The Natural Language Learning Cycle & Why You Should Embrace It

[@mr.sushi2221]

It’s sooooo frustrating. But every time I learn something or recognize something I didn’t before it feels soooooo good. It’s a process.

[@sharonoddlyenough]

On Monday (3 days from now) it will be 100 days that I have been studying Swedish. I haven't stuck to one hobby for so long in years. I think allowing myself the flexibility to take easy days (only some input, very little focused study) really helped. Sometimes my energy is just not there, but I have videos that I really like listening to, and I catch something new every time I watch.

[@AfroLinguo]

Exactly!! I feel like we sometimes have this all or nothing mentality. If I don't go to the gym everyday, then I have failed. If I don't study intensively all the time, then I will not learn the language I am tryna learn. But that is false. Some days, you can just do push ups in your room or just listening to music in your target language and improve.

[@Ellary_Rosewood]

It's funny this video came up. I've been beating myself up over not studying Japanese for many years, even though I spent around 5 years of time and effort dedicated to absorbing every little thing I could about the language, country, and culture. Right now I live in Mexico, and so I've been trying to focus on Spanish, as well as studying Swedish on the side. I have no idea when I'll go back to studying Japanese again, and it feels like I've lost so much of it. I can't even form basic sentences anymore because my brain has been so hard wired to Spanish over the last couple of years. But I know that that's life and everything happens for a reason. I also know that once I pick it up again, it won't be as bad as I think it will be. 😉

[@AfroLinguo]

Exactly!! I think that if you really love the language you are learning, you will eventually get back to it. Furthermore, the higher your level was when you stopped, the less you will forget.

[@RomeJuanatas]

I love how you're telling us that there's a cycle in language learning and in maintaining them and that it's okay to start over even with materials that we have long finished. I now feel more motivated to go back to books I've finished studying in the past.

[@tomrains7899]

Eb and flow... absolutely. Normally my biggest “up” moment is shortly followed by a whopping “down” moment. I too agree that sometimes you just need to take a step back and go over things rather than just forever charging ahead.

[@InquirywithHelena]

Yeah, me too, feast followed by famine. Like a lion with her paws in the air chilling out mindlessly in the afternoon sun, after a huge meal. Just experiencing that today after a massive Italian binge yesterday.

[@AfroLinguo]

That makes me worry in my life because when I notice that everything is going on great, I start being scared that everything will go downhill soon haha.

[@owl2368]

This video was in my recommended section today. It's perfect timing because I'm coming back to studying Japanese after a very long break, and I was feeling disheartened because I felt I needed to go back to the beginning and review. After watching this video, however, I'm really excited to learn! Who knows, maybe there's stuff I missed the first time around! Thanks for this video.

[@philiphubinette621]

Your content is so motivating, I really enjoy watching them 😊 When will you be uploading again? Cheers

[@YogaBlissDance]

YOu got so so funny at the end..."yehhhh nah I think I finished!" thats how I am now with Italian I was racing ahead but felt the sand behind me just covering my path...realized OMG I need to review the basics. And I know my brain will be like "ahhh yes, we've seen this before....we understand..."

[@linakryletskaya5099]

Thank you soooo much for the recommendation of the resource about Korean! I've been struggling to find something for quite a long time by now.

[@lagoon7977]

I like to think of it like your brain being primed for learning. From experience you know what to expect, you know what you like, you have a better sense of direction, you know what not to waste time on.. and most of all forgetting is a beautiful thing. Once you go back to it, your brain will remember it longer next time around. I think you will do a great job

[@stepheng9607]

This totally feels like my experience. Thanks for putting this message out

[@seiyadalucas5325]

Hi Robin, interesting topic and I totally agree with you. I'm learning English, Spanish and Italian, and my native language is Japanese. Exactly, I feel this "cycle", this ebb and flow. Before I was learning Catalan but now I don't. However, I don't mind, we should embrace the cycle. As a Spanish phrase says, "Quien tuvo, retuvo". Even if we quit, we will remember what we got once, so we can resume. Thanks for a great video :)

[@AdoptMeIndia]

Love your honesty Robin. It's refreshing to see the tackling of these things in a positive but realistic way.

