5 Ways to Boost Comprehension in Any Language

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  • Опубліковано 2 чер 2024
  • 5 ways to get you fully comprehending a new language today.
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    OK if you've reached the end of the description then you're here for the question. Who was it that saw you when you disobeyed my instruction to look away from the screen?
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 159

  • @daysandwords
    @daysandwords  Рік тому +7

    See what languages I speak and to what level here:
    ua-cam.com/video/pi5fZxNppo0/v-deo.html

    • @HolaEspanyol
      @HolaEspanyol 11 місяців тому

      I think you should pick a second second language (3rd language) for me to learn. I'm making content for any language I learn do double my motivation so pick one you want to learn haha.

  • @rporter75
    @rporter75 Рік тому +171

    A little tip I recently stumbled onto; if you want to try reading in your target language but find novels a bit too much, then comics, graphic novels, manga, etc are a really good gateway, gets you reading but still has a decent element of visual context clues if you're struggling to follow the plot.

    • @utubinator
      @utubinator Рік тому +5

      Absoltuely. They are a great balance because you need to understand the written language to understand the dialogue which is almost always essential for the story at any moment, but at every moment you have the visuals, which are more important and the primary way the story is told.

    • @kyleesmith5636
      @kyleesmith5636 Рік тому +1

      thats exactly what i’ve been doing too!

    • @thedawsons1253
      @thedawsons1253 Рік тому +7

      A book of Short stories are helpful too! Especially ones targeted for language learning. That way if you are struggling to follow the plot you don’t have to be committed to it for 100+ pages but can switch to another story that may be more appealing or easier to understand.

    • @natc6601
      @natc6601 11 місяців тому

      Yes! I just started Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier in Spanish (Fantasmas). Her graphic novels are aim towards a younger audience but are lengthy so they make great language learning content.

    • @Z5Z5Z5
      @Z5Z5Z5 6 місяців тому

      ah yes italian manga my favorite 😂

  • @ronlugbill1400
    @ronlugbill1400 11 місяців тому +18

    I am a native English speaker. I have travelled all over the world, so that includes a lot of airport travel. I had never heard the word "travelator" before. In the U.S., we say a moving walkway or a conveyor belt. But, because of the images you included with your video, I was able to understand the word "travelator".

    • @coryjorgensen622
      @coryjorgensen622 3 місяці тому +2

      This was my take away too.

    • @YogaBlissDance
      @YogaBlissDance 3 місяці тому +2

      I just wrote similar in the U.S. I've never heard it, wonder if it's British?

  • @MisterGames
    @MisterGames 10 місяців тому +7

    What i like about your channel: no fluff, no elaborate flexing, no "i invented this way of learning" no hyperbole in how fast a person will Acquire another language. Just down to earth truths and self admittance about things you struggle with wtc.... You and Vlad should have more subs cause your stuff is better than the rest.

  • @user-cs1ft8fp5q
    @user-cs1ft8fp5q Рік тому +67

    Bro you are so underrated. I would say you are literally the best in the game right now since Matt unfortunately stopped making content when it comes to language learning, but honestly I would say your tips are more practical and his style was more big picture explaining the theory. Either way I love your videos and you have been the reason I’ve gotten into Target language audiobooks, and even now I was watching English content and I was gonna go to the gym and listen to music but this video inspired me to continue listened to Harry Potter in Chinese at the gym instead

    • @LakadMatatag2702
      @LakadMatatag2702 Рік тому +1

      There is nothing wrong with listening to your favourite music bro. You don't need to force yourself to listen to the audiobook. You do it because you love it, not because it is your responsibility to learn the language.

    • @xrecus6978
      @xrecus6978 Рік тому +2

      ​@Lakad Matatag if you want to learn the language it is your responsibility 🎉

    • @user-cs1ft8fp5q
      @user-cs1ft8fp5q Рік тому +1

      @@LakadMatatag2702 at the end of the day it just takes more effort to listen to your target language than English music or podcast so you're never gonna "love it" as much as you would just listening to something easy in English because it's a lot more comfortable, but the more hours you put in, the closer it'll get

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому +25

      Thanks for this comment!
      Honestly I feel I could make better videos but even fewer people want to watch the good ones haha. So I walk the line between "2 hours explaining how cognitive state impacts the language acquisition model" and "Australian guy shocks native speakers".

    • @user-cs1ft8fp5q
      @user-cs1ft8fp5q Рік тому +4

      @@daysandwords just gonna put it out there, I would give 100% watch time to "2 hours explaining how cognitive state impacts the language acquisition model". For reference I have watched the full 3 hour matt vs japan video about his full Japanese learning journey and his "consciousness and language acquisition" like hour and half video at least 3 times through

