How To Master Any Language: Comprehensible Input

[@itachiuchiha-xj8ov]

I never learned English in my entire life, when I was a kid I used to watch movies and TV shows with subtitles, and played a lot of video games in English, such as GTA SA, God of War, God Hand. and used to listen to a lot of music in English, used to go and search for lyrics and try to sing even though I didn't understand anything they said, but still I did it anyway, but the impressive part about this (at least for me) is learning English was never something I wanted to do, it just came naturally, and as time goes by (doing these things) I was able to understand and speak English, which comes to the point of making this comment. if you wanna learn a language (any language) make it a fun and an entertaining experience, because when you combine fun and learning it becomes more affective. Edit 2024/01/24: Wow. I cannot believe it has been two years since I've wrote this comment. It's almost surreal how time quickly flies by. And my original comment contains quite few grammatical errors, lol. The idea is still pretty much the same. Comprehensible input is the only way to acquire a language and become efficient at it. While I understand the need for grammar and "formal" learning, it's important to acknowledge and admit it won't do you any good except clarifying some concepts and rules in the language. The real battle, so to speak, is within the content the language has to offer. Books, movies, games, podcasts, music... etc. That is where the real language happen, not in textbooks.

[@Podzhagitel]

god hand? LMAO what a way to learn

[@zara8537]

❤

[@iasgardikk]

I like your comment. My level beginer, but i try learning english. I try surround myself with an English-speaking environment

[@landon974]

@@iasgardikkawesome! just don’t give up, may I ask what your native language is?

[@nenavist9933]

Learned English the exact same way. One day it was just there lol, like bang! you know English now. This is brilliant advice. I’ve also found speaking in your target language inside your head helps a whole lot, even if it’s just a little bit at a time, a sentence here and there. It works!

[@Azeltix]

I never made so much progress in English than those last 4 years, listening to content on KZbin in English with no subtitles. I struggled a lot at first but as I only watched content I liked, it was interesting and I acquired the language. Now I can even understand words or expressions I never heard before.

[@cowboy1471]

Me quedo con tu comentario bro, bless you

[@ancientmage2669]

Keep it up😊😊😊

[@josecontreras7153]

How did you learn to write in English?

[@s3m4ril]

Nice one dude. But that works only if you already have a lot of vocabulary and you on B2 or C1 level. That thing works when you are polishing your language, not learning it.

[@NewLife2028]

You are overly proud and you just don't know what you don't know. You watched a video game and now, you're ready for you B2 exam. Awesome.

[@AndriiSenych]

I want to say that this explanation of Comprehensible Input is exceptionally well put into only 6+ minutes, and it is straight to the point.

[@EnglishSpongeCI]

This is why I made a Comprehensible Input KZbin channel for English! 🤯

[@fernandafefe4323]

😱That is awesome, and I agree absolutely cause I 'm acquiring english, I didn't study grammar, nor rules and I can understand your words about 85% and the message in context 100%. And could to write this sentence without translation, it isn't perfect but if you can understand me, I'm happy 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻Our brains are incredible. Hugs 🤗 from Brazil 🇧🇷

[@coord.deeducacaoindigena-c1069]

Awesome 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@TheStickofWar]

Well done - an impressed Englishman

[@Xilaneda]

Yes, we can understand you! 🎉

[@0terrors1]

It should be "and could write" not "and could to write", but good job 👍

[@erinelle4310]

Nicely done

[@hunnerdayEDT]

I’m at the beginning of my goal to learn Spanish so I found Yoga flows on KZbin by Spanish speaking teachers. It’s helping a lot with my comprehension. Plus, I signed up for Spotify to get access to popular Latin music in my favorite genre. Fingers crossed for success.

[@hunnerdayEDT]

@czucziandras1406 ADHD won, I got distracted, switched to Turkish, got distracted, and one year later, I'm still monolingual with fragments of knowledge of around 6 languages 🤦🏾‍♀️

[@steveuni90]

One year later has this been successful? As a someone who practices yoga on a regular basis, I though of doing the same with Portuguese!

[@hunnerdayEDT]

@steveuni813 My small bit of success with listening 2 meditation in Spanish was that it allowed me to just follow directions in Spanish without trying to translate the words. The sound and flow of the language settled into my brain, and it made book studying easier for me. However, as a person with ADHD my hyperfixation with learning the language ended & I got distracted with learning Turkish. But I think I would have been a basic Spanish speaker had I continued.

[@thestealth2448]

Have you tried out dreaming Spanish? It’s one of the only websites that caters to beginners with comprehensible input. There’s superbeginner, beginner, internediate and advanced videos.

[@zay9232]

​@@hunnerdayEDTwhat about now?

[@almazkairosh7976]

This is the way how I’d gotten fluent in Russian and I’ve been doing the same with English now for the last several years. Back in the days I tried to tackle English with traditional way of learning but it didn’t work out and couldn’t make any essential progress. Then I stumbled upon this hypothesis and started implementing it in my life. I just completely stopped grinding grammar and started getting as much input as possible where I’ve reached the point where I can read books, listen science related podcasts and totally understand them. Also I work in foreign company in my country where I provide safety related workshops for expats at work for 4-5 hours and I do work partially as an interpreter as well. Just keep getting exposed to the language guys and you’ll eventually end up acquiring it and speaking it fluently.

