5 things that will get you FLUENT in any language

A list of 5 activities that you can do in order to become FLUENT in any foreign language
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Start
00:54 X-task to learn a language
02:24 Comprehensible Input
03:48 Fragment Your Language Brain
06:04 Language Leaners and Scuba Divers
07:46 It's Like Shadowing But Not
09:48 Eat Reps
11:20 You Should ALSO do THIS
5 things that you can start doing today to quickly become fluent in any foreign language you want to learn.

[@stevencarr4002]

Children learning their native language often demand to hear the same story, time and time and time again. Bad news for grandparents who have to watch Peppa Pig 20 times, but good news for people wondering how children learn their native language, and if they can copy how children learn.

[@ladybluelotus]

I definitely took this path and it has helped immensely.

[@rachidlasfar9653]

Haha I'm a good fun of pepper pig I did that in Spanish last year and I'm doing it with german it's very helpful specially when keep repeating series

[@tommybinson]

Interesting comment, thanks. My father developed language confusion after a bad stroke. He asks to watch a few films often, enjoying them as much each time. That puzzled me. Now I deduce that's his way of relearning English. Best wishes.

[@km3268]

English speaker here. I was counting reps at the gym in French and found it made them go so much faster. Then I realized it was because I was skipping 6 and 7.

[@stevencarr4002]

@@km3268 I found I started coughing and spluttering when counting in French past 7. My doctor said I had a huit allergy.

[@j5679]

Yes, I do need to know why you call it scuba-diving.

[@NewportSolar]

I instantly got it and I love the term, it’s because you are FULLY immersed. Listening and reading simultaneously has you fully immersed in the content. I do this in my native language to fully immerse in content. I’ve done it a little in language learning. Rocket Languages, Speakly, and Beelinguapp have this feature built it. It’s great. I wish Pimsleur also had a transcript you could read while you listen. I also love Pimsleur, but it is audio only.

[@daysandwords]

@NewportSolar has ALMOST got it, but it's more than that. Humans are not supposed to be fully immersed in water. People who don't have special training can't survive down there for more than a few minutes... but with a SCUBA, they can. I find it the same with language "scuba". I can't understand very much German, or Italian, or Icelandic... but I can actually follow along with the narrator when I've got the book in front of me, which in turn gives me practice listening to the language. I might not be able to understand very much, just like scuba diving doesn't improve your actual lung capacity for free diving... but it improves how used to being under water you are. My following along with a book in, say, Romanian, would not teach me Romanian (not before about 6000 hours anyway), but it would increase my capacity to actually separate one word for another when I heard Romanian. It's essentially a "cheat" of the natural condition that is complete non-comprehension, just as a SCUBA is a cheat of the natural condition of having no air when you're under water.

[@m3talhe4d72]

I started babysitting a seven year old recently, and she's so incredibly smart! I always marvel at her vocabulary, but then I remember when I was a little kid -- I read the same books over and over, every night (and my parents swear I never shut up 😂) The first night I babysat her, she got me to read her favourite book to her three times before she would go to sleep! Kids are so amazing, their brains are just simply incredible.

[@philipdavis7521]

I love the term ‘scuba diving’. I find audio while reading is very powerful in learning, and more importantly, stops you getting bad pronunciation habits from reading alone. With French I find that the written text encourages me to hear the subtle difference between words i thought were the same.

[@ladybluelotus]

Agreed! It's incredibly helpful.

[@patfromamboy]

I’ve been studying Portuguese for 9 years now and I’ve visited Brasil 18 times but I still can’t read or converse and I have to translate everything into English to understand. I practice every day with my girlfriend who only speaks Portuguese and we’ve been practicing for 6 years now but I still can’t understand what she’s saying and I have to translate everything into English to understand. It’s very frustrating. I have classes, read books, use apps and watch movies and KZbin videos. I practice every day with native speakers.

[@hiranom20]

​@@patfromamboyThis is unusual. You should have been fluent by now.

[@patfromamboy]

@@hiranom20 I thought I would be able to converse after a few months of studying because I usually learn quickly. My son can converse and he’s never studied Portuguese, he just picked it up after visiting Brasil with me several times. It must feel great to understand without translating everything but I can’t imagine how to make it happen. Thanks

[@rhysqqq]

@@patfromamboyman you may need to relax with translation tbh. I’ve been dating a Spanish speaker for 2 months and I’m already starting to be able to say basic things to her. Ive been saying the same few things over and over and over because sometimes it’s all I can say. However that makes me “feel it” and not just think it, and now those same phrases are building or getting changed into similar phrases about other topics

[@TheHappyLilly]

The was exactly the kind of language learning advice I needed. Every other creator in this sphere never *quite* got the right fitting advice where I'd go "Ah, I can do what they did" and it feel natural. All these five points? They're EXACTLY fitting to the kind of stuff I'd want to do, have done in some form and am excited to do. Thank you for putting them in such good terms, Lamont!

[@AldebaranTV]

I'm a polyglot who's been teaching people utterly unconventional methods for picking up languages. In the old days I experimented with watching instructive videos trying to discover new techniques. To, I have to say, absolutely no avail. Now KZbin forced me to watch this and it actually contains some original, useful, practical material. Wow! Tack så mycket!