  • @martinwallace5734
    @martinwallace5734 8 місяців тому +1

    Once again, you have nailed it.
    When I was a little boy, my mother spent _hours_ talking to the woman next door. I just stood there, holding on to her skirt, listening. I didn't speak much, though when I did I came out with lines like "Oh mother, what a beautiful flower!" which cracked up my brother - but of course I was just learning to talk like Mum and Mrs Kerfoops. (We didn't have a TV, happily.) I was always a good listener at school, but my teachers found me a bit introverted. Once I got to Uni, though, I became the garrulous so-and-so that I am to this day.
    I believe I am a good writer and speaker thanks to those endless hours listening to Mum tell stories, argue, joke and generally communicate. When I heard Olly Richards speak about learning through stories, a big gong resonated within me.
    I have always hated it when teachers try to restrain the students. Learning French, I was reading novels, but when I asked about the _passé simple_ - a tense used on nearly every page I read - I was told "Oh, that's too advanced. Please focus on your homework." No, please teachers, don't do that to learners. Imagine telling your pre-school child not to use the past tenses because they're too hard. No. We just gently correct them, maybe, when they say "I eated breakfast already." And they soak it up. Languages are chaotic - or rather, patterns emerging out of chaos - we don't learn them in neat, lock-step pattern.
    OK, this has been a rant, but I also agree 100% about reading books you have already read in English. _Harry Potter_ is a godsend for younger learners. For me, it was Agatha Christie. It doesn't have to be Patrick White or Shakespeare. As with our mother tongue, the best indicator of success is not the _quality_ of what we read but simply _how much_ we read - provided the language is used competently by the author / translator.

  • @stevencarr4002
    @stevencarr4002 Рік тому +36

    'it' 'was' 'he' 'she' 'there is' 'I go' 'I went' are super common in English, but not in other languages. Pronouns are not used as much in Spanish or Polish as in English, and verbs of motion are notoriously hard in Slavic languages - 'I went to school' can be translated several different ways,
    One problem with immersion is that very common words often appear in 20 different forms in other languages, depending upon number, gender and case. A common word like 'two' will come up often, but spread out over 20 different forms.
    You might hear the word for 'dragon' 50 times, but perhaps only 6 times each for each form, because you have your accusative dragons, and your locative dragons, and your genitive dragons etc
    Of course, this doesn't mean immersion is ineffective, just that it will take longer than anticipated. That is why repeated listening, as in the video, is so important - eventually you suddenly realise that 'dwoch' also means 'two', just like 'dwie' and 'dwa' and 'dwoma' do.

    • @snowbird7254
      @snowbird7254 Рік тому +3

      yes! I think repeated listening is so important. "That Japanese Man Yuta" said that when he was learning how to understand spoken English, he would listen to the audio clips over and over and that this helped him a lot overtime.

    • @HeidiSue60
      @HeidiSue60 6 місяців тому

      I also think dictation would help with the issue you describe. Writing out the declarative for dragon in THIS phrase, then as an object past tense in THAT phrase, you’ll start seeing the root word which you can then apply across other uses.

    • @EdwardLindon
      @EdwardLindon 6 місяців тому +2

      The pronouns example was an example. Substitute any other category or class of common words, and the principle remains the same: through repeated exposure, you get used to the most common stuff, filter it out of explicit focus and are more free to concentrate on other things.
      As for the matter of different forms, e.g. cases and conjugations, this is only a problem if you are trying to understand or acquire 100% every time (an ineffective strategy). As long as you are happy to rely on recognition of stems and essential parts, you can easily flow along with the audio in the moment.
      If you're unable to do basic induction and take ages to realise things like 'dwoch', 'dwie', 'dwa' and 'dwoma' all mean "two", that doesn't matter, as long as you use the most powerful approach to language learning, which is a multiplicity of approaches. Anyone who does immersion *only* is missing out. A 30-min skim of a grammar book is a force multiplier, likewise memorizing the most common words etc.

    • @smorrow
      @smorrow 6 місяців тому

      Surely the 'was' thing is all Germanic languages? (I don't speak any - except English of course.)

    • @bvg129
      @bvg129 Місяць тому

      As Russian native I can assure you, it is easier to learn them by heart and repetition, rather than memorizing The Rules. Like I even forgot all of the cases's names, which there are 6, but still *feel* which one i need to use. Even still i remember the frustration when i get D in russian classes, while speaking on native level.
      Choose some simple shows, the ones about not well-educated people discussing usual matters. They tend to use simpler sentences.
      And, the root stays the same. Драк- you'll gonna hear a lot, if you watching show about Dragon.

  • @Consum98
    @Consum98 Рік тому +14

    I really like a lot of these tips but for me the best one is the familiar stories. It sounds so obvious that it would work but you don't quite realise how effective it is until you've actually read (or listened) to something in a different language you knew before and you go "oh, I actually sort of got that". That's basically how I bruteforced my Japanese reading. Reading and listening to the books of old anime I had watched before. Adding to this, get into the habit of relistening to it! I did 2 weeks where I listenind to the same audiobook for about an hour a day during a long walk (maybe got through it 2 or 3 times) and my god did it do wonders to my listening...
    The "set outcome" thing is to true too. When you've seen enough of a genre of book or show you start to be able to guess what happens, who does what etc and it makes subsequent content much easier. Not just because of vocab, but because you know the game so to speak.
    The last one also reminds me of when I listened to the same 20 episodes of a show 15 times around, and I still felt it was useful and got new things from it on the final run through. I actually rewatched it about 6 months later and got another 200 or so anki cards from it!
    Great video. Keep up the content!

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому +2

      "That's basically how I bruteforced my Japanese reading. Reading and listening to the books of old anime I had watched before. Adding to this, get into the habit of relistening to it! I did 2 weeks where I listenind to the same audiobook for about an hour a day during a long walk (maybe got through it 2 or 3 times) and my god did it do wonders to my listening..."
      Totally! It would be an absolute must for something non anglosemblant like Japanese.

  • @LakadMatatag2702
    @LakadMatatag2702 Рік тому +4

    The final tip is so accurate. I love the story "The Return of Sherlock Holmes- The Norwood Builder " so much that I listened to its audiobook like 100 times or something like that and every now and then, I picked up a phrase or word that I couldn't even hear it before. I highly recommend everyone doing this tip for their favorite films, movie, and audio.

