Language Mentoring: Don't teach me, make me learn - Lýdia Machová at the Polyglot Gathering 2016

[@saoirse7167]

I had German lessons at school for years (recovered time-keeper), but made very slow progress. I got a boost of motivation at GCSE when I had more exposure to native speakers and I reached the point where I could communicate just a bit. My teachers practically begged me to continue for A-level and that's when I really started improving. I was the only one who signed up for the class, so they became more casual, with less reliance on textbooks and grammar and more talking. My teacher was a native-speaker and a second native-speaker joined as I was starting A-levels. I ended up getting a lot of attention from both of them, but we only covered the essentials of the syllabus. Mostly, they spoke German around and to me for about an hour every day. It was exhausting at first because I had to concentrate so hard to get the gist, but I learnt very quickly and soon I was able to relax. I went from just about being able to have a scripted conversation to chatting comfortably within about a year because I was encouraged/kindly forced to use the language, rather than study it. Not every teacher will remember your birthday and bring in homemade Bundt-Kuchen, but I wish more would help children find enjoyment in using a language. Language is a tool for communication and entertainment, not just something to be studied in theory. It's such a shame how much time is wasted with unsuccessful attempts to teach people languages and how many people come to believe they'll never get there.

[@ingridritter2601]

she's captivating and she's explaining well. I like her

[@bloodaxe5028]

Nicole Victoria yeah, she's hot

[@superdeluxesmell]

Lydia always looks like she’s singing karaoke in the thumbnails. I like it.

[@marvelousfrench5442]

I really enjoyed watching this - a great presentation with several useful points for both teachers and language learners.

[@ineszka22]

Thank you Lydia, you are great! I agree with you, I have a contact with English every day - watching movies etc. But the most difficult thing about studying on your own is self-discipline

[@piripiwaretini1314]

0ll

[@aprasovsky]

אני ממש אהבתי, לידיה מסבירה בצורה מאוד ברורה ומסודרת. Очень понравилось, как Лидия рассказывает, всё очень понятно и по порядку. I really like the way Lydia is explaining, everything is very clear and well-structured. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@ernestopaulino7937]

Every time that I want to quit learning french;I have come here;and this speech has motivated me a lot.

[@sddfsfsfsd]

very nice conference! I learned a lot thanks for sharing

[@yusufjonshodmonqulov8957]

Thank for excellent work and very useful video

[@_francaisconnecte]

Lydia, you are great communicator

[@hakimled4300]

i like that woman , she is an interpreter too

[@anka638]

Thank you very much Lýdia

[@abujafarsaminjonov4922]

Thank you a lot. I like your all videos.

[@AndrzejLondyn]

She has an American accent from TV series Friends with a Slovac influence. But it's nice.

[@benalexender3046]

Thanks from Egypt: )

[@learnalanguagewithleslie]

Do you know of any other polyglot gatherings? Bratislava is too far for me to travel from Australia... :-/

[@teo5146]

Lydia is awesome

[@codywilkinson3042]

Amazing Lydia!

[@clairerodrigue1992]

who ever is in my spanish class send me the answers

[@carverdidit]

Why does she talk like that

[@madalynmartin1705]

What did you put for the 2nd one

[@madalynmartin1705]

Hayden Chiasson tmr I get my seat back

[@carverdidit]

Olive Garden

[@max_reviews]

This is interesting

[@malloryanderson724]

I agree with her points. But even when I try my best every day isn't possible. My job is very physical and I'm often too tired to concentrate. It sucks but its true. Plus, life gets in the way. But I love learning when I can.

[@jimc2676]

I think that even if you don’t manage to do it every day you must do it as often as possible, even if it is for a very short time. However it is much easier for me now that I am retired

[@scottbowman27]

Everyone has at least 15 to 30 mins free even if means changing a schedule or looking at what's most important

[@ruxshonaberdibekova8112]

Lydia I love youuu😍😍😍❤

[@عبدالرازقخاطر-ط8م]

l like you so much lydia

[@KingKing-mf6ml]

Du bist sehr schön warum

[@Poszlakowaneopinie]

34:20 what challange?

[@eudincueva2468]

Hey do you guys know what I need to do to one of thi poliglot gathering?

11:30 primer experimiento

[@andrelearning]

The content of this conference is very good. But the sound quality is a disaster.

[@TheRados168]

super vysvetlenie

[@yusufjonshodmonqulov8957]

If I have a chance to go to Europe I really want to meet with you.