[@omarsobh4419]

Hello I'm also learning russian can you please give me some advice 🙏

[@almazkairosh7976]

@@omarsobh4419 My advice is simple create new account on KZbin and start to subscribe to Russian related contents only and watch a lot of movies and tv series. At the beginning it all will be gibberish but if you keep doing it and stay consistent you’ll slowly understand and you’ll start picking up the way natives speak and you’ll start building your vocabulary and lexicon. It takes time but consistency eventually will get you there. Also start from simple stuff and simple movies. Don’t focus too much on grammar, cause’ Russian grammar is really tough and you’ll lose interest in the language. Even me as a fluent Russian speaker still can’t fully understand it and I can’t give proper explanation for grammar. So less grammar and more immersion is the key. Speaking part also is overrated at the beginning, first build good comprehension then later on start thinking about speaking. Also get notebook for new words and start writing down new words with examples in sentences. Stay patient and don’t get overwhelmed.

[@hankersoree]

привет как дела

[@almazkairosh7976]

@@hankersoree Все отлично! Сами то как?

[@hankersoree]

@@almazkairosh7976 нормально:) живя в постсоветском государстве, для меня русский как второй родной язык, но вы выучили его не имея русского окружения (как я понимаю). вы молодец!

[@uchuuseijin]

Dude, what an amazing video! One of the best breakdowns of comprehensible input I have seen. Breaks down exactly what Comprehensible Input is in an easy to understand way, clears up a lot of the misconceptions people seem to have about it, and it's delivered in a way that's clear, to the point, and interesting enough to hold attention.

[@jean6872]

To acquire a second or third language requires motivation. This works for learning a language too. But, as this video believes, it is better to want to acquire a language because the understandable messages should not be boring. I acquired Spanish because at age 14 I was taken to a corrida by my dad and I wanted to understand it more. I ended up buying books about toros. Now I have the nerve to speak the language in Spain. Secondly, I taught history and I had an interest in pre- and post-WWII Germany. So, as a student I visited the Deutsche Demokratische Republik where I picked up my very first words from a border policeman. "Ihren Reisepass, bitte. Wo ist Ihr Visum?" Eventually I was making sentences which I had never heard! I do not know where I got the nerve to raise my voice to a Berlin policeman who did not want to bother with me. "Ich möchte Hilfe!" Where did that come from? Is it even correct? Straight away a different policeman got up from his desk and brought me to the right place. Imagine. I gave an order to a policeman in Berlin using German. I was acquiring the language!

[@BlackSeranna]

My mom lived in Mexico for two years. When she came back, she was fluent in Spanish, right down to her accent matched that of the locality she was in. I know this, because as a teenager in Indiana, I saw her help some Mexicans who were looking for masa in the grocery store (but didn't know where to look). She told them what aisle, and one of them said, "Where in Mexico did you say you're from?" So, this comprehensible method works, for sure.

[@Nathan-xr4gv]

Weird, I have been in Mexico for about a year and I have learned about 5 sentences.. 😅😅😅

[@kovici7226]

I got this idea somewhat vaguely on my own, because I like to write and even my native language I improve in by writing and finding new words to describe something. So I decided to write a little in the language I was learning, simple stories until I could get more and more descriptive. This is something I think creative people can find fun, because it makes learning more natural and you have an associated scene to remember the vocabulary with.

[@iamapokerface8992]

yeah sure u did

[@kovici7226]

@@iamapokerface8992 lol i did because i had recently read something with partial inclusion of french, or something. and i was merging my hobbies of language learning and writing together 🤷‍♀️

[@charlesurdy-barnes413]

Excellent point! I have met several foreigners who told me they learned English by listening to the radio, primarily music.

[@yookaa9562]

I started learning English by watching streamers who play better than me. I didn't even know that comprehensive input is. But I can say, it works, now I can understand 80% of this video. I'm from Russia btw)

[@yookaa9562]

I can understand speech but creating own sentences with right time(past simple etc) little hard for me.

[@lukasg9031]

Is that all you did?

[@yookaa9562]

@@lukasg9031 also I have English class at school, but it's not really work. So, yeah, that's all I did.

[@lukasg9031]

@@yookaa9562 so all you did was watch streamers, and I’m assuming English tv shows and movies and a little bit of English in school?

[@yookaa9562]

@@lukasg9031 yes

[@waaagh3203]

I agree. Most of my time is spent on it. But I also find that doing the top 400 most frequent words at the same time I'm doing comprehensible input gives me a nice boost.

[@JANTAGIRI]

Hi, Where to find these words?

[@jamestandy8594]

I've been looking for a good video that I can send to people about the input hypothesis and this is one of the best and most succinct I've found! Thanks for this!

[@dcharmed2]

I studied German for 2 months in school but I learned more about German through self-learning (for 4 years now). I surprised myself when I went to germany last year and traveled alone many times using trains, buses, maps and occasionally asking random people for directions. 😊

[@yohanryoo]

Thanks. This removes a lot of burden on learning. Great to have this articulated.

