Learn a new language-super fast. Here’s how. | Steve Kaufmann | Big Think

Learn a new language-super fast. Here’s how. | Steve Kaufmann
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Canadian polyglot Steve Kaufmann says there is indeed a fast track to learning a new language. It involves doubling down on your listening and reading.
By taking the focus off grammar rules that are difficult to understand and even more difficult to remember, you can instead develop habits by greater exposure to the language. Kaufmann likens the learning process to a hockey stick.
In the beginning you make major progress as you climb the steep hill of the hockey stick, whereas the long shaft of the stick is the difficult part. Because you're not seeing day-to-day changes, you might lose motivation. So, stay the course by consuming content that interests you.
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STEVE KAUFMANN:
Canadian polyglot Steve Kaufmann speaks 20 languages and counting and believes that anyone can learn a new language. You just need to be motivated, willing to put in the time and have the right method. Steve has written books and maintains a popular KZbin channel and blog at thelinguist.com.
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TRANSCRIPT:
STEVE KAUFMANN: Is there a trick to fast track new learning? Yes, there is. Start almost in the middle.
Start almost in the middle. Not quite in the middle but start with, for example, what I do now because at LingQ we have what we call the mini stories, 60 stories with a lot of high-frequency verbs, a lot of conjunctions - because, although, on the other hand, however. I listen to these many, many times. Each story repeats the same vocabulary and the same structures about four or five times. And so I start right into everyday, common - I got up, had a cup of coffee, went to the store, whatever it might be, went to work. It's real situations. It's not going through customs like they like to have in language learning books. You just start into it, you do a lot of listening and reading, you let the language come at you, let the brain get a sense of the language, listen and then read the same content, look up the words. I always start on iPhone, iPad tutor so I can quickly look up words, save them for review and at first it's all noise, and eventually it becomes meaning because you're going over the same stuff over and over again. So that's I would say the initial three months to get a toehold in the language.
And then you have to very quickly push yourself away from beginner content, learner content written for a language learner, and go after the real stuff - newspaper articles, Netflix movies. And there's all kinds of ways of doing that. I think the key is to get a toehold in the language with lots of repetition and not worry too much about trying to memorize the grammar because if you haven't had enough exposure to the language, enough experience with the language, the grammar explanations are difficult to understand, difficult to remember and almost impossible to apply. You can't be thinking of them as you're trying to speak. You have to develop habits. And that's best done through this massive exposure initially with a lot of repetition and then eventually as soon as possible moving on to things of genuine interest.
When we start in a new language typically we're motivated. Now some people start and quit right away so those people were never really very motivated. But if you are motivated, the first two or three months is the honeymoon period. It's a steep climb because at first everything is noise, you know nothing. But in a very short period of time you actually know something. You understand something. You can say something. There's a great sense of achievement. And, of course, you're dealing with typically a lot of high frequency words so they come up all the time in the content you're listening to and you're listening to it more than once hopefully. And so I have a sense of achievement. Then you reach a point where frequency drops off very quickly in any language so very soon you're trying to learn words that don't show up that often, so that become a little frustrating.
So you've gone up the steep part of the hockey stick, and how you're on the shaft of the hockey stick and it looks like you're not getting anywhere. You just feel that you're forever facing more and more new words. You're listening again and again and you don't understand. You have the sense that you're not making progress whereas in the first three months you're going from zero, climbing a steep hill of that hockey stick, but you have a sense that you're doing something. Whereas the long shaft of the hockey...
Read the full transcript bigthink.com/videos/learn-lan...

[@bigthink]

Hey Big Thinkers! Which tip have you liked the most?

[@vxz90044]

Hopefully this helps when picking up python or java

[@auntyrukyurhoboteacher]

Lol. Computer language

[@avicennam7708]

Basically the same with a bit of maths

[@fisfisarenskanal]

@@avicennam7708 i would say kit's almost oppesite of natural language. When it comes to learning.