[@wilheminapage1847]

I'm a Liberian from Liberia, I love languages; I speak English how get to speak other languages?

[@jumaarbab1343]

if you have interesting to learn other languages you have to connect with different people that can help you to learn

[@jorgegomez524]

not for watching videos on youtube, I can tell you that. For experience. lol

[@plerpplerp5599]

Luvly jubbly.

[@Hochoimoingay365]

Don't teach me, make me learn

[@marlonmc8080]

If I like to read books or text interesting to me how I learn vocabulary like body parts or things of home, etc. Learn vocabulary it is complicated to me, I don't like it at all.

[@deadbydawn745]

18:30 "I never worked on my English as _intensively_ ..." Shouldn' it be "intensely" instead? I'm not 100% sure but I think, "intensively" has a different meaning and doesn't fit very well.

[@1980rlquinn]

Greetings, I'm a native English speaker and studied various writing styles as a minor at uni. "Intensely" means "to a great degree". "Intensively" implies a temporal aspect. For example: It was intensely humiliating to have to admit I couldn't speak Chinese even after 5 years of living there. Thereafter, I studied Mandarin intensively. When in doubt, check with dictionaries and other learners and native speakers. There are great resources online for parsing out the nuances of similes. Stackexchange(.com) in a given language is usually full of helpful responses.

[@deadbydawn745]

@@1980rlquinn Thanks for educating me on how to utilize the internet for finding solutions, but you forgot probably that posting a comment on KZbin can also be a great way to do exactly that. It's not that I didn't look up the word in a dictionary before I posted this comment. But the translation that I had found just didn't seem to fit. That's why I thought, why not ask the question directly under the video, so that maybe a well-trained person might be willing to help me to clarify. - Thanks for your helpfulness.

[@1980rlquinn]

@@deadbydawn745 Happy to assist, but don't rely too heavily on KZbin comments. Not all of them are helpful, depending on the kind of crowd drawn, and it was only lucky I cam across your comment having only just seen this (otherwise quite old) video recently. Hence the link. Always better to build up a collection of reliable resources!

[@yitahn]

this helped me a lot with my english classes, thank you for sharing

[@Nicolethelinguaphile]

I can't tell you how many students I have had that do not make progress because they only show up to the class and do not use English outside of the lessons. I strugged just like her to figure out how to get them more engaged in their learning. I will definitely be putting this approach into practice!

[@aungwinnaing4682]

Really interesting. Could we get the transcripts of her videos?

[@BrentStrathdeePehi]

I totally agree with the idea that successful learning comes from actual learning and not teaching - thus motivation is key. I teach Maori (indigenous language in New Zealand) to predominantly Maori teens in high school - although they’re Maori kids the vast majority don’t speak Maori due to colonisation...(long story) The motivation to learn is sadly very low - What are some good ideas to get them to WANT to learn? I see your example is mainly adults in university

[@ivanfribaserra7022]

Thanks Lydia! You're wonderful love way that you speak..

[@YManCyberDude]

She speaks of "Language Cafes" but I wonder if they've ever considered using something like "Discord" to set up a server(s) and actually talk to native speakers all over the world . . .

[@dafullymad365]

It works but it is just not that unique.

[@bloodaxe5028]

She has a British accent but her name is not English.

[@andymounthood]

Yes, she's Slovak.

[@keegster7167]

she has a bit of a Slovak accent too. You can hear it when she pronounces L, especially. As well as with diphthongs.

[@AlphaHlafdige]

British accent? :D

[@akazawayuki984]

I don't know but wouldn't it be better if she was given a mouthpiece mic...

[@yancarlovega2149]

I love her i'm from Costa Rica someone wants to learn spanish i'm learning german and russian any help?

[@jorgegomez524]

if you marry her you wouldnt need to learn any more languages

[@ruthnunesdesousa802]

Very good Lydia

[@ruthnunesdesousa802]

Very good Lydia

[@michaelabercrombie7698]

Tried italki. Wasted a lot of money. Didn't learn jack.

[@Languagementoring]

Hi Michael, sorry to hear about your experience. It can also depend on what kind of teacher you find etc.

[@romanstaszak244]

+Lydia I wish you all the best and success and stay humble:-)))))) Greetings from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK

[@danielg4135]

Indeed, ideally we should be a "fruit upon the tree of humility".

[@enrikianlages]

26:30