Join the Canguro English newsletter: canguroenglish.com/newsletter I’m sorry I don’t have time to reply to all of your comments but I read them all and I am eternally grateful for your love and support.
Great interview. I really think that the most important in the process of learning is to be involved in the language first and learn vocabulary . After that is gonna be easier and the last point would be grammar.
"...the paradox is that if they aren't willing to make mistakes they will continue to make mistakes... perfection is not the goal..." Perfect! My challenge is just this point.
This looks amazing! I'm a native English speaker, and in my lifetime l've learnt - and forgotten - French, Italian, Swedish, Indonesian and Japanese. Now at 76, l'm keen to get into them all again this way. If it works, l'll try Mandarin. Very exciting.
Mandarin is way easier than Japanese IMO Pregnancy wiped my brain clean lol Forgot all the French, Greek, and Japanese I used to know. Sometimes I'd forget my native English during pregnancy and I'd be left trying to order food in French in central Taiwan! With postpartum depression out of the way, now, my mandarin has improved a lot, and I hope to recover the French, Greek, Korean, and Japanese I used to know!
People like Steve ans Christian are bringing concepts of learning languages, which are revolutionary for the most of people. Please, keep spreading your knowledge! There are people who struggle with learning and they need it. YOU are my inspiration! Thank you both Steve and Christian with all my heart!
Well, yes i was frustrated expacting people to judge when i speak or even write comment on youtube, i was full of hopeless but wait what changed me was when i started to not be afraid doing mistake and practiced everday🌟 i know some of you wouldn't believe me what i did! I became nearly fluent after 2 months of keeping my promise. Here i am today🌟
I’m a Cantonese speaker from Vietnam, had learned Vietnamese one period a day for 5 years, have been speaking English for 35 years. Just started to learn Spanish, Mandarin & Vietnamese 4 months ago. Thank you gentlemen for your insight.
At age 19 I have a child's grasp on Hebrew, Russian, and Spanish. I currently speak English and German fairly well. I needed this because I am able to start this early in my language learning career so I may standardize my language learning in a more appropriate fashion as my learning habits have been quite counteractive as I don't know what I'm missing in the language until I'm stumped
I am now becoming a polyglot! I know English, Spanish (ES) Japanese, portuguese and a bit of Chinese! And I still believe that those who have a great will, is about to enter up to the polyglot fame hall, like Mr. Steve. He is like a inspiration for us , as young language learners! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!
I speak Spanish, Basque, English and Galician and I'm studying German and Norwegian by myself. I try to read books and newspapers in different languages everyday, watch movies and series in their original versions, etc. so I don't lose pace and fluency. Once you fall in love with a language, it's hard to quit.
It is so true that when you learn more languages the better you become in learning languages. I'm Polish 37 years old, I speak Polish, English, French, Italian and Arabic (fusha, Syrian and Egyptian dialect and I'm learning Derja along with my kids as my husband is Tunisian), I read and understand German (I speak a little as I have never had chance to practice talking) and currently learning Chinese. When I was a kid I was also able to communicate in Russian but when I entered school in '89 it was moment when it was cancelled from schools in Poland and my parents focused in teaching me English so at the end I have not learned Russian. But I plan to take Russian after having learned Chinese. My children are already plyglots by birth: as I am Polish, my husband Tunisian, we use OPOL and talking with each other in English and plus we live in France so our kids have 4 languages as a "starter pack" ;) Our 9 years old son, made his Cambridge flyers A2 this year with 15/15 even that he was never learning English (as a foreign language), he is also making in the same time Polish and French school at home and learns to read in Arabic (as he is speaking Derja like his father he needs to learn "new Arabic" so called Modern Standard to read). Our 2 years old daughter alread speaks 2 languages (Polish and French, which she learns in the kindergarten) and understands 2 more (Derja from father and English when we talk together)
He is so absolutely right about how backwards language teaching is (in schools at least). Pretty much any polyglot says similar things about it to what he says and I agree from my own experience, being fluent in Icelandic, English, German, Swedish and Danish and knowing some French.
Television is one of the most convenient ways to learn a second language. I watched television only in Spanish for two straight years. I did the same thing with Italian language television.