[@kupferknochen]

1:36 "best guess as to how it's spelled" *cries in Chinese*

[@vforvalorant1019]

lmao I do this tho, I just write my best guess at the pinyin and tones. It is...still pretty hard tho

[@islywynn7678]

Check out the bopomofo writing system

[@zomepeople1315]

Repetition does magic. As a kid, I was obsessed with the Lion King, and I watched it probably hundreds of times. Sometimes literally multiple times a day. Now, at 25 years old, and without having seen the movie in maybe 3 years at least, I can still recite the whole movie with maybe 80% accuracy, and I'm sure that if I was watching it, I'd get more like 95% of the dialogue correct. Has this helped me any way in my life? No. No it hasn't. But it proves that the brain remembers what it's been fed the most. Good video, really good tips!

[@rafalkaminski6389]

The question is: are you obsessed the same with Anki cards? 😅

[@MrOmegaRobloxIcon]

If you’re trying to learn a language use Lion King in your target language since you already know it all in your native language.

[@charlottesmom]

😄Maybe I should watch The Lion King in Korean! 👍🏻👍🏻 I know all too well about repetition and memory, I have a severely autistic 26 year old son, he has watched some of his favorite movies 30 + times in the past years, he can recite Titanic, Cast Away and a bunch of other movies and TV shows word for word (most of the time when he's really happy). He's also a huge Beatles fan and can sing most of his favorites word for word (he's fairly non verbal unless prompted so this is huge). I also think music really helps with memory, I can sing songs I haven't heard for 30 years word for word....the brain is an amazing thing! 😊🧠

[@MrOmegaRobloxIcon]

@@charlottesmom Music is great too! Hope all goes well with everyone!!

[@praisetelesto]

​@@charlottesmomI can't remember what I ate for dinner and I just ate dinner. But I'll try this, maybe it works

[@CoachAjBuck]

I love the idea of fragmenting your brain. I often listen to Arabic as I walk, and I agree it’s a useful learning tool. Great video.

[@swerv7728]

Just want to say i'm always suprised on how much new information your videos bring to the table in the Language learning sphere :)

[@rezagrans1296]

@swerv7728 yes "Days and Words" iz indeed uh wizurd🕵🏻🙏🏻👏🏻 in hiz own riyt ; ) thank u misTur, and wut paart uv (thu u.K.) dij u liv in؟ ; )

[@MaxLearnsPersian]

You're looking more fit already! And thanks a lot for the ideas in this video, it really helped me conceptualize some things!

[@sweetiespoon5150]

Estos son buenísimos consejos! I love to listen to videos or music en Español while out for my daily walk, cleaning the house, or doing the laundry. I also make a habit of turning on los subtitulos for videos so that I can read along with the spoken word for a more immersive experience, which really helps when the accent is a bit thicker or the speaker talks faster than I am accustomed to. There are a few Spanish lecturers & músicos that I enjoy the content of, so I tend to replay my favourites to fully absorb everything about them. I also like to challenge my brain by translating street signs & billboards while driving. (I may or may not sing along with the latino music when I am by myself in the car. 😂🤫) Muchas gracias, señor! PS: Glad to know that I am not the only one who counts out my reps/ steps in a second language. 😂

[@Khan_2025]

oh the last one was so powerful. I love the last method so much.

[@GwynneM]

I find that even with character-based languages, reading along in a written/printed book with the audiobook playing is still a super helpful exercise!

[@daysandwords]

Oh yeah, it definitely would be, you just can't do it until you know some of the characters.

[@alexkarlsson660]

Good tips. Very impressed by your Swedish pronounciation. English speakers tend to struggle a lot with that part but you are doing very good.

[@annettemcnabb3033]

Such great advice! I am much older than you, but I truly get inspired by your messages so Thank you! :)

[@paulvato]

Such great advice, thank you for sharing.

[@sheromovavasilisa7692]

Great video! For those who are going to try the copycat technique , I found sketch shows very useful. They are basically just dialogues and the emotions there are usually very usefully exaggerated.

[@Lilacil]

I love your content! Not only do you have great advice, but the way you deliver the information is so easy (& quick) to digest. On top of that though, you give me something even more rare than that, which is an example of someone passionate about their language learning! Watching your videos never fails to reignite my passion for my target language & also to reframe how I'm approaching learning. You're an absolute gem, thanks mate!

[@mrmonsterman8000]

keep doing what your doing brother

[@Stephanie-gv8rh]

As usual, brilliant advice! I do some of these already but I think I could incorporate some of the others. 😁

[@daysandwords]

Thanks, Stephanie!

[@gaslight.gatekeep.girlboss6476]

The saturation one is so true. I'm currently learning italian and I've listened to the opera Don Giovanni so much I know it by heart. I can recite in my head the meaning in my native language, and that really helps me to get a clear view of how the grammar works, the vocabulary, etc. With english I had the same experience. I watched A Clockwork Orange so many times I also memorised it, and when I read the book in my native language, I could recite in my head the english translation. It's my favourite technique, and also it's probably the reason why I haven't had much luck with German, I haven't found something to obsess over lmao

[@christophernation4793]

As so many people have confirmed, repeated exposure to a one form or another of the target lang is very effective. But, for anyone who considers also using A Clockwork Orange as their source, not having seen this film, let me warn you that you have to be comfortable with a great deal of savage violence including a notorious gang-rape scene. This, and the other violent scenes, was the reason that Kubrick had the film withdrawn from UK cinemas for some years due to incidents of copy-cat violence. The gang who do all this stuff use a private language, invented by author Anthony Burgess.