[@sabrigandulfo3901]

I love your content so much! Going back to the basics is so powerful and it says motivates me to move forward but I never looked at it as a cycle!

[@rastafeyd]

Needed to hear this. Thanks for the video!

[@EFoxVN]

Hi Robin, so happy to see another video from you. I really missed them. Blessings from South Africa

[@languagecomeup]

Really enjoyed the video Robin. The natural cycles of life and language learning have been on my mind lately. I feel like I have this year wide open to take my Russian as far as I can, but due to life goals I may need to put almost all my eggs into one basket regarding my Spanish next year. I want take it from an advanced level to even further (moving back to the States and would like to work using the language) Cheers!

[@JonathanOlelo]

Totally understand your struggle with Mandarin Generally speaking, Mandarin Chinese known to be the most difficult language to learn, so the milestones you reached are still impressive

[@bratmut]

Great video - I have lived in China for nearly 5 years, and I have a love/hate (read ebb and flow) relationship with Mandarin. It was great to hear you say that you couldn't find the right resource. Because, many books for non-native speakers are often boring! I have spent many times in bookstores here, buying books - my bookshelf is jammed. I have in fact gone back to basics, too. I feel more motivated to find language points that are useful, rather than just vocabulary learning. I found one thing that helped me overcome the lows was to have daily goals (while keeping sight of the bigger goal). 我真喜欢你的视频。我希望你的中文越来越好。加油（或者咖啡）！

[@learnindonesianwithmaria]

Thank youuu Robin for your sharing & motivation :)

[@ocaminhodoingles]

the same think happened with me twice, with french and russian, one day I'll be back

[@cpnlsn88]

Good video. People get discouraged and stop. Life happens. You give up in despair. Now I don't know how this happens. Some hard data would be great because there are anecdotes aplenty. In one way or another your brain is somehow integrating and sorting stuff. Another point. Nothing is lost. I mean obviously you need to pick back up at some stage to reactivate. Off and on I've been trying to learn New Testament Greek. I never made it that far but recently I picked up some texts and it's nit bad. I don't think I forgot anything and can read some things quite fluently. I'm not massively ahead but I haven't lost anything. For some aspects a bit better. I would favour pulse learning where breaks are possible. Use low level input at various moments to keep it fresh. You'll be really surprised.

[@alobo_78]

Happy friday! It is really interesting this topic. I really like your honesty. You started to study spanish from the beggining and now mandarin... Me pusiste a pensar ... Hoy no estudié . Creo que estoy asimilando muchas cosas para poder continuar... Un gran abrazo!😁

[@juno1641]

Funnily enough, what got me out of my dip with mandarin was me thinking, 'oh, i should try learning korean!' When i started watching videos and reading articles about resources and the korean alphabet, i realized how much i missed learning mandarin, and was back in the flow of it basically immediately 😄

[@tanyazvereva2476]

Thanks, Robin!I must do the same with js,for sure)

[@Skiis44]

Hi Robin still slogging away with Spanish. French is still popping through when I get tired.

[@Sosui2]

keep up the good work ! hope your language learning is going well ! :)

[@jnnschnll9008]

My favourite resource for learning Mandarin is Chinese TikTok (抖音). It's not available at Playstore but if you use Android, you can simply download it from the Chinese website. The advantages are that the videos are short, come with subtitles and that they're authentic. You can also upload your own "attempts" speaking Chinese. 😉

[@nori_tutor]

Robin is a funny guy, I've needed to hear this "Go back to the same and make it better" and I thought "Hmm, a new video of his, I'll check it out" and the guy just gave me the idea I've needed, thank you Robin :) GOO BACK TO PORTUGUEEEESE haha

[@maivaka3863]

I just found out that being very studious at learning vocabulary with spaced repetition isn't possible for a longer period of time without "stop and go", because you have to repeat more and more vocabulary. It's crazy that most apps for flashcards and spaced repetition don't seem to accept pauses. I've made my own spaced repetition system, using the tags in "My dictionary" and I already found out that it's not difficult to declutter it when I needed a break. It's just necessary to stop taking in new vocabs until that work is done (If a vocab should have rested a week, but you actually still know it after a month's break, well, why not go on with a rest of two months for that vocab?) Now I'm thinking about a system of "stop and go" for vocabulary to make some more time for Journaly... Using a language actively is more important, I think, but the more vocabulary one should repeat a day the more one starts to worry about giving it a miss to do other useful and compelling things.