[@taylordiamond]

I tried hundreds of times to learn a second language and nothing clicked for years until finally one day I understood that there's a difference between studying something and knowing something. Studying is hard and the effort can get in the way of yourself being able to acquire it through having fun and just saying "Ooh, I know this one easy". Study, be patient and don't stress. You can do it!

[@Surgehero5136]

Looking back at my 4-5 years of studying french in highschool I know basic words and a couple of phrases and my french teacher did give us things as films, tv shows, and other media to help us but I dont think it was very effective in my case. lately after discovering comprehensible input and the tprs (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) it made me realize learning can be fun thru the use of storytelling. its more interesting to me than traditional standards of learning in general, i feel like it could be applied to other things like history, math, or science and its crazy why this wasnt used more in school when I was coming up

[@aquarius4953]

Comiccort . Schools are not here to teach students, schools are here to give a job to teachers. Some teachers can teach some can't . The ones who can't as long as they follow the school rules it's ok even if it's a waste of time for students. You haven't spent 4-5 years of studying French but maybe 3 hours per week, 12 hours per month, 100 hours per years , 500 hours more or less after five years so around twenty days . In fact less, because to be in a classroom doesn't mean you are listening to, you were not alone , generally the one who speaks the more is the teacher and it is wonderful if he/she is able to speak the language he/she supposes to teach .

[@ronlugbill1400]

I am a high school French teacher and I can tell you why. 1. It didn't exist much in schools then. And 2. Even now, teachers who try to use CI in the classroom get shot down by administrators who have never learned a language or taught a language or read any language acquisition research but are in charge of schools and observe teachers.

[@Noah20]

@@aquarius4953pharmacys are not there to supply medicine they are there to give jobs to pharmacists 💀🤡 are you intentionally dense

[@eevvxx80]

thank you, yes I agree with you. I started learning new language using learning method word by word understanding every word but the result is very slow processed, boring and forget what I learned. so I will try what you mentioned.

[@ukcliffjones]

Great video. I realised watching this that you don't understand a new sport by learning the rules, you learn it by acquiring it, by watching the sport and learning the rules in context with the input.

[@ristoshikongo7730]

0:33 - 0:52 most important kept secret in language learning 2:28 we only acquire a language by understanding messages 2:58 - 34 Stephen Krashen comprehensible input lesson

[@NoNamesWereAvailable]

Gotta love coming across one of these videos and learning that you've been doing it entirely correct this whole time.

[@cluckygirl792]

My Panamanian Spanish teacher is brilliant! I’m 61 years old and started learning with him last December. Weekly face to face lessons lasting an hour. And I can honestly say that having a teacher is brilliant. I was learning Russian with an on line platform for a few years (I stopped last year as I recognised I was not going to be travelling to Ukraine or Russia in the near future). So I picked Spanish. And I’m doing really well. Stumbled on a KZbin video about “language acquisition” and realised how much of this is happening between me and my teacher…… the variety of tools he has in teaching me…… and each week I Marcel even more than the last at the sheer knowledge and skill this man has in teaching me. I am not arty and I now love reading about Frida Kahlo…… im not into a Spanish folk….. I’m now translating Ojalá (Silvio Rodríguez) amd am loving that….. my lessons are always interesting. And now having listened to your presentation I realise how I am acquiring Spanish and why I am doing so well. So I’m all for a good teacher 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻 From The English Lady ❤

[@eavesdropenglish]

Marcel sounds like such a great teacher. The right teacher can make such a difference. Love that you found such a gem! Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@kimcuongtran5495]

Abosolutely true, now I'm convinced reading and listening are the keys to succeed when it comes to learning a new language. In the past I feel hopeless when I wanted to speak or even write, but now I able to get my ideas across and all of that happened because I read and listen a lot. I still use some books for English learner when I have encountered somthing I don't understand but I spend most of the fime just for reading and listening. In my opion the best method may differ from person to person. But in the end if someone wants to speak a target language fluently they have to somehow gain a lot of input, I have never met anyone who can speak a language well if they don't gain a lot of input. On the other hand, if you don't gain a lot of input you are likely to ask yourself like how can I stop translating in my head. You should understand interviews, presentations,... With ease before you think about speaking fluently. In my opinion what you produce is just a reflection of your input, there is no way around it.