[@gaslight.gatekeep.girlboss6476]

@@christophernation4793 yeah, I'm aware of all of that. Linguistically speaking I think A Clockwork Orange is very interesting, and even though it doesn't give me modern vocabulary it does give me an insight in English culture (as their made up language is a mix between Russian and Old English). It actually is my favourite movie ever, but I can understand how some people might not stomach it

[@NomadicVegan]

Once again, Lamont busts out some real nuggets of language learning advice that I've never heard ANYWHERE before, and I've watched a lot of videos about language learning! I've gotten really into "scuba diving" lately thanks to you, and I've also been repeating simple stories dozens of times in a language that I'm a beginner in (Amharic). That helped a ton. Before that, I would only read each story three or four times before moving on, and my Amharic sessions always felt sooo hard, so sometimes I just wouldn't do them. Now I can enjoy the stories because I understand them really well, and I see myself improving every day. Gonna have to try scratching next!

[@PaleoalexPicturesLtd]

Do you have any tips on how to learn Amharic yourself ? I want to learn it but the only resource I came across was Appleyard's Colloquial Amharic. Thank you in advance 😊

[@rezagrans1296]

@NomadicVegan dij u hav uh huzbind frum EethIyopiyuh ; ) ؟!?

[@NomadicVegan]

@@rezagrans1296 No, my husband is from Australia. I want to learn Amharic just because I love Ethiopia.

[@NomadicVegan]

@@PaleoalexPicturesLtd I've tried to reply to you several times, but the reply keeps not getting posted, I guess because it's too long. I will try dividing it up into a few parts: Having tried a number of different resources, this is what worked best for me: Step 1: Learn the fidel writing system Step 2: Learn some basic vocab and grammar (just a little bit) Step 3: Read and listen to children's stories of gradually increasing difficulty. Eventually, I plan to work my way up to books written for adults, but I've got a ways to go. (cont'd)

[@daysandwords]

@NomadicVegan - are you trying to include links or anything? KZbin will filter that too. BTW thank you for going out of your way to help people!

[@tezzavision3465]

Love your videos. Thank you!

[@kurthammer3065]

Excellent activities, thank you my friend.❤

[@jdprettynails]

I decided to try scuba diving using Le Petit Prince since that was the only physical book I had that had a free corresponding French audio for me to listen to. My book is in English though so I’m listening to the French audio while following along in English. I’ve found that it’s helping me pick up new vocabulary and other interesting things are happening. For example, I got into a silly argument with my French friend because I greeted him in English “good evening” he replied “goodnight” in English. I laughed cause I thought he was being stupid on purpose but he started getting into the semantics of when evening becomes night….. But it’s actually a language/cultural issue. I didn’t know that in French, it’s totally acceptable to greet someone with “good night”. My French friend just didn’t realise that in English, goodnight is never used at the start of a conversation. Reading the words “good evening” but hearing “Bonne nuit” made me realise that.

[@TheBrn12]

Really? I didn’t know that in English doesn’t exist good night 🥶

[@aliciab4236]

Excellent! I'm also interested in Swedish so you got my attention immediately. Tack så mycket!

[@annaromanova1233]

The idea of scratching has never crossed my mind. Now I really want to try it with my chinese, because have found some astonishing documentaries on Chinese history recently. Great video, gracias

[@camistudio999]

Thanks for explaining the scratching! It works!

[@bellabernadette6787]

I’ll try to read the same novel several times! Thank you for making this one

[@AustininParis-cx1og]

Been watching a lot of How-To language acquisition Videos but this is very original and useful.

[@daysandwords]

Thank you for saying so!

[@AustininParis-cx1og]

@@daysandwords and thanks a lot btw. (merci beaucoup) I sometimes take free-info-videos for granted.😅

[@The21stKam]

Oh my goodness, you suggest hitting the bell yet clarify that no one wants push notifications (even though your videos are amazing). Wonderful, same as the rest of the video. 👍

[@Trevie3]

I listened to the audiobook of Heart of a Dog in Russian probably at least 10 times while delivering pizza some years ago. I got really sick of it eventually but I think it was good for my Russian abilities.

[@arnosen8]

One thing I came across by accident because I was just trying to memorize something without any goal in mind, works wonderfully when it comes to target language improvement is the following: I first memorized a poem and then learned the author's interpretation and background, and after that I was able to speak fluently about the poem in my target language. Memorizing is not only good for practicing your pronunciation everywhere, since you can just recite the poem, but you also have an interesting topic of conversation with another native speaker, in this case a poem.

[@allergictohumansnotanimals5671]

Ooh that makes sense. Thank you!

[@paulwalther5237]

I was skeptical about audio books while running because I tried it in the past and it was too exhausting mentally but I tried it with some random Korean KZbin videos last night and it worked quite well. It’s above my level so if I had attempted to watch it without multi tasking I’d get super bored unless it had subtitles or something. I think for me the key was that I didn’t have to stay 100% focused on the content. I think there’s plenty of stuff I could listen to where I’m satisfied if I only get the gist of what I’m listening to. Some books I might not be satisfied as I want to understand as much as possible and I think that was what led to problems before. If it is a really intense workout though maybe music in the target language is ok too.