You know when you are getting the hang of a language when you start to dream in the language. I have dreams in German, Thai, and Spanish. It's funny when in the dream I'm speaking Thai to a German person and we both understand each other. lol
This was such an honest interview. I loved it! I speak two languages fluently and now I decided that I want to learn a third one. I'm at early stage of the process and it can be daunting. But I see these polyglots online (some better than others) speaking other languages and it inspires me. I'm hoping I can get passed the basic pronouns and conjugations soon so I can actually start practicing putting together my own sentences together soon. I'm giving myself 1 year to be conversational in a third language.
Hi Christian, thank you very much for this interview with Steve Kaufmann. He is such an amazing person, with a strong and clear voice and thoughts and mainly knowledges how to learn foreign languagues. I 've made sure myslelf I 've been taking the right way to increas my English level up. Jarmila.
I have been following you both for many years.. you are both a source of inspiration..I really love Christian accent and his style as well..As far as Steve is concerned I would only say that he is a well known and accomplished polyglot..thank you
I completely agree with SK when he says that "practice makes master" (not literally). I am now trying my best in writing and it goes better with the time.
The English do not see American speech as true English...most words are misspelled...the wrong syllable is accented...poor usage...comprehension...and weak vocabularies!
Yes, some people do struggle with learning their first second language, but it can be interesting to dive into geographically prioritised ones. For example, I am from Azerbaijan, but due to our history closely related to the Soviet Union, almost everyone can speak or at least understand Russian. Then, we can more or less speak Turkish, which is kind of similar to Azerbaijani, but it is certainly a different language. Some of us speak English as well. What about me, I am learning Italian now. So, never stop going on for more ✌🏻
I'm a teenager, I'm also a polyglot. My native languages are Portuguese, English and Spanish; I learned French and I'm on a very advanced level (from now on it really is just about practicing and talking which I do a lot); I've been learning Hebrew and Galician and I'm planning Mandarin and Arabic next (I kind of started getting familiarized with Mandarin but not yet started). When Steve shared his point of view about how language teaching is upside down, I felt so related to it! I see people at school struggling with badly spoken English and that backwards method is what gets them stuck, and really, the more you learn the better you get at it. Languages are fascinating, they're beyond any translations, they're a whole different way to see the world and a whole new culture that comes with it.
Hi bro! I know only Russian and english.Can you advice me how can i learn other languages maybe french or german. On the internet or individual myself??
Steve es una persona absolutamente admirable, un referente del que aprender. Las sensaciones que transmite al escucharle hablar, desde luego no son las de una persona infeliz.
Both characters I have been listening and I love them. The point is having both of them at the same place (video) it is amazing to me. I´d like to say "thank you a lot" Christian and S. Kaufman you are very precious for anyone who wants to speak no only English but also any language at all. I keep listening... both... and again... thank you very much!
Mate great channel and great interview. I am a native Aussie speaker but your advice and Steve Kaufmann's wisdom have helped me a great deal in not only learning Norsk but how language works in general and my poor brain will never be the same.
I know this doesn’t have much to do with the topic but 6 months ago I manifested a new lenguaje by using certain techniques of meditation... when it comes to the mind it’s very unpredictable what your mind can do... through meditation I was able to “trick” my mind and I manifested the English language in a matter of a few months
"You acquire the appetite while eating." I like that expression, I've found myself struggling to get started in many things, but once I get moving I'm really enjoying myself. But I seem to always forget this once I'm starting something again... Now I have a saying to help focus the mind and build up a new appetite!
I'm 54 - native language is English, 2nd language (studied in school for 4 years) is French, and I've picked up some Spanish along the way because of where I lived. It so SO much easier to learn languages now, especially with so much awesome TH-cam content! I *hated* the old school way of language instruction! Did I learn to speak French in school? Sort of. But after 4 years, my progress was minimal. All my life I've wanted to be a polyglot... So now I'm studying German on my own, and also trying to advance my French and Spanish, but I want to add Italian and possibly Vietnamese. I actually love the study of languages as a science so much that I'm going back to school to study Linguistics with Minor in German and a TESL as well - but the language *speaking* is something I study on my own. I use massive amounts of listening to native speakers (mostly TH-cam content) as well as other resources that help me learn languages in *context.* I do make my own flashcards and take notes, but my flashcards are not *words,* but rather complete phrases/sentences. ....What he says is correct - we don't start off learning our native language by studying grammar. We start by listening *a lot,* then speaking - *a lot* - before we ever learn a single bit of grammar. ANYWAY - thanks for this video! The gentleman is inspiring for those who might think they're "too old" to do what they want to do. Thank you! Happy accident that this came up in my YT feed. 😁👍
I agree totally about MOTIVATION as a most important reason succeeding in learning a new language, at any age, I may add. Success feed motivation...it’s also correct!