[@joyyyy777]

Thank you for providing the good method! Actually, I have watched the professor's method of learning a language but this was a fantastic reminder. Currently, I learn English and I'll keep in mind the only one way of acquiring - Comprehensible input

[@jim55price]

Thank you, Fingtam, for this wonderful video. I thought I recognized a Krashen influence as soon as I read its title, & it turned out I was right. I found it very gratifying, in fact, to see him pictured & referenced right at the start. I had lunch with Stephen once at a conference he hosted at my alma mater, and we spent part of our time flipping grapes onto each other's plates! When I have this discussion with my students, I like to begin the learning vs. acquisition discussion by asking the class, "When did you learn to have shoulders, and when did you learn to have pubic hair?" This generates a bit of amusement, to be sure, but I go on to explain that one of those acquisitions occurs naturally at its own time in the womb, that the other one occurs naturally at its own time some number of years later, & further, that language, operating in exactly the same manner, occurs naturally at its own time and is no more "learned" than either of the others. To put it more succinctly : barring medical or social tragedy, every child on Earth acquires his or her native language(s) at the appropriate developmental time without overt or directed teaching or learning at all. There is first a stretch of input only, then slow movement toward output, & finally a raging torrent of output that grows rapidly & generally achieves full native acquisition around 5 or 6 years of age. This is true in all cultures, whether they actively encourage young children to speak or not. I've always been amused by one of Stephen's favorite methods of getting his learners interested in reading, that being giving them steamy romance novels to read, which he said tripled their acquisition rate. Real page-turners, eh? To this very day, it makes me laugh, just to think of it. Comprehensible input, indeed! Finally, as if this video weren't enjoyable already, you closed it out with a reference to *that* video, which I've referred people to a fair number of times over the years. If anyone reading my note here wonders whether or not it's worth 57 minutes of viewing -- IT IS. It's sheer magic. Do check it out! Again, thanks for this wonderful video. Cheers.

[@stevesmith291]

"Every second you spend in a dictionary is one second less of comprehensible input." Not if you're using a monolingual dictionary, which itself will be a source of comprehensible input.

[@SuperJohnnykay]

Steve I'm with you dictionaries are useful in your own language and the one you are learning

[@suchaagill7940]

Thats how I learned English. I just binge watched a lot of tv shows and movies. Im learning Spanish now and using the same method but its leaning more towards the intensive style of input learning

[@lukasg9031]

What Spanish shows or movies do you recommend? You

[@suchaagill7940]

@@lukasg9031 I watch a lot of crime series. Search up best spanish crime series and there are a bunch available on netflix. Just finished Monarca, 8/10

[@lukasg9031]

@@suchaagill7940 I’ll check those out. Thanks. And is that all you did? Just watch shows and movies?

[@klexiyy]

With subtitles or no?

[@spectralknights2]

I keep watching chinese and japanese shows I'm learning nothing lol

[@PureAwareness76]

🎉 Love your way! ❤ From Hungary 🇭🇺, working in 🇬🇧 I was 14 when I started learning 🇬🇧 after 🇩🇪 in the 90's, listening BBC World Service and reading books. Just ABSORB everything in 🇬🇧 😍

[@colinsmith5879]

Very solid advice and tips! Next time I'm asked for tips on language learning, I'll be sending them this. Btw, just got a couple of your short stories in Toki Pona: great resources for a new learner!

[@FingtamLanguages]

Thanks so much! I’m so glad you liked the books and this video series! Let me know if there are any specific videos you’d like to see! :)

[@josebenito15]

English is not my mother tongue language so for me reading a English book, novels, plays, etc is always almost a challenge and I have to confess I like that challenge very much. I think my English vocabulary is big enough to enjoy the reading. My advice could be:read only the stuff you enjoy reading, Never stop to look the words up that you don't understand, just underlying them and after reading some chapters look them up and write some examples with the news words. The same with listening: keep on listening as much as you can. And enjoy the learning. Greetings from Spain

[@aquarius4953]

Jose Benito . Comprehensible means you understand at 80% 90 % 100%. If you try to read as a beginner Shakespeare Sonnets or Ulysse by James Joyce you will have too many difficulties to understand anything . That is not comprehensible input but a waste of time . So yes read books you enjoy but read books you are able to understand because even if you enjoy reading James Hadley Chase's books in your mother tongue doesn't mean you will be able to read his books in English .

[@josebenito15]

@@aquarius4953 Thanks so much for your information. Reading this week "David Copperfield" and enjoy it very much indeed. Sometimes some adjectives and verbs are a little tricky.. But the book is so witty and entertaining that I don't see the point to put it down. Keep on reading and Greetings from Spain 📖📖📖📖

[@tohaason]

When I learned English I would choose stuff that I was close to understanding (mind, I didn't do this because I wanted to learn English, I was choosing material that I intensely wanted to read and hoped I had found something that I would actually be able to read and chose the material with that in mind). Notably, I did *not* stop my reading to underline words I didn't understand. I believe stopping is bad - it stops the movie in your mind (I found that the learning starts the moment the story starts unfolding in your mind (which _can_ happen with technical material too, not just novels), and you don't as much see words as see a story. This typically happens a few pages in). If you stop, to underline words, or whatever, it's like turning off the TV and unload the DVD or VCR. You have to re-start the whole thing. So, don't do that. Just go on. If you at that point have a scene in your mind, maybe your mind gives you an idea (right or wrong) about what the word is (say, the word for water flowing between an island and the mainland), or maybe it's blurred. Never mind, just go on, at later points you will come across the word again, and your mind will give it another unconscious try. When your book is finished you'll have learned a lot of new words that you didn't know at the beginning. If the book was good, read it again. But don't stop. (AddEdit: As to the video's comment "every second you spend in a dictionary is one second less on comprehensible input" - no, it's much worse. Much worse. One second in a dictionary equals minutes if not more of less comprehensible input, because of what I described above - stopping to look up a word takes you out of the mode where the story is unfolding in your mind, and it takes time to get back in. And I firmly believe that the real learning happens when you live the story, not when you just see words printed on a page).