[@keegster7167]

Yea same here

[@daysandwords]

That's it. I sometimes have no idea what's happening in the book because I'm not listening... other times I don't remember the last 5km of run because I was so interested in listening.

[@EcstaticTeaTime]

I find I have to take breaks from audio material, even if it had been working before. Like you, I can't quite listen to language materials at the gym unless it's music because I need music for motivation. But the gym isn't too far from my home and I can listen to podcasts to and from. And when I can't, I let myself get pumped up for the gym and return to it after a break.

[@RonaldBradycptgmpy]

To Lamont’s point about exercising, while, consuming audio material, it’s actually beneficial for memory because of the chemical release you get during exercise actually boosts your retention for most people. Great video as always.

[@jacobnatseway3993]

That last activity I did with the Polish For Dummies audio cd. Gotta say it works. 👍

[@lynntfuzz]

I think your copycat technique might help me a lot. I always try to do shadowing, but only make it about 30 seconds before I get stressed trying to keep up.

[@MsHafekasi_]

These are amazing tips! Merci beaucoup d'avoir partagé cela avec nous !

[@edenheaven5175]

Interesting never heard of these approaches excellent.

[@CarolineJacovine]

@Lamond Curiously, I've been utilising your methodology for fluency even though I've never stopped and systematically analysed it, as I've been using those five steps intuitively

[@MisterGames]

My work commute is 20 minutes. Chapter 1 of Tom Sawyer in my TL is 20 minutes. I listen going to work and coming home. I also have a 70 audio of Sherlock Holmes i listen to daily in the background. I am amazed how i am slowly picking up things in the audio when those two are not my focus. I figure i also get cadence and my brain starts to figure out individual words... and remember, kids put the wiggles, my little pony or whatever they watch, on repeat over and over. Sure mum and dad are sick of it but the kids are not.... pepper pig is a good example 😁

[@BGTuyau]

Another set of useful tips, with the psychology of language learning in focus.

[@gtr7988]

Som en person från Sverige det är väldigt roligt att se folk lära sig det

[@kassaynikolett2968]

I'm glad you've find a great new name for the channel! It's my experience too that I understand more Japanese when I listen to something while doing chores. Maybe it's because in this case Japanese is the more exciting thing even if I can't understand everything. But just sitting and watching/listening something I can't fully comprehend is boring and frustrating.

[@runningriot7963]

I've recently been listing to Japanese podcasts while I cook breakfast and it's a game changer, I feel like I get more out of it and it's not as boring as just sitting and listening.

[@Brancaalice]

When doing something the subconscious mind is free to learn anything. It is science based. The mind resist anything new, even a new language.

[@margaretinsydney3856]

Fantastic video. All these tricks seem really workable to me. First time I've seen your channel -- subscribed. 😊

[@daysandwords]

Thank you!

[@terrysanders2817]

Good energy!

[@speakwithsteph]

One of my favorite KZbinrs 👌🏻.

[@tinywest]

Days and Words with another banger video 🔥🔥

[@DNA350ppm]

Hi Lamont, I loved this one, too! I have one small little tip for beginners who try to get their pronunciation sound right and be fluent: say you as a native English speaker try to learn German, Spanish, or Finnish - try to make a mock accent of them, a bit too over the top. How do native Germans, Mexicans, or Finns (or whatever your target language is) sound when they speak English. That is exactly the accent you should start from when learning these languages. Imitate, exaggerate, and have fun! (Needless to say: I don't recommend to be offensive, nobody likes that.)

[@daysandwords]

Yeah I've actually got a really old video (5 years old I think now) in which I do a French accent the whole video.

[@DNA350ppm]

@@daysandwords Love to hear that. Your Swedish pronunciation is fantastic, so no wonder - five years ago, you say!!! I've forgotten about it, if I ever did see - can you find it again? For me my English pronunciation changed from passable to OK, when I was able to do an English accent in my native Swedish, some 20+ years after I first started to learn English. That is, from child to middleaged I had done little to get rid of my accent. Pronunciation is not that important but when you already are a fluent reader and listener, then you look for a new goal, I guess. Accents also have to do with fluency in that every language has made the pronunciation easier for fluent everyday speech, by using its tricks and treats.

[@daysandwords]

Ha, you're never going to believe this... I just went back through my videos to find it, and it was 5 years ago... TOMORROW. So my 5 years guess was pretty dang close haha. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnOogXh_mdJosNk

[@DNA350ppm]

@@daysandwords Wow, that's a feat! Goes to show that language learning makes you smart and keeps you smart! Grattis och hurra för dej, Lamont! Och tusen tack också! ( that is: Congrats and hurray for you, Lamont. E mille grazie!)

[@DNA350ppm]

@@daysandwordsThat's serendipity, if ever something was - am I right? (Serendipity is not a word in Swedish, regrettably.)

[@greyLeicester]

You really give a longwinded explanation for a concept that could be introduced in half the time and words 😮

[@Hardmanferdead]

I like setting some of my electronics and some apps in the target languages. For example my phone and ps5/4 are in Türkçe, laptop 💻 is in Kiswahili. Although with sign language I try to interpret videos with the signs that I’ve learn with lots of miming.