  • @hajiimpressions8113
    @hajiimpressions8113 Рік тому +8

    Because of this video, I am FINALLY not intimidated to learn this new language that I MUST learn to survive...and I thought that at 61yrs it would be impossible for me

    • @canchero724
      @canchero724 Рік тому +1

      I assume at 61 you have a lot more free time on your hands than when you were 31, that's what matters, free time to immerse yourself in the language and in time you'll learn it.

    • @sharonoddlyenough
      @sharonoddlyenough Рік тому

      Certainly not impossible! Steve Kaufmann has learned most of his languages after retirement. Mind you, he learns for fun, not necessity, and he doesn't learn to high levels, but he's still out there learning and holding conversations in his new languages.

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому +3

      It definitely is possible. My mum just broke her arm and is learning to write with her left hand... Language is just a more complex version of that. Learning to think about things a different way.

  • @coolbrotherf127
    @coolbrotherf127 Рік тому +3

    Personally, as someone who has been studying languages for a while, I would watch an episode of a show in my target language first with English subtitles to understand the context, then rewatch with the target language subtitles and look for vocabulary I know and how it's used. On the second watch, I also try to carefully listen to each speaker to make sure I can hear how each word in pronounced. There's usually a lot of stopping and rewinding on a second watch, but dissecting how the natives talk and learning new things about the language like a detective is kind of fun like a puzzle. Obviously, once I became more confident in a language, I would just start watching stuff normally in the target language to test my comprehension.

  • @muskadobbit
    @muskadobbit Рік тому +6

    I know these techniques but sometimes forget how effective they are. Thanks for the encouragement. I’ll get back to work now.

  • @mallory8940
    @mallory8940 Рік тому +2

    My greatest tool for language learning is TikTok. Short form content that usual it comes with subtitles, and if there’s no subtitles people in the comments usually type out the funny parts. I’ve learned a lot of vocabulary like that.

  • @amrismailJ
    @amrismailJ Рік тому +3

    For me a non native English speaker who has never gone outside his motherland I can hear u n understand u well with no sub BTW all what u said is completely true

  • @bofbob1
    @bofbob1 Рік тому +5

    Tip n6: when you've finally travelled 50 miles and exited the airport, make sure you get in a real cab.

  • @codyscott8687
    @codyscott8687 11 місяців тому +2

    Piggybacking on your subtitles advice, I have been watching La Casa de Papel, and I will watch an episode with English subtitles, then immediately restart the episode and watch with Spanish subtitles while the episode in it’s entirety is very fresh in my mind. It’s been a really helpful strategy. Great advice as always!!

  • @AlinefromToulouse
    @AlinefromToulouse Рік тому

    You are great at exploring more and deeper things already told about language learning, plus new ways, you're great!
    And adding humor to that, what else...

  • @paulwalther5237
    @paulwalther5237 Рік тому +6

    I hate graded readers. But if you can find translations of books you've enjoyed in the past, rereading them in a foreign language has worked really well for me. I think everyone is drawn to Harry Potter for this reason, and I've read Harry Potter in several languages, but I'd recommend trying out other books.

  • @brendansweeney7468
    @brendansweeney7468 Рік тому +1

    I have watch The Expanse in Italian multiple times as well as having read the first book a couple of times. I like the story and as you said, new things become clearing with each watch / read.

  • @Charlotte-ti2yk
    @Charlotte-ti2yk Рік тому +1

    I love every single one of these tips. I completely agree with you, and I already implement them all in my language learning, to some extent. I love that you completely validated my synopsis trick too. 😂
    I’m more of a book reader/ listener, and less of a series/film watcher for language learning, but when I do watch a series I always stick with either a crime series (exactly for the reason you describe), or if it’s a film it’s a romcom. They all have the ‘two people meet, have a great time, fall out because of a daft misunderstanding, and then make up, usually when one chases the other down as their plane is about to leave the airport’ plot. I’d never watch these in English, but in Turkish? Valuable language learning material.
    Side note, I didn’t realise you had a membership scheme. I don’t think I can see the join button on my phone… I’ll check the desktop.

  • @Skiis44
    @Skiis44 Рік тому +1

    Thanks for reminding me that I’m not stuck, that I’m making progress when I watch something more than once. There is a lot more to be gleaned from another watching.

  • @arthurgonay7772
    @arthurgonay7772 Рік тому +1

    I rarely comment but the 5th point matched a feeling I got for a moment now. Repeating things that you already know is far from being a lost of time as, with some time, it will not require any mental energy anymore to catch it, allowing you to focus this energy on other things

  • @danallen4375
    @danallen4375 Рік тому

    Thank you.

  • @jonallen7619
    @jonallen7619 Рік тому +1

    Even though you're not a "polyglot" you got the best language learning content.

  • @vascoguerreiro341
    @vascoguerreiro341 Рік тому +1

    Amazing video

  • @ADHDlanguages
    @ADHDlanguages Рік тому +1

    Awesome as always. I've always been very resistant to the reusing of content because I could be listening to NEW content instead, but one of these days I will try it (for you).

  • @Stephanie-gv8rh
    @Stephanie-gv8rh 11 місяців тому

    As usual solid advice 👍

  • @frogskocinq
    @frogskocinq Рік тому +1

    You made a video on how kids consume content and cite a story of your son "reading" a book in the back sear but is reciting a different story. This is the model. As adults we have bought into the gamification and think that levels and word counts are the reward versus actually learning. Great content!

