You DO NOT Need to Be Perfect

[@Thelinguist]

How good do you want to get in the language you are learning? 10 Secrets of Language Learning ⇢ www.thelinguist.com LingQ Grammar Guides ⇢ www.lingq.com/en/grammar-resource/ My blog ⇢ blog.thelinguist.com/ The LingQ blog ⇢ www.lingq.com/blog/ My Podcast ⇢ soundcloud.com/lingostevepodcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/learn-languages-with-steve-kaufmann/id1437851870 --- Social Media Instagram ⇢ instagram.com/lingosteve_/ TikTok ⇢ www.tiktok.com/@lingosteve Facebook ⇢ facebook.com/lingosteve Twitter ⇢ twitter.com/lingosteve LingQ Discord ⇢ discord.gg/ShPTjyhwTN

[@1-srry.cnt.]

As a Canadian, you may be well aware of Scots Gaelic spoken by many in Nova Scotia. Well I'm living in Scotland, and I must say the availability of material for Scots Gaelic is very poor in this country. Only the middle class can afford to attend a Gaelic school or send their children to one. The internet only provides limited access to it, and it costs money for it. The English outlawed Gaelic in the mid 18th century and we've never moved forward from it. Gaelic should be taught in all Scottish schools.

[@matiyasu]

I feel like this might be one of your most important videos. Feeling the need to become native or near-native is quite wide-spread in the online language learning community. (I am very much guilty of this myself.) But that really comes to bite you in the butt when it comes to actual language acquisition. Many language learning influencers are dangerous perfectionists, and I'm grateful to see you opposing that a bit.

[@MrSarky1992]

Regarding language learning influencers it also turns out a lot of them are full of shit.

[@belstar1128]

On the internet there are a lot of extreme over the top elitists that insult you if you make spelling and grammar mistakes this makes language learning frustrating.

[@michaelrespicio5683]

You guys are describing the Japanese learning community in a nutshell. Weirdly enough, it's the only learning community where such elitism exists, or as I've noticed which is frustrating because some of these people genuinely think Japanese is THE hardest language even though it shouldn't be with the right approach. These people seem to know English and act like it's so hard even though I'm an English native and don't find Japanese that hard as long as you make learning as enjoyable and organic as possible. Just because something takes time doesn't mean it's difficult. These "cultists" as I call them preach (even indirectly) how good they are without proof and oftentimes are not as good as they think. They mask their insecurities by trying to place themselves above others and even if they are as good as they claim, how many friends does their arrogance get them? It takes more than a common language to build genuine connections with others and if you're boring or unpleasant to be around, don't expect a lot of us to care.

[@MrSarky1992]

@@michaelrespicio5683 Amen.

[@WanderTheNomad]

Funny how _not_ aiming for perfection will often lead you to perfection _more_ than when you're _aiming_ for perfection.

[@vincytvholic]

I always think of Jackie Chan that has been speaking English for years, and have acted in the language for years but his English is fa from perfect but it has never stopped him from communicating and excelling in his craft. Love this video

[@annettemcnabb3033]

ohh, that is an excellent example!!!

[@Frankybeanselevators]

yea, it's stopped him, when's the last time Jackie Chan movie grossed, 10 million? His interviews on late night talk shows were cringe, he couldn't even get basic ideas out.

[@APlusRussian]

Amen! Small _incremental_ steps will get you speaking -in no time- on _your own_ time 💕

[@mariorestrepojcg]

"Small incremental steps" ... okay... I´ll keep that in mind. I'm 44 but I my memory is not as good as it used to be and makes me a bit worried.

[@APlusRussian]

@@mariorestrepojcg If anything, studying a foreign language can _improve_ your memory! And yes, not getting overwhelmed is an important component of successful learning 😊

[@LearningPortal29]

I think what important is you can communicate to others even not that perfect. As long as you understand each others, that matters. Thank you for the lesson Sir.

[@andreyptitsyn4358]

Oh man, I've just realised what my problem really is. I was always persuing this kinda elusive perfection in learning languages and ended up not being able to communicate freely with a native speaker. Although I did more than my peers to master a language (or at least I thought so) but they looked much better at communicating in a foreign language because they didn't care that much about pronouncation, grammar or use of words. Their goal was to communicate, to understand and to be understood, not being perfect. I was envious of my peers and friends who seemingly did nothing but reading memes and yet had relatively good communicative skills. The expression you cited suits perfectly in this situation. This video really helped me. Thank you!

