Being afraid of making mistakes is a huge problem that prevent you from progress. Unfortunately people are not always kind to you, when you try to comunicate in their language. It can happen that native speakers roll their eyes at you , when you kindly ask them to repete what they said. This can be terribly discouraging and make you afraid of even starting a conversation and pratice the language you have been studying for long time, preventing you to progress and also demotivating you to continue to study that language. The biggest tips I would give to a language learner is to keep calm during a conversation, to be confortable with making mistakes (we do not have to care about not-empathetic people) and not to want to always understand everything we're told. The most important thing at the beginning is to understand the topic of a speech and give long answers. In this way you can practise your speaking and the guy you are speaking to can undesrtand if you're getting the point or not and adjust the speech to your level of comprehension. That can keep a conversation alive and your fear of speaking away!
Funny thing, my problem is not the other people. It's my family. For example, I married into a family of language geniuses, it's like my husband's familys gift. My hubby can speak 5++ languages (german, english, italian, french, japanese and some chinese and korean), my stepson 5 (german, english, spanish, portuguese, japanese) and so are the rest of them. They speak and write these languages fluently like a native speaker and not like those levels (A1 to C2 type). Me, I am terrible in grammar but my memory is very good, so I know a lot of vocabulary but can't speak. So whenever I try to speak at home, I am bombarded by extreme criticisms that made me feel so bad and in turn, I got so afraid to speak with any of them. I am learning japanese now so it's hard when the people you expect to teach you and help you just tells you how bad you are (my stepson once to me I am stupid).
@@люблюсмаженихкацапськихнемовля Some english speakers assume we must be perfect when speaking their language because it's the most spoken language in the world and so like you said sometimes it discourage us. But let us keep improving one day we'll reach the goal.
I had similar troubles when learning Spanish, it took me awhile to learn to not care about the comments but it can make conversing with people like that very exhausting. It taught me a lot about failure and that it is really just part of the learning process which I think has helped with other areas of my life now. I learnt to have more compassion for myself too. I also realised I was much slower at retaining new information then others but if I at least learnt one or two new words each language class that was much better and much easier. I also had to get past the strong belief in Australia that languages are really hard and theres no point, I now see how beautiful it is to have access to another way of thinking and expressing myself and I just love the connections I make with new people. I hope to learn a few more languages now and become properly fluent in Spanish.
People mocking accents is one of the rudest things I've seen. And it happens often, even between natives from different parts of a country. YOUR ACCENT IS VALID, let's normalize variety and call out people who make fun of others for it.
agreed! I live in California (I was born and raised here) and when people who aren't from America try to speak English, I just think it's super impressive that they can speak at least two languages (and possibly more) where I'm here struggling to learn my second language (German. I can read pretty well-- Currently reading harry potter in german-- but speaking is a wholeeee other matter haha). Apparently some students at my university were making fun of a Spanish speaker's accent/language or something and I just... can't fathom why people would do that because I just find speaking more than one language really impressive.
@@kaitlyng7850 it's sad too, because when you see that you feel discouraged to try practicing too. Good luck with your German! I studied it for a while but quit bc the declensions were giving me a headache lol
@@ceciliagarcia6823 oh nooo! are you learning a different language now or just given up entirely? I don't find declensions particularly horrific-- it just takes practice and everything like it just now sounds right that "der changes to dem" or "die changes to der" in dativ. But the real annoying thing is knowing which noun is der, die, or das. That's really my biggest struggle lol. Once I know the gender, then it's pretty okay but yeah when I don't... it's a 33.3% chance of getting it right haha
@@kaitlyng7850 I didnt have much problem with that bc Im from Spain and we have gender in nouns too xddd my advice is that you dont worry too much, even natives make mistakes since it's not relevant to the speech whether "table" is masc or fem. You sound less natural, but they understand anyway. Now I am focused with japanese :) I wanted to try an asian language and this one is so much fun!
“The purpose of learning a language is not to show off your abilities or intelligence but to communicate and connect with people…” Amazing point! Thanks so much.