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому

      I had to say reading or it would have given away the punchline of the story.

  • @bsmith5522
    @bsmith5522 6 місяців тому

    I find this, a "hoot" entertaining.. Absolutely good entertainment.. AND.. as a bonus, makes freaking sense and is logical and very helpful. Super Good Thanks.

  • @user-zd4zp5zs5x
    @user-zd4zp5zs5x Рік тому +3

    even if there are no subtitles, it is possible to use tools such as whisper from openai to generate fairly accurate subtitles.
    works pretty well for languages such as japanese, spanish, german or polish

  • @bvg129
    @bvg129 Місяць тому

    Wow, finally a reason to watch Pulp Fiction again not just to waste time.
    Small tip for those who learn German -- Kurzgesagt is narrated in German too. Different channel.

  • @muizzsiddique
    @muizzsiddique 11 місяців тому

    I can say for sure, even when not learning a language, when I was first watching anime I was glued to the subs and in many cases was completely missing the contents of the show itself. There have been tens of 12+ episode shows where I probably have managed to actually watch 30-40 minutes of the show in its entirety, the rest being just reading the English words on the screen.
    Actually focusing on the audio and the animation (after skim reading the subs) have I actually been engaged with the show. This has actually allowed me to understand Japanese a little on a subconscious level. Granted, after many years, anime is still just content to me.

  • @monicaconsigliereLavieenfleur
    @monicaconsigliereLavieenfleur 9 місяців тому

    I do agree ❤

  • @joreneelanguages
    @joreneelanguages Рік тому

    Audiobooks are also my favorite entity!! 😂 great tips

  • @pawewicher2112
    @pawewicher2112 10 місяців тому

    Watching youtube channels covering the same topic in different languages has been quite helpful for me. For example, I follow video game news and I regularly watch the latest reviews and upcoming games videos in English. Then I'd switch to similar German channels and since I already know what the game is about, it's easier for me to follow the German review.

  • @parasitius
    @parasitius 11 місяців тому

    Spot on. I literally spent YEARS thinking there was value in deciphering the meaning of sentences I didn't understand immediately. I thought that doing that was like doing math homework and how you learn. I really regret it. It could be the subtitles in a video or literally a Japanese novel - I would know every single word I saw but not understand what the sentence meant. Just that it was vaguely related to the meaning of the sum of all the words. (This probably sounds absurd to the Spanish learners here... But I promise you it is a thing.) Finally realized it is: (1) less painful (2) faster for reaching your goal and (3) more sustainable (less fatiguing) - to *immediately* check the answer. In other words, read one sentence in Japanese, if the meaning doesn't immediately come to my brain, immediately read a translation of it. And repeat over and over as fast as possible plowing through 100s of pages that way, until the meanings do immediately come to my brain.

  • @grapepale8446
    @grapepale8446 Рік тому +5

    Those are wonderful suggestions actually. Sadly, for me comprehending Danish speech is like solving a 10.000 pieced jigsaw puzzle.

  • @sicko_the_ew
    @sicko_the_ew Рік тому +1

    A bonus benefit from repeatedly going through any sufficiently good content (book, film, whatever) is that it takes you "deep". We have a tendency toward skimming over the surface of things, and one of the things it's essential to do, to resist that, is to slow down (and repetition is the ultimate form of slowing down, if you keep track of all the time the content is taking to consume.)
    This might even work for other "consumables" with some mutatis and a few mutandis, whatever those are. Dig in, and discover the hidden levels of that game. (Are there such things? I'm not a gamer. I just seem to remember hearing rumours like that.)

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому +2

      Yep, that's what I was getting at when pointing out that you notice more stuff and notice stuff that you literally couldn't hear before.

    • @sicko_the_ew
      @sicko_the_ew Рік тому

      @@daysandwords :D I think I was just agreeing with you in a somewhat verbose manner. (I forget what I was thinking - and it's only been less than a few hours - must take my pills, maybe - and maybe also get a grammar book that teaches me how to write sentences.)

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому +1

      Yeah I wasn't being defensive, I was just saying "Yeah I agree." but it would have just looked the same as an annoyed response, in text. So all good.

  • @tomate3391
    @tomate3391 Рік тому +1

    I learnt Spanish in the beginning with subtitles in Spanish, because there were no other choice. Back in the days the Spanish channel RTVE had a lot series and movies available on their website.
    I watched águila roja all 11 seasons , I guess it was more than hundred chapters. And the Spanish subtitles helped me really to follow the plot, even as a sort of advanced beginner.
    (sadly today a lot of content is geoblocked)
    Now I read books in Spanish. I had once the plan to read every book three times. The first time with barely searching for words, the second time (and most time consuming) with searching nearly everything to understand the very most, and based on that knowledge the third time. But I never realised that plan, I am just too curious and want instantly to know what is going on :D
    But still I think is not a bad idea.

  • @LisaMarie-eh7up
    @LisaMarie-eh7up Рік тому +3

    I’ve never heard the word “travelator” - l’ve always used “moving sidewalk”. (And English is my mother tongue 😛)

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому

      Yeah a few people said that in the TimTam cut too, but I've always just heard it referred to as a travelator. It would obviously never be called a moving sidewalk here or in Britain because we don't use sidewalk anyway.

    • @stevencarr4002
      @stevencarr4002 Рік тому

      It's a travelator , for example 'I cannot go on airport travelators. The one and only time I did, I got so freaked out by how superhumanly fast I was walking I had to be taken to the sick bay to calm down.'