[@beenice1555]

I’d say it’s okay to look up recurring words

[@francescoaccomando7781]

I studied thai for 2 years several years ago, and I focused on learning vocabulary and writing but not speech. Once I moved to live in a village and no one spoke english beside the teacher at the school I taught. I improved my thai drammatically both in speaking and listening in those 5 months.

[@ComprehensibleThai]

Nailed it. Great video, Aaron. I added it to the theory playlist on Comprehensible Thai.

[@FingtamLanguages]

Awesome! Glad you liked it!

[@learnurduwithsara1068]

Very true. I have learned English with movies and books. Now I am learning Spanish in the same manner.

[@DDSMEDIA1825]

Iam following your steps to enhance comprehensive of language input

[@user-bv4sj2gq7g]

Years ago I took one semester of German in college. The textbook contained no English translation, but lots of pictures. The instructor started right off the bat in German. I loved it, but apparently most of the other students were baffled. There weren’t enough students registered for the 2nd semester, so it got canceled. I drove all the way to another college to buy the 2nd & 3rd level books, and continued to self instruct…er… acquire! I still have those books today, more than 40 years later.

[@montgomeryaha7612]

What a dedication

[@mirandacarrillopoe]

I grew up with 2 mother tongues since my mom only spoke spanish and I grew up in the US. The defined versiosn of aquisiton and learning processes didnt play out the way people have specified them to occur. For me learning was never in a formal manner rather it was done informally and for the reason of learning to communicate with my family which invloved me being consciously aware of my subconscious feelings. I consciously would think about what my body was piking up naturally and would use my conscious head to act on my "subconscious" needs. Its only when I went to school formally that I began to have issues with thinking about what I observed and began to focus soley on the mode of learning that school was trying to teach. School threw my subconscious into turmoil and since its a forced experience I began to avoid interacting with my bodily feelings since it only brought me trouble at home and in school. I was too outspoken about my needs and thoughts and I would anger people for questioning them and then I had to deal with their muddled emotions and attitudes that made them treat me as a teoublemaker. As a child trying to figure out how to interact with people while maintaing my sense of personhood completely stressed me out and overwhelmed me leading to a number of health mental and physical problems.

[@davidbrisbane7206]

It's just too good to believe. You can learn a second language without reading a single grammar book!

[@ancientmage2669]

Yep, I promise u

[@brandonclark8960]

When you started school, maybe kindergarten, I’m sure you had a solid foundation of English already before you were introduced to a grammar book.

[@davidbrisbane7206]

@@brandonclark8960 I was never taught grammar at school. My point was about a second language. So, if you are happy to learn a second language like a kid for many years and the go to school for around ten years to become proficient in a second language then I guess you wouldn't need a grammar book at all.

[@simontaylor2525]

I'm kind of with you on that. I think most intelligent adults like to have a framework of how the thing they are learning works, which is what grammar is. To me knowing the grammar makes learning more enjoyable

[@Phylaetra]

@@brandonclark8960have you listened to kindergarten-aged children? Would you say they have a solid foundation of English? If so - why do we need another 12 years of education in English?

[@saifdes]

This is exactly how I learned English, and how I’m planning to learn new languages in the future.

[@vinit1366]

I look at every single word in the dictionary and it is helpful. Slow though but understanding the content is important for me

[@tohaason]

I definitely don't recommend that method. I've seen so many books lent to me where the reader has underlined every word they didn't understand and just given up after after a while. You never get to see the story of the book in your mind that way. Never. And thus you don't really learn. Just read. If it's interesting and the comprehensibility level is at the right point then the story _will_ start showing in your mind (and that's when the words just become background) and that's when you start learning. If you don't stop, the unconscious mind will work on those words when you come across them again, and if you don't consciously try to understand a word, then the word will eventually resolve itself _because_ there's a story in your mind. Your internal video. The context. If you just stare at sentences the context will not be there and you can't learn. If you have a whole context going then you can learn by association, which is a much more powerful method than a dictionary can ever be. You'll learn usage and nuances, for one.

[@kevinjones2145]

I love the French KZbin videos of Alice Ayel. I wish I could find a video series for learning Modetn Greek using the same technique Alice uses. The content on LingQ is good but I like the way Alice uses drawing and gestures. She is awesome.

[@lj2257]

Thank you i will take a look.

[@magatow1906]

One example of how to implement this strategy is to search for a KZbin video (my target language is Spanish) about something you already know a bit about, turn on closed captioning if available, and watch the video while reading the text and hearing it spoken. You can also lower the speed of the video with settings in KZbin. I sometimes slow it down to 75 percent speed.

[@SvengelskaBlondie]

I recently started reading Bilbo: An unexpected journey in Spanish. I don't mind not understanding allot of the words cause it's a book ive read several times in English. Was interesting seeing that I could understand a surprising amount just from context alone, even if ive yet to learn the majority of the words.

