How To Make Language Learning Fun & Effective

[@emmanuttela4308]

The hardest part for me is speaking. I reached C2 in english without speaking at all, then i found video games, voice comms and I am still stammering a bit but I am so much better. Now I am trying to learn german and I have the same problem. Definitely something I have to fix! Speak up people! You will regret it later if you don't!

[@foreignlanguagesisfun8143]

I recite a lot of materials but as far as speaking to people, I don't do. As long as The conversation is brief and not a lot of complex grammar, I will throw out my conversation rather easily.

[@thay_kimw5417]

Same, but in my case is because I never have someone to practice my English Speaking, my English level is B2. 💀

[@adson8316]

it’s good to see that you reach the C2 only with input because it’s that what i made since i started to learn english, i think that in your case you just have to speak more and more because you already have the language in your mind (vocabulary, good level of understanding etc), it’s also important to remember that if you can understand what the other are saying it’s way better than know how to speak and don’t understand at all. My currently level it’s A2 and i hope to be B2 or maybe C1 some day, congrats buddy!

[@pjmsparkle5104]

I’m the exact opposite 😭 My Speaking is at C2 but I can’t seem to get my writing over C1 grade B It’s so irritating but I guess I have to just live with it 😔

[@hawerr4126]

When I read my English is like B2/C1, when I write it is like B1/A2, when I listen my English is like B2/C1 and when I speak it is like B1. But I rarely speak to people in English because I don't have anyone to practice with. and on top of that I don't feel very confident to talk to people because I'm a little shy. English is my sencond language, so that’s it.

[@andrealiendo]

Awesome video and content. Here is the list: 1. Identify your "why" 2. Find your own resources 3. True immersion

[@δαιμόνιον]

Tip: go full immersion Me learning ancient Greek: oh yes, of course

[@RCWaldun]

Hahaha the eternal struggle…

[@natachaisnelda]

Latin😅

[@emmanuttela4308]

Ouija board for you my friend...

[@omegacardboard5834]

@@natachaisnelda There are actually places where you can speak Latin, and there are Latin podcasts. Also, there's the youtube channel Scorpio Martianus.

[@natachaisnelda]

@@omegacardboard5834 It was just a comment for fun, but thank you for the info.♡

[@bitflop]

Hats off to you man! No matter what type of learning, you always have a fresh perspective on it.

[@whofan1212]

a lot of this is largely why korean has become so popular, if youre already interested in the media and the culture its going to be much more fun to learn the language. its why i picked up chinese too! theres a whole lot of stuff in chinese that i want to read without it being diluted by translation. i bit the bullet and started practicing my speaking on italki, which was super scary but definitley worth it. im a little more confident to talk to some friends in chinese now, which is a great start.

[@Tango_Mike]

Been an English language teacher ever since I arrived in Brasil in 2010 and everything, and mean everything, you said is SPOT ON! My most successful students have been the ones that actually followed these same advice. Some of them even went from not being able to understand a simple sentence to graduating from med school in the US.

[@裵智]

I've been studying chinese for 3 years but i've spoken with really few people because i was scared to put myself out there. This year I changed my mindset and decided to have multiple language exchanges and I found an amazing language partner and only after one month of daily conversations i feel like I've learned more than i've learned the entirety of last year. I noticed that funnily enough I remember the most vocabulary or phrases that remind me of awkward moments happened during these conversations (for example if I was speaking with someone and mistook one word for another conveying a total different message, that awkardness/shame i would feel in my mistake would really make me remember my mistake and not forget the right way I should have spoken), for this reason I've decided for this year my main goal is to seek discomfort, not be afraid to make mistakes and seek those mistakes in order to learn, meanwhile I'll get to know new interesting people so that's definitely a plus. For me, books are a tool to enhance your conversation and communications skills: I don't spend much time studying them, i just take from them what i find useful or interesting for my next conversation, I'll write them down and try to use them next time i talk to someone. I find this is an approach that really works for me, because i tend to associate memory to the emotions, and just studying from a book on my own doesn't give me an emotion as strong as a face to face conversation.

[@AfroLinguo]

When I started learning Chinese, I had a chinese friend who helped me learn Chinese from the beginning. She made me speak in chinese, no matter how small my level was. Today, I am studying to take the HSK 4 or B2 exam. I am so glad that she helped me back then. It really was a game changer. for me.

[@daveclosinger6697]

I would love a video on journaling by you. It feels like you could freshen up the stale nature of the activity and breathe some fresh ideas into it. I've been strugglling to keep a daily journal lately because I feel the regular points that people tell you to write about aren't interesting enough. As for my own ideas, I dislike the personal aspect they carry. Great video as always, Dave

[@RajjjjjS]

I would second this, your perspective would be refreshing!

