude poner el comentario en español porque este man lo habla 🗿
The gigachad u.u
Damn I was like Steve gave up on life 😅
😂
🤣🤣
😂😅😅
😅😅😅😂
😂🤣😂🤣😂
I was getting so sad and unmotivated while watching my polyglot idol saying that it wasn't worth it until you say the last sentence of the video! You got me on that one! 😅
I have no motivation anymore, and I don’t want to continue learning foreign languages. I feel that learning foreign languages is really useless.
Still, nothing he said wasn't true, although these are things I believe most language learners have long since considered.
@user-sg6uo5kt7q true... I think that's why it felt kind of real. Why bother learning other languages if everyone will speak in english with you? Still, I like to think that learning languages is a plus! And a fun journey! Not everyone speaks english.. I work in a hotel and we had a french family last week who could only speak french (only the father could speak a bit of english). Since I speak french, I was the only one capable of helping them when they needed and communicating with them. So that kind of stuff motivates me! Also, it's fun to speak languages that not everyone can! ;)
Your friend should not worry. I get refused even in my own language. 😁
Yes but the likelihood of making a contact is higher if we can speak the language rather than stumbling with a phone. I can tell you using my iPhone when my wife and I were in Vietnam only worked in emergencies.
i like learning languages, and in my country if u know arabic and english there is no way that u will not find a job at all@@Thelinguist
LOL. I figured, yeah, a jerk is a jerk no matter the language! 😂😂😂 Maybe she just did not want to be bothered!!!
Because Some People aren't into honesty and straightforwardness.
@@Thelinguist I found about you today . You motivated me ,thank you
After seeing the title and the person who posted it, I suddenly decided to throw the Russian book I was just using every bit of my brain cells to comprehend and read out of the window to the very depths of hell and finally yell from the heart "Freedom".
Until I saw the date. Steve is a monster.
I swear I was going to sleep when I saw this video pop up and almost had a heart attack. I watched the whole video, contemplating the years I've spent on language learning
Normally I don't get bothered by someone else's words, but I have so much respect for Steve's knowledge and approach to language learning, that I not only 100% believed every word in this video, but also felt like a part of my soul left me
I hope i have nightmares about this video tonight.
@@lapkrit you do know that the video is a joke right.
@@lapkrit April fools!
Hahahah I'm Russian! Good luck with learning that... even I myself don't know the full alphabet or grammatical rules 💀
He got me as well 😂
Apparently Steve is a talented actor as well!
I've found learning Norwegian has been about as useful and fun as when I trained to run my first marathon at 58. Worthless in day to day life and exhausting. But I loved every minute of both accomplishments. I'm 80+ now and can no longer run marathons or even 5K's, but I can still exercise my most important "muscle". My brain. I continue to study Norwegian and have added Spanish to the mix. I live in So Cal so Spanish might actually be useful, but that's not why I'm doing it. Thanks for the videos and thanks for LingQ, Steve.
hvordan går det med norsken din?, blitt noe bedre?.
I feel ya, man. I started learning Swedish a year ago and I'm sixty. Even if I go to Sweden (been there once) you can't convince Swedes not to switch to English. So why do I learn it? Because it's interesting and fun. Statistics tables tell me I have 259 months left to live. Can I figure out how to spend some time there in that expensive country after retirement? Mebbe. Doubtful. But it's about being able to say, Hey, did you know that in Swedish this is called that, or that the Dutch word is almost the same, or this expression is almost exactly like English...
Jag önskar dig lycka. Og jeg ønsker deg lykke.
Dark thoughts 😂 but in my case, having conversations in three languages other than English (French, Spanish and Russian) every morning for about an hour, thanks to the free language sharing site Tandem, and being 77 years old, retired and in the demographic perhaps most at risk from dementia, I must say that switching between languages and learning new vocabulary in all of them has sharpened my mind and given me a more positive attitude. Best way to start the day!
That's just masturbatory. Why not congratulate yourself immediately so that you don't have to go through the whole ordeal?
just kidding :) , congratulations on your accomplishments, and good luck on many others!