[@margarethderenne9446]

Muitíssimo obrigado por disponibilizar esses vídeos, onde explica diretamente, sem rodeios, os caminhos a seguir para aprendizagem de um idioma. É tudo o que eu busquei por muito tempo, sem sucesso, mas recentemente tive informações sobre seu canal e fiquei muito feliz em saber como estudar corretamente, seguindo suas orientações, tão generosamente compartilhadas através do KZbin. Tenho conhecimento prévio da língua inglesa mas sempre me senti travada e achando muito difícil alcançar a tão sonhada fluência. Já estou estudando conforme suas orientações e estou muito confiante. Mais uma vez, meu muito obrigado e que Deus te abençoe cada vez mais!!

[@masonic2479]

Steve you're my number one resource for languages whether its for motivation or for learning strategies keep it up!!

[@_yinnyinyin]

This gives me a lot more courage in learning Japanese and Korean, thank you Steve 😁😁

[@zamooti4505]

Good luck, do your best!

[@jamesm.9285]

頑張ってね！ 👍

[@SaraSanchez-gq8tv]

It's as if life is telling me to calm down, I really needed someone to tell me that. Thank you

[@solea59]

Yes, calm down , it's a walk in the countryside on a summer's day, enjoy the flowers that grow along the hedgerows. What's the panic. The whole world is in panic mode, you don't need to bow to it !

[@edrodriguez3922]

This is so true Steve. Thank you for sharing this with us.

[@force83x]

This is great Steve. I live with vietnamese and puerto rican roomates, and while they both speak fluent english(one since the 70s and the other since mid 2000s) you can still hear things that are a little mispronounced or grammar was off a bit but still totally comprehensible. though i have to say, its funny when it throws people off when my viet roomie speaks english because he grew up in oklahoma and alabama so he has a seriously southern accent.

[@sammondaw]

I completely agree. We all know people who do not speak or write perfectly in their native language. To expect ourselves to be perfect in a 2nd or 3rd language would prevent us from moving forward in our acquisition of the language.

[@Hebamagdy43]

شكرا لك، كلامك مشجع جدا

[@aless65]

This video came at the right moment. I feel comfortable enough with my writing English skills, but I've recently started practicing my speaking skills and I've felt extremely anxious. There's something inside me that tells me that I shouldn't disappoint people's (and even my own) expectations of my skills. I've worked very hard to "correct" my English, but sometimes I feel like I didn't work hard enough. Yesterday I tried to speak with a group of native speakers and I could barely pronounce a couple sentences, I was feeling nervous and I really wanted to impress them. I start to see this problem with my French as well, I'm currently just trying to practice my writing skills (I know I'd get an anxiety attack if I tried to speak), but it sucks to be constantly questioning if your efforts were worth it. Anyways, this video opened my eyes a little. The fact that trying to get my speaking skills as good as my writing skills is counterproductive in the end has changed my view of languages. I don't have any academic goals with French nor English, so I should just have fun with both languages. Thank you for this video!! 💛💛

[@damasceno39]

Thank you Steve!

[@dro6619000]

Steve thanks for the advice. I sometimes get frustrated trying my elementary German and Spanish. My two chosen languages to learn.

[@sammondaw]

Same here. Looking to get better in those 2 also.

[@pedrocavalcante5822]

I've been studying German for a while, but I still can't understand what native speakers say.

[@sammondaw]

@@pedrocavalcante5822 what type of material are you using? Are you getting enough audio( training for your "ears")?

[@pedrocavalcante5822]

@@sammondaw I'm using the interviews from the "German Easy" channel.

[@bibimayang794]

You deserve more subscribers and views! You’re and inspiration Steve. 👍

[@jhaas_]

I am a simple girl. I see Steve's video - I click. Thank you for all the valuable input!