I can speak Polish, German, English, Russian, Esperanto, and a little Italian. You can learn languages without courses, teachers, grammar because you can simply watch on TV, hear podcasts, read newspapers, etc. Look at the children how they learn. Repeat, repeat and the key is listening, reading and after this speaking. There is, for example, a helpful approach to learn languages - The Birkenbihl Approach. But you can find much more methods to have fun. Why is it important to have fun? Because your brain simply loves it!
Everything he is saying is so true. I started to take French in high school because I had to take a language and I didn't want to take Spanish because I already spoke it. At first I wasn't very interested because I had no relation with the language, but soon I started to really like it, mostly because I fell in love with French cinema and music. Now I am constantly thinking about French and trying to improve on my own. 10:58 very true. I really enjoyed this video.
As a linguist, language teacher and learner, I agree with everything except for one thing. I don’t think the first thing to learn is the writing system, because some systems such as English are inconsistent, especially when comparing the writing system with the sound system (e.g. “a” doesn’t always sound as /a/). So I believe the first thing to learn is the SOUND system, then after learning all the sounds, you incorporate it to the writing system.
My way to learn a new language is through similarity between words and languages structures. I learned to speak Spanish, Italian and French because there are very similar to Portuguese. Now I'm learning German through its similarity with English and Latin. Languages' courses are too standardized. I like to learn by myself, using my one strategies and methods. I learned English watching TV, especially News programs and documentaries. Even when I did not understand what they were saying I keep watching those programs in English. It helped me a lot. English and Italian are my favorite languages ...
Steve makes a good point that in some countries people routinely learn and become fluent in more than one language. That works beause in those countries children start learning their multiple languages in grade school and get daily professionl lessions thru the 12th grade. In this forum we are talking about adults that want to learn a second or third language to fluency in a year or less in their spare time. That is a tall order. It is just not a realistic time frame and they don’t get regular professional lessions so it only works for the people that have some degree of talent in learning languages. In the U.S. many people are making international trips for business and pleasure and its time that we start teaching a second or third language to children the way it is done in Europe.
Those were GOLDEN ADVICE. I agree since I've been learning and hopping from one European language to another European language. Motivation is everything in Language Acquisition. On one hand, I also adhere to the fact that one acquires language for the purpose of using it. I believe that the existence of Language Community is vital in the existence of Language Courses online.
I like that idea of one sport helping you learn another sport. My grandson played a lot of soccer where he because very good at running fast and then took that into his playing tackle football.
Man, really... Fantastic! First of all, very good questions! I loved that one about how Mr. Kaufmann begins the process of learning another language. And I really like him as well, so sympathetic! Thanks for this amazing content!
Christian, my English improved a lot thanks to your precious lessons. I also watch Mad English TV that has diferent approach but is very funny and kind like you.
Once, i had to call to french embasy here in Brazil. The girl who answered spoke in french, I asked her, in english, if we could speak in portuguese, she said yes.
7:00 ;) Important to remember. So, thanks. I've only been learning potuguese since.. the beginning of april I think. And in the beginning, when I was watching a Brazilian speak in a video, it was like they spoke so fast. They still do a little bit, but I can understand some easy conversations when there are portuguese subtitles. It's amazing how fast one can improve, but you have to look back every once in a while, to realize you haven't always been on this level and you actually made quite some progress already.
I quite agree after living in Greece & Germany. Being out & about & listening to the language before trying to learn. As one hears the internations etc. Listening every day to the radio, the weather report then slowly & steadily the language starts to sink in. In my humble opinion. I lived in Israel years ago & i learned to count in 5 days just listening. I cannot believe I could do that but I did & 35 years later I can still count in Hebrew.