When I will die u will get magic magic of no hope
My kids started learning Mandarin 6 years ago. Last year my daughter competed in the Chinese Bridge Chinese Competition for fun. She wound up winning an all-expenses paid trip for her and myself to China to compete there. We had an amazing time and she won first for the Americas. Doors open when you know another language that you never expected. And we've made so many friends on the way, been exposed to a whole new culture, and my children are learning to have empathy, perseverance, and to think in new ways.
Wow, that is fantastic. Congratulations to your daughter.
That's inspirational, thank you : )
Are you Chinese Americans
Are you guys Chinese Americans
@@hayabusa1329you can check out her channel
I’m over 70. The US Defense rates Chinese as level 5. Most difficult level with Arabic and Japanese. Great! I picked Chinese…to ward off Dementia and will travel to Taiwan for exercise (walking) and good food. 5 months later, now I really enjoy the work. No conjugaison. No plural ending. 👍😊
The fact that Steve quoted this Chinese parable (which he most probably learned it in Chinese) proves learning languages is worth it. :)
exactly!
I heard the parable years ago and don't speak a word in Mandarin. Which proves that learning languages is way overrated - studying parables and metaphysics is a much better use of your limited time
Long live PAK CHINA friendship !
Learning a language is great because you learn that embarrassment is way overrated. It is one of the best ways to get over one's own fragile ego and find your own voice in all aspects of one's life.
I wish learning languages worked for me like that. Learning languages for 12+ years now, still getting extremely embarrassed about cultural mishaps.
❤ Nice
lovely message 💙 ... @@WaaDoku ... I understand you ... But you are actually way AHEAD those that never entered the territory 🎁 ... So this alone is reason for you to have a high self-esteem 🥇 ! 💁🏾♂️
@@Nicolau29 What do you mean? The territory of other countries or the territory of learning languages? I think globally speaking, learning languages is not that unusual. Places like the US are a rare exception to the rule.
The other thing is, if you've never experienced this it's probably hard to imagine. So I appreciate your encouragement but it doesn't work like that. Just picture you with business partners and you saying a word or phrase you thought is perfectly fine but the context and timing are a bit off which makes you sound like you just said something extremely offensive and condescending to the boss of a foreign company. That's the level of embarrassment I'm talking about.
@@WaaDoku I meant the territory of learning ... Just the effort you went thru is already very valid, in my eyes ... 💯 ... But, well, from your answer I realise the difficulties you had in your experience 🙁 ... Usually, as learners we also expect some other people to appreciate our efforts ... It is sad when we make an honest mistake and are met with harsh judgement from the other side 💔 ... As seems to have been the case with you ... Perhaps someone was not fair to you ... Best wishes from Brazil 🌞 !
Thank you, Steve! This came just in time. I've realised I've been spending too much time staring at my screen learning German and Swedish. It's really unhealthy for my mental health and it worsens my attention span. So I'm officially quitting wasting my time on language learning and instead gonna go get a degree in rocket science!
I hope other people open their eyes to this modern plague of language learning that corrupts our children 🙏
Today is April fool’s day! 😂
🙏
Haha! Good one! Steve you inspired me to learn five languages during Covid. Now learning five more and I won’t stop till I die. Most fun Ive ever had. The salient message from you that I took to heart was that if you’re motivated and take the time you will get there. Forever thankful for your inspiration .
He had you fooled from day 1, this can never amount to anything but a huge waste of time.. good he's finally admitted to it
Just kidding of course ;)
It's kind of like saying " Why should I go hiking or jogging, I can just in a car and go there."
Yesterday, I really wanted to give up, but this morning, I set a schedule. I'll definitely not give up😊 I just needed motivation
Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight! Remember? 😊
thank you for this wonderful message steve! i have been preaching the benefits of giving up and resigning oneself to total failure and inadequacy for years!!! great to see this glorious truth be spread further :D
very motivational thank you so much for finally giving it to us straight Steve.