  • @highchamp1
    @highchamp1 Рік тому +1

    Lots of Phrases with subtitles
    then
    Move on to Media with subtitles (pick up new words)
    and then
    Listen / Watch lots of content (subconsciously your brain will sort it all out)
    Listen / Read first ("Experience") then Grammar
    Grammar (look up any questions you have) after you have "Experience"
    Beginners (you can get a general overview of Grammar) and find a mnemonic system like Michel Thomas
    Basic General Grammar knowledge (such as Adverbs and 1st person singular (annoying terms like that)
    Alphabets
    Mnemonics are the way to go.
    Annoying issues (made from a combination of internet sources)
    Alphabet Mnemonics (I had to make mine (not good enough) Only in Russian did I find "THE" one.
    Mnemonic Grammar Systems (generally half done) MT Arabic verbs and grammar being the best.
    Grammar Cheat Sheets (I generally had to make mine (not good enough people) French verbs even!

  • @sicut-lux-aurorae
    @sicut-lux-aurorae Рік тому +5

    Don’t forget Galician for your next flexing list. It’s a newer language on Drops, so that’s why it popped to mind.
    Anyway, thanks for the tips, they do help.

    • @anires1195
      @anires1195 Рік тому +1

      i have a friend who is a native from there in spain.

    • @sicut-lux-aurorae
      @sicut-lux-aurorae Рік тому +1

      It’s a great language with the little that I have seen dabbling with Drops. Kind of a distraction from my target languages, but it is a way to get that “new language” excitement without going completely off topic.

    • @NomadicVegan
      @NomadicVegan Рік тому

      OMG, Drops has Galego now?! That's awesome, I'll have to check it out. And yes, Galego would rank above Portuguese in a list of languages that someone who knew Spanish could understand.

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому +2

      Oh ok, I didn't know if it would be comprehensible or not, but I know Portuguese is because I have almost bought books in Portuguese before thinking "Hang on, what's going on here?"

    • @sicut-lux-aurorae
      @sicut-lux-aurorae Рік тому +1

      Lamont, yeah, like for example in Portuguese you might see “boa tarde” for good afternoon, but it would be pronounced something like boa tarjay. In Galician you would pronounce it like you would if it’s a Spanish phrase. So it’s this neat mashup of primarily Portuguese words with an awful lot of Spanish pronunciation (and I am sure that I am oversimplifying, but that is how it seems with my vast 75 word Galician vocabulary).

  • @TaLila360
    @TaLila360 Рік тому

    Hey, Lamont would you like to test and review Story Learning by Olly Richards? Would be nice to see what you think about it, even the free 1-week version :)

  • @paholainen100
    @paholainen100 Рік тому +1

    Greetings from Melbourne. I have applied the same methods that you have suggested, for German. For example, reading familiar novels or stories which were originally in English and reading the German translations. You're already familiar with the plot and also the culture of the original language. As for subtitles in the target language, this is always best when you're around an intermediate level.

  • @aleidius192
    @aleidius192 Рік тому +1

    I am currently watching all of The Crown dubbed in Italian.
    It is much like the first time I watched it, except boopity.

  • @lenatraceroxton1363
    @lenatraceroxton1363 Рік тому

    Hey Lamont (I think that's it right? lol) you say one of your tips is to find content that you watched before in English and watch them in the target language with subtitles. I agree that's a really good idea and I did that a lot for French. But now I'm learning Norwegian and seeing as you've learned Swedish, you probably know that most English content isn't dubbed in Scandinavian countries, so because of that, Norwegian dubs of English tv shows and movies just don't exist, and I would assume it's the same way in Swedish. Another thing I've found is that when there _are_ dubs available (like for children's media) there often aren't subtitles to go with it. So what do you recommend doing in this situation and how did you do deal with it when you were learning Swedish? Thanks!

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому +2

      There are often not accurate subtitles, that's true. (As in, the subtitles and dubbing are often done completely separately.)
      My tendency is to look for stuff that is technically a kids' show but is fine for adults to watch, e.g. Kung Fu Panda which has Swedish on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix (and probably Norwegian too). DreamWorks stuff in general is quite good.
      I mean... there is LESS around but not none. What about the Norwegian public broadcasters? e.g. in Sweden you can do SVT Play (totally accessible with a VPN), and there's tons of stuff on there, all with subs. I would assume Norway would have a similar service.
      I also made this video almost 3 years ago:
      ua-cam.com/video/mrAWj64jIus/v-deo.html

    • @lenatraceroxton1363
      @lenatraceroxton1363 Рік тому

      @@daysandwords Hey thanks for your response! When I mean there aren't subtitles, I mean that when there are dubs, there often aren't any subtitles *at all.* Like I bought a month of Disney+ because I heard there was a lot of Norwegian dubs on there for children's/teen media and there are some shows on there that I like that have dubs, but there is no Norwegian subtitle option, like at all. Same with a lot of stuff on Netflix. And there really aren't very many Norwegian UA-camrs out there either. It's kind of disappointing to see this because I do want to learn the language, but sometimes I just get discouraged when I see there isn't much content. NRK TV has stuff with subtitles and that is good but they also don't have that much there. Maybe I'm being too picky (I probably am, I admit) but sometimes with the limited availability of dubs/subs it seems like the language doesn't want to be learned haha.