[@RCWaldun]

Coming soon. :)

[@AfroLinguo]

I personally journal when I have like really strong emotions e.g Joy or sadness or frustration or anger, so that I can see what lies behind that. And you?

[@foreignlanguagesisfun8143]

@@AfroLinguo I sometimes do that too. I often repeat materials in my head to myself.

[@mrjmrj7646]

I'm currently learning Spanish, because I want to read Garcia Marquez' work in the original language. It helps having a goal. I set all my devices on spanish and try to listen to many spanish things.

[@jalalagaga3492]

I agree, immersion is a huge part in learning a language and probably the most effective. Growing up before I went to school, I spoke Spanish and it was my first language. Unfortunately going to school and being babysat by my aunts and uncles since my mom worked full time, they spoke mostly English at home, so being immersed into the English language made me forget a lot of my Spanish. I'm trying my absolute best to better my Spanish, and speak it when I can but sometimes it's hard to remember to and sometimes I just think it's easier to avoid the embarrassment by just speaking English. It also doesn't help that I have a stammering problem but speaking Spanish fluently is my biggest goal right now. Thank you for the video and the great reminders, I found it motivational :)

[@rachelb9713]

Amazing video as always ! Schools and institutions never talk about how effective immersion works. Watching youtube videos, talking to natives and just being in touch with our target language as much as possible is immensely important. I started immersion for almost a year and it has better results than what I learned at school. These are great advices for language learners. Once again, thank you for bringing this up! Loved it!

[@yassineamezough]

Hey, sorry for saying this but it's for your benefit. You said : these are great advices .." i want to inform you that advice is an uncountable noun. So you have you to say : these are great pieces of advice .. " . Have a good day✨❤️

[@mottahead6464]

R. C., what strikes me the most about your videos is how articulate you are. Kudos to you, young man.

[@mottahead6464]

Learning a foreign language sort of opens the door to a place's culture and inner workings. I find that it also kind of changes the way we might perceive things, perhaps by changing one's perspective. When I first started learning language one of the biggest challenges for me was finding material in English since at the time I lived in South America and there was no internet available in those days. I actually had to learn French before moving to Montreal in 2008. By learning French I was actually able to learn a lot about French Canadian history (yes, it's a thing here in Canada) and also better understand certain French Canadian habits and attitudes. Montreal (well, nowadays the internet allows most people to do it from practically everywhere around the planet) allows me to read a French language newspaper and then check the same news on an English language newspaper... and it's really interesting how Anglos and Francos might approach the same event while reporting on it. Most of the times not the same way. I might be wrong here , but I do think that the French language provides the well-educated French person with some sort of descriptive superpowers through the richness of its vocabulary. English seems to be a more straightforward language where getting as quickly and as succinctly to the main point appears to be the norm. Sort of "cut the crap" versus "depth allows for nuance". By the way, my native language is Brazilian Portuguese. Peace.

[@siribubz]

i think ur point about making language learning "custom tailored to you" is huge, and really i wish it could be applied everywhere in life. i'm autistic and have several different issues that hinder my learning cus of that, regardless of the subject, more often than not. school was horribly hard for me, from kindergarten all the way to hs graduation, cus of these issues. i couldn't accommodate it to something i actually enjoyed, and that dragged my motivation down so bad i'd fail at least something every single year. but with the fact that i'm learning german independently, i know that i can cater it to my liking, my needs, and what i truly want out of the language. and i think part of the reason i've been so persistent to do so for so long now, is cus of that sole fact. i can learn it at my own pace, from resources i find more fun, interesting, and worthwhile. i think more people need to think about learning in general with this perspective, i'm really glad you dive into it here :)

[@Elza000]

This si so accurate:) learning languages is mostly about YOURSELF, it is a journey about learning who you are, how you change through the times and it is a process, you have to realize what you like, what is your learning approach, what suits you, like in any other human action ( Know yourself:)

[@LanguageExplorer]

language learning to be fun... that's exactly how it should be. your vids are sooo aesthetic and it really makes me feel that you're having fun doing them!

[@AfroLinguo]

For real!! His videos are really amazing.

[@mr.sushi2221]

I have been studying my language for a while and still can’t speak but I do notice me making progress and I’m still having fun. It’s a very calming hobby for me. Really resonated with this essay.