[@marshmelows]

HAHAHAH

[@victorianjeri1000]

Yeah I'll just listen to someone say python code 60 times

[@Performak_YT]

Steve in 3 Months: learns the basic of a language Me in 3 months: *"hOLa, qUiEreS uNa bAnaNo?"*

[@Mohammed-yd4uc]

ههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههههه

[@futurez12]

You're no different to Steve when Steve learned his first 2nd language (French). The difference lies in motivation. _Everbody_ has gone through this process once in their life. We can _all_ learn another language to "fluency." The differentiating factor is how much one wants it. So if that's your level after 3 months then you just weren't motivated to put in the kind of time and effort it requires. Just to say, I realize your comment may have been a joke for 'likes,' but I'll leave this reply here in case it helps others.

[@RogerWazup007]

I don't know if I agree with starting almost in the middle, but I do agree with later doing things in the language like watch videos, read articles, etc. Limiting yourself to learner materials will limit you to that lower level without the nuances of everyday speech, slang, regional variants, etc.

[@Talkinglife]

Few tips i have been practicing: How long do you think it would take you to achieve native level fluency in a new language? ... Make language learning a daily habit. ... Learn the right words the right way. ... Immerse yourself with free resources (at the right level) ... Speak from day one. ... Enjoy the language learning journey.

[@abhinavchauhan7864]

Speak from day one is bullshit. Steve Kaufman is againts this strongly

[@TheSailorTenjou]

That's how I learned the languages I know (though I can't boast 20 or even 10). I always focused on learning the words, expressions and the context they're used in. I actually started learning English by watching TV series and movies in English with subtitles. I would suddenly realise that a word they said is the word in the subtitles at the end and I would naturally remember those. Then I progressed to original fiction online. The simple language definitely made it easier for me. First time I tried to read a book in English and I understood everything was a glorious moment for me, I must say.

[@Cuythulu]

¿Que otros idiomas has aprendido así además de inglés?

[@michaelfolz971]

Your written English is a lot better than most native speakers. It’s crazy to think that it’s not your first language.

[@juliusseizure8857]

What’s your native language?

[@TheSailorTenjou]

@@juliusseizure8857 Romanian is my mother tongue, but then I learned Russian alongside Romanian while growing up, so I know that on a bilingual level. Complicated country history played a role here... EDIT: Your nickname made me chuckle, it's funny. But that may be also because it's after midnight and I'm still not asleep :D

[@TheSailorTenjou]

@@Cuythulu I know it's been 7 months since you posted your reply. For some reason, I did not see it. I do not speak Spanish, but I can understand your question more or less. It's hard to remember now specific expressions I learned in English, I know that I learned the natural order of words in English while watching TV. Like the small language ticks and quirks that you can learn only by talking with a native speaker, the natural flow of the spoken language. One expression I remember I thought was funny is "raining cats and dogs", in my language you would say "it's raining from a bucket". Completely different things saying the same thing.

[@Narniaru]

Completely and utterly agree as both a language learner and an ESL teacher. My Spanish is horrific and it's for many reasons but mostly because I just couldn't get past beginner crap because every course book seems to stick to that. I've got rid of coursebooks and following your idea of reading and listening and man has it changed my attitude and raised my level

[@LearningWithEkaterina]

Steve is the best! Thank you!

[@ISPEAKGA]

I learnt a lot. Thank you very much.

[@DoglinsShadow]

Thank you for this! I've beaten the tough start and now on the long part where it takes awhile. It's hard. Thank you

[@NiCaNaMex]

Great, thank you! Kinda of what I've been doing to pass a French translation exam. Nervous but it is only to finish an MA not to interpret/translate in a courtroom or anything serious. Being a Spanish & English speaker has helped enormously with French. It's amazing how sometimes in one sentence I can find a cognate/similarity with both Spanish and English. Blows me away. Thank you again.

[@pianofreak909]

“Anime for japanese” I died- why was that so cute

[@voltgaming2213]

As a person living in Japan that made me happy

[@bommyinholland6385]

Thank you so much 😊

[@scrz5819]

One of the best language learning advice I've heard. In my experiences in learning languages most of what he said were the reasons for my success.