I wasted 4 years in college studying English Language. Then one year scholarship in the US introduced me to the Language again. I had already forgotten the fucking Grammar by the time I traveled to the US and started developing my mental Grammar unknowingly through real life interaction with natives. When I read Grammar after that, it all just made sense. It was just giving names to concepts that are already known to me subconsciously (mental Grammar). I also came to enjoy Syntax very much after years of despising it.
I liked this episode. It's my first time to watch your channel. I listened to the full podcast. It's interesting how important is actually putting the effort out to master a language or at least to reach a certain level of comprehension. I think what Mr. Steven meant it's important to be exposed to your targeted language in both listening and writen format as this will eventually keeps you motivated and willing to learn more about words and concepts which will help your comprehension. I think the fact of being exposed alongside your efforts to have a quite unbreakable foundation of the language does improve your level drastically. Off course the younger you're exposed to a language the easier to master in my opinion. I agree with the fact that we're forced to learn certain languages at school and work and it's not left to our own preferances.. I mean that's a valid point worth considering in our schools systems.
I'm both a language tutor and learner, and this interview was SO interesting looked at from both perspectives. I already give out a lot of very similar advice to what he says, so I feel affirmed in my intuitions about language learning. At the same time, I feel like I only had a surface level understanding of it until I became a language learner myself. It's a very different view from this end.
I also dream of reading Tolstoy and Chekhov in their own language. I believe that in translation the flavour is lost. Now looking at STEVE I am motivated . Shall try learning Russian soon.
Join the Canguro English newsletter: canguroenglish.com/newsletter
I’m sorry I don’t have time to reply to all of your comments but I read them all and I am eternally grateful for your love and support.
Great interview. I really think that the most important in the process of learning is to be involved in the language first and learn vocabulary . After that is gonna be easier and the last point would be grammar.
"...the paradox is that if they aren't willing to make mistakes they will continue to make mistakes... perfection is not the goal..." Perfect! My challenge is just this point.
you mean the mistake makers mistaken paradox ?
Yep me too!
Jesus, Steve looks well for 73!
Yeah, when he said that Steve had 73 years old, I was impressed!
He looks very spry for the guy his age. I guess, in part, it's because he's studying languages.
I'm your 73rd like.
Yess! Indeed, 73, wow!
Could pass for 60's 👌
This looks amazing! I'm a native English speaker, and in my lifetime l've learnt - and forgotten - French, Italian, Swedish, Indonesian and Japanese. Now at 76, l'm keen to get into them all again this way. If it works, l'll try Mandarin. Very exciting.
Diane Philipson keep it up :)
Good luck. I hope you will be able to relearn those languages
Go on, you can do it. You will find it so easy.
Mandarin is way easier than Japanese IMO
Pregnancy wiped my brain clean lol
Forgot all the French, Greek, and Japanese I used to know. Sometimes I'd forget my native English during pregnancy and I'd be left trying to order food in French in central Taiwan!
With postpartum depression out of the way, now, my mandarin has improved a lot, and I hope to recover the French, Greek, Korean, and Japanese I used to know!
Buona fortuna!
3:01 is a profound observation: "once you discover you can do something, then you're motivated to do more of it"
This resonates with me. When I begun to understand Russian and began to speak, I had the next 2 languages planned in my head.
@@louisronan5903 why did you start learn russian?😄
People like Steve ans Christian are bringing concepts of learning languages, which are revolutionary for the most of people. Please, keep spreading your knowledge! There are people who struggle with learning and they need it. YOU are my inspiration! Thank you both Steve and Christian with all my heart!
What a great man Steve Kaufmann is! Hats off for his wisdom and sharing his experience. Thank you very much!
Well, yes i was frustrated expacting people to judge when i speak or even write comment on youtube, i was full of hopeless but wait what changed me was when i started to not be afraid doing mistake and practiced everday🌟 i know some of you wouldn't believe me what i did!
I became nearly fluent after 2 months of keeping my promise.
Here i am today🌟
73 years old, but he still looks good holy crap...
He does such a daddy
I’m a Cantonese speaker from Vietnam, had learned Vietnamese one period a day for 5 years, have been speaking English for 35 years. Just started to learn Spanish, Mandarin & Vietnamese 4 months ago. Thank you gentlemen for your insight.