[@2wr633]

One interesting observation of mine is that the reason why speaking improve your language skill even though you only acquire language through input is that when you are talking, you are in an environment where you can manipulate the input in such a way that you can decipher and it also contain a large amount of information which result in both improving the quality and quantity of the input

[@jessie1963]

You deserve a billion likes . What a great vid !

[@alwayslearning7672]

You know Pablo from Dreaming Spanish lives in Bangkok and went through the ALG programme for a year there.Maybe he can help you find resources.He did nothing but CI and reached a decent fluency level according to him.I'm doing Spanish now through his content.

[@alwayslearning7672]

Also check out Stu Jay Raj wh recently started making videos again. He's a legend with tonal languages.

[@ancientmage2669]

I am a Spanish native speaker, grew up surrounded by english speaking people but didn't utter a word of it until I was in the US surrounded by American folks of all the accents😅😅 took me about 6 months to actually have a conversation. I'm fluent in both languages and now at 54 found love again in Japanese ❤❤❤ jaane

[@adamlevine2046]

i am learning spanish now. A beginner. So any tips from a native speaker ?? That would be very helpful

[@AuthorBDGorman]

Excellent strategy to acquire language. Trying to do this with my current attempt at picking up Italian. Working great so far!

[@saidfarid6382]

Hello dear professor Your lessons are really interesting and crucial, thank you so much for your help and advice,i do appreciate your job,i wish you peace and happiness under the sky of prosperity,all the best. Take care and have a good time.

[@adnalm]

Wow. You have described EXACTLY what I have been doing, and yes, it is the right way. In particular, I have watched Children's films with the (same language) subtitles on, so that I can compare what I hear in my new language with how it looks in text.

[@aisthename5212]

hi, have you noticed improvement in comprehension even with subs?

[@educatingengineer2278]

My wife speaks a different language and I am now learning it with my 2 year old, reading Children’s books and watching children shows. At the same time I have books for learning the language and they help answer the “why?” questions I sometimes have about the language. This makes the learning like a puzzle and all activities fill in the missing pieces. I already speak 3 languages fluently because I moved to a different country when I was a child so now I am just repeating what I did as a kid which is “comprehensive input”. The graphic novel tip is a good one, I will give it a try.

[@aisthename5212]

hello, when you watch the shows, do you use subtitles of any kind?

[@curtismak4305]

Very important information for study a foreign language, Thanks for sharing.

[@matildawolfram4687]

Thanks to the author of the channel for the interesting content! The book by Yuriy Ivantsiv “ Polyglot Notes. Practical Tips for Learning Foreign Language” had a profound impact on me, opening new horizons of understanding the diversity of languages and cultures. The author's ideas that learning foreign languages not only broadens one's horizons but also contributes to spiritual development became a real revelation for me. I realized that every language is not just a system of signs, but a whole world with its history, traditions and way of life. Thanks to this book, I learned to see language learning as a path to self-discovery and a deeper understanding of others, which in turn enriched my worldview. Inspired by Ivantsiv's approach, I became more conscious of my learning, integrating the author's practical advice into my daily life. This opened up opportunities for me not only to improve my language skills, but also to develop a personal philosophy based on mutual understanding and empathy. Immersing myself in languages has allowed me to see the world from different angles and realize the importance of cultural exchange, which has been the foundation for my spiritual growth. Reading this book and applying its advice has helped me to become a more open and tolerant person who seeks harmony in my relationships with others.

[@bunnyteeth365]

I find hauls are very good for comprehensible input because they talk about things you can see.

[@FingtamLanguages]

What are hauls?

[@bunnyteeth365]

@@FingtamLanguages Videos where people talk about things they bought. I think it's usually clothing and makeup, but it could be anything. Even bananas. So if you're not into clothing and makeup you can find them for other stuff. It's great for comprehensible input and far more enjoyable than children's shows. It feels good to watch things that are targeted at to my age that are fairly easy to understand.

[@annachiaradia1665]

Thats funny cause its exactly how i learned english, i was addicted to graphic novels and most of them would be released in english first, i remember understanding very few words the first times i tried to read it but with time it became much easier, its been probably 6-7 years, i dont even read anymore, but i know it played a big role on being able to understand english and even seeing this video, we are really capable of acquiring a new language if we are motivated enough, great video

[@DuongNguyen-newbieproducer]

Hi, I am learning Thai right now. Do you have any comprehensive input for this language? Thank you very much for sharing such significant and amazing knowledge about leaning foreign languages 🙏❤️

[@jeoffreychua18]

When I was a child I didn't have time to learn english and use it in actions like speaking,reading,and writing. I turned and got into high school but yet i was not really good at english. I understand english when I read it but I cannot speak and think in english.Maybe that's why I can't speak persistently in english not in the present so I repeatedly watch,write and listen in english on social media and on the internet. I even do a lot like I am obsessed with learning.