[@EmanualCriativo]

This video came at such a right moment! I am studying Lithuanian ( a not so easy Language to learn like Mandarin) and I suddenly have a lot of other projects going on and my main resource (a book for beginners) ended too. And for a couple of weeks I haven't focused much on studying the language so I was feeling guilty I didn't make any progress but now I feel relieved. I just don't know if the wisest decision would be to take classes or try to go into Books in pure Lithuanian to learn (I can't find English to Lithuanian books more advanced than A1)

[@EmanualCriativo]

@Enphlegminguous I speak Brazilian Portuguese (native) and English, it's hard to find content in these languages (I find more in English of course)

[@NarlaScott]

anybody else unable to breathe or relax til 2mins 10 secs in, til he finally picked up the coffee...we thought he forgot. phew.

[@salsabeilfarid6802]

hey Robin, how are you? ...I wanna suggest considering using clubhouse, you can make rooms discussing language learning or talking about a specific topic in any language it will be a good practice... wanna hear your thoughts about it

[@guazonkiler3640]

Me gustan estos vídeos pero me.gustaria aprender inglés y francés estoy estudiando poco a poco

[@mihaineagu1153]

Hi there!

[@halina328]

When are you going to post a new vlog?:)

[@andrewfrankovic6821]

This popped up in my recommended list and I thought this was going to be about 'natural-language' learning. I don't know what that would be, but I think American English is in a state of horrible disrepair that cripples broad learning capacity.

[@adelhedjar3567]

How many hours should someone dedicate to learn a language as a beginner?

[@1980rlquinn]

The "popping" sounds are a bit hot compared to your voice (and trigger my misophonia a bit >.

[@r2ca677]

Sir teach me german please

[@hillarykaelomolebatsi4783]

This is exactly what I needed to hear cause I have been having difficulty with my French

[@roots_and_ruin]

I recently got back to French after an 8 month break and didn't know where to pick back up because I wasn't sure what I had 'lost' in those 8 months. I remembered you saying that you'll start from the very beginning again when you get back into a language so I thought I'd give it a go too, although I thought it would probably feel quite tedious. Well - I got a few surprises! I haven't really 'lost' anything besides listening some listening comprehension, I somehow gained vocab which could only have been through VERY passive listening (music) and reading (social media posts) and although starting fresh does feel a bit tedious, it's allowing me to find gaps I might not have noticed otherwise and things I couldn't understand before seem to make sense now. Plus I decided to use just one resource for now (Babbel) and it's much less stressful and chaotic :') Maybe a break lets things marinade a bit in your mind while it just waits for you to wake it up again!

[@bunnyteeth365]

I feel like I haven't really been experiencing too much of an ebb and flow with Hebrew. I had very bad depression and anxiety, so I just let myself get exposed to Hebrew for a couple of years. Mainly through music. I obviously made nearly zero progress, but I don't count that as studying. About two years ago I slowly started introducing things that are more like regular studying. After several months of that I started to have a more regular study routine. Ever since then my progress and studying habits have been fairly consistent. I think it helps that I have a fairly simple life. I sometimes feel like studying other languages, but it seems like Hebrew keeps popping into my head. Maybe I'll be able to study other languages when my Hebrew level is more solid. I sometimes dabble in other languages, but I never stick to it. I think it helps when I get bored and frustrated with Hebrew. Overall I find everything is easier and more consistent when I stick to one language at once.

[@IowaLanguages]

Food for thought. Debating returning to the beginning in my language. 💕❤️

[@irenemcnamara9699]

I got a subscription to Skritter for a year. I am very satisfied with it. Its not too easy, nor too hard. So now I am studying Chinese. Who can believe that?

[@Silroc22]

I have this learning cycle/pattern with new activities I'm learning - instruments, art styles, language, etc. It's how I learn best. My oldest kid seems to be the same way. Nice video.

[@fair664]

I think that this topic is really interesting and i believe you are right. I have been studying english for some years and i have stopped studying it many times. The question is: have i got better with my english? just a bit but that is another history. This is the first time i am writing a comment in english and this is one of the resons because i don't improve very much. I think that if you go back you'll have solid graundwork or at least some doubts disappear. I hope this comment make sense, bye.