[@MD-cu6wq]

I spent 8 months “in my own Internet Deutschland” and can attest to this method and time needed if one dedicates themselves as described. I started more or less in the middle with a wave of noise coming at me. A Wall of sound, perhaps an unfortunate choice of metaphor considering Spector’s sad life. Listening at least 2 hours a day picking up the more “fascinating “ sounds and translating/saving them “for later”. Then picked up some simple content from Chatterbug app- where you can see your 1000 reoccurring words in action as spoken by the natives . Then moved to Easy German, and lastly, history Dokus on Ard Mediathek/ ARTE + some podcasts. I am floating and not translating in my head word for word anymore. Getting to understand the implicit meanings more and more, the wit and humor - I can now really begin to enjoy the content that interests me. I am getting a foothold in Spanish also, but with priority on German 80/20. Periodically, I look at materials that were/ are beyond my reach and that’s how I assess the progress. Native Polish speaker. Came here to validate some of my methods and I will keep going. That moment you don’t need to struggle to understand and start enjoying the content is everything to me!👍🏼 Another important thing is to pick up the next foreign language when you still remember The pains of it being “foreign” and that it is OK not to understand anything. Just standing in front of another wall of sound. Knowing it is possible to climb over it in less than a year. What I will do different with Spanish is - write down those 1000 words first and then execute the steep ascent 🧗‍♀️🧗‍♀️🧗‍♀️🧗‍♀️🧗‍♀️🧗‍♀️🧗‍♀️👩‍🏭

[@leecherlarry]

good thinking. very general, but hopefully helpful

[@augustinechinnappanmuthria7042]

Super tips 👍

[@AmericanEnglishBrent]

The mini stories are a game changer. I’m a huge fan.

[@Higginz1991]

For the record, "super fast" is still about 3 years. Listening to languages tapes wasn't how anybody learned their mother tongue as a baby. What Lingo-steve is doing is giving people a way to start learning at home so when you are finally in the company of native speakers to begin learning in earnest, it's not completely overwhelming. There is no shortcut, this is what he means by constant exposure.

[@gabrielgads]

But the good thing is, you get many times faster on the next language! Especially if is closer to one of the languages you already know! It's so freaky!

[@futurez12]

I'm pleased someone said it. But even so, what is 3 years? 1 hour/day? 8 hours/day? IMO, if you want to get _really_ good, like C1+ good, then you're looking at near full immersion over a period of 3-5 years. People who say they did it from a couple of hours a day for 6-18 months are either FOS, or they've grossly overestimated their level. If we're talking about a language like Mandarin, for a European, it'll probably take 5-10 years of constant immersion for you to be even close to comfortable. It sucks, but it is what it is, and there are _no_ exceptions. Really, _none._

[@wisdom-for-all]

“To have another language is to possess a second soul” [Charlemagne]. Those who know nothing of another language know nothing of their own 🖖

[@RageRabbitGames]

exactly, a teacher of mine used to say "Two languages, two lives"

[@muhilan8540]

@Anthony Hooper also the second part, we speak our native language so naturally and intuitively that only when we learn a second we begin to recognize the features of our own.

[@stormsurge1]

Or the latin proverb: Quot linguas calles tot homines vales/how many languages you speak, that many people you are worth

[@_Everyone__]

I assume nowadays most people knows and uses multiple languages, I don't know anyone who doesn't. My daughter spoke 4 languages at the age of 4.

[@JT-xj1pg]

Is that supposed to be cute, clever or funny?

[@Rayji10]

I also like to think that a certain pace is also necessary.

[@sandydegener6436]

It's not "a lack of motivation" that turns people off, it's that they aren't able to speak as fast as they want to, say in a month, or even half a year.

[@futurez12]

Well that _would_ be a lack of motivation. Those who are truly motivated aren't looking at 6 months, they're looking to do whatever it takes, for however long it takes to reach a high level. If you have unrealistic expectations it means you haven't looked into what it takes to get to a high level, and if you haven't looked into that then you're lacking motivation.

[@sandydegener6436]

@@futurez12, here's the big problem with the methodology used in existing courses. They are teaching the student SOCIAL conversation, when they need TECHNICAL conversation. This is the MECHANICS of language, this gives you a base. Once you know the mechanics of language, you are ready for the social part, and are ready to use the apps or language sites that are so popular in this day and age. The mechanics are very easy to learn, even in long form, but the intense format can be taught over a kaffeklatch.

[@caramel..]

I -kinda- needed this lol ありがとうございます

[@sandydegener6436]

Another informative vid for those students who are at the intermediate level of LL!