With AI and upcoming translation apps (live and nearly perfect), soon there will be no pressing need to speak another language. However, it is not the same as chatting to people in their language. People almost always appreciate it and you can make friends easier. Knowing the language also helps to understand the culture. It is really hard to really understand a culture really well, without knowing the language. For me, it is a hobby, it is fun most of the time and satisfying once you reach a certain point. I will keep on studying. But, for practical communication it won't really be needed in a few years. It is also probably become less common for people to speak other languages due to this.
everyone should learn languages not because they have to but because they want to
Using a translation app may be practical in certain brief situations but there will never be a time when friends are going to sit around having long conversations like that. If you want to actually talk to people and not just exchange a few brief phrases, you will need to share a language with them.
Can I speak wrong english means
The secret to learning a language successfully is to invest €100,000 in learning materials
🤣
The sad thing is that ALOT of people think like this, I USE TO THINK THIS.
Now language Learning is my favorite hobby and I have a mexican girlfriend who I never would have met if not going through the journey of learning spanish :)
This post is that slight push at the right time that has made me realize I've been wasting my time all these years. I can't actually remember why I thought it was good idea to begin with. So thank you. I feel set free.
😅I was shocked when I saw the title at first glance
bro was not already prepared for today! 💀
1:37 it's over for non bilinguals, you all need to start language maxxing, but you can only mew while doing comprehensible input, so delay speaking so you can mew more.
You legit had me stressing about your well-being till i saw a comment about april fools!! 😂😅
Regardless, i hope you're doing well, and we're all here to support you like you have for us!!! ❤❤❤❤
Even though this video was posted on that special day, that was an honor for me to be able to see your darker moments, to see you, not only as a language guru but as a realistic and even pessimistic person. I love that Chinese story as well. I am now more than motivated to learn languages, because I could enjoy it in English, which is your mother tongue and my first foreign language. I was born on April 1st by the way and this was a great present from you, thank you Steve.
Even though it is April 1st, I half agree with what you say here. I have travelled the world and it is very useful to know the basics of the local lingo. One should be able to say please and thank-you, ask the price of things and puzzle out the names of places on local sign posts and station names. At that point you have perhaps learned 10% of the local language. But anything past that, until you study for years and are fully fluent is almost useless.
I have studied French for years. I can slowly read the front page of the newspaper and I can ask directions to the nearest hotel; but I can hardly discuss why there is a railway strike this week, what school students are reading or why the girl at the next table is smiling. (Unless of course I am lucky to meet a local who speaks English well).
In the last year, I have studied four different languages on Duolingo. Though I am confident that the local people I might meet in France, Spain, Indonesia and Japan would appreciate my efforts at being polite, I am afraid that almost anyone that I meet in a forward-facing hospitality position will speak English far better than I will ever speak their language.
Bonjour 🇫🇷 I am French and appreciate every bit of French you can use! It's all about motivation and need. If you want a little and know a little, fine. If you are passionate about something, you will acquire a lot. No stress. Native speakers should accept you wherever you are at!
People often describe this dichotomy between simple sentences and deeper sentences, but it's kinda wrong. If you can say "I would like 2 chocolate croissants" then you can also say "I would like more money", and so you CAN discuss the railway strike. You can really discuss a ton of deep topics with simple grammar and the 100 most common words, if you're willing to forego some nuance. But that's okay - your croissant ordering isn't as nuanced as your native language either.
You are blessing to my journey and I started learning Japanese because of you.
Thanks for the motivation, Steve. It always helps when someone tells the truth.
I was scared when I read the title, but then I saw the upload date. 😂
STEVE! I FORGOT WHAT DAY IT WAS!! You freaking got me after a long day at work !
Good one Steve!
I love how the story of your friend at the beginning underlines so well why so many of us are trying to learn a new language 😅
I think that language learning is still very satisfying, especially when you finally make some progress, just like beating a video game. And in this era, we all live in our own information cage; learning a different language could help us understand our world better.
April fools nice one 😂😂
Leaving aside the April Fool possibilities of the video, it is not a good idea to be over-sensitive when embarking on a foreign language.