At age 19 I have a child's grasp on Hebrew, Russian, and Spanish. I currently speak English and German fairly well. I needed this because I am able to start this early in my language learning career so I may standardize my language learning in a more appropriate fashion as my learning habits have been quite counteractive as I don't know what I'm missing in the language until I'm stumped
I'm brazilian and my main language is Portuguese, but I speak Esnglish too. This video helped me a lot with many doubts and fears. Thank you guys!
I am now becoming a polyglot! I know English, Spanish (ES) Japanese, portuguese and a bit of Chinese! And I still believe that those who have a great will, is about to enter up to the polyglot fame hall, like Mr. Steve. He is like a inspiration for us , as young language learners! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!
I speak Spanish, Basque, English and Galician and I'm studying German and Norwegian by myself. I try to read books and newspapers in different languages everyday, watch movies and series in their original versions, etc. so I don't lose pace and fluency. Once you fall in love with a language, it's hard to quit.
It is so true that when you learn more languages the better you become in learning languages. I'm Polish 37 years old, I speak Polish, English, French, Italian and Arabic (fusha, Syrian and Egyptian dialect and I'm learning Derja along with my kids as my husband is Tunisian), I read and understand German (I speak a little as I have never had chance to practice talking) and currently learning Chinese. When I was a kid I was also able to communicate in Russian but when I entered school in '89 it was moment when it was cancelled from schools in Poland and my parents focused in teaching me English so at the end I have not learned Russian. But I plan to take Russian after having learned Chinese.
My children are already plyglots by birth: as I am Polish, my husband Tunisian, we use OPOL and talking with each other in English and plus we live in France so our kids have 4 languages as a "starter pack" ;) Our 9 years old son, made his Cambridge flyers A2 this year with 15/15 even that he was never learning English (as a foreign language), he is also making in the same time Polish and French school at home and learns to read in Arabic (as he is speaking Derja like his father he needs to learn "new Arabic" so called Modern Standard to read). Our 2 years old daughter alread speaks 2 languages (Polish and French, which she learns in the kindergarten) and understands 2 more (Derja from father and English when we talk together)
Would be very interesting to know how well they speak these different languages in like 10 years!
Such an inspiring story, thank you! Hope everything goes well since then.
He is so absolutely right about how backwards language teaching is (in schools at least). Pretty much any polyglot says similar things about it to what he says and I agree from my own experience, being fluent in Icelandic, English, German, Swedish and Danish and knowing some French.
The best teacher of the world!! I'm so Grateful. Thanks a Lot for inspire us. I'm Leaning a Lot with your contents.
intelligent, smart and handsome Mr. Steve Kaufman is, an apple of truth💚
Television is one of the most convenient ways to learn a second language. I watched television only in Spanish for two straight years. I did the same thing with Italian language television.
Thank you, Christian. For all of your videos. Your channel is one of the most useful and enjoyable channels on youtube.
You know when you are getting the hang of a language when you start to dream in the language. I have dreams in German, Thai, and Spanish. It's funny when in the dream I'm speaking Thai to a German person and we both understand each other. lol
Whaaaaaat
Hahaha 😂
rightt and sometimes i be be dreaming in korean and when i wake up i be like wth cos the dreams be wierd and funny loll
Every human is great at thigh language and the stuff in between the thighs
actually
german can understand dutch
Nobody can speak like you diplomatic people 🌼🌼🌼
Every school student needs to hear this! Everyone in the world could be polyglots!
What a wonderful interview! I loved the conversation. Very instrucional
Engage with the language and make mistakes that's what makes perfection
Such a practical thinking polyglot. Really enjoyed that.
Thanks a million for this great video, Chris. Steve is awesome!
Agree with all of this. Motivation is key and it all starts with listening over and over.
Thank you so much for this helping video.... God bless you... 🍀☘️🌿
This was such an honest interview. I loved it! I speak two languages fluently and now I decided that I want to learn a third one. I'm at early stage of the process and it can be daunting. But I see these polyglots online (some better than others) speaking other languages and it inspires me. I'm hoping I can get passed the basic pronouns and conjugations soon so I can actually start practicing putting together my own sentences together soon. I'm giving myself 1 year to be conversational in a third language.
Hi Christian, thank you very much for this interview with Steve Kaufmann. He is such an amazing person, with a strong and clear voice and thoughts and mainly knowledges how to learn foreign languagues. I 've made sure myslelf I 've been taking the right way to increas my English level up. Jarmila.