[@guazonkiler3640]

Buen video

[@Rationalreason777]

Fortunately I already know English which has become the world's default language. All joking aside I can see the value in learning multiple languages.

[@gregoryashton]

My personal experience has been that Michel Thomas was one of the best teachers ever. I learnt French using his CDs and his method. I am now learning Norwegian. Unfortunately there is not as much content on platforms such as Duolingo when learning Norwegian.

[@joaov33r]

Exactly.. that's the main problem I think.. for instance I started to learn Croatian but after the very basics wasn't much content available.. so I switched to Polish.. which is actually more difficult... but given the number of material available (also did Michel Thomas Polish) I've progressed much faster.

[@alzirenesilva6641]

bom dia, me chamo Alzirene sou brasileira. sou sua fã

[@japl8512]

Its all about repetition! Point and simple... Even on days where you feel down and not in the mood to study, you have to force/discipline yourself to study. Otherwise one day will turn into another and you'll lose all motivation to learn the language.

[@mikesimonian484]

Plain and simple.

[@futurez12]

There lies the problem. 'Forcing' yourself isn't motivation. Motivation comes from within. Those who are truly motivated don't need to 'force' themselves to spend the time. Forcing yourself to do something leads to fatigue, burnout and ultimately quitting in 99% of cases.

[@hiraijo1582]

@@futurez12 sometimes you don`t feel in the mood......but if you "force" yourselve just to start and do a little bit....motivation will follow.....i experienced this with a lot of things i wanted to learn........remember when i started running 40 years ago.....some days i was not in the mood at all......but i forced myself to run just for 5 minutes.....some days this was enough and i stopped.....most days motivation kicked in......and i kept on running

[@Wagmiman]

I think I’ve always subconciously known this. This trick implies that language is usually taught wrong in schools especially with languages that have complex rules and grammar

[@NiCaNaMex]

YES. You are right. Language gurus know this too but schools keep doing it like that... but there are excellent teachers who intuitively know to tweak the teaching to make it more natural, like what prof says above .

[@DjArie09]

You re-wire your brain while learning a new language so listening is the key for your brain to gain enough familiarity with the language.

[@TathagatDarkAssassin]

He teaches many valid things but remember guys, his website literally says that they teach Latin with "content written by native Latin speakers for native Latin speakers." So....

[@henrytownshend8862]

Does he work at alchemillia hospital

[@SiriusArc7]

Thumbnail: Learn a new lan"gauge" faster Me: How do I learn a new one without making small mistakes?

[@TheSailorTenjou]

Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Do them while you are speaking and you will learn the right way sooner or later. It's even better when you are speaking to someone you trust to correct you. Plenty of people get a mental block that stumps them in learning a language - they are so afraid of making mistakes, they don't open their mouth to practice. And we all know that practise makes better. Remember - the point of speaking a language is not to speak it 100% correctly, it is to make yourself understood.

[@RojaJaneman]

There’s no way around mistakes. U will make plenty and often. Don’t matter. Just keep grasping whatever u can whenever u can. U will have learned a lot more than u can imagine before u know it. And then u can just keep building upon that.

[@williambudd2850]

Language learning is the one field where faster is NOT better! The faster you learn it the faster you will forget it. It takes constent repetition over a long period of time for all that information to stick.

[@josephstanford6585]

Thnx senor. Anianger deleget luow wimblow hells rhinestone cowboy! Lol this was helpful thanks. I still think it’s like a pyramid scheme where English is the sole language. Even so communicating, hands too! On another’s level is key sometimes lol

[@lionuncle8401]

英文對我來說很難，中文動詞沒有時態，也沒什麼文法， 單字也沒變化。中文不好寫但很容易說

[@dennisrkb]

Basically replicating the same learning process as being dropped into a foreign society cold-turkey.

[@NiCaNaMex]

EXACTLY. Or like a child in their mom's kitchen.

[@ussr7709]

My language has 36 letters. Its super hard to learn for foreigners and i *cannot* learn Russian

[@sebastianelytron8450]

If you dedicate your life to language learning like this guy (16 languages!) it becomes easy after a while because it is literally all you do in life. For us with other fields and specialties, the lack of time, incentive and motivation makes language learning a whole different ballgame. Learning languages as a hobby/passion is completely unlike dedicating your life to it, and I believe the advice given here ("exposure") is impractical.