I remember once in Istanbul a tourist trying to make himself understood to metro staff. He was a Spanish speaker, trying to explain that he wanted to get to Kabataş. I helped him out - the metro staff did not understand English, much less Spanish. At least a decade ago Istanbul was one of those places where it was worth picking up the local language basics because you cannot count on anyone speaking English.
باركَ الله فيك، وجزاك الله خيرًا، وأشكرك على كلماتك الطيبة والرقيقة
Well Steve, I believe that you are what you do, what comes from the bottom of your heart without more or less. I think that learning languages may not be everything in life, but it is a very enriching activity. Thanks to you I have been able to improve personally and academically.
On a more serious note, I have myself wondered if learning languages is worth it, although for a different reason - one you sort of touched on in the video, and that is technology. If I learn a new language now, what happens if in 5 years we have a "universal translator" which renders learning other languages obsolete? It's already possible, as you alluded to with the iphone example, to translate to (and from!) other languages with a device you can carry everywhere with you. You can even have your device listen to someone speak another language and translate it into your own. The only drawback is that it's not quite fast enough - yet. There is extra friction - going through this intermediary device which doesn't always quite understand what is being said. But... given the progress of technology it seems possible that in the future these obstacles will be overcome and you will be able to wear a bluetooth headset that translates what you hear in near real time, as if you have an actual human translator with you. Going back the other way - well, maybe everyone will have them and you won't even have to do the translation yourself, but if not, maybe you can subvocalize what you want to say and hear the right words to say or something, I don't know. That part seems like it will need more work.
LLMs for example are linguistic and predictive. They don't do what the human is doing which is have a model of the world from which a linguistic capacity then picks and selects from. A world of a difference. It's true AGI/ASI one day will probably have a kind of model of the world and even surpass our own but it also probably won't be human either nor your own or another's. That alone let alone many other reasons is good grounds to learn a language if you wish to communicate or have a need to do so. Additionally the doing bit in living is the fun part and the bit that uses your brain and body which need using (correctly). That all said time is limited one must pick activities that are most appropriate to one's life.
I'm not sure they will be able to translate all the nuance of the language even with advanced technology, so if you want the raw experience there's nothing like the old fashioned way :)
@@samp1312 The enjoyment of food is in the tasting as much as the visuals and knowledge about food are rewarding. Same with doing it yourself eg talking.
I can think of a lot of reasons why you might still prefer to learn a language, even if a "universal translator" existed. Does the "universal translator" cost $30/month to use? Does it have ads? Does it stop working when your phone runs out of battery or you lose your internet connection? If you're in a foreign country and it breaks for some reason or you lose it, are you now stranded with no way to communicate with anybody? Is it even slightly slower than a brain would be? Do you trust it to convey all the nuances of your ideas correctly? Can it explain cultural references to linguistic communities that don't know about them, such as local politicians, celebrities, TV shows, history, and cuisine? Can it explain puns well, or tell you when there's rhyming or alliteration? If it can explain cultural references and puns and semantic nuances well, does it significantly slow down the conversation to hear these explanations all the time? Does hearing explanations like this ruin comedic timing and make it very difficult to enjoy the humor of a language? Does the "universal translator" record your conversations and use them to "improve the product"? Are there situations where you couldn't legally use it because you're not allowed to record? In a crowded location with lots of voices, how would you specify which ones you wanted it to translate? Would you be able to coin new words in a language you don't speak the way you could in one you spoke? Do you have to push a button to turn on and off the translation, making it difficult to understand things if your hands are full? If it's a bluetooth headset, does it look ugly?
A lot of these aren't just technological hurdles that could be figured out, a lot of them are fundamental issues with the concept itself.
That was the point of my opening made up story. AI is not going to replace language learning, not for learning about other cultures, and not for interacting with people in any meaningful way.
Love the "blah blah blah" text. Too funny.
I nearly lost it
It surely works better when you watch it in May lol
Keep practicing yall
If you plan to settle in a country for a long period of time or forever, learning their local language is a must if you want a higher chance of blending in. I too had a superstition that English is an international language so why bother learning another one (I'm not a native English speaker, so learning yet another language was not considered even a minor priority), but after living in France for two years, I felt I had been constantly missing out in majority of communications. It was painful without knowing French.