Isn’t that a… well, an extremely obvious point? Do people *really* learn language(s) just so others will think they’re intelligent, rather than because they enjoy and appreciate the culture and want to connect with others?? You’d think those types of people would become mathematicians or physicists if their sole purpose is to feel smart
Yup. That is also my code on learning foreign language. I mean, how could I enjoy travelling aboard if I couldn't ask the local citizen about "where is the public toilet, sir/mam?". We learn new languages for communication, not to impress people. That's the point.
@@adhiseaman1099 But there are many people for whom, this is pretty important reason. Including myself. Let's do not pretend this is not importnant to maaany language learners. And BTW who Zoe is to tell us why people learn languages and what are valid and invalid resons to learn?
I think the biggest take away for me is when you said “you don’t learn a language to impress others.” In my head I know that, but I think that in my heart that was the goal. I think learning for yourself and learning to communicate comes with less pressure than to impress people. I am learning ASL (American sign language) and I have immersive sessions Sundays and Wednesdays. But my Korean, I don’t have that. When I go to the Korean mart, I am afraid to ask questions in Korean because I don’t want to be judged for my low level. That’s a mindset I need to get over. Thank you for your video and the tips on how to make studying fun! I had not thought of taking new words and turning them into sentences that apply to my life. 💙💪🏾
You may want to start with greetings & saying thank you in Korean when you go to the Korean mart next time. I never wait when learning a second language, you would be surprised how much faster the improvement could be in terms of speaking a new language. The smile of native speakers (especially the minorities living abroad) appreciating people learning their language is priceless ❤️
I think she’s so nice, kind, humble, and helpful. I love how she’s so transparent and shows that she’s not afraid to be vulnerable, even as someone so talented. This is important because it gives us realistic expectations about language learning and so that we can learn from her experiences. So Zoe thank you for learning these mistakes the hard way so that we don’t have to! Many TH-cam polyglots try to create an illusion that they’re perfect and don’t struggle, which sets unrealistic expectations for us viewers or cause us to start doubting ourselves. Not only is Zoe’s transparency and willingness to admit her struggles helpful to us, it shows us that she is still human, and not a robot or a god. She is just like us. She is a friend. So down to earth and humble!
'You don't learn a language for others, but for yourself.' Such a brilliant point. Tip number one is so important for learning languages, and in life in general. Merci beaucoup.
Yes i always scared to talk to people. In writing and speaking to myself I was good but when i need to talk to others I hesitaded. Now the ice is broken and I'm more fluent. I understand your english very good and as a native German you have a very clear pronounciation i understand everything you said in german and it was also right so far. You motivating me to study languages. I'm learning arabic, french and farsi right now
@@ihavenoname330 I’m trying to learn Spanish and German, and yes good luck. I’m having trouble with the grammar in German, and pronunciation in Spanish. However, if I keep practicing I will make progress. And it will be worth it. Alles gute!
For me the best motivator was my dreams. I wanted to live in Sweden so badly that I learned swedish in comunicative niveu in 1 year. I have learned from students books and audiobooks and tv-serie. In the same time I have been working as a doctor as usual. I have moved and started working as a assistant nurse so that I could learn swedish language a bit more. Half year after I have started to work as a doctor here in Sweden and my dreams come true! Motivation is a key to sucess! And I fully agree with your film, you are right with all your tips.
I'm currently learning English and I've made this habit of leaving atleast one comment in English on every TH-cam video I watch . Thank you for the video, it was really helpful .