[@mannymoonstone8486]

Wholeheartedly agree. With the new year I went back and started over with my Japanese for one month. I learned a lot reviewing, I just had to make sure my ego was in check and not rush. There was always something new to learn.

[@elenabutkyte2734]

Hi Robin! Very interesting video. Are you a native English speaker? I'm a Russian native speaker and I live in Italy, I speak 6 languages. Can you suggest some funny French language podcast for advanced level?

[@turtley8883]

I was wondering where your coffee was! I've been struggling with learning German for 8 years. I'm an American living in Germany. I give up all the time. Ugh. How do I loved the soft clay analogy. I feel like my mind is a rock and the german just can't get in. I'm considering some kind of therapy like hypnosis or psychedelics. I'm just stuck

[@schoolingdiana9086]

I had the same problem, trying to regain fluency. My brain was like “we’ve done this before! No need to remember it now!” I even signed up for German 550, just to find the teacher was a new one, decided we needed to cover the entire textbook in 7 weeks (rather than grasping the most important content) so she just had everyone switch to using the Linguee translation app. It’s a great app, but I felt the whole thing kind of defeated the purpose, of the course and what I wanted. I struggled along by myself for months after the class and past graduation, and finally gave up in frustration. I switched to Norwegian (partly because the cadence is somewhat similar to my other language class: Cherokee). A lot of German is coming back without me thinking about it. Instead of letting that distress me, I’m writing that down and then figuring out that phrase in Norwegian. (Now I just need to do it in Cherokee, too.) It’s not necessarily a bad thing, is what I’m saying. It might just take a little tinkering to figure out how to make that work for you.

[@thegreatsalad]

Have you tried learning another language through German?

[@turtley8883]

@@thegreatsalad No.

[@youngchun3368]

Idk I just fucking love this channel I could watch every video without learning any language hahahs cheers robin ☕️

[@perseoeridano4182]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@drmartas71]

I like New Practical Chinese Reader 2nd ed - they have different language versions (Spanish, Japanese, etc.)... I currently use Russian version, although I do not study Russian at the moment, this helps me to be still in touch with the language.

[@SanDra-zr9he]

I am encouraged to start over with French grammar, my only "degreed" language and also transfer this approach to music theory (which to me is just another language 😉)

[@thegreatsalad]

Woah

[@billywade7794]

1st viewer

[@jankoszuta9835]

Hi. I just signed up for an app called Journaly on Play store which seems to be completely different. I'm assuming they are unrelated?

[@Sakura-zu4rz]

I have a frustrating experience. Not knowing where to begin or hitting a plateau can feel demoralizing and make it hard to hit the books and study like you know you should…Having friends from other cultures makes me more creative. In fresh ways about space and how people create their own world and environment. It is best way to connect between creative thinking and cross-cultural relationships.

[@jacobjenkins2190]

i have similar experience as this it always feels when i come back to a language my interest peaks for the minutia. I always notice that i havent lost as much as expected and feel far more adaptable. It feels like the language Consolidates somewhat.

[@InquirywithHelena]

Great topic! And interesting timing for me as I’ve been thinking about it today. I’m currently learning Greek, Italian and French and while I have been going through a period of enjoying studying all three each day, I now feel the need to put two of them on hold to really dive into the third one for a while. You’re right, there is an natural ebb and flow going on within the learning process, it’s not linear or mechanical. I did take a year off French when I started Greek in early 2020, and while I lost some vocab, French is a language I started learning at school decades ago, so there’s an indelible layer deep inside me like a bedrock that I’ll never forget. I recently started learning Italian from scratch (two weeks ago) but I did a few months of study 15 years ago and I am stunned to find how much is in there that’s now getting reactivated. It makes me feel much more confident about taking breaks.

[@sonnyj.7664]

Love this approach!

[@billywade7794]

Ok 2nd viewer.

[@liam1558]

hello there!

[@shreddder999]

2:14 That looks like a soup bowl! Or if you were super busy you could have chosen to learn Australian English instead. 9:29 I'm thinking you have more shelves than those.