EDIT: only after posting my comment I realized the date this video was published 🤣
Good one, Steve... with some serious food for thought embedded in there.
Most reasnably educated people in continental Europe have at least one other language as well as their mother tongue plus a smattering of a few others. We all live in countries that border on other countries just a few hours away that speak a different language. Being monolingual in Europe can also be a career handicap. As the saying goes "A man who gains another language gains another life.".
The most entertaining one of these I've seen so far. Bravo. I love your channel
Someone remind Steve April fools is on the 1st of April not on the second. ☺
Timezones
Oh, he really had me there, all the way up to the end.
Amazing way to use April 1st, Steve. I felt relieved at the end of the video 😅
I guess it depends on the situation. For me, learning and having a minimal proficiency in German has opened doors for rewarding positions at German big companies. And since the first time I spent in Germany, I noticed that addressing people in the local language made a huge difference. I can say more or less the same about French.
you got me 😅
Wow. I totally fell for it! Threw me off at the end and I laughed out loud haha.
I have been aimless on my quest for French so far this year. Way too passive. This video actually woke me up. I don't want to waste time. I want to use the time and dedicate it to my love for French. Life is short after all. I will be more purposeful!
Who knows, that story you told...might be my future, but this time there won't be an iPhone. I'll tell that French lady her compliment myself haha.
Ouch! That hurt! At least until read the April 1st date. Wicked of you!
Thank you anyway for the great help keeping my brain stimulated in late retirement and the true pleasure I get from my dabbling in language learning with your help.
I'm glad this was created on April 1st! We don't learn languages because we need to. Usefulness is the worst reason to learn anything. We learn languages because they open doors in our minds and they open doors in the minds of others and all of a sudden your Iraqi tire guy is your friend just because you know how to say literally two things in Arabic, hello and thank you. People travel the world and they see all the sights but they never see into the minds and hearts of the people who live there. Because yes we're all the same, we all love, we all hate, we all eat, we all sleep, but different cultures see the world reflected in slightly different circus mirrors, and seeing the world reflected in somebody else's circus mirror, while getting to keep your own circus mirror, is incredible.
you got me , sir lol
On your point about natives replying in English. What I've discovered, is it depends on the native speaker. I'm fluent in German [Learned it whilst stationed in Germany for 5 years], but when I speak German to Germans here in the states, they reply in English. I called on out on this once, and she told me most Germans - especially those who now live here - want to hone their English skills. She complimented me on my German, and revealed that she as confident in her English as she'd like to be. I also speak conversant Mexican Spanish, and when I speak it with native speakers, they ALWAYS respond in Spanish. I guess I'm trying to say that it is annoying when native speakers respond in English when we native English speakers make the effort to speak their language, but rarely is it because the native foreign language speaker is trying to be rude. Great video.
It depends on how well we speak as well. But the speaker of the language we are learning has every right to practice their English. We can also insist on using the language we are learning.
You sir are a huge motivation for me! Thank you kindly.
You miss the point: the young woman in your story just didn't want to be pestered by some strange man. She had a right to her privacy - and she exercised it!
I think it was probably part of the whole April fool's joke
No, she wasn't impressed by his language knowledge... He wasn't even simping for a foreign language... So she was in disgust
Moral of the story, don't harass women in any language.
The story was not true of course. I was not aware that trying to strike up conversation was harassment. It's easy enough to say I'm busy, or my boyfriend is the bouncer at the door so leave me alone.
Oh my God! I was thinking, "what the hell happened?" as an American living in Brazil with my non English speaking Brazilian wife as I am speaking Portuguese 24x7 and happier than ever. I was ready to unsubscribe lol. Nice one Steve but I hope that you did not lose followers who did not wait until the end of the video. For anyone with doubt, learning another language as COMPLETELY changed my life and I am now living in the country of my target language and have never been happier. It's uphill all the way but absolutely worth the journey! If you REALLY want it, you will achieve it without doubt!