[@SengokuStudies]

This was something that was an issue with me when I was studying Japanese as an undergraduate. Part of me knew I would never get perfect, but because I wanted to spend my life studying Japan, part of me did not consider getting better good enough, I wanted to do so perfectly. This led to severe test anxiety. Any tiny mistake I took worse than it should have been, which led into a cycle of doubting and second guessing myself almost constantly in exams, and not being confident enough to speak unless I had to. It held me back because I almost always thought that I was wrong, and it took quite a while and some time living in Japan for me to break out of that cycle.

[@RuiwenHsu0077]

Yes, more reading and writing will make a non-native speaker, even a native speaker sound more educated, more elegant, and smarter!

[@kelyoph]

This is one of the best bits of advice I have ever heard.

[@dennisenglishjournal498]

Hi Steve, this is exactly what I always say in my own vlogs! 🙋‍♂️🔥 I'm a non-native, and if I had waited my speaking skills to be perfect, I wouldn't have started speaking at all! 😬😂 *You don't need to be perfect, guys!* 😄 Just start communicate using your current vocab and grammar! 👏 _Look at me, for example_ 😊 I wish you guys all the best! 🙌😊 Let's boost our English speaking skills together! 💪🤩

[@englishvalley0982]

I am so grateful to have you in my life. after listening your videos and reading your blogs and book learning English has became a game for me . Now I love playing this game.

[@MissFangs]

I'm just starting speaking lessons after a year of input-focused learning. Even though I've made tremendous progress in the language, I feel stupid when I speak. It's REALLY hard to accept imperfection, but videos like this help me get there. Thank you!

[@tomate3391]

I think this one of the misconeption in how schools teach languages. Their focus is on correctness of grammar or orthography and less on speaking or communicate. In my opinion the first milestone in language learning should be to be able to bring your point across and only than you could start to switch your focus on eliminating mistakes.

[@bibimayang794]

Thank you Steve! I am learning Chinese now and I always get lose with the tones, but this video just motivate me to not give up. 😬 I agree that speaking doesn’t have to be perfect ad long as you’re understood

[@JuanEsteban33]

Hello, dear friend. I think in Chinese is totally different with tones. They need to be good, almost perfect or perfect. Otherwise they won't get the message. I'm also learning Chinese and sometimes they don't get the message because of my lack of practice in Chinese pronunciation. So I need to practice a lot the sounds to be good enough to be understood. Go ahead with your goals. Keep pushing, Chinese is a beautiful language.

[@Paul-yk7ds]

I've found that even just knowing a few phrases in a language can dramatically improve the kinds of interactions you can have with natives while traveling or living in that country. And every improvement from there adds even more benefits. It's not all or nothing.

[@matildawolfram4687]

My brother studied languages at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in California. The pace of study was intense. Students had to master the language course in 36-64 weeks. Psychologically it was very difficult, but fortunately he was helped by Yuriy Ivantsiv's book "Polyglot Notes. Practical tips for learning foreign languages”. The book " Polyglot Notes" became a desk book for my brother, because it has answers to all the problems that any student of a foreign language has to face. Thanks to the author of the channel for this interesting video! Good luck to everyone who studies a foreign language and wants to realize their full potential!

[@davidsutton7914]

I found a surprise benefit from having non-native pronunciation -- the locals cut you some slack for not conforming perfectly to their culture. In one of my languages, I found out the hard way that the more people mistook me for a local, the more upset they were for my not knowing certain unwritten rules that any native would know. That's no problem, of course, when our racial appearance obviously gives away that we're a foreigner. But in places where we look like the locals, it actually helps a little bit when they can hear that we're not one of them. Especially when they feel they should be tolerant of people apart from their tribe.

[@blueroad226]

IF SOMEONE LEARNS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE, IT IS CLEAR THAT, AT LEAST B1 LEVEL MUST BE COMPLETED. IF B1 LEVEL IS COMPLETED WITH %85-90 PROFICIENCY, THAN YOU CAN COPE WITH MANY THINGS IN YOUR DAILY LIFE. BELOW B1 LEVEL, YOU CAN ONLY OUT ON AIRS AND PRETEND THAT YOU CAN SPEAK THAT LANGUAGE, AND DUE TO HAVING VERY LIMITED SKILLS, YOU WILL ALWAYS CONFRONT WITH LIMITIZATION AND CHALLENGES.

[@annasamek5179]

Beautiful encouragement, we all need that, thank you!

[@princerandyngoula656]

Bonjour Steve j'apprecie beaucoup ce que vous faites. Be blessed more and more.

