TED TALK The Secret For Learning A New Language - Ultra Polyglot Reacts To Hyper Polyglot

[@AnaArauzo-d9y]

6:55 I do believe the scientific term is *monolingual beta*

[@DenUitvreter]

I had 6 years of French in school, read Voltaire, Sartre and Camus and stuff, but would have trouble buying a baguette. Then I went hitchhiking through France and in becoming conversational all the vocabulary rapidly unlocked, it had been there all the time, I just had to learn how to reach it. Also in conversation while becoming conversational your brain is so busy processing and interpreting, it's almost like a natural lucid high. It's a buzz, it's high alertness, high perceptiveness, high imagination in making up possible meanings and eliminating them on what comes next. Your brain goes from commuter to racing driver and my advice is to embrace being out of your league and ride on the buzz.

[@RogerRamos1993]

@@DenUitvreter You're 100% spot on. Many don't get that. I often explain to other people here on KZbin that if you listen and read to a language often (intermediate level and above) when it comes the time for speaking it, it will take some time, but you'll be able to do it.

[@LovePikaMusic]

BTW she also has other videos on language learning that I'd very much recommend, I believe her channel is called jazykovy mentoring, she does have her own business set up that's basically coaching people how to learn a language (not teaching a specific language but teaching methods for learning it), I haven't taken her courses myself as I don't have a need for that but the stuff she says in her talks available on youtube (I prefer to listen to them in Slovak but English is also available) is something I vouch for, she really nailed it. I see you have a problem with the word "polyglot" and, well I get it, but I think for most of us does not have that negative connotation, in any case it's used a lot outside of youtube (look up polyglot gathering, it's an international yearly event, basically a conference and great opportunity to learn stuff and meet people), and really just means "someone who speaks multiple languages", there's no sense or point in censoring it or replacing with lengthy phrases when we already have a word for it, you know? So I hope, you don't take it for bad. Cheers

[@eyeofthasky]

He confuses "polyglot" with "hyperpolyglot" -- that's the term all those self acclaimed wonder child's use since it's more than 3

[@LovePikaMusic]

@@eyeofthasky maybe maybe... honestly I don't even find 3 languages impressive, in my part of the world that's almost the minimum (at the very least, learning 2 foreign languages is a mandatory part of school, though you could technically get ok marks without really speaking the language) It's actually kind of awkward seeing native english speakers get all amazed to find out someone knows more than 1 language because the natural reaction to me would be more like "mhm alright"

[@thomasalbrecht5914]

So the “secret” is: - motivation - devoting lots of time - finding what works for yourself - use content you like. In other words, there is no “secret”, and if you learn languages only because you “collect” them, there are limits. Use it or lose it. I use four languages daily, but this means that the time I have for a fifth one is already limited, let alone the time I would have for a sixth, seventh or eighth one. Either you have a job that requires you to do it, or you have hardly anything else to do in your time.

[@dinninfreeman2014]

Ultra polyglot gigachad alpha male

[@KillerCSM]

That brings me back to my early schoolyears where i struggled with english. And then i got the DVD set of the A-Team and watched it first in english with subtitles and after a while i did not need them anymore... i went from a D to a B student in not even a year of shool, because of the A-Team

[@libertycowboy2495]

I pity the fool who doesn't do this!😊

[@cantthinkofabettername7016]

I always say that I am a "polyglot" by mistake, because I hate learning languages but due to some life circumstances I got to learn 7 to various degrees of fluency. However one thing I wanted to add is also to have good teachers. I had an awful German teacher in high school and even though I live now in a German speaking city I still have troubles with the language today (10 years later) because it still reminds me of the "trauma" she put me through and therefore I'm not able to enjoy the language. If you have a choice and see that one teacher is not good for you, then go to someone else as soon as possible.