[@malinerees4666]

No twitter, no x, stupid name. My favorite part of this video!❤

[@budekins542]

Superb tips.

[@alancoe1002]

Love the new name. I haven't looked in for a while, and despite its flaws, I'm on day 890 of Duo, and I dought if I could hold a conversation. So I'm looking at Lingo Pie for a path to fluency. Thanks.

[@idioting]

wow! can you share your progress with me? i’m still on day 11 but i need reassurance, does duolingo work and is it worth it?

[@sweetiespoon5150]

​@idioting Duoling's come a long way since it was first recommended to me for relearning Spanish in 2017 (I have almost 210k XP in the app). It helps with things like learning vocabulary & listening to different pronunciations/ accents for words. Reading & listening comprehension get more challenging the further you get into the units. I still struggle with remembering the different tenses for certain verbs, though. I think that will really only come with being forced to converse in the language. Like any tool, it can only do so much. The tips in this video are great to further your language learning journey. Mucha suerte!

[@idioting]

@@sweetiespoon5150 thank you for your response! i’m fluent in two languages, in other words, bilingual but i’ve always loved russian, i heard that there are 6 different cases in the russian language and it’s a harder language in general, but i’m not one to give up! and yes, i agree. memorization is the most difficult thing, i personally don’t overwork myself and do a lesson a day to memorize words, even if it takes a longer time to become fluent. i’m extremely happy for you and i have other questions, do you find yourself understanding spanish movies, songs or people talking? and how long did it take you to get to your level? i admire your consistency!

[@sweetiespoon5150]

​@idioting Bilingual is pretty awesome. So cool that you are wanting to learn a 3rd language. Yes, I have heard that Russian is pretty tricky to learn, but I don't know more than a few words myself. LOL I first took classes when I was in middle school & up until I graduated from High school in 1995 (2 different maestros). I picked it back up again in 2016 after chatting w/ some amigos via social media (2 live in Spain & one lives in Argentina).... So... I comprehend the written word the best & listening (w/o subtitles) second. Conversional is where I am weakest, but it depends on the context. I have no clue what my fluency is at the moment, but it is lightyears from where I was in 2016. I do have a small opportunity here & there @ my job to converse in Spanglish w/ some clients, which is fun! And thank you, my goal is to see España someday, hopefully in the next 4 years.

[@idioting]

@@sweetiespoon5150 wow!! you’ve given me a lot of hope for my learning, hearing about your communication and experience with your friends and coworkers, communication and interaction is key to fluency and comfort in a language! and i see some “spanglish” in your paragraph here and there haha! i also mix my home language with english. good luck with your goal, i’m sure you’ll be able to travel one day and it was nice interacting with you :)

[@jan_kisan]

couldn't agree more! that's basically what i do with languages, plus tons of reading and sometimes output exercises - including with real people, with Google translate, with Chat GPT, and just on my own like speaking to myself or writing stuff i can in the language. the output activities are especially useful for finding gaps in my language to later pay more attention to when working with input.

[@alb91878]

I've been watching Kung Fu panda 3 and I'm trying to watch it 50 times like you did with into the spiderverse and I've picked up so much!!! I think I'm at 30 times or so. I'm really enjoying this method at the moment!

[@daysandwords]

Awesome to hear! Man that film is so visually stunning.

[@NewportSolar]

I have taken to “over cooking” audio using Pimsleur and Speakly. They are perfect for this. Especially Pimsleur because I get to hear the target language over and over, with pauses for me to repeat, and explanations of everything. Pimsleur is such a phenomenal tool. I supplement with other things, but I am so impressed with Pimsleur. It is BY FAR the best comprehensible input language tool on the market (that I’ve found so far).

[@lolal2502]

I also like Pimsleur

[@GamingDad]

I find Pimsleur to be a bit too slow, I prefer Michel Thomas far better.

[@NewportSolar]

@@GamingDad That’s interesting feedback. I have not used Michel Thomas, but my friend who recommended Pimsleur has used both and recommended Pimsleur. Why do you prefer Michel Thomas? PS: I’m a big fan of having more than one teaching tool. I will happily use both. I like that Pimsleur has an app with flash cards, practice tests, etc. Pimsleur also has 50+ languages. I’m studying Persian with Pimsleur. I’ll have to check if Michel Thomas has Pimsleur. Many apps, books, audio programs do not.

[@NewportSolar]

@@GamingDad I just checked, Michel Thomas has 18 languages. Persian (what I am studying with Pimsleur) is not one of them.

[@GamingDad]

Sadly they don't have that many languages, what I like about Michel Thomas vs Pimsleur is that with Pimsleur it feels less of a conversation, with Michel Thomas the teacher is having a conversation WITH you. That and the speed of how the language is build up feels faster too. I can't really explain it better than that.

[@EasyFinnish]

Hello Days and Words :D Tack så mycket for your videos! Jag gillar dem mycket! Kiitos, tack, gracias!

[@SupremeDP]

¡Days and Words is a name I can get behind! It seems to have been quite the search, lol, but I think this one is a keeper.

[@elijahheyes9061]

Excellent advise, thanks. I'm learning Russian.