[@ariohandoyo5973]

Ya don't think about the perfection when we learn any languanges, just keep going made mistake in languange learning is okay, we need that advice and encourgement thanks mr. Steve.😊

[@michaelrespicio5683]

Glad to see someone agrees. I say this often but this especially applies to the Japanese learning community because some of these cultists need to get a grip. They aim towards the goal of "sounding perfect" which presumably means "sounding like a native" even though nobody can agree on a clear, universal definition on what either one means. Those who boast (even indirectly) how good they are at something like Japanese in this case are usually not as good as they think and are just full of themselves, trying to mask insecurities by placing themselves above others to feel good about themselves. If one is going to boast their skills, then prove it and let the natives decide. Even if you are as good as you claim, how many friends do you get with such an arrogant attitude? Language skills alone isn't all that matters when it comes to forming genuine, human connections with others.

[@angelicahernandez5247]

Mr. Kaufman thank you for each video where you motivate us.

[@Mikeeff1]

You always come with the right advice for us in the right moment! Thanks a lot!

[@sensational4772]

I read the title and I said "thanks"

[@JoaoPereira-ng8ej]

Thanks a lot,this video has opened my mind to go out my comfort zone and go for it.

[@樹宏-m9o]

This video is wht I need the most. Thank you

[@bambapuangfoundation]

I like this video coz its easy to understand and I have watched for couple times. I am from Indonesia and live in small town. In my snall town no one who could English, so I learn English with my self with reading abd memotizing from English Dictionary. Only in 3-4 months I could memorize one simple dictionary, its look like this is the old way but I did it. Now I try to combine from one word to another words tobe a phrases with stand up in front of the mirror abd try talking with my self, I also star to watch video on youtube. In order to improve my English I alsio have made basic English video and upload on my KZbin chanbel. Thank you so much for great video and great explanation

[@dianacondori1904]

Really needed this today, thank you!!

[@Caine61]

I needed this today, Steve. Thank you!

[@Eric-le3uu]

Perfectionism is the enemy of progress!

[@fimashavin]

One of the interesting thing after watching this video, it owes me to learn foreign language courageously

[@shimakara]

I think accent doesnt so matter，when I talk to foreigner，their accent also wont make me feel something bad，Steve thank you！you are my excellent teacher

[@JapaneseRenaRussian]

I agree!! Many Japanese people stick to speaking without an accent, but it isn't so important!! I want more Japanese people to watch this video!!

[@solea59]

We tend to create our own hurdles, or worst still high jumps ! I see learning as two options. You need to learn for business if your job demands it. If you are learning for pleasure then why the hurry. Most large dictionaries boast about 25,000 translations or similar claims. You DON'T need a fraction of that amount to make sensible and pleasurable conversation. Learning a language is a stroll to the stars, you'll never get there, you will never know it all so enjoy the stroll and take pleasure in what you have accomplished so far !

[@thenaturalyogi5934]

I speak 3 languages with my parents and other 2 with my friends and at 30 I still mispronounce some things especially in the Chinese languages. I cant say the same for my other relatives who barely speak a word of my grandparents' language. So this language perfectionism just robs people of trying to learn anything at all.

[@muskadobbit]

Thanks again, Coach!

[@bhanothmojiram5423]

Super sir

[@No-wy7lf]

Thanks i lot i really needed a video like this :(

[@tchernobalde8106]

I love your teaching

[@lucas2586]

Thank you for your advice. I’m study my fourth language - English. I will try to become like you.^^

[@HusseinNAhmad]

I think in these days we must to be fluent in English because it's so important in everyday ; it's my opinion 👍 .

[@mariotaz]

This is a really good video. I also wish Japanese people would just give me some feedback instead of just nodding ha. But this is a great video that I did need to remind myself of.