Sir Steve, I'm sorry to hear your aguments. I'm convinced language learning is great and worth, it can change our lives. In fact it has changed mine when I studied Hungarian. I succeeded to learn Hungarian: you can make friends and carry on your career abroad. Your videos are great. Thanks, have a great day. Andre BERENYI English language trainer based in France.
this hurt more than 10.000 flashcard reviews.
you do know this is a joke right.
I'm proud of myself that besides listening and agreeing that technology is useful enough so you don't NEED to learn a language and it's too much time spent...
I was thinking "yeah, but I will still do it."
It is hella fun. It's not about the result but about the whole path.
I'm learning Japanese now and, my god, it's awesome to listen to a sentence and understand it. I look to the past "me" using romaji while learning hiragana and to my nowadays "me" rejecting romaji, preferring to read with kanas and kanjis, it feels much better and natural for me. It's not just about communication with someone. I evolved.
Learning a language is a joy for a lifetime.
You almost made me give up with your video title alone😄, because despite my education background I'm currently working in a shitty job and I've spent so much time working on my French that I was thinking that I could get a better job with it one day.
Totally agree with your take in this video.
You really got me in that!
Qué grande Maestro! Saludos desde Argentina!
The last few seconds said it all. Well done. (Actually you demonstrated an important skill. Take a view that you disagree with, and argue for it.)
100% right. Why bother, the payoff will NEVER amount to the effort you have to put in. Plus in order to even use the language, you have to either actually travel to another country, or hang out with some foreigners who don't know English... and WHEN do I find the time for all this? Life is so incredibly busy, and so short - just a blink and we're all gone and soon forgotten... I'm with you on that one Steve!
there is no need to learn other languages😊but i'm learning them for fun😁🥰
I was looking for an outside voice to give vocabulary learning advice to my Spanish 1 students and was SHOCKED to hear this video...until the end! I am SO excited about language learning that this blew my mind...so glad it was a joke!
First off, I'd rather you said all this on the 2nd of April, bcz what you say, to me, makes absolute sense. I've been a teacher of English for 38 yrs. Years ago I tried to become a polyglot but I gave up the idea. I thought the only language you need is English worldwide. So, I decided to do my best to excel in English by putting all my effort in it. Now I feel and see how correct I wa in doing so. Why waste your energy on any language other than English? Of course this only applies to non-natives of English.
Learning many languages just for the sake of qualifying as a polyglot is a sheer waste of time. It's more productive use of time to learn a language that serves a useful purpose like for an occupation or for a job posting to a foreign country.
I still believe its not worth it. The only language anyone needs to learn as a 2nd lang is ENGLISH. And the native speakers of English need not bother to learn any lang.
I was extremely confused by the title until i remembered what day it was. Happy April everyone!
Thank you, Steve. Finally, I got out of this painful rut!
To your point, years ago in the Japanese newspaper, there was a story of this foreign woman (American, I think) who arrived in Japan, marvelled at the culture and wanted to communicate with the locals, so she spent years studying the language only to find out that no one was saying anything important.
This video almost made me give up - but then he told the story of Zhuangzi and I thought: Wait a second. "Maybe I am just a dream and the real me already speaks the language and also made a girl with a lovely smile fall in love with him." So I will now go to sleep and hope for the best.
I study German,it is a difficult language but it is a hobby to learn German and l spend very good moments listening different programs. For me to learn a new language is enjoying life,enjoying new friendships,new spontaneous conversations when l travel, to share good and bad moments with my friends . It is worth to learn languages and now l am teaching German to 5 kids😅.Steve, thanks for your efforts. Mucho ánimo.
This video was an April Fools joke btw lol
One of the most important questions to ask when you do something: "AM I REALLY ENJOYING IT?"
If the answer is "yes", then it is probably worth it.
Even before watch the video I already like the video, Steve is flawless.
I am a native arabic speaker
And i learned English and german
Absolutely there was a lot of frustration and difficult time
But i don't feel like i wasted my time.