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому

      Yeah... Norwegian is definitely a tough one; even tougher than Swedish because of the smaller population.
      Have you tried books with the audiobook? I know it's not the same, but the thing about books is, ONE 10 hour book has more words in it than 20 episodes of a TV show. My reasonably advanced Swedish vocabulary is mainly due to books and audiobooks.

    • @lenatraceroxton1363
      @lenatraceroxton1363 Рік тому

      @@daysandwords That's a good idea! Although trying to find Norwegian books has been kind of difficult, I haven't even thought of trying audio books. Do you know anywhere I might find them?

    • @lenatraceroxton1363
      @lenatraceroxton1363 Рік тому

      @@daysandwords Wow thanks so much, that's awesome!! Also just out of curiosity, what level would you rank your Swedish? (And how soon after starting to learn did you start listening to audiobooks?) Sorry to keep asking you questions haha 😅

  • @julbombning4204
    @julbombning4204 Рік тому

    Man I’ve never heard "Tjena chicos" before!
    I’ll have to start implementing that into my list of greeting expressions

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому +1

      TM Lamont!
      Haha, but seriously, I actually did come up with it (while I was in Mexico) it is my greeting in all my videos now... It just so happens that I've only released this one video so far. 😆

    • @julbombning4204
      @julbombning4204 Рік тому

      @@daysandwords It’s the perfect combination👌

  • @michaelschiller7871
    @michaelschiller7871 10 місяців тому

    Out of curiosity, what Latin audiobook(s) have you listened to? I'm always looking for more

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  10 місяців тому

      I haven't actually listened to any, I have just heard bits of Latin in UA-cam videos and stuff and thought "Yeah that's kind of understandable" (and then combine that with the text and the thing I said about knowing the story).

  • @BrunUgle
    @BrunUgle Рік тому +2

    Are you familiar with the listening-reading (LR) technique?

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому

      Depends what it is, but from what it sounds like, yes, it's my favourite form of consuming but I decided not to go into it in the video for the sake of length.

    • @BrunUgle
      @BrunUgle Рік тому

      @@daysandwords The actual method is a bit more complicated than just listening and reading at the same time. There are several steps and the inventor claims to have learned languages from zero using it. You are supposed to do it for hours every day, and there are five steps. I don’t know anyone who has done it exactly according to the method, but I have done a modified version and I know others who have done a modified version and it is very effective. You basically use a book you’ve read and loved and are willing to read over and over. It should be a long book. According to the method, you should have a parallel text in both languages and the audiobook in your target language, but I just use separate books. The steps are: 1. Read the book in your native language so you know it. 2. Listen in your target language while following along in the target language book until you can easily follow along and hear the word boundaries. 3. Listen in your target language while following along in you native language. This is the most important step because it teaches you the language. It’s also a bit hard at first as most people find they tune out the audio and start just reading. The clue is to put most of your effort on listening and just let your eyes rest on the page to follow the meaning. Repeat this step as many times as needed. 4. Listen and repeat or shadow the audio. 5. Translate from your native language to your target language. This is also very difficult as literary translations tend to be too different. When I’ve attempted this part, I’ve just made my own more literal translation of the target language to English so that I would better be able to translate it back to the target language. I don’t know anyone who has done all the steps for an entire book, but even just doing the first three steps is incredibly useful.

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому +1

      Yeah I have heard of that. But what I dislike about that kind of stuff is "You are supposed to do it for hours every day."
      OK well then obviously it works. If you read and listen to NORMAL books (various books) in the language for hours every day, that would work too. I think the "method" is just packaging.

    • @BrunUgle
      @BrunUgle Рік тому

      @@daysandwords Yeah, most people can’t do it for hours a day, but it is still useful even if you do it for shorter times. I don’t think it would be great for 10 minutes a day, but an hour would still be good. It’s also something that is easy to do, at least steps 2 and 3, so you could probably do more per day than you could do grammar exercises. But of course, all input methods are like that. They are low effort, so you can do more hours and even do them when you are too tired, sick or stressed to do other kinds of studying.

  • @rainynight02
    @rainynight02 7 місяців тому

    In a video of yours I watched just yesterday or the day before you said TO go into media, preferably the same piece of media repeatedly.
    Dive in and listen to it regularly. So I started just that.
    Precisely so that you can begin to get familiar with the language, even if you don't understand everything.
    But here you're saying the opposite it sounds like.

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  7 місяців тому

      ?? Not sure which bit of my video you're referring to. I can't even grasp what it is you say that I'm saying.

  • @ronlugbill1400
    @ronlugbill1400 11 місяців тому +1

    "Starting with number one because... that's how numbers work."
    You could start with five and count down to one. Leave us in suspense about the number one thing.
    And numbers don't really work much. They just kind of sit there on the page.

  • @smorrow
    @smorrow 6 місяців тому

    Suppose you have a film and multiple audio tracks for it, one per language. So, you can make a brand new audio track by splicing the existing ones together, yeah? Well what about making an audio track where only some of the characters are TL, and the other characters talking to them are in English. The idea is you could be freed somewhat of the "seen it a million times" constraint by having high context per scene from the English.
    Second idea, The Two Towers seems a good thing to be watching in TL, first of all because who among us does not rewatch LOTR at least yearly, and secondly, it has three plots (Frodo and Sam I'd say feel like the B-plot, Aragorn-Legolas-Gimli is the A-plot, and Merry and Pippin seems like the B-plot of the A-plot) that possibly can be pulled out and watched standalone, which would make it about the film equivalent of your 80-minute audiobook

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  6 місяців тому

      Yep, not a bad idea!
      I think the issue with leaving English (or your fluent language) in there is that if you've seen it before and you're consistently studying the TL, you don't really NEED that. You just want to hear the TL as much as possible. But it's certainly an idea if you're going to listen like 4 times and do it to like 100 films.