[@jackchen6976]

Thank you very much！

[@Herp234]

Some damn good points

[@strongerstone9651]

thanks

[@rubenpablo70]

I very much agree with you

[@marlag.9812]

"Dilettante learner", I never ever hear or wrote that expression in my life, I thoght is was just a new word in english but it result that word is "diletante" in spanish (wich is my native language) I didnt know that word exist or what it means, thanks sir, not even a minute and I'm already learning something new😅

[@clairegittens3707]

I think aiming for perfection as a distant goal is fine… but do you need to be perfect now? I am always getting into arguments with people about Mandarin tones. They insist that tones are important. And my point is always, “Are they important today?” Are you going to be giving a televised speech at the UN? No, then get comfortable with making mistakes and keep working on improving til they gradually disappear. Barry, geniuse, people just aren’t perfect right off the bat. (If you ARE giving a televised speech to the UN in Mandarin today, then it is probably too late to be worrying about your tones and Godspeed to you!) I think the idea of being perfect on Day 1 actually stops people from starting things. Steve mentions people that fear speaking because they don’t want to make mistakes. But I think there are also a lot of people who don’t even crack a foreign language book just because they know they won’t be perfect.

[@jackuzzi5251]

A practical thought of how less is more.

[@abdulrahmanabdulghani8833]

T Kasih Mr Steve K

[@matt92hun]

In my experience, as a native speaker of a non-Germanic language, wherein many consonants are formed further back in the mouth, in Northern European countries when I try communicating in the local language many people will just switch to English as soon as they hear my accent. Even with a single syllable word, such as "tak", they'll hear my T as their D and just assume I can't actually speak the language. Now that I've become more conscious of those differences, that I wasn't even aware of until someone pointed them out to me, I make an effort to make my consonants more Germanic sounding and people seem to be less likely to switch to English. I wonder if this is less of a problem for native Germanic language speakers.

[@belstar1128]

My native languages is Dutch In German its not a problem for me because most Germans i try to speak to don't know any English anyway but in Scandinavian languages this is more common but i only get to talk to those people in text from because i never meet them in real life.

[@matt92hun]

@@belstar1128 There are Scandinavian people who prefer to text in English too for some reason.

[@belstar1128]

@@matt92hun They just assume everyone on the internet is a foreigner also i am not Scandinavian but because there is not a lot on reasons to use dutch online my spelling checker is on English by default i have problems with typing in all languages i make spelling mistakes so its inconvenient to not have a spelling checker. I noticed it when i found a form in the dutch language a few years ago i thought it would be fun to have some conversations about local topics in my native language. But it was really annoying and toxic they would always mock me if i made a mistake and they would focus on my mistakes instead of answering my questions so it has to be 10x worse in a language i am still learning.

[@kelyoph]

WORDS OF WISDOM. WORDS OF WISDOM

[@DustinSchermaul]

Amen!

[@CouchPolyglot]

I could not agree more :)

[@leonoldfield9765]

👍

[@Serious_Bee]

I love foreign accents. I have one :p

[@reem-fz7di]

شكرا على ترجمة العربية

[@bhashashikkhakendro]

Limaadha la ta3rifu/ ta3rifeena Al ingiliziyata ?

[@reem-fz7di]

@@bhashashikkhakendro انا لا اعرف لهجة المغربية في الكتابة

[@alinecardoso9668]

Maybe we have this perfectionism because, at least in my case, some companies request to the candidates to be fluent, but the funny is that according to some researches, just 5% of Brazilians are fluent.

[@belstar1128]

Tell that to the people online that insult me if i get one letter wrong.

[@joelderbarbosa5108]

I don't matter about accent. I'm from Fortaleza, Brazil and I have a accent from Fortaleza when I'm speaking Portuguese, English or French. It doesn't matter what language I'm speaking, I always have a accent from Fortaleza and that's ok for me.

[@Frankybeanselevators]

B.S.

[@pollif1]

Hi Steve! I wish your videos had subtitles in Portuguese(Brasil). 🥺

[@thomasryan825]

Is Hindi in the pipelines for LingQ?

[@mcmerry2846]

Yes, I need perfection, otherwise I'm going to feel frustrated.

[@solea59]

You don't need perfection. You are setting the bar too high. What is your hurry ? there is no pleasure in that. If it's your job that demands unrealistic goals then change your job. If it's for pleasure then slow down and give yourself a break. The world won't stop spinning to give you a break, YOU have to do that !

[@belstar1128]

I get frustrated because people are rude to me when i make a mistake and don't answer my questions.

[@solea59]

@@belstar1128 There are rude people everywhere. But thankfully there are more nice people. Try not to get upset, move on. Mistakes are part of learning. I don't know your age, but you sound quite young ? I am 70 and maybe have less time than you to live but I keep going. My advice to you is give yourself time !

