Language Levels, Losing Motivation, and Pet Peeves | Answering Your Questions with

Natalia is back again and this time we’re answering your questions and giving you some advice!
Hear our answers to more questions in this video on Natalia’s channel: • why do i understand mo...
Find out if your assumptions about us as language learning KZbinrs are true here: • Relevancy, Fear of Jud...
And here: • 🤥 lying about fluency?...
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Chapters:
0:00-0:40 Intro
0:40-2:16 Are my methods wrong?
2:16-4:39 What we wish we knew before learning languages
4:39-7:45 Are language levels important?
7:45-9:09 I’m only motivated when I’m busy
9:09-13:03 When to tell people you’re learning a language
13:03-15:51 Language learning pet peeves
15:51-17:55 How we study grammar
17:55-21:34 Would we change our mother tongue?
21:34-23:35 Responding to “You should learn X instead”
23:35-27:04 Losing motivation after failing
27:04-27:23 Outro

[@tomg268]

When people say you should learn x language because it’s useful, they don’t realise that a) you will learn a language you actually want to learn quicker than you will learn one that is ‘useful’, and b) learning less-spoken or minority languages is also extremely useful, not only for language sustainability but also because not many people outside that community can speak that language, making you more in demand!

[@jrcenina85]

I studied Latin and Ancient Greek in college (how “useless” can one get?) and I like to think that the study of those languages have shaped my way of thinking far beyond any visible usefulness. For example, the rigor of translating ancient works sharpens one’s deductive reasoning and forces one to think creatively but within disciplined parameters. Also, studying the “useless” dead languages like Latin creates a sorta hyper-awareness of etymology. I’m like always thinking about the root words of every English word that I encounter and I’m able to guess with high accuracy the meaning of unknown-to-me words and words in other languages if they have Latin/Greek origins. I now work with code on a daily basis and looking at a small snippet of computer language feels very similar to how it felt as an undergrad staring at an incomprehensible Latin sentence for 2 hours. I can’t help but think that “useless” Latin helped train me for my career in tech. So, it seems one isn’t so seemingly doomed if they choose something “useless”. If this response is incoherent it’s because I didn’t go back to read what I wrote 🤫

[@tomg268]

@@jrcenina85 exactly! There’s no such thing as a useless language!

[@corgisrule21]

That’s why i didn’t do better in Spanish in HS. I did ‘t wanna learn it and if I don’t want to do something (for better or worse), it’s VERY hard to put everything into it 😂

[@NataliaGarza]

I’m here and ready to here myself talking about wanting to move to Korea even though I already knew I was moving when we filmed this 😂😂

[@PolyglotProgress]

Me nodding along like I wasn't talking to you about your flight literally 10 minutes before filming this 👀

[@NataliaGarza]

@@PolyglotProgress AHAHAHAHA TRUUUUUUUE

[@nextlifetimebrendan3940]

@@PolyglotProgress LMAO

[@annabelle_620]

I remember feeling like crying when I bought some of my first textbooks and study guides. I didn’t realize how expensive they are😂😂

[@readingwithursula9706]

I totally agree with your comments about respecting other people’s learning styles. I have seen a lot of people pushing “input only at the beginning” approaches a lot lately and they seem to be the most critical of other approaches. I personally like output/textbook based learning but I can see how input first is helpful/easier for some people. I also think a lot of polyglots forget that some people are learning a language because they have to and not because they enjoy it, so a classroom/textbook environment works better for them. I see way too much criticism of traditional methods.

[@emel3925]

I love these videos because none of my friends are interested in language learning, but i love these types of questions 🤓 when you spend so much time studying a language alone, it's nice to kind of come up for air and talk about the actual experience 😄

[@PolyglotProgress]

I completely agree! I love that KZbin and social media give us all a chance to talk about language learning even when we don't have people around us who are as interested as we are. I also never would have met Natalia if it weren't for the internet!

[@JonathanOlelo]

About how expensive language learning is: It can be very expensive, but it shouldn't be. I achieved fluency in Spanish and French without spending over 1000$ for each. But in the first foreign language I learned (English), I spent much more. So I guess you learn how to learn better (and cheaper) over time.

[@PolyglotProgress]

Very true! I think as you continue you know what works well for you and what's not worth the money, so it's a lot easier to budget for it!

[@corgisrule21]

How is learning a language (like Korean, for example) that expensive? I mean, classes help, sure, but there are SO many free resources online alone. Depending on where you live, too, there are churches and markets, etc where you can get input and feedback with speaking and maybe find a language partner if you want to. Sure, classes can be pricey (though iTalki is SO cheap compared to classes here in the US!) and if you only buy the books you actually need/use, it shouldn’t be bad enough to warrant the “omg I wish I’d know I would have to get a second job to support my language habit” thinking 😂 Just my opinion/experience, but I don’t want someone to not study a common (easy to find resources for) language because they think they’ll have to take out a second mortgage. ☺️💜 I came here from Natalia’s channel and i loved it! I wanna check out more vids 😍👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@nurkamiliailyana]

" you're not a beginner you were 2 years ago " I LOVE THIS!!