  • @OaktownGirl
    @OaktownGirl Рік тому +2

    I'll say this once just to get it out of my system because Ive been holding it in so long: I absolutely hate the channel name change to "DFNS". I understand why you did it, but boy, do I hate it. OK, done. Carry on.

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому +2

      I respect you for saying it.
      Tell me though, what's the big deal? I mean it's 4 letters. I was talking with the CEO of Refold and an employee of Refold about it, and they agreed that while it might not be too flashy, it solves the problem that I had of people thinking that my channel only discussed French or Swedish.
      I don't like to use my own name because I like to think the channel isn't about "me", and I think basically all the good language names are taken (Langua/Language/Lingua/Glossa etc don't really go well with other words in my view).

    • @OaktownGirl
      @OaktownGirl Рік тому

      @@daysandwords Hej! I don't doubt your sincerity in wanting to know the details of why I dislike the new channel name, however nothing good comes to me by detailing that on this public platform. All I'm going to get are replies from people defending you and telling me why I'm wrong, and probably you re-stating in different words why you went with the new name. I think I'll pass. But I will tell you this: the reason I brought it up (besides the need to express my pent up displeasure) is on the slim chance that you had begun to not like the new channel name so much. Then I would be at least one voice saying, "Hey, it's OK if you want to change it, and in fact some of us would be very happy if you did". That's all. :)

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому +1

      Yeah that's fair.
      Honestly I might change it again soon. I wouldn't mind if you wanted to email me your thoughts on it. (But I can see why you don't want the keyboard warriors coming to my defence!)

    • @OaktownGirl
      @OaktownGirl Рік тому

      @@daysandwords Thanks for understanding. I might just go ahead and email you, but it probably wouldn't be until Friday or the weekend.

  • @_Mike.P
    @_Mike.P Рік тому

    Do you also have some tips on learning a new alphabet? I’m trying to learn Japanese as a native Dutch speaker and it feels like my biggest hurdle is learning a new alphabet.

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому +1

      To me this would be a problem to be dealt with, preferably before the other problems (but I understand that that can be frustrating).
      But I am working on this idea of breaking the language learning process into about 10 or 11 problems, and then prioritising them, e.g. you can't deal with the intonation problem before you solve the vocabulary/fluency problem. And the alphabet problem would come right at the start, so I would learn as much of it as possible BEFORE doing anything else. It might take a few months, but then you'll be MUCH better at reading Japanese to start actually learning it.
      Japanese has a bazillion premade Anki decks so I'd look into that.

    • @_Mike.P
      @_Mike.P Рік тому

      @@daysandwords thanks for the suggestion, I will look into that.

    • @TheRedFoxMcCloud
      @TheRedFoxMcCloud Рік тому +1

      and this is why i dislike the bs people always say "you can master hiragana and katakana in a few days or a week"

    • @athenagreen5390
      @athenagreen5390 Рік тому +1

      I'm an intermediate in Japanese. Spend the first 1-2 weeks learning to recognize Hiragana. You will pick up katakana and kanji when you see them much later in the process. focus on reading absolute beginner material. It will be slow, but you don't want to brute force the basics. You might spend some time focusing on Katakana a bit after you are comfortable with Hiragana. You will never stop learning Kanji but most beginner and intermediate material comes with furigana (Kanji hints) to help with that.
      The other comment isn't 'wrong' that it takes longer than a few weeks to learn Hiragana and Katakana, but it certainly doesn't take months. You could theoretically start reading in a week if you wanted. There are also anki decks made to practice hiragana while learning basic vocabulary. You could theoretically start that within a day or two if you want. I did hiragana and Katakana in a span of about 3 weeks, but I learned it by studying letters for a week and then seeing actual words and learning how to read them.
      TLDR; spend a week on studying Hiragana only then start reading BASIC materials, it isn't as hard as it looks, I promise. Don't even think about Kanji right now.

    • @sasharama5485
      @sasharama5485 Рік тому +1

      I used an app and studied few characters every day.

  • @anangelsdiaries
    @anangelsdiaries 11 місяців тому

    For the repeated watching, how distanced should each viewing be?

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  11 місяців тому +1

      As close as you can deal with. I may or may not have watched the movie I was talking about 5 times in one day on one of the days haha.

  • @katem5077
    @katem5077 Рік тому +6

    I am guessing Shrek and Frozen for the 40+ viewings? Or Chicken Run

    • @sharonoddlyenough
      @sharonoddlyenough Рік тому +2

      My money's on Disney's Robinhood (1973)

    • @TheRedleg69
      @TheRedleg69 Рік тому

      Do you know if Disney+ has multiple languages?

    • @sharonoddlyenough
      @sharonoddlyenough Рік тому +1

      @@TheRedleg69 Yes, most of the Disney animated movies have been dubbed and subtitled in multiple languages, but it's hit or miss for less common languages

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому +1

      Haha I actually own that movie Sharon... I bought it because it has Swedish, so I thought it would be good for Austen in case we're without internet or whatever. I haven't watched it yet though.
      Don't you know the answer though? Because you watched, well... let's say, ANOTHER video of mine that kind of gives it away?