[@jeoffreychua18]

I am so thankful because I have an opportunity to watch this because of my aunt : she is the one who is guiding me everyday. Ever since I was a child she is really the one who is supporting us (my siblings/family) in this world. In exchange,of course we are helping them too (my aunt).

[@jeoffreychua18]

Sorry if I am being emotionally right now while writing this as a reflection of your video. by the way,what I want to say is that your video helps me a lot to understand how to learn and adapt english in a way that I will understand what I am reading in a comprehensible and compelling manner.

[@jeoffreychua18]

I understand that for you to be able to learn a language you have to comprehend what you are reading. In other words,input is the most important way of learning english.

[@jeoffreychua18]

I just know that I am doing wrong because when I am reading something and encountering words that I am not familiar with; I stop reading and search or seek meaning for the words I do not know.

[@jeoffreychua18]

So tonight I realized that whenever I read/listen to something I should not stop just because of the words I do not understand Instead I will continue to read and understand the main idea or what the context wants to convey.

[@brebrown5338]

I bought Lingopie and I’m hoping this helps me learn Spanish finally. I watch cartoons with subtitles in Spanish and English. It still makes flashcards because I do feel like u need to learn vocab especially when first starting out. I don’t have to take the time out to look up a word, it does it for me. Idk I guess we’ll see if it helps. I just started it.

[@englishloud]

This is such a great lesson, thanks for sharing!

[@beanpasteposts]

This explains why Luca’s BDT method works so well!

[@saidfarid6382]

Hello dear professor What you present is really interesting and crucial,i do appreciate your job,i wish you peace and happiness under the sky of prosperity,all the best, take care and have a good time. Your Student from Algeria

[@napoleongreatson]

effective and super helpful video thanks bro

[@JB-wx4wo]

Very well sir, thank you👍

[@davidbrisbane7206]

I've acquired several langauages. They are all sitting on my bookshelves 😀.

[@monicadupont9606]

Excellent video. 🙏👏👏👏👏

[@juliusjohnson5967]

One of the ways I like to make my materials comprehensible is watch videos on KZbin that interest me, then I pause the video and use the mouse (arrow) to point to objects in that video. I make sentences when I am doing this. My comprehension rate is much higher compared to other methods. Later I will make flashcards for the words i forgot by me listening to those words. I will remember those words because they will be in context.

[@StephanGall]

only now I have seen your video. What are your tools or media to learn Thai language. Thanks in advance S.

[@ijskoude]

Thank you! This will help me a lot.

[@melahatates2276]

I have a 11 year old nephew , he is from Turkey, at age 3 he started acquiring English now at age 11 he sounds just like an American kid , fluent in English without a trace of accent .. The most interesting part is that he's never been to another country and born to Turkish parents ..

[@sub.owen.create]

Great idea. Thanks

[@aar1967]

Thanks for this wonderful channel. You mentioned learning Thai... which I am trying to do as I will be moving to Bangkok in 6 months to live indefinitely. But I was extremely disappointed to find that the Lingq app does not support Thai. So how do you recommend I learn it via Comprehensible Input? Is there another app or ?? Thanks so much!

[@FelipeFollmann]

For learning Portuguese you can try the book "Learn Portuguese with Immersive Short Stories: Sombras do Passado"

[@user58496]

This is the best video I've watched that explains comprehensible input. Thank you.

[@lagrivv]

It is the same way that i used to learn English language without attending any courses and managed to make a huge jump, unlike my friends who been through conversational courses and studying grammmar and stuff, are now at point 4/10, and can barely speak one sentence without stuttering, this is another proof that adds weight to the theory in this video.

[@Ghanshyam00000]

I agree with you you are an awesome guy you know how can you learn the language dr. Steven Krashan found that can we acquire language just comprehensible input but 90 % of people are following the traditional method they think learning another language should be learned as a second language you tell me you would have not learned your native language translate it into another language however the second thing you should learn any language your target language whatever that is you must learn as a first language, for example, vocabulary word it doesn't means by itself when you connect that word situation and getting many examples of that words from different speakers or the same topic that time you understand like a native speakers this method is phenomenon you can improve your accent pronunciation listening by different speakers those same word or same topic you know what I am saying this method is called " naturally varied review " thanks your videos are going to helpful for the learner because you got that secret of learning language further I'm learning English from 4 years I was learning traditional way when I listened and watched my favourite coach videos that I got amaze fluency doesn't come repeating the words or translate in your head fluency comes from when you getting many examples from the different speakers the same topic or same words traditional way of learning language is just wasting our times thanks I found your channel.

[@Snowy-vn1ez]

thank you ! it is amazing knowing what you are saying .💚

[@kosdigital7447]

Comprehensible input is great, but only as a passive alternative and only at higher levels when you can understand the context, but it's useless for beginner levels. For example I acquired Russian to around C1 because my native is Serbian, which shares half the vocab and grammar, so I was able to get into tv shows, forums and other content right away and accumulate words over years with almost no active learning, however, I spent hundreds of hours watching shows in other languages I was a beginner with, with and without subtitles, and I didn't really learn anything out of it, because you can't learn through context if there is no context that you understand yet. Instead you should learn as many words and grammar as you can with frequency lists and once you get to a level where you start understanding stuff, then you can start picking up on secondary stuff that way.