[@Lufia4]

You really had me jumping at the beginning! I thought: Did he just say the swedish "tjena"?! It was even spelled like that in the subtitles, but there is a different language right after. Maybe it's a coincidence? But no, you're actually teaching yourself it! Spännande, spännande! Lycka till och ha så kul! 😊 bra video förresten! Massa bra knep som jag kan använda mig av när jag ska lära mig japanska! Tack ska du ha~

[@daysandwords]

Yeah Swedish has been my main language, on and off for about 7 years now. Call it 4 years of proper study, so yeah, I can switch to thinking in Swedish without noticing... but "tjena chicos" is how I open all my videos.

[@psiga]

A bunch of interesting ideas that I hadn't considered before! Thank you! ^‿^

[@UltraVega924]

When my 8 year old daughter and 6 year old son came to America from Japan last year, my daughter could speak English well enough, but my son couldn’t. I enrolled them in school and put them in the ESL program. In addition to this, they spent lots of time with their cousins talking, watching TV, playing the game, and watching KZbin videos. It was pure immersion. At first, they only spoke Japanese to one another. Then they eventually started to use both. Finally, they ended up just speaking to one another in English. My daughter improved to fluency very quickly since she already had a solid base, but my son. He learned to speak fluent English so quickly everybody was shocked. I know he’s a kid, but the process was incredible to watch. Back in Japan, they still speak to one another mostly in English.

[@user-ff6ut2fr1o]

You need to keep speaking Japanese to them then. You can forget your mother tongue if you don’t speak it long enough.

[@cerddrhysmorgan]

I've got to say mate, you make me bloody laugh😂 thanks for your content and for being .. funny :)

[@turulszervac1714]

Thank you for this video. These tips were quire insightful and I believe they (especially the puzzle brain and repetition approaches) will be extremely useful. I do have a couple of questions though and if you'd answer them I'd be grateful. 1. The example you used is Swedish, which is Indo-European and Germanic and written in the Latin alphabet, like your native language English. What tips would you recommend for a language that's completely different from your own? 2. What tips would you recommend when you have difficulties finding material to find audiobooks, movies, or podcasts for? For both of these questions, I have some languages I speak conversationally and wish to improve but have a hard time finding materials for (Kalmyk, Guarani, Livonian) so I usually have to learn from dictionaries and by chatting with online friends who are natives.

[@dedhart]

Now I want to use lingopie to learn Japanese. And make a KZbin channel called days of Japanese and Portuguese.

[@greyLeicester]

Japaguese would be more original 😂

[@chestersnap]

I had been planning to scuba dive in French for months and finally started a few days ago. And now I have a phrase for it. For about two years, I've been reading books outloud in French but have known there are words I've been pronouncing wrong, so I decided to go with this for a while. Im discovering that The Wheel of Time has a much more advanced vocabulary than The Ranger's Apprentice. More so than originally assumed J'étais un étudiant d'échange pendant dix mois en Belgique il y a douze ans donc je connais la langue plus ou moins déjà Edit: I also have the Wheel of Time in English in both physical and audiobook form and have been listening to each section I do in French in English first as a refresher so I at least know that when I come across two pages with a lot of unknown words it's because Robert Jordan is talking about architecture again. 4 chapters in and I'm already remembering how much I hate it when any character interacts with another character, too

[@dees3179]

That’s a hell of an investment. I’m sticking to Harry Potter! But more manageable. I gave up at about eight books in with wheel of time as I started reading as it was originally being published and the suspense broke me. Too traumatic to go back and start again.

[@SebastianSeanCrow]

5:54 I listen to a radio station in my target language while going about my day as they have an app and I can exit the app while still getting audio! I always need noise anyway lol

[@thomasryan825]

like the editing and the 'almost' perceptable background music

[@daysandwords]

I'm guessing you watched on a phone, or through a TV or laptop, that is, with very small, tinny speakers. If you watch with full on hi-fi headphones, the music is much louder, so the mix has to be optimised for the thing that the music is going to be loudest through, otherwise it might sound great on a phone speaker but be like a Nolan movie once you put headphones on.

[@thomasryan825]

@@daysandwords Haha Nolan movie, I was listening to it on Jabra Headphones. I said it wrong actually, I meant that the music was discernable but just at the right level to not distract you from what you were saying. Great stuff! Thanks for the videos and your thoughts. Also, if you read this, ever thought of reviewing Linq? I'm thinking of giving it a go Edit - ...seeing as you can get tuition with the premium package too

[@louisarcher9615]

Great video 🙌

[@daysandwords]

Thank you!

[@rashidah9307]

Excellent video!! Thank you for these valuable tips on different ways we can immerse ourselves in content in our target language! This is a great list, and I honestly don't do enough of most of these techniques.

[@parkash9999]

Splendid ❤❤.

[@sophiaec2607]

Thank you so much for these videos! I was wondering if anyone knows any good sources to learn Hindi from English? I finished the Duolingo Hindi course and it's not very long. A lot of other language learning sources have sources for lots of european languages, but I've found it hard to find Hindi learning resources in course form.

[@daysandwords]

Hi, thanks for your comment! Hmm, in terms of LEARNING content, I don't know of very much but I just a video about a great audiobook app that has books in Hindi and it's very cheap if you get an Indian account. You could start by listening to about 10 books that you already know from English (they have Hindi translations of English books). kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXe5eaZ3YsSfiMk

[@sarnia7559]

So now you’re back to Swedish have you got any plans to visit Sweden at some point?