[@Higginz1991]

It's easier because he's learned enough of them to know what's important to learn first. We've all made the mistake of getting stuck into a grammar book when what we should have done is simply learn useful phrases that fulfil immediate needs. This is what babies do, it's not any different for adults. The goal is to obviously communicate, not learn endless vocabulary for no reason. So the solution is to move to the country and be exposed? Obviously, not many can do that so what he's doing is simply giving people who only have themselves and a computer a primer in being able to truly start learning a language. Even at his level, you're looking at 3 years for the functional mastery of a language, and that's living in the country.

[@mehgamer467]

Its not impractical. There maybe communities that would help speak the language in your area or people you can talk to at least online. It may not be the exact same as what he suggest, but it can be almost or close enough. You literally can just do like 5 or 10 mins a day of learning a new language on like duolingo. You aren't busy 24/7. Thats not to say he doesnt have it easier, but thats not relevant to YOUR situation. Find substitutes.

[@sebastianelytron8450]

​@@mehgamer467 " It may not be the exact same as what he suggest" Thank you for agreeing with me :)

[@markkravitz4678]

👊 Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habit. My top entrepreneur @evenkingsfall (his insta) says you have to THINK BIG to WIN BIG! Always keep that energy! Don't stop the hard work ❤️

[@invox9490]

Anime as tought me the most useful word in Japanese: NANI? 😅

[@DomIstKrieg]

OMAE WA MOU SHINDERU?????

[@belivemyselfasamerican3801]

@@DomIstKrieg 日本語が下手です

[@belivemyselfasamerican3801]

もっと連取する

[@abhishekyadav6930]

Thumbnail shows lan'gauge'. That's what gonna happen if you rush learning something 😂😂

[@abhishekyadav6930]

@@ryanhenrydean1584 😅😅😂

[@ivanchew972]

all i wanted to do is fast track through the video

[@icepal2099]

I ws

[@ucheucheuche]

Bookshelves behind someone triggers me.

[@nelsona9381]

yes 'Anime' for Japanese

[@dannydoesdisco]

I heard "aunty may" in Australian 😂

[@moses777exodus]

Fascinating. Very informative. Thanks for sharing, Lord-Jesus-Christ dot

[@peeshmonz4321]

Is that Jim Rohn?

[@davidwilliams7552]

I was going to watch this but they can't even spell "language" properly.

[@kitsinoel]

POLISH!

[@kaustubhxdd]

thanks, biden.

[@sweiland75]

Go away, Trump.

[@Churlz]

@@sweiland75 his comment was noting the fact that this dude sorta looks like Joe Biden.

[@brendon2462]

Haha does kind of resemble him

[@kiky.mp4]

HHAHAHAAHA

[@belivemyselfasamerican3801]

僕は日本語が学びました。ここに誰か日本語お学びした？日本語が別に難しい 。最初の毎日に連取する。👍👍👍

[@imretarded2514]

lmao this is so unnatural

[@belivemyselfasamerican3801]

@@imretarded2514 Do you understand even

[@belivemyselfasamerican3801]

@@imretarded2514 are you Japanese person

[@imretarded2514]

​@RED RED What he wrote was super unnatural and broken, but I can get ths jist of it. I'll try to directly translate it. "I learnt Japanese (polite form). Did anyone here learn Japanese? (casual form, grammatically incorrect). Japanese isn't that difficult (grammatically incorrect, also misuse of vocab), Last sentence just makes no sense at all." In the third sentence, that's not how you use "betsu ni" or 別に, you'd probably write something like そんなに難しくない The weird combination of polite and casual form and incorrect grammar highlights the lack of depth in his Japanese knowledge and dude thinks he's fluent or something lmao - didn't bother to reply to his message. I don't claim to be good either, I'm only at JLPT N3 but this guy can't even pass N5 LMAO

[@soares5792]

@@imretarded2514 I'd kill myself if i had to learn Japanese, where are you now lol

[@williambudd2850]

This is just an advertizement for his linq langage learning program!!!

[@andriipurskyi23]

No. It's bullshit