[@StrikeA1G]

yikes…

[@HoraryHellfire]

You were watching content too hard, then. No graded readers? No super basic bedtime stories? Just tried immersing into shows made for native speakers? The point is to receive _comprehensible_ input. That means the content has to cater to your current ability in the language. If you're an absolute beginner, you need content catered to absolute beginners.

[@rakanalbawab6311]

Is reading texts then translation some words that i dont know then read the whole text again as it become full comprehensible is considered comprehensible input?

[@RodrigoFernandez-td9uk]

This is about the same idea of the inductive contextual method of Hans Orberg, used in his Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata (LLPSI).

[@rollingball9536]

Roma in Italia est

[@dizzybin4002]

Thank u for this video :) I agree with u totally. When i started to study English, I started with the grammar and vocabulary. So now, When I want to say something in English I have to use kinda formula in my brain. I think it’s not a good phenomenon.. so I will listen and read many English stuffs much time :) thank u

[@jennyvoswiftie]

i couldn't agree with u more about the effectiveness of this method. Languages are no longer intimidating once you find something genuinely interest u in that language, and you use that language as a tool to further explore the topic. I myself don't usually put deliberate effort into learning English. I adopt the accent, the way native speakers articulate verbally their ideas by consuming English content that specifically resonate with me. And I strongly urge you to do the same if you for the most part still rely on monogous piles of textbooks to acquire grammar or vocab. Turn English into a part of your life and figure out something fun that motivates you to pick up the langauge every day!

[@ricenflowers]

thank u I'm learning Korean I study a lot of grammar since it's something enjoy but listening and reading is how I've learned English so I want to try it for Korean too so I hope I can do it and ur tips are very useful 🎉

[@Busra-n]

Wow! Never heard of it before. Great tip, thank u so much!

[@tyrabjurman3584]

Dictionary learning using a list of vocabulary worked fine for me learning english and japanese. Just required a lot of grit, grinding and repetition ad nauseum.

[@nickwillis7770]

I too am learning Thai. I've been using Comprehensible Thai on KZbin. Which resources have you been using ?

[@dungeonsdustbowls]

i've been learning french at school for 5 years, and for the longest time i couldn't understand a thing. i had spent so much time trying to memorise verb conjugations, memorise different tenses, memorise when to use 'du' and 'de' and 'le', and yet i couldn't understand anything i heard or read. it wasn't until i started watching the french pokemon dub that i actually started to understand this language!!!

[@sylvanwhatcott3280]

This is fabulous! Well put together and fun to watch. The sheer RELIEF at getting "permission" to read and listen to things I like instead of 80 textbooks is *palpable* Do you have any thoughts for how someone could best apply this to learning ASL (and other sign languages)? That one is high on my list!

[@shoroqahmad2599]

Lol، this video is a one of kind! ldk why I didn’t see it before, plz keep the nice work up :)

[@oak7OO5]

To take this in context just remember your own native language which you've already acquired even before you learn it.

[@TheCebulon]

I do not see which video to watch at the end. That one, you recommend watching. Please put the link in the description. Thank you.

[@Military_twd]

I really like your video. I'm learning English through videos and tv shows

[@naturlichgerman2021]

Loved it! Really well done! Danke

[@chimanruler15]

Wow, I wasn't expecting you to be here! I love your videos!

[@zgoodt]

I am an English language teacher. I basically tell any parents that seek my help to teach their kids that we are not dealing with a school subject, we are dealing with a language, and the difference is huge. I also tell them that I can teach it as both a language and a subject, but the latter is just for tests, and they will not acquire a language from it at all.

[@chrisannecy6638]

It is pretty obvious that a visual support will help you understand a story or a any type of message. Meaning is of course important too, that s Why you could have mentioned context. But Education sciences have long ago clearly demonstrated that we don’t all learn in the same way. And other items count too such as culture and the cultural and linguistic gap -distance- btw your mother tongue and the language you learn.

[@saedyaish7768]

Thank you for advise

[@patrickcrain6390]

Wow. So that’s how I learned to speak Spanish? I didn’t know there was a name for it. I thought I was just immersing myself in the language. I’m about 85% fluent, I can read Harry Potter in Spanish but further progress is difficult. How do I jump that last 15% to complete fluency?

[@tonycook7679]

No problems, just give it 20 years of exposure to the culture. That last 15% is all the idiomatic forms that make no sense until you understand them and that only comes from exposure. I wish it was easier, but it is not.

[@lynxo5695]

Great video.

[@NewJerseyTico]

I copy short sentences from the internet and create MP4 videos in Canva. I add text and graphics related to the context, then download it to my PC to use as a wallpaper. The wallpaper changes every 15 seconds and repeats. This method works for me.

[@zulfiqaraliansari174]

Excellent Information, it worked

[@seanl6478]

So if I wanna learn French do I watch French kids shows with French subtitles or English subtitles? It’d have to be French right? So I can see the words they’re saying?

[@mithos789]

french

[@seanl6478]

@@mithos789 thank you :)