[@claire_450]

I love it when I refresh my KZbin and see that you've posted a new video! 😃

[@PolyglotProgress]

This makes me so happy 🥺

[@bunnyteeth365]

Finnish is my dabbling language. I just watch videos from the channel Finnished and kind of pick up a few words and structures here and there. I like Finnish, but I'm not sure if I'll commit to it. For some reason I see myself getting very passionate about in about five years. Either way I find being semi-familiar with a language makes it a lot easier for me to memorize words. So I kind of see this is a pre-studying.

[@emel3925]

i love that, i'm also dabbling in a language (that's majorly taking a back seat to my main target language), and "pre-studying" is a great way to describe it 😄 it's the native language of one of my closest friends, so it definitely helps that I can use the little bit I do pick up with him and it doesn't just go in one ear and out the other

[@bunnyteeth365]

@@emel3925 I've enjoyed Finnish music for years. I started naturally picking up Finnish words even though I wasn't even trying to. So it is a pretty fun language to passively study.

[@GarnetsWeb]

I've lowkey wanted to dabble in Finnish.. but dang, it looks crazy difficult 😭

[@prestokrs1]

Natalia is such a deep thinker. She always has amazing points of view.

[@FrugalOverFifty]

I really enjoyed both your video and Natalia's. I appreciate the thoughtfulness that you put into responding to each of these questions. Thank you so much.

[@PolyglotProgress]

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for watching!

[@souhailaseck5543]

Glad i've heard that discussion, i would stop judging my self!!

[@PolyglotProgress]

So happy to hear that!!

[@paulmakiana]

thanks for this funny and useful conversation :-) please continue talking about language learning experience in this way.

[@PolyglotProgress]

I'd love to have more casual language conversations with other people in the future! I'm glad you enjoyed the video

[@RebeccaChinn]

This is such great content! Thanks for making this! you both deserve so many more views :D

[@PolyglotProgress]

Aw thank you so much!!

[@prestokrs1]

All my languages (outside of English) are swiss cheese. 😅 So many holes. French not quite as much because I learned in school.

[@MrAgares69]

Good evening from Brazil ladies...🇧🇷💋❤🇧🇷

[@Kender591]

6:14 so many people can relate to this😁

[@Sarah-bp2dv]

I'm a native german and I love my language because I can speak it and I have no Problem with "der, die, das..." and I understand almost all dialects and I like that I still have to learn the english as the World language so I have 2 languages that I have to know perfect. I also learn french in school but i'm very bad but after school I "can" speak 3 languages that's very cool but I don't have enough time for my korean studying...

[@Sarah-bp2dv]

And sorry for my english i'm still learning it and i'm not a native so....

[@PolyglotProgress]

No need to apologize for your English, you're doing great! Maybe you'll have time for Korean soon :)

[@AmesDiary]

Funny you talk about where French is spoken, you missed one XD Some parts of The Channel Islands they speak Sarkese (Sark-French). You also might be interested in their history too, the islands were the only British territory to fall under Nazi rule.

[@user-su1rd1hm4m]

As an impartial observer of the English, I also have a question. I can't get over the thought of how ridiculous 'a' & 'the' is in English. Americans don't understand where the nouns are?;)

[@siaelodi]

A noun can be a verb because of Shakespeare 🤣

[@EliasOjeda-mv6cg]

so far i have spent 0$ learning languages :3

[@zoo3708]

I'm really sorry if you've been asked this a million times and if so feel free not to answer but generally when starting a language from knowing absolutely nothing what is the very first thing you do?

[@GarnetsWeb]

It depends on the language. Languages with a new alphabet/script to your own native language, well...first thing is to learn the script. Some may say go straight to immersion, but if you want to start using textbook resources, you will have to know how to read. If you're learning a language with Latin letters, that's one thing out of the way. You can already read it, you just have to learn that the pronunciation will be different regardless of it looking the same as all other Latin letters. After that hurdle... Just start. Learn how to say greetings, learn about things that you typically talk about daily anyways (such as your job, school, hobbies, etc), and try to listen to as much native content as possible, such as kids cartoons. Lots of people say don't start with grammar, but I disagree. I want to know how a language works so I at least don't sound totally lost. However, you can just use a ton of visual/audio input as a substitute. Your brain will always learn through context.

[@prestokrs1]

I think women spend much more on language learning. I personally try to pay as little as possible to learn languages. There are so many free resources.