I have been following you both for many years.. you are both a source of inspiration..I really love Christian accent and his style as well..As far as Steve is concerned I would only say that he is a well known and accomplished polyglot..thank you
For a 73 years old. His brain is really sharp and bright
Steve Kaufman is the best.
I completely agree with SK when he says that "practice makes master" (not literally). I am now trying my best in writing and it goes better with the time.
One day I'll learn Japanese, russian and Arabic, but now I just wanna be fluent in English!
Me too
lmao am i the only person not understanding what makes people want to learn russian
@@zz9557 Yes.
If you like Russian culture, you should learn the language. I like Russian Culture. I also like the country.
The English do not see American speech as true English...most words are misspelled...the wrong syllable is accented...poor usage...comprehension...and weak vocabularies!
z z Russian bias
Yes, some people do struggle with learning their first second language, but it can be interesting to dive into geographically prioritised ones. For example, I am from Azerbaijan, but due to our history closely related to the Soviet Union, almost everyone can speak or at least understand Russian. Then, we can more or less speak Turkish, which is kind of similar to Azerbaijani, but it is certainly a different language. Some of us speak English as well. What about me, I am learning Italian now. So, never stop going on for more ✌🏻
I'm a teenager, I'm also a polyglot. My native languages are Portuguese, English and Spanish; I learned French and I'm on a very advanced level (from now on it really is just about practicing and talking which I do a lot); I've been learning Hebrew and Galician and I'm planning Mandarin and Arabic next (I kind of started getting familiarized with Mandarin but not yet started). When Steve shared his point of view about how language teaching is upside down, I felt so related to it! I see people at school struggling with badly spoken English and that backwards method is what gets them stuck, and really, the more you learn the better you get at it. Languages are fascinating, they're beyond any translations, they're a whole different way to see the world and a whole new culture that comes with it.
It's easy for a Latin language speaker to learn another Latin language
Hi bro! I know only Russian and english.Can you advice me how can i learn other languages maybe french or german. On the internet or individual myself??
@@kishanchali8752 Easy to read, not to write, talk and listen to.
Thank you very much, Christian. Very useful and enlightening clip. Waiting for the next one!
There is always amazing interviews here. I'm so grateful for everything you have been sharing with us ;)
So interesting...I dream to be a polyglot 🤪🤪🤪
What man can do you can do
Me too
Dont dream just start
@@brobro-qh8ec +
me too, although I speak just spanish and im learning english, I hope I can speak more languages in the future
I did NOT know he is 73! WOOOOOOOOOOW. Kaufman needs to do a "What I eat in a Day" video. Jeez. Bless him.
Steve es una persona absolutamente admirable, un referente del que aprender. Las sensaciones que transmite al escucharle hablar, desde luego no son las de una persona infeliz.
That was a very interesting and motivating video for learning my 3rd language. Thank you!
I appreciate this interview 😊 thank you!
Both characters I have been listening and I love them. The point is having both of them at the same place (video) it is amazing to me. I´d like to say "thank you a lot" Christian and S. Kaufman you are very precious for anyone who wants to speak no only English but also any language at all. I keep listening... both... and again... thank you very much!
No way!! You guys did that. What a small world we live today!! Congrats you guys for motivating us in our journey!!!
Mate great channel and great interview. I am a native Aussie speaker but your advice and Steve Kaufmann's wisdom have helped me a great deal in not only learning Norsk but how language works in general and my poor brain will never be the same.
I know this doesn’t have much to do with the topic but 6 months ago I manifested a new lenguaje by using certain techniques of meditation... when it comes to the mind it’s very unpredictable what your mind can do... through meditation I was able to “trick” my mind and I manifested the English language in a matter of a few months
You touched every corner of a beginners mind when starting learning a new language...
This is very exciting since I’ve been struggling to learn Spanish. I feel like I finally have a strategy that will work.
Thanks a lot for your advice!!
I look up to him, he is Mister Steve, my Hero
TO him
@@jadorealissawhite-gluz5706 That's right, I appreciate your correction thank you a lot, phrasal verbs are a nightmare
Christian you are the motivator for me to learn english.