    • @sharonoddlyenough
      @sharonoddlyenough Рік тому

      @@daysandwords yup, just teasing

  • @katb.78
    @katb.78 11 місяців тому

    I know this is not the subject, but THANK YOU for the "we are not children" remark! I am so sick of this "learning like children" concept. I don't know about others, but I don't have a native speaker at hand, who is 24/7 babbling to me, with the questionable result that I might offer an insecure "dada" in 12 months time.
    My apologies again, but this rant has been building up for quite some time.

  • @ms-xx6zw
    @ms-xx6zw 11 місяців тому

    difference between subtitles and closed captions - the subtitles can sometimes be pretty different than the actual spoken audio.
    How is one supposed to know when they are new to a language when this is happening, especially in a language that is spoken quickly or the actor is mumbling a bit or a scene is intense and there is emotion behind the character at the time?

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  11 місяців тому

      Your answer: ua-cam.com/video/I4N8ikIidZA/v-deo.html

  • @tedarcher9120
    @tedarcher9120 11 місяців тому

    My best advice - if you read a book, read it. Don't just skim over the sentences, try to understand why the author used that or another grammatical form, look up unknown words, etc.

  • @Damjes
    @Damjes Рік тому

    To mam włączyć napisy po polsku, czy po angielsku, jak się uczę rumuńskiego?

  • @levipierpont
    @levipierpont 5 місяців тому

    1st watch: English subtitles, target language audio.
    2nd, 3rd, 4th, all the way to 50th watch: no subtitles, or target language subtitles, target language audio.
    I don't know what to tell you if you can't bear to re-watch media. I mean one, get over it, two, try it a few more times, maybe you'll end up liking it.

  • @ShakeruShien
    @ShakeruShien Рік тому +3

    Yes, you are flexing, mate

  • @stevencarr4002
    @stevencarr4002 Рік тому +2

    Youve just got better at Portuguese without even studying it!
    Portuguese is *exactly* like Spanish, except you talk funny.
    So one other way to start understanding a foreign language is also to have learned a very closely related language.

  • @blueberrycomics
    @blueberrycomics Рік тому

    but you didn't tell us those two films you watched so many times...
    i'm curious now

  • @DavidPaulNewtonScott
    @DavidPaulNewtonScott Рік тому

    Don't choose All is list with Robert Redford a good film though.

  • @user-xm2km3ft6i
    @user-xm2km3ft6i 6 місяців тому

    The first photo is better

  • @jonande
    @jonande Рік тому +4

    I think you've spent too much time at airports lately :D

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому +2

      Haha I just like the travelator analogy.

  • @elliscaicedo9045
    @elliscaicedo9045 10 місяців тому

    who wanna exchange language ? i'm native spanish from colombian, my english level is A2/B1

  • @davinderwilliams4774
    @davinderwilliams4774 10 місяців тому

    I'm not sure about the idea that if you can understand 90% written, but only 60% spoken, you should use subtitles. If you do that, how are you going t train your ear to actually hear the words the way native speakers actually speak them (my biggest problem at the moment)

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  10 місяців тому +2

      Well personally I've listened to around 1300 hours of audiobooks without reading along with the book, so that did it.

    • @endouerick7519
      @endouerick7519 9 місяців тому

      yeah personally I have the same problem with english
      I can understand 90% with subtitles and when I take them off I just can’t stand the ambiguity, I tend to zoom out. is there any technique that can sort of ease out the burden of watching stuff raw and not understanding ?
      I thought of something like
      1 - watching with subs first mining words and sentences and then immediately after without subtitles
      2- watching the show episode with native language subs first to get the context and then without .
      what are your suggestions ?

  • @kastanie7445
    @kastanie7445 Рік тому +1

    Polish has way too little subtitled stuff 😢

    • @stevencarr4002
      @stevencarr4002 Рік тому

      I agree. But this has subtitles. ua-cam.com/video/lbJpYRqnyfw/v-deo.html

    • @tomtocz7284
      @tomtocz7284 Рік тому

      Netflix has a good amount of shows/movies with Polish subs.

  • @YogaBlissDance
    @YogaBlissDance 3 місяці тому

    Never heard the word "travelator?" is that a real word?

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  3 місяці тому

      Yes, it's a real word.

    • @YogaBlissDance
      @YogaBlissDance 3 місяці тому

      @@daysandwords Well that shows even college educated native speakers are always learning too. I've never heard it, I didn't have a word for that just "walking escalator..." the phrase never comes up. Perhaps I b/c I rarely take them LOL.

  • @Fytrzaczek21
    @Fytrzaczek21 11 місяців тому

    Did ya say PoLiSh?!
    *Happy kiełbasa noises*

  • @janeknight3597
    @janeknight3597 Рік тому

    Ah Kung fu Panda. The TV episodes have been dubbed into welsh but for some reason they are not available in Wales or the rest of the UK. This is a great sadness for this adult learner.

    • @daysandwords
      @daysandwords  Рік тому

      Can you use a VPN to hop outside of the UK?

    • @ryanhowells9301
      @ryanhowells9301 11 місяців тому

      Probably because most if us don't speak Welsh unfortunately

  • @isaachester8475
    @isaachester8475 10 місяців тому

    4:05 Any weeb knows that you can learn dozens or even hundreds of words just by watching lots of anime with subs in your own language with no prior Japanese knowledge… but it’ll take years and give you very little return compared to time lol.

  • @DavidPaulNewtonScott
    @DavidPaulNewtonScott Рік тому

    Personally I would choose Harry Potter and the Despicable me films.