[@SamuelLeary]

Great video as always. The b-roll… so good. So very, very good. Your words reminded me of two ideas. Jung’s idea that “people don’t have ideas, ideas have people.” Like Lagerfeld suggested, language makes the person in many ways. It possesses us, determines how we think (in many ways), and consequently guides our perception. Combine that with the Joycean idea that languages are effectively living organisms, always changing and evolving by way of the collective unconscious of their speakers. It’s no wonder speaking another language in a casual setting is so difficult. It’s like trying to ride a saddled horse versus an untamed bronco in the wild. Remove the formal rules, and at once, the task at hand is entirely different. A beginner has the illusion of linguistic possession in a formal setting. The opposite is true in the “wild,” where a conversation could, potentially, go anywhere. Again, great video. RC’s spicy takes always put me in a new headspace.

[@floramew]

On one hand, my entire point of trying to learn Spanish has been to more effectively communicate with people, and have any ability to do so with people who don't speak English-- given I live in New Mexico, it should be unsurprising that most of the people who don't speak English here speak Mexican Spanish. But... my memory is terrible. When I pick up duolingo after long breaks I can usually breeze through the lessons bc I'm being prompted. But trying to speak Spanish in the wild is a whole different ball game, I forget what words mean what I want to say (if I knew then at all), and even if the other speaker does say something I know there's a good chance, with my audio processing issues, I just won't even understand it. Alas.

[@jackie2011jr]

Living the same life in the state next door 😭. I am Mexican American so not knowing Spanish feels embarrassing so it’s made the process much harder for me. Even if manage to not be tongue-tied I also have a hard time hearing - either bc it’s not crystal clear/noisy background or psychological noise. I’m just doing my best to listen to a lot more Spanish audios - like watching quackity streams. It does seem to somewhat help Anyways tienes suerte amigi y gracias por escuchando (leyendo technically *) mi rant

[@Crescentmoony]

I love it! I've been super interested lately in learning a new language. I'm working on a different side project right now, but I'd love to get started on this next. I've been actively looking for softwares and whatnot that can help me! Thank you!

[@edmundpotrzeba6094]

Great video best advice iv come across in learning a language . I’m 72 and Bonjour is as far as iv got , thank you ❤️

[@dummybear6772]

Everyone tells me to watch the news in French and I just can't force myself to. I find the news stressful to begin with- I actively avoid it. Instead, I watch old fairytale movies in french, because I actually enjoy that. I listen to videos about my religion and cottagecore vlogs. I'm looking into fun ways to immerse myself in the language. Ways that are actually relevant to my daily life and interests.

[@alpacawithouthat987]

Why are they so insistent on the news? I can’t think of a single thing you could learn from the news that you couldn’t learn from something more entertaining. Anything in French will teach you French lol

[@lex6819]

I work in a setting that serves a lot of Spanish speaking customers. In hiring, I have found that applicants who have about 2 years or so of college level Spanish, or 4 years of high school level Spanish, can become conversational in everyday Spanish very quickly even if they are insecure about their speaking abilities. You have to let yourself use online dictionaries and apps as much as you need to and eventually you won't often need to. I still use an online dictionary occasionally. It's not cheating if you have to use some tools to get the right word. Nobody completely memorizes every word in the target language so you are still fluent even if you need to use an app occasionally.

[@AfroLinguo]

Amazing French accent. I love it

[@gui1.88]

I have clearly goal to why learn a language, the culture, like i'd learn russian just to can read literature, now I'm learning german and looking forward improve my english and spanish

[@sandragustafsson3125]

A very good video, sir! Thank you! I love language, and it really struck me when you said that we are all unique learners and that no one learns as we do. To me, *words* are the most important thing when learning a language. The grammar comes almost naturally to me. I love immersing myself in words and expressions, and use grammar as the glue that binds the words together. But in school we were always taught that the grammar is the most important thing and that we should learn the grammar first. That never made any sense to me, and made language learning something I dreaded. My way of learning a language is firstly focused on words, as I said. I play with them; I look up the meaning of a fun or pretty word or a sentence, I look up the etymology, and how it relates to other languages and to other words in its own language, I write it in a pretty handwriting in my journal, I google the word or expression to see what pictures shows up, I look up other versions and synonyms... It's really fun! I also love just surrounding myself with the sounds of a language I want to learn. I watch short videos or I keep a movie or a podcast on in the background, even if I don't understand what they're saying. ^.^

[@ChloE-vq2vg]

I'm learning French, thank you for the motivation !