[@patchy642]

Isle of Tenerife, Spain, Africa. Hey folks! Let's see today's gem. Metaman, I look forward to following your continued snake-oil polyglot witch-hunt. I in the little Gaelic KZbin sphere often get praised and vilified, adored and demonised, for doing something very similar with the so-called teachers of Irish Gaelic, unfortunately at least 90% of them teaching unsuspecting students all the wrong phonemes, and one of your own videos was very instrumental in allowing me to gain some traction in my own campaign against such false prophets. I'm eternally grateful to you. Best wishes, Patchy.

[@DominikGuzowski]

I knew I recognised this TED talk, we were told to watch it when I did an elective module in Japanese & Korean in university.

[@mbdg6810]

And I watched it on my own time just being a linguaphile.

[@LovePikaMusic]

GASP IT'S BACK THANK YOU

[@roza6827]

around the 17 minute mark youre right it is continuous, and i just realised it was something i never even realised whilst i started learning languages till i heard you say it aloud

[@edim108]

Enjoying the process is the most important part. You can have "The Most Scientifically Effective Method" *TM* of language learning but if you hate it you won't stick to it and won't learn a thing. That's how I learned English- multiple hours of playing Skyrim and watching KZbin every single day- and I made incredible progress, going from barely coherent to fluent in two years. If your brain associates the language you're learning with something enjoyable it'll absorb it like a sponge just by exposure to it. The more immersion and engagement the better it works. That's how I've been learning Russian now and I'm making so much more progress than I anticipated from previous experiences learning German and Spanish in school.

[@ldmtag]

I can confirm, this is how I learned English! At school I loved English lessons, I daydreamed about visiting the sunny London or 'murica just like in the movies. I also loved cars, and and some point I was so furious about russkistani low quality automotive journalism, I decided I better watch american videos and understand every third word at best, than watch or read inaccurate and biased garbage. Special thanks to Doug DeMuro, the guy who almost single-handedly have taught me good modern conversational American English❤

[@Araanor]

Self talk even wrongly is very beneficial because it’ll teach you to think and not translate the language. You’ll be corrected later and it’s no issue. Kids learn that way and I got fluent in English just by watching Cartoon Network before even entering school as a kid.

[@MrRabiddogg]

I would think that rate of learning depends largely on how well you speak other languages with a high degree of mutual intelligibility to it. Like that episode of Night Court.

[@Seacle14]

Is it actually true that most people want to speak mainly? Only speaking for my specific bubble of Japanese learners here but most people I see are preoccupied with reading/listening to native media first and speaking is more like a "stretch goal".

[@letmedoit8095]

Japanese is a special case, I feel like. A lot of people are learning it because of games, manga, animes, doramas etc., that are untranslated. But why would you learn a language like Portuguese? Probably not because you enjoy trashy Brazilian series, and if there are interesting books most likely they'll be translated. People learn it either because they want to visit Brazil or Portugal, or because they need it for work, or because they have a Portuguese-speaking relative etc. So for all of this speaking is a primary skill.

[@LovePikaMusic]

yeah tbh same (not Japanese but every language I've learned or tried to learn, the primary goal was understanding it, not necessarily speaking - even chatting on forums had priority) i guess it depends on personality (introvert or extrovert) as well as whether you're learning a language for personal goals or because you need to (eg for work). If you need to, then you'll probably be expected to get to speaking it as soon as possible.

[@RogerRamos1993]

@@Seacle14 Being able to speak a language is cool, but understanding the language is the cooler part when you love movies and books. With sites like IMDB and Goodreads, you can always find good content in any language you learn.

[@ernstkrudl4895]

Some years ago I looked at Lydias website, watched the videos. She or rather the AI sent me dozens of mails every months "insisting" I should learn German with her. I wrote back that this would be my native language. and I am not interested. The AI ignored this, and so I blocked severall of her email in consequence. The slavic l is very strong in her English, and she comes from an area where severall languages were spoken through the history at the same time, so her "many" languages had a good start in her early days.

[@LovePikaMusic]

Just a lil note if I may, "several languages spoken through history" means precisely nothing for your language skills if you were not in fact born/raised at the time where they were spoken (unless you're really into reading historical documents in the original language i guess). And means rather little if there's a minority in your city that speaks if you do not talk to them in that language.