I look up to you both so much. Thank you ever so much. _ Christian from Thailand
"You acquire the appetite while eating." I like that expression, I've found myself struggling to get started in many things, but once I get moving I'm really enjoying myself. But I seem to always forget this once I'm starting something again... Now I have a saying to help focus the mind and build up a new appetite!
I'm 54 - native language is English, 2nd language (studied in school for 4 years) is French, and I've picked up some Spanish along the way because of where I lived. It so SO much easier to learn languages now, especially with so much awesome TH-cam content! I *hated* the old school way of language instruction! Did I learn to speak French in school? Sort of. But after 4 years, my progress was minimal. All my life I've wanted to be a polyglot... So now I'm studying German on my own, and also trying to advance my French and Spanish, but I want to add Italian and possibly Vietnamese. I actually love the study of languages as a science so much that I'm going back to school to study Linguistics with Minor in German and a TESL as well - but the language *speaking* is something I study on my own. I use massive amounts of listening to native speakers (mostly TH-cam content) as well as other resources that help me learn languages in *context.* I do make my own flashcards and take notes, but my flashcards are not *words,* but rather complete phrases/sentences. ....What he says is correct - we don't start off learning our native language by studying grammar. We start by listening *a lot,* then speaking - *a lot* - before we ever learn a single bit of grammar. ANYWAY - thanks for this video! The gentleman is inspiring for those who might think they're "too old" to do what they want to do. Thank you! Happy accident that this came up in my YT feed. 😁👍
I agree with everything he says. I also learned my languages the same way and process that he did !! Good Video!!
Here cause my teacher at graduation sent us! Very inspiring 🥰
I agree totally about MOTIVATION as a most important reason succeeding in learning a new language, at any age, I may add. Success feed motivation...it’s also correct!
I can speak Polish, German, English, Russian, Esperanto, and a little Italian. You can learn languages without courses, teachers, grammar because you can simply watch on TV, hear podcasts, read newspapers, etc. Look at the children how they learn. Repeat, repeat and the key is listening, reading and after this speaking. There is, for example, a helpful approach to learn languages - The Birkenbihl Approach. But you can find much more methods to have fun. Why is it important to have fun? Because your brain simply loves it!
That really motivates me, I’m 16 and I already learned one language fluently, and now I’m learning English, i hope I’ll speak it fluently soon
Sounds good to me so far :)
Спасибо за позитив и стремление делать свое дело на 300%. люблю ваши видео
Brilliant; great news for me, trying to learn Mandarin, Spanish & ? now i have some hope, thanks.
Everything he is saying is so true. I started to take French in high school because I had to take a language and I didn't want to take Spanish because I already spoke it. At first I wasn't very interested because I had no relation with the language, but soon I started to really like it, mostly because I fell in love with French cinema and music. Now I am constantly thinking about French and trying to improve on my own. 10:58 very true. I really enjoyed this video.
Thanks bro, this is one of the best interview i had ever watch.
This man is amazing, very smart!!
As a linguist, language teacher and learner, I agree with everything except for one thing. I don’t think the first thing to learn is the writing system, because some systems such as English are inconsistent, especially when comparing the writing system with the sound system (e.g. “a” doesn’t always sound as /a/). So I believe the first thing to learn is the SOUND system, then after learning all the sounds, you incorporate it to the writing system.
That's one great video! Thank you very much, gentlemen.
Thank you for this video! It’s motivated me a lot! I think it’s right to said learners true that learning needs time!
My way to learn a new language is through similarity between words and languages structures. I learned to speak Spanish, Italian and French because there are very similar to Portuguese. Now I'm learning German through its similarity with English and Latin. Languages' courses are too standardized. I like to learn by myself, using my one strategies and methods. I learned English watching TV, especially News programs and documentaries. Even when I did not understand what they were saying I keep watching those programs in English. It helped me a lot. English and Italian are my favorite languages ...
Steve makes a good point that in some countries people routinely learn and become fluent in more than one language. That works beause in those countries children start learning their multiple languages in grade school and get daily professionl lessions thru the 12th grade. In this forum we are talking about adults that want to learn a second or third language to fluency in a year or less in their spare time. That is a tall order. It is just not a realistic time frame and they don’t get regular professional lessions so it only works for the people that have some degree of talent in learning languages. In the U.S. many people are making international trips for business and pleasure and its time that we start teaching a second or third language to children the way it is done in Europe.