[@trylinguallin1773]

It's funny how you bring up everyone's unique experience, I've found out that self-study is the way I learn. I myself seem to have a huge amount of difficulty learning controlled. I have been learning Chinese for 2.5 years as of now, and only in this past quarter have I attended a class for it. I have been severely disappointed with how classes are conducted and managed for learning languages. They don't measure your ability to speak, just your ability to remember. I have also tried Lingoda with my secondary language German, but I can't get into it, the teachers seem rushes to squeeze in all their material and there isn't much room to ask questions and speculate. The single greatest push in my languages was when I went to Taiwan for 3 months and lived with my girlfriend's family. The environment and motivation I had to learn not just Chinese but also Taiwanese was sky high. This completely changed my approach, the music I listened to and the accent I choose to study afterwards. If you don't know, in Taiwan they are one of the only places that still use traditional un-simplified characters, they use a system called Zhu-Yin to type and have a unique accent compared to the rest of the Chinese speaking world. All this to say that immersion is key, but also that small bursts of immersion are also hugely beneficial even just for motivation

[@foreignlanguagesisfun8143]

Even listening to music in your target language count as immersion. I do that a lot.

[@c__fragments]

Every time I see your notification I'm excited to see what your thoughts are going to be, and this one was a hit ! I've also noticed one particular thing in my different language learning journeys : when I'm trying to learn a language to which I've never been exposed to in a familiar context, I'm more scared to jump in and to start the try/fail process of speaking it. I reckon that is due to the fact that my primary exposition to its learning process is the academic (as you pointed out, controlled) environment. On the other hand, and that's where it becomes interesting, if, for a random reason, whether I have a friend that is bilingual or I've watched many TV series and therefore enjoyed hearing the language before, then the process of talking and try to mix up all the words I'm learning into a process of communication becomes a real game. The ultimate goal and joy of sharing something, the reward of being understood once in a while and with practice more and more often is so thrilling that I want to dive in as much as possible. But for the academic primary exposed languages I'll try to come up with my own weird routine to make it my own experimental place.

[@alexach.]

Wooooooooooooooow, I have been trying to learn Mandarin for a while now... and I can see now why I failed: basically I can only talk Mandarin in a control environment and I have been not trying to use it everyday, outside with more people.

[@oliverd.shields2708]

I find it funny how you add “safely” (for the immersion environment). Keep in mind that a man in danger is a man motivated by fear to do the best he can to get this language down cold.

[@ldahmy]

I'm actually going to start learn French so this is great help so thanks

[@foreignlanguagesisfun8143]

Even if you find at least one thing fun in a foreign language, that will keep you going for sure ,and not quit because of frustration, etc

[@path-ing258]

I'm so timid. I learn mostly by listening. So far that worked, I mean... I watch ton of videos in English and Spanish. I'm portuguese speaker btw.

[@iterumm]

the language that i’m passionate about is latin - one with no native speakers or much well pronounced auditory media. however i’m quite good at the pronunciation and have my own accent so i decided i would record readings of poetry originally in latin and some that i wrote or translated. for those who also love “dead” languages, i’d also say to get very immersed in the culture’s history. some latin books may just say an oppidum is a town, but that loses the meaning of the walled settlement and military significance. if i was to say that my hometown is an oppidum because i learned it’s the word for town, i’d be wrong. a language is only dead the moment someone stops trying to speak it.

[@OldHickory1828]

Learning Latin is fun because in the first lesson of most languages you learn how to order coffee. But in the first lesson of Latin you learn how to assassinate your political rivals. I think for most people learning latin is mostly about the historical, political, and cultural mystique. When you say there's a dearth of spoken Latin online, I do hope you at least know about ScorpioMartianus, Saturna Lanx, and Latinium. Between them they have a lot of content. There's also many latin audiobooks uploaded to youtube and other places. Or you could also learn the Italianate pronunciation and start learning Italian on the side. Have fun learning Latin!

[@aamiwaami]

I've been studying Arabic for years, but it never fully clicked well, and still doesn't really. I found I can only really understand it better and I've bettered my understanding from watching the news. Wish I figured it out back in grade 5 due to me finishing my Arabic studies at the end of this year lol.

[@denisemoore8536]

You are so motivating! - LOVE Your I.Q.!

[@melodywilson]

im a beginner in self learning korean, 2 months. i struggle with understanding grammer, i keep pushing through and not giving up

[@kaka_Editzz7]

I'm watching you to learn English and that's bringing me really great pleasure)

[@evelynstenberg]

Amazing video. This really inspired me and got me to find fun ways to learn swedish

[@ulicec]

Tout est vrai :) Et je pense que c'est également vrai en ce qui concerne l'apprentissage en général : rendre la chose personnelle, routinière, prendre du plaisir à apprendre, ne pas avoir peur de confronter ses connaissances/son savoir faire au monde extérieur dans l'optique d'évoluer... etc

[@americanbookdragon]

I have to be careful about what I’m learning at any given moment because I was taken out of school when I was 8 years old and neglected and abused. I was fully expected to teach myself everything. Languages was part of that, I was encouraged to teach myself Latin to eventually learn ALL the romantic languages from a 1990s computer program in the middle of rural Tennessee. So every time I try to teach myself Spanish, I have no idea whether I’ll be triggered into an anxiety attack or not.