[@briban65]

What about for test taking? I gotta watch the video first but that’s my first reaction.

[@GetSnaped]

How can I find out how many words I know in a language without using lingq to do so?

[@alessiajacquard]

Hi Steve, can you do anything about price adjustment for the country like Turkey. I’m a student and believe me when I first heard about you and your sites I didn’t even pay attention how Lingq has variety of resources; because of high prices. Unlike dolar or euro if I save that money for a few months I can go to the abroad so its huge for the countries that have low exchange rates.😅🙆‍♀️🐣💸💸💸

[@seanlive6975]

Sadly, the Turkish lira is always declining in value. But good for visitors, very economical and beautiful place.

[@harshavardhanthiruvaipati7302]

❤️

[@elgarmiti75]

Good morning 🇺🇸♥️🇩🇿 steve thank you

[@bookthief5188]

While building a golden bridge, there's no room for sloppiness,but frankly speaking, as for as communication is concerned, there's a room for sloppiness. What it means, room for sloppiness. Oh i see it's just a cup of coffee ☕☕🤔. sloppiness, like: carefulness, disorderliness, messiness, slovenliness, untidiness, bathos, maudlinism, mawkishness, sentimentalism, sentimentality and mush😎👈🙄

[@dandev8539]

Speaking of an accent, I rarely encounter a non-native English speaker whose accent doesn't give them away (even though myself is not a native speaker). There are few exceptions, like these 2 people - kzbin.info/www/bejne/sITafayHn7V0as0 To me, they sound very native-like. Can any one (especially - native speakers) recognise that English isn't the first language for any of them?

[@chimanruler15]

Only the first one. I couldn't tell with the second one. Both have very good pronunciation, though, particularly the latter.

[@shoaibsalman395]

I am learning english for 4 and 5 years

[@Tehui1974]

"I have been learning English for 4 or 5 years". Keep up the good work.

[@ayi3455]

I don't learn English anymore... English has become my second language.. I'm learning Chinese and a little Japanese, now..

[@shoaibsalman395]

@@ayi3455 either english will be my second language soon i will become fluent in English

[@shoaibsalman395]

@@Tehui1974 Thank you

[@ayi3455]

@@shoaibsalman395 language is a matter of habits and habituation. good luck ... !!

[@pedrocavalcante5822]

I've been studying German for a while now, but I still can't understand natives when they're talking to each other.

[@bjdon99]

There is this widely followed You Tube channel called 'Bald & Bankrupt' which is about a Brit who can speak passible Russian and who has trekked all over the old Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (including Ukraine) in the years prior to the war breaking out. He says the most important thing to learn in a language is 'vocabulary, vocabulary, vocabulary.' A case ending language like Russian has lots and lots of rules, but his main point is that, even if you screw up on the case endings a bit, that's ok. People will understand what you are talking about. It's learning the vocabulary that counts: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZS8dIdvrKqIq7c

[@whitie5142]

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a great example.

[@gee8883]

I am but Generalizing here : Germans , Nordics and Japanese , Russians are bit perfectionists and expect the language learners to be near perfect . Arabs, Americans, Chinese, Turks, Persians are less judgemental and easy going. They praise you for your mediocre level . I've met many Africans studenst speaking good Chinese /Turkish just after a year of study. The culture of the langauge influence your self-esteem and your spoken fluency.

[@JariSatta]

You can't improve on perfection.

[@nittels]

Your background if moving XD

[@Christian_Martel]

Your message is perfect. Aiming to standards is good and encouraged, but depending on the context, the purpose of communication trumps the perfection to standards. In addition, I’m allergic to the notion of speaking “without accents” because unless you are a robot it is impossible. Accents are part of every languages and are markers of identity.

[@arashiii-21m]

Matt vs Japan isn't gonna like this one

[@MrSarky1992]

He's too busy scamming people

[@ДоржоТармаев]

+

[@山川川山]

Even native Japanese speakers are not reflect especially when they at writing ….

[@421sap]

B''H, Christ, Jesus, Amen.

[@呀你可]

Thanks

[@呀你可]

❤️

[@amyzhong8005]

👍