Of course this is only my point of view
I so wish I hadn’t read the comments before watching this video 😅 I would have loved to have had an authentic reaction to what Steve is saying in this video because he’s my favourite language guru and such an inspiration to me in my language learning journey. I think I would have been confused and aghast 😅
One thing to all your subscribers to know.If you read some "not very offten word in your language" and forget it later, how do you expect to remember foreign language? I wish i can force brain to accept and not errase what i learn for 1hour but.
i gave it a thumb's down and then gave it a thumb's up. I'm glad i watched this video all the way through.
It depends where you go and for what purpose.
If you are in large tourist areas on a short trip talking to tourist staff, then it is OK to not learn the language.
If you are a CEO on an expat package with a translator, then, again, not needed.
If you live in a place and want to integrate, then it is needed.
Plus, there are countries where people cannot/do not like to speak English. Living there and dealing with common people and daily concerns necessitates learning the language.
4:51 I'm gifted with fluency in Chinese and believe that to have good relationships multilingualism is necessary these days. Cellphones won't ever replace what I know.
İ want to learn the language but not to speak but to read and understand.
İf you're not going to speak the language regularly, you'll never be fluent in it anyway. Like the person in your example, it's not worth to learn a language if you're going to use it only once a year on holiday.
People nowadays want to learn a language to immerse themselves in that culture and media where that language is spoken, not so much for the language itself. The best motivation imho✌🏻
thank you for the awesome parable I will add it to my collection alongside Plato’s cave, Shroedinger’s cat, and ship of Theseus. I use this as a schizophrenic to examine reality and my surroundings along with therapy and medication. Perhaps it is the therapy ani medication I should be giving credit too haha
I'm learning english every Day I'm study for 2 hours because I want to work in a call center no se como lo dije pero llevo dos meses aprendiendo 😅 me siento feliz
Unironically, only those that aren't really committed to learning a language will probably give up after watching the video and saving them from its hardships.
Excellent, thank you, and there are also a lot of great arguments against in that discussion. Moral of the story, don't learn languages unless you are really serious about it! Lifetime Mandarin learner from Sydney, Australia.
This video was an April Fools joke btw lol
I’m learning because I’m fascinated with the primary language I’m learning! It doesn’t stop me from continuing onto the other languages as well! I love the Russian language! But I’m fascinated with Arabic, spending more time with German and Spanish! With a little bit of thrown in there because French and Spanish are practically the same thing! Spanish is just useful language where I’m at, it’s practical!
Russian, Spanish, German, French & and a little bit of Arabic! As roughly the order im learning! I just realized it looks like a lot! But not really, If you understand one and learn for example the same few words, across-the-board and just keep adding on…
However, there are days where I have to like. Flip my brain! What is in a specific order in English will be different in Spanish and words won’t even be used in Russian or nonexistent in German & Arabic!
Thanks, Steve.
This did make me think, it’s depressing to consider all the negatives. You can easily be consumed by the fear of 勿体無い. However what your reasoning for learning is the reason you should never consider the negatives. If you want to learn, learn it and do so knowing none of the negatives matter because you want to learn it.
Honestly, I never speak well, even in my own language (Cantonese, leave alone English) though I always dream I can speak Russian, Korean and Arabic, .....but I am impressed with your use of Zhuangzi as an example :) By the way, your friend's experience in the cafe has nothing to do with language learning, it is just the girl he met that was simply not into him, it happens even if you are of the same race as her, and speak the same language as she does - that's life unfortunately.
It's not a true story. It was meant to illustrate the futility of communicating via google translate or AI on your phone.
My thinking is, a lot of the subtlties and intricacies of languages are not translatable. It's like translate ancient Chinese poem to English or the equivalent, key information is missing. A word is not just a word, it is a knot in a concept web, so when you "say" or "see" a word, it invokes in your brain, not only this word, its pronunciation and its semantic meaning, it also invokes related words and concepts. And these structures web are different from languages to languages, so you kinda have to learn the whole thing to be able to appreciate it fully. Also, translation is just not intimate enough
Imagine that you don't know Steve Kaufman and this is the first video you watch of him 💀