[@sylve2474]

Do you think eatrep would work the same way with stuff like songs,, or would it be more geared towards specifically media with a story arc like books or movies?

[@daysandwords]

I think it would work GREAT for songs but there's generally not as much material there to learn. I mean maybe hiphop, if you could look up the lyrics and learn them all then sure, but otherwise songs only contain about 200 words or so, total (maybe 70 unique words).

[@berkanathurisa]

I found it works very well with songs, at least from the artists I've found in my favourite music styles. As long as the lyrics are clear, you'll hear the words from the chorus at least three or four times per song, and the verses often reinforce the meaning from the chorus (or vice versa). Add to that a good beat and an infectious melody line, and you're singing the song even when there's no music playing. It's an easy way to increase exposure to your target language, without having to focus on the language itself.

[@kvarmez]

Hahahaha det skiter jag i! Kult at du lærer svensk :) Da vil du nok kunne forstå en del norsk også :)

[@XVa-uj8m]

On the SCUBA end any advice on where to find Indian*India) language content in terms of the books themselves? I know a place with audiobooks and podcasts for a lot of them but not on the written end. If anyone can recommend something covering both ends of SCUBA on Catalan, Basque, Greek and Russian this would be much appreciated as well, esp. the first two.

[@daysandwords]

Oh my goodness, I have a recommendation that covers both ends of Scuba for Catalan, Basque, Greek and Russian... the video comes out in a few days.

[@XVa-uj8m]

@@daysandwords Thanks as I figure some of those languages might be more difficult to find resources in for SCUBA and Catalan definitely fits into SCUBA a bit given how it's written. Def. feels like some blending there with French given some of writing but then some stuff was different to me in general coming from learning Portugues.

[@daysandwords]

Definitely watch my video on why "Audible is dead" (it will be called something like that anyway).

[@daysandwords]

@XVa-uj8m kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXe5eaZ3YsSfiMk

[@WateryFire]

Lingo pie reminds me of SVT Språkplay which taught me so much Swedish, I can’t get over the shutting down of that awesome app 😢

[@Sahasrahla.]

The song that plays during the Scuba Diving section is so pretty, does anyone know what it is? Shazam isn't picking it up since there's mostly talking while it plays. On the topic, if anyone is trying to learn Korean most of the Netflix produced Korean Dramas have Korean closed captions so it's very helpful to watch the episode in English so you know what they're saying, then watch it again with Korean captions on so you hear and read the dialogue at the same time. It's entertaining and repeatable so it applies to like 3 of the different categories he talks about in this video.

[@daysandwords]

I doubt Shazam would pick it up anyway, since it's stock music. I'll try to find it tomorrow.

[@davidrojas5319]

I really love your video. I've been trying to learn a language for so long and I still can't do it. Of course I make a lot of progress, knowing the grammar, typing and a large vocabulary etc. I've been looking into Conversational Ai lately. I have not yet learned how to download it or even find the web site though chat ai is quite easy to find and use, that is not what I want. I want Conversational ai with Audio. That would make it easy to repeat and repeat, using a machine (ai) for pronunciation and speaking practice.

[@daysandwords]

Honestly I wouldn't bother with AI at your stage. Practicing conversation is a real thing but it doesn't need to and even shouldn't come before at least 500 hours of input, preferably 1500 hours. AI is all new and "cool" and everything but at the moment it's still only good, not incredibly mind-blowing, and we didn't need it to learn languages for the last 5,000 years so we don't need it now. Your childish reply was held in review by KZbin so I let it stay there.

[@Sonya54675]

I know this is an old video, but I just wanted to let you know that I regularly come back to it, mostly to remind myself to just keep doing these things. In my totally biased opinion it's one of your best videos, if not the best.

[@daysandwords]

Oh wow, thanks. I've been trying to get away from this kind of content but maybe I should do more of it, so thank you.

[@Sonya54675]

Well, there's probably a limited number of methods you can share before you have to repeat yourself. But still, not many videos on language-tube go into details what to _actually_ do, beyond "oh, do a lot of immersion" or "spaced repetion saved my life" etc., so anything that's actionable and maybe not entirely obvious is gold. It doesn't even need to be unique.

[@jacksonamaral329]

Good.

[@MyNameAlec]

Just curious: why do you learn Swedish, is it just because you like the language or perhaps you plan to move to Sweden?

[@NewportSolar]

At 12:00 - So what is the more comprehensive video he says is coming out later? I am watching this for the first time 3 months after this video was posted.

[@Charlotte-ti2yk]

Hej! First of all, I’ve just noticed the name change. I like it! Second, you bring up an interesting point about the correlation between exercise and memorisation; I’ve always said that if I go for a walk or a run prior to a study session (language or otherwise), that study session is likely to be a good one. Not only that, I retain more of that study session for longer. And that’s regardless of whether I listen to my target language while exercising (which I do when walking or lifting weights, but not when running - I need some heavy metal to get me through a run! 😂). I’m sure there’s some science behind it, but anecdotally at least, I agree with you. Maybe a topic for another video since you’re in exercise mode these days…

[@EnglishwithAlan]

thanks for these. but what's with the Boston baseball cap?