[@literarytalha735]

I'm planning to start with Italian due to my deep and growing interest in the Renaissance. I do have a 'why?'.

[@lecalioptere6690]

Wow! Ta prononciation en français est vraiment bonne ! ☺️

[@i78sd273sdf]

we want videos about language learning!

[@mlejnek5854]

thank you so much for this video. I'm glad someone is involved in the flow, I'm in 8th grade (cz🇨🇿) and I'm learning Czech, English and Russian and I think this will help us learn Russian better

[@abishorynbassarov1274]

Удачи!

[@mlejnek5854]

@@abishorynbassarov1274 спаси́бо

[@Aliocha31]

Bonne continuation avec ton français!

[@lyn6010]

"the courage" zooms in on a crepe

[@heathers9378]

I have an idea that people who are musically inclined have an easier time of learning and executing languages. I am tone deaf and struggle mightily learning languages.

[@goldilocks913]

Really helpful, thank you!

[@joshuaomoijiade6627]

thank you for this video. A cheaper alternative would be nice though

[@arminislam6805]

Sometimes i just feel like dropping out of school and read every single book around the world- wish i could do- i hate people as much as i love books :')

[@mariteresanzesbri6733]

Aprende español: fantástico mon ami! Súper videos! Yo te enseño español.

[@stardusssr]

i’d like you to share how you’ve been studying french (sources etc) 🥺

[@CarpathianWasteGroup]

i think bilingual people perfectly understand the idea of multiple personalities in different languages. at least I can perfectly fit that quote in my personal life.

[@Hawthorne_ash]

Unfortunately this is me. I'm now researching myself Spanish because that is what my degree is in but I'm really interested in learning French and Swhaili( a lot of my favorite films are in French.) But I heard you shouldn't learn languages in the same family as each other. In short I feel like I can't learn the language I want until I finish the language I need. Mainly I need Spanish to learn more about my family history as well as meet extremely distant relatives from Spain

[@a.lirnoh6408]

It's just my personal experience, but I don't find it that much difficult. I'm french but I learn english since my very young age, and so do I with german, and it's not that much confusing : sometimes, it's even easier to understand grammars of both languages ; how old english and german dialects evoluted to actual english and "hochdeutsch". I also know spanish speakers who study latin with me and italian on their own and they say they are usually not confused, even though they speak or understand 4 latin languages.

[@akimimm4352]

found a GEM KZbinr!

[@mohamedelbouchichi7773]

Tons

[@foreignlanguagesisfun8143]

I find that speaking to a person is not that important because there are no native speakers in my country. I sometimes hear conversations in my target language where I work but not always.

[@ambarlostinthewoods3080]

You could use discord

[@sumitapathak2900]

I want to learn Korean. Will skillshare be effective for me ?

[@Daniel-qi1ld]

I use to struggle when I have to talk with people in English :C

[@stardusssr]

not related but- i love your glasses and lightning!

[@antipsikiyatriKizi]

Super

[@TheTeachingCouple]

Really loved this video :) J&M

[@foodwithprincess1756]

Lol didn’t realize I was early

[@samuelweber9987]

im really curious about how tall you are

[@RCWaldun]

5’11. :)

[@karlriina6950]

You need these magic words PUISSE JE ME PRESENTER? JE MAPPELLE J'AIMERAIS PRATIQUER MON FRANCIS voudraizun petit cafe? you make the elision on voudrais. Now you are offering them a concrete benefit (YOU Pay for Their coffee) they know you are friendly polite, and if they have time and interest great if not make an appointment. I presume you can read and pronounce french.

[@squidwardsthirdtentacle1198]

Ta prononciation est très impressionnante ! Ça fait combien d'années que tu étudies le français ? Moi, ça fait presque 6 ans. Je peux lire des livres assez difficiles en français mais j'ai du mal à m'exprimer à l'oral et à l'écrit. Il n'y a personne qui s'intéresse à la langue française dans mon lycée (sauf les profs, bien sûr) Donc je n'arrive pas à m'immerser dans la langue et la culture.

[@modelworkzseo]

This man looks like an asian teen but has the voice of an adult white male.