Those were GOLDEN ADVICE. I agree since I've been learning and hopping from one European language to another European language. Motivation is everything in Language Acquisition. On one hand, I also adhere to the fact that one acquires language for the purpose of using it. I believe that the existence of Language Community is vital in the existence of Language Courses online.
I like that idea of one sport helping you learn another sport. My grandson played a lot of soccer where he because very good at running fast and then took that into his playing tackle football.
Man, really... Fantastic! First of all, very good questions! I loved that one about how Mr. Kaufmann begins the process of learning another language. And I really like him as well, so sympathetic! Thanks for this amazing content!
Christian, my English improved a lot thanks to your precious lessons. I also watch Mad English TV that has diferent approach but is very funny and kind like you.
Once, i had to call to french embasy here in Brazil. The girl who answered spoke in french, I asked her, in english, if we could speak in portuguese, she said yes.
Thanks for the full interview link! It was very informative and enjoyable!
7:00 ;) Important to remember. So, thanks.
I've only been learning potuguese since.. the beginning of april I think. And in the beginning, when I was watching a Brazilian speak in a video, it was like they spoke so fast. They still do a little bit, but I can understand some easy conversations when there are portuguese subtitles. It's amazing how fast one can improve, but you have to look back every once in a while, to realize you haven't always been on this level and you actually made quite some progress already.
I quite agree after living in Greece & Germany. Being out & about & listening to the language before trying to learn. As one hears the internations etc. Listening every day to the radio, the weather report then slowly & steadily the language starts to sink in. In my humble opinion. I lived in Israel years ago & i learned to count in 5 days just listening. I cannot believe I could do that but I did & 35 years later I can still count in Hebrew.
I wasted 4 years in college studying English Language. Then one year scholarship in the US introduced me to the Language again. I had already forgotten the fucking Grammar by the time I traveled to the US and started developing my mental Grammar unknowingly through real life interaction with natives. When I read Grammar after that, it all just made sense. It was just giving names to concepts that are already known to me subconsciously (mental Grammar). I also came to enjoy Syntax very much after years of despising it.
"l'appétit vient en mangeant". Great saying. I must remember that.
What does it mean
Simply prime! Greetings from Amazon in north of Brazil!👍😀
Another great interview. I’ll be happy with 5 or 6 languages. My brain would explode with any more than that. Actually it already does with three. 🤯😜😁
Thanks, Steve.
English is not my first language, but I understand 100%. Wow
Thanks a lot guys! that was great.
Thank you for sharing the interview
I liked this episode. It's my first time to watch your channel. I listened to the full podcast. It's interesting how important is actually putting the effort out to master a language or at least to reach a certain level of comprehension. I think what Mr. Steven meant it's important to be exposed to your targeted language in both listening and writen format as this will eventually keeps you motivated and willing to learn more about words and concepts which will help your comprehension. I think the fact of being exposed alongside your efforts to have a quite unbreakable foundation of the language does improve your level drastically. Off course the younger you're exposed to a language the easier to master in my opinion. I agree with the fact that we're forced to learn certain languages at school and work and it's not left to our own preferances.. I mean that's a valid point worth considering in our schools systems.
I'm both a language tutor and learner, and this interview was SO interesting looked at from both perspectives. I already give out a lot of very similar advice to what he says, so I feel affirmed in my intuitions about language learning. At the same time, I feel like I only had a surface level understanding of it until I became a language learner myself. It's a very different view from this end.
Thanks for this interesting interview! I'm absolutely agree with speakers - motivation is foundation of our knowledge.
Thank you.
8:20 stive is right 👍 in india most of the people speaks 3 languages 🇮🇳 as I speak Bengali Hindi English and learning Spanish, Japanese, Russian
Steve is my best motivator:)
What a surprice christian and steve together!! great!!
This process is actually not learning a language; it is acquiring a language.
Very encouraging, thank you!
I also dream of reading Tolstoy and Chekhov in their own language. I believe that in translation the flavour is lost. Now looking at STEVE I am motivated . Shall try learning Russian soon.
Those were the best advises I have heard. Thanks a lot!
I love the interview, thanks you