[@daysandwords]

It's a baseball cap... that I'm wearing... in my video.

[@daysandwords]

Sorry, just to be clear... I'm going to need a more specific question than "What's the the Boston cap?" Otherwise I can only tell you that yes, it's indeed a Boston cap.

[@EnglishwithAlan]

@@daysandwords I thought maybe there was an amusing or ironic story behind it.

[@daysandwords]

Not that hat, no. Technically I support the Astros after seeing a game at Minute Maid back in April, and it being an amazing game, so I do also have a few Astros hats in various colours but I thought I'd change it up for this video. These particular hats (the one that my Boston hat it part of), are All Star Game 2022 versions, which means they were on crazy price special when I bought them here in Aus. When I was a kid, the idea of even being able to BUY MLB hats here in Australia was laughable, but the thought of them being $12 was beyond absurd. I paid a LOT more for my Houston hats in Houston.

[@homero3928]

It will take me a while to get used to the new name but ok, keep it up the great content!

[@annehunerbein9851]

Do you look up words while scuba diving or take notes? And do you also use traditional language learning books to learn grammar rules?

[@daysandwords]

Definitely not whilst scuba diving. The point there is to let the audio guide you through the words you're reading. I don't think I've ever used a traditional language book to learn anything to be honest.

[@annehunerbein9851]

Thank you so much! Your channel got me back into learning Spanish :)@@daysandwords

[@AndrewDaniele87]

I had a feeling what "six" would be in swedish after that comment but I had to check it out on reverso just to confirm lol, now back to the video for me

[@daysandwords]

And the funny thing is, they don't have a different word for sex... they're both just sex. So you can say, "Jag hade sex sex gånger." (I had sex six times.) Or someone can ask you what you did last night and you can say "Jag hade sex... ... ...kakor innan jag ens åt min middag!" (I had sex... ... ... COOKIES before I even ate my dinner!)

[@ryan.f.andersen]

I also do not like to count to six outloud in Norwegian in public.

[@djohnsonpsycho]

I am also learning Swedish. Do you have suggestions for where to find a large selection of books and audiobooks?

[@daysandwords]

Oh, funnily enough... I do: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXe5eaZ3YsSfiMk

[@gooiehoop20]

This language stuff is somewhat complicated. I am fluent and comfortable speaking in Swedish, but your pronunciation is better than mine. Go for it.

[@daysandwords]

Cheers for that. I'm comfortable once I get warmed up but it can take about 10 minutes.

[@krislozano0703]

Do you have a good suggestion for Swedish scratching?

[@daysandwords]

Hi, thanks for the question. Honestly scratching works with anything but depending on your level (I'm going to assume it's reasonably near beginner?) then I'd try LasseMajas Detektivbyrå - it's a series of about 30 books, each one is around 45 minutes in audio form and is narrated REALLY well. P.S. Try storytel.com for unlimited access to audiobooks. Belgium is the cheapest subscription to offer Swedish, or Germany if you don't mind a 20 hour monthly limit.

[@krislozano0703]

@@daysandwords thanks!

[@robertgooding6925]

Saludos!!! De cuál dialecto es tjena hermano?

[@daysandwords]

"Tjena" viene del sueco que es mi segunda idioma. (ingles, sueco y solo un poco español)

[@liquensrollant]

I'm curious about what English text you know so well that it's helped your English. I don't think I have anything like that.

[@daysandwords]

It's called The Glugs of Gosh. It's an 80 minute poem that I know almost by heart.

[@astridafklinteberg298]

I’m choosing to believe that you are an ardent Bo Sox fan (and have disavowed the Chi Sox, whose hat I’ve seen you sport in a prior video).

[@daysandwords]

Haha, sorry to shatter your fantasy, but no. My brother is a Red Sox fan but I'm a very big fan of baseball in general and particularly baseball caps, too much so to only wear the team I support now that caps are available for less than the price of a small car in Australia. But I'm actually an Astros fan... which I know it frowned upon outside of Houston: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m53Mc5KvZcugic0

[@patriksvensson2360]

This was a surprisingly interesting video with a lot of on-point tips for improvement that I'll happily try out. Quiero aprender español y creo que estos recomendaciones va a ayudarme. Or something like that, still working on it. Men jag måste ändå fråga, hur kommer det sig att du vill lära dig svenska? Vårat obskyra språk pratas ju nästan uteslutande bara i vårt avlånga land längst upp i världens ände.

[@daysandwords]

Oj, det är en lång historia men man kan förenkla det genom att säga: Det började som ett skämt som blev steg för steg mer seriöst... och så hamnade vi här. 😄

[@patriksvensson2360]

@@daysandwords Ja, språk är väl sällan kunskap eller färdighet som tynger ner en, så det är väl bara bra i slutändan!

[@rafalkaminski6389]

Puzzles actually help to put all the language pieces in the right place... 😅

[@joebonds3072]

For Scratching, I'm a terrible note-taker. Could you give examples on how to do scratching? I'm a beginner,fyi

[@daysandwords]

Honestly, there are examples in the video. It's kind of like meditating... the entire point is that you're terrible at it. If you think "Oh man I'm bad at note taking" then you suddenly notice that the language you're listening to says "bread", you might write down "Bread... (in the language)..." but then in English, you write "Word for toast?"