As someone who grew up in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia spoken 3 languages - Malay, Bahasa Indonesian, and Chinese Mandarin. I was born in Australia, but grew up in Asia for the past 4 years during my Primary schooling. I was always hesitate to learn English since I was born in a English country even though I didn't grew up there during my primary schooling, I was always made fun of speaking English since I had an accent, but I never listen to criticism because English isn't my first language and I was still learning transition to my high school schooling. And now even, I'm in my 2nd last year of university getting a bachelor degree with honours. Ive always believe in myself that I was smart enough to achieve anything in life, and those haters especially my high school teachers and those students making fun of my accent. I am so happy that finally, I am such a better English speaker than them now, and smart whose able to speak 4 languages fluently and currently learning Arabic now, French, and Korean. I've always believe in myself, and hard work does pay off. Not only I remain a high GPA and high distinction overall grades in my university in Australia against those people who made fun of me. I am such a better state I am now. I may not be white, but Asian skin. And those people who think they have the audacity to say absolute nonsense. I never took it personally. And those people who just haters my advice just ignore them, if you know you can achieve it than no other opinions matters expect yourself! PS: Zoe language your English is perfect. Believe me as someone who grew up in a English speaking country :)
Thank you so much for this video. As an English native speaker studying Mandarin Chinese, seeing someone like you and hearing you message is really encouraging and inspiring. I have been living in Taiwan for about 5 years now, and I try to practice my Mandarin with native speakers almost daily. It took me about 3 years to realize that speaking "perfectly" was really just an unrealistic expectation, and that I should let go of this and just focus on communication and connecting with others. Although I still have so much to learn and improve, after letting go of that unrealistic expectation and desire I have noticed that my speaking has improved quite a lot. Learning a language is different for everyone, but I just want to let you know that I truly respect and admire what you have been able to accomplish and I hope to be like you someday.
@11:26 "do it less, more regularly" - so powerful and so true! i'm learning to write farsi and often get discouraged by how easily i forget. now i have a limit: just 5 sentences at a time. it's easier to keep on going when the chunk size is small.
I’m glad you made this video. One of the reasons I was drawn to your channel is because you DO have an accent and sometimes the words don’t come out easily. But as a language learning channel, that makes you more relatable and encouraging! I think “her accent isn’t perfect either but she made a whole TH-cam video in English and I understood her easily. If she can do that, surely I can say a few simple phrases out loud.”
Ça m'a remotivé à apprendre des langues, merci. J'ai si peu de temps de libre que j'avais presque abandonné cette petite lueur que je trouve magnifique : pouvoir communiquer avec le monde à travers leurs mots.
The first language I was exposed to wasn't English, and for most of my life living in the US I was only mocked- language, customs, everything, so I tried to blend in and by 17 I was even able to get rid of my accent in English. Moving to Japan almost 10 years later, I am sad I let one mindset change me so much- there are so many opinions and people that you'll never fit in a single mold and that's ok. I've heard many motivational speeches when trying to learn a language, but this one really struck me the right way. Thank you for being so transparent and honest. I feel ready to learn all the languages I wanted to but was told it was a waste of time ^^
I had the same challenges when i started learning chinese language but I'm proud that that i was able to overcome those challenges. I'm now doing my PHD in Chinese language😍
It's people like Zoe that give me hope! After years of study, I am still not fluent in my second language like I would like to be. Fear has a lot to do with that
You've become my favorite language channel. I love that your content usually is made thoughtfully to actually provide value vs just coming up with random content so you can make a living from TH-cam. I can see from observation that your study, routine, work and routine habits are a big part of how you not only became successful with languages but helped you accomplish in your studies and career. I struggle with disciplining, and organizing my day, wake up and bed time, managing distractions and actually going into deep work on tasks. I'd love to see how you approach all these and built your disciplined habits and would appreciate more content that focused on that.
@@zoe.languages also please make more french content when you can! That's what I'm learning! I'd love to hear your journey learning french and your tips.b
So motivating , I salute the choice of perception you've adapted to handle linguistic bullying . If this barrier within each one of us is dismantled , we can make miracles .
Hi Zoe! You talked about your sociology PhD research, and I am really interested in this! Your topics on refugees and foreigners are really similar to what I am studying in high school at the moment, I would love to see you make a video about your insight on the subject!
The 2nd point is definitely me. I am extremely impatient and set high goals in a short amount of time. I have been learning Dutch for 1 month, but am going to amsterdam in August. I made it a goal to be conversationally fluent by then. Of course I am still going to try my hardest, but I am not going to beat myself up if I am not there by the trip. Language learning is a process, and many we learn at different paces. I just have to remember that
Hello Zoe! Thank you sm for taking your time doing this video! I learn a