[@ernstkrudl4895]

@@LovePikaMusic I am aware many/most of the multi language areas lost their language richness in the last century due to the big wars and what followed. Anyway I go from my few personel experiences of people/families who kept the language traditions in privat or on the other hand kids who refused to keep up this tradition . Well, knowing or able to recognize a few languages makes it of course easier to meet people who are language afin, not necessarily in an academic way but in communication ability. From your channel I see you are dancing around languages, too. My most extreme experience was I met an old Chinese in China who spoke Russian, from the Mao Stalin time. We could exchange some words, he had lost all his language friends long time ago. A very positive example I met in Italy near the slovenian border, they kept their language tradition and all generations spoke Italian, Slovenian and German. And a last one , Metatron had a video recently about if Italiens understand Romanian. Well I knew a Romanian lady living in Austria who called her Italian friend regularely. They were speaking very fast, but from some discussion on words I would guess one would speak Italian and the other Romanian. Have a nice week!

[@LovePikaMusic]

@@ernstkrudl4895 mm yes, that was an interesting read thank you. About Lydia specifically though, the languages I remember she spoke of having learned are not the ones that'd be the obvious choice considering where she's from, except english (global language which everyone learns at school, though she made some very strong points about why the sort of language education received in school is pretty useless even if you get good marks in class) and german. I suppose you can expect a degree of familiarity with German from anyone from central Europe, but... even in bilingual areas most people still need to actively seek out exposure and put in conscious effort to learn the other language. I'm not sure what you were able to gather from my channel, seeing as I don't really upload stuff... I'm really curious now what you mean?

[@ernstkrudl4895]

@@LovePikaMusic Well, looked at your channel and saw content in different languages, even cyrillic, so that gives an impression of a broader experience and interest in life, thats all, I am 72 and I seldom dig deeper, am occupied with my own language learning. My experience with language learning at school is different. I was quite helpful to have a good understanding of English grammar in later life. The conversation skill came in easy. Also the 6 years of Latin helped a lot to understand English better and also easier to learn Spanish. So every exposure to language turned helpful in my life. Now I recover Spanish from 50 years ago, and all I had learned so many years ago, sprang again into conscious memory very easily. A wonder how the brain has kept it for so long. the language journey is fascinating ;-)

[@LovePikaMusic]

@@ernstkrudl4895 ah I see. I was caught off guard seeing as I don't really produce content, but it's true that I am into languages (BA in historical linguistics actually), and I also like to listen to music in different languages, though I don't necessarily speak all of them - I do make sure to at least check up on a song's translation before adding it. Maybe language education has changed since you were in school, or maybe it varies (it does, to an extent, depend on the individual teacher, and of course things like national policy regarding language instruction also have an effect), but basically one of the key drawbacks of it (which she also mentioned and I find it to be probably THE biggest thing) is not using the language outside of class (or homework or preparing for an exam). Formal examinations are also more predictable, and it's often easier to get good marks in a language class than use the language in a more spontaneous context. A very motivated or very talented student may still learn a language very well, but in that case that's down to the student, not the teacher. Often schools and teachers like to overfocus on either grammar rules/"drilling" or conversation (this seems to fluctuate over time, from one extreme to the other), focus on one aspect of the language while neglecting the other. What's really most effective is not "just focus on the rules" nor "don't worry about the rules, you'll figure it out as you go along" - it's a balance. Individuals may find that one or the other works better for them personally, but a good teacher will at least offer both options.

[@eyeofthasky]

0:40 the good ones are most probably proper "TED" --- do NOT confuse them with "TEDx" which is not directly coordinated by them and does not have quality control, basically anyone can go up there on the stage and give their motivational speech about scrying for whatever using crystals ....

[@ostsan8598]

Ted has also been declining in quality, unfortunately. It's really hard to tell which is which, sometimes.

[@WhiteWolf126]

TED has quality control? What are you smoking? It's just political liberal globalist propaganda.

[@JasperSynth]

6:50 The next level is Hyperpolyglot Gigachad Alpha Male who is attractive to every woman… and man on the planet. There is only one man who has achieved such a status.

[@rodicadraws]

Sono d'accordo con entrambi. In più potrei dire che la curiosità è molto importante. Andare anche a tradurre semplicemente una parola che hai sentito/letto per esempio. Vabbè...questo sarebbe, magari, il 'metodo' più lento ma comunque ora come ora ci sono molti strumenti in più a portata di mano. Fra youtube, traduttore e varie app c'è l'imbarazzo della scelta. Forse potrei fare anch'io un video su questo argomento...🤭🤭

[@shirl6135]

Ah I have seen her .. it was the copy chat method . Olly Richard’s did a reaction too

[@twodyport8080]

You should review Mikel Hyperpolyglot. He learnt fluent Japanese in 3 months.

[@RogerRamos1993]

Please, do it, Metraton. 😊

[@adonasbuhr2784]

How do you know he learned Japanese in 3 months to fluency?

[@RogerRamos1993]

@@adonasbuhr2784 He's joking.

[@twodyport8080]

@@adonasbuhr2784 because he said he was able to learn any language in 3 months. A Hyperpolyglot wouldnt lie.

[@JimWatchingSpanish-o7y]

I would enjoy that video, but I also really don't want that guy getting more views on his channel.

[@vulkanofnocturne]

Almost one year without using shampoo and at this rate I'm not going back.

[@bryanlewis5233]

A decade in and I have no regrets! Although I will say I always notice how great Metatron's hair is when I watch his videos. Whatever he's doing works for him!

[@hagbard72]

Did that years ago for about two years, then got what can best be described as cradle cap. Still not gone and its been over a decade. What I do highly recommend though is giving up shaving cream (if male). Really close shaves, smooth and quick. Takes a month or two to adjust. Been doing that for at least twenty years (well, not so much recently, have a beard).

[@juanignacioarriagadawurth8527]

You only wash it with water?

[@vulkanofnocturne]

@ Yea, the other guy made me worried when he mentioned cradle cap but so far I've had no problems. I think it'll be twelve months in mid-late March. I stopped using shampoo when my scalp started weeping pus whenever I washed my hair. Eew.

[@christopherellis2663]

I'm slowing down. Start speaking ( to myself, as a go about my business), Start by reading and listening .Conversation is not a necessary skill. Understanding an out of the blue question in the street is.

[@MilesDei95]

1st you either learn out of need or out of desire. 2nd it is easier if you accualy want to learn it and if it is fun for you. 3rd find a teacher not soem dualingo stuff. 4rd practise, practise and have fun doing so. I learned 2 languages 1st it took me 18years beforei spoke english and the 2nd took me just 1 year to be fluent(tbh it was ukrainian and i am polish so it was easy), i leanerd german for a while, but financialy i was unable to pay for classes.

[@CrimsonSun-n3i]

where did the TMNT figurines go? 😟

[@adonasbuhr2784]

From what I can tell there has never been a single well funded and rigorous study of how people learn languages to fluency, let alone how polyglots learn languages. So what we are stuck with are endless people who claim to know "the secret" and that secret is usually being consistent and act as if talent doesn't exist or exists doesn't matter even a little bit.

[@norbertzillatron3456]

That's how English turned from a boring school subject into something interesting for me: My new English teacher lent me her "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy. It was really tough, but I enjoyed it.

[@norbertzillatron3456]

I'm still a voracious bookworm and read lots of novels in English.

[@emcollier]

Is that a Commodore 64 on your desk? I still have mine, l love your language and history videos!

[@elenaekanathapetrova2282]

I'm not fluent at English and do mistakes but I think I can handle some conversation and be able to understand and be understood. so, I can get by and I talk to myself quite a lot and mostly I do this way my speaking practice. but I don't really bother to memorize all of this just because I'm aware that it's can become a bad habits. and also if I speak to myself I can do this as a diary. texting is helpful for self-correction. you can also ask someone to check it or use AI tools to check and I think in case you are read a lot and watch good quality English speaking materials you have good input that helps you to figure out how normally language works and I don't think it's a big problem. if you have some mistakes you can clear it especially if you are didn't made super intensive practice with the piece of language that you are not sure about or was wrong about. so, I think my approach is try different things and go slowly but surely. anyway I think the same methods and practice can work different for different people and something that maybe works well for me don't work the same for other people and that's also good to know when you watch some piece of advice usually I try to figure out the main principles that works for people and for me specifically and it is different according to my level and my needs (how i'm going to use the language\what kind of functional ability I need )

[@CrawfishDeluxe]

Easily the best way to tell whether someone is legitimately capable of speaking a language on KZbin is to see if they ever actually teach the language. If 99% of every video is them just talking about language theory or why every other 'established' method' doesn't work, before giving a fluffy vague claim of a better way, there's a good chance they're not really that good.

[@edspace.]

So how about this for the ultimate language learner beyond polyglot, hyperglot and megaglot I present: "Glottland Glottland Uber Alles, Uber Glottal Im Der Welt" Granted I fall into the UN category of "Partially Lingual" but still, perhaps I should do a talk on how I got nearly fluent in conversational English in roughly thirty years.

[@Von_D]

7:00 Maximum Over-polyglot

[@Lexie810-b5r]

You can get great language audio input here on youtube with bilingual stories, they will read a sentence of a story in English then read the same sentence in target language. Polyglot Beats on youtube does that well for multiple languages and there other channels for specific languages... its been helping me get passive listening and learning when going on walks... time is by FAR hardest obstacle in language learning - anything that can get us some passive learning is a plus 😊😊

[@mohamadelaouini951]

What do you think about stephen krashen? Please do a video about him.

[@timotejkmec5720]

SLOVAKIA IN THE VIDEO🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰 🇸🇰

[@ZoosheeStudio]

Listening to other polyglots is probably one of the worst advice she gave. She said "It will most probably work for you too" I dont know any english speaker that would say that. "It will probably work for you too" would be better. But a quirk like that might be passed by, or ignored by an english speaker. Allowing language learners to continue making mistakes like that.

[@mortonthiockol2387]

I wish I could put my finger on it but, the way she speaks reminds me of the scam ads I've been seeing.

[@davidbraun6209]

How would I know I was talking to myself in proper Tongobongo (hypothetical language) or Italkian (Judeo-Italian dialect)?

[@zoxoor3759]

From all the language nerds out there, she had to mention the most idiotic one :-(

[@jacobtb1]

It is the same with programming. Make it fun or burn out.

[@RogerRamos1993]

I'm crazy about languages and I see no scenario in which I won't study at least 20 of them (unless I have an early death ofc). Native speaker of BR Portuguese. Then there are the languages I know best which are English and French. Then there's Italian, Spanish, some Catalan, some Romanian and something like an A2 German (reading) and A1 (other skills). This year, I'll try to consolidate my Romanian and improve my German. 20 minutes of Duolingo for Norwegian and Dutch daily (each). Those are the main ones. I've dabbled in many others, but I consider I have zero knowledge in them (Albanian, Greek, Russian, Japanese). Besides all of those, I'll have a go at Slavic languages and Turkish at some point. And I would also like to learn some Hindi, Bengali, Persian, Arabic.😢 Of course, by doing so, one sacrifices proficiency, but that's the price to pay.

[@Fadogar911]

08:07 Did she actually learn spanish? Because I'm pretty sure she meant so say "José" and not Xhosayy

[@Shrapnel82]

You can learn a language and still have an accent.

[@Fadogar911]

@@Shrapnel82 an accent, yes. the way she pronounces things, she couldn't even hold a conversation. speaking is part of learning a language, so if you speak it badly, you didn't actually really learn it.

[@jansoltes971]

​​​@@Fadogar911There's a video of her speaking Spanish here on YT. Search for her name + Spanish. It's quite short but I dare say she's got a decent command of the language (even though with a foreign accent). Yes, she pronounced "José" like a common Slovak person would with little knowledge of Spanish. I guess she was in her Slovak mode at that moment or she simply didn't care. Anyway, judging her overall abilities by just one word is a bit too much, especially the way you put it. She accompanied the PM of her country as an interpreter. It was in Poland, so the language is quite closely related to her native Slovak, but still. In her own words, however, Polish was her hardest language because of many false friends and different endings of verbs, nouns and adjectives. Might you slack it, you'd end up speaking Slovak with Polish pronunciation - a hybrid language. I mean, you don't get to interpret for a high-ranking politician if you're not really good. I believe she's genuine. Anyway, you can get in touch and challenge her. Just google her name and you'll easily find her website.

[@Baphomane]

17:56 Deus Vult!!!

[@FENomadtrooper]

So weird to see you calling yourself a polyglot in the title (even though you darn well are one,) it's just you never really have done that. *edit* Yup, you explain this at 6:00

[@byronwilliams7977]

No disrespect, but you and Christophe Clugston have a lot in common. High standards come at a price, keep up the great work.

[@PC_Simo]

For me, Mathematics is its own reward. That feeling of cracking that one problem/puzzle, or seeing that proof materializing in front of you. Also, I have been commended for solving that exponential equation, or for doing this multiplication quicker, than the calculator. 🙂

[@Wonderkid44]

Be careful with this one, Ive heard Ted Talk have a thing with for bogus copyright claims.

[@geoffalpert3678]

Metatron with all the language videos you do can you do a video on Gaelic

[@patchy642]

Hey, feel free to use any of mine, one of which Metatron features in.

[@vendasch666]

No Czech again.

[@Rationalific]

Either she's lying about how much she learned, or she's lying about her understanding a lot of each language. I realized this without a doubt when she said that with German, she started watching Friends, and "after the second or third season, seriously, the dialogue started to make sense". There is no person - except maybe a savant or two out there, who can ask what day, month, and year you were born and within a few seconds tell you what day of the week that fell on - who just watches 2-3 seasons of a show in a completely new language and started understanding most of the language by then.

[@LovePikaMusic]

it's not completely new, if it's related to a language you already speak. You also learn a lot faster if you already know what's going on. Like if you watch a show or read a book that you already know and love, it's a lot easier to understand even in a new language, because you already know what the story is, you know what point the characters are making, you just don't know the exact words they'll use. I have used this method with great success myself. 2-3 seasons is plenty.

[@Rationalific]

@@LovePikaMusic You say that you've used this method with great success, and 2-3 seasons is plenty. I honestly don't believe that you only used the method of watching (without, for example, looking up the words or going over grammar). I just don't buy it. But if that's right, then with just watching an hour or so a day, you could technically binge a season over, say two weeks, and learn a new language in two months. Why is she learning one language every two years, when she could instead be learning one every two months using that method?

[@Fadogar911]

Make an online course, call it "LEARN 50% OF JAPANESE IN 3 DAYS!" and actually deliver. history

[@Glassandcandy]

This is day 31 of commenting on each new video until he does Cajun French and Louisiana Creole

[@PAWfessionalTennis]

Omg she watched 'friends' in German? Thats torture (to me as a German). They gave such incredibly bad voices, I hated the dubbing so much wven though otherwise usually German dubbings are really well done

[@snappingbear]

Unless they can show they have C level certification like DELE, DALF, TOELF, HSK, etc. I disregard these so called polygots. The vast majority claim to know a language and they're just intermediates.

[@LovePikaMusic]

If you can have a normal conversation without looking up words/phrases/grammar, anyone who claims you don't actually speak the language is just being a jerk.

[@mbdg6810]

@@LovePikaMusictrue

[@panzerswineflu]

I just can't watch shows I like in another language, the voices are all wrong and bothers me

[@zoxoor3759]

she has a very, very weird accent

[@noamto]

I thought all this pseudoscience and sensationalism was supposed to be on TEDX, not the regular TED, which is supposed to be scientific. They didn't even introduce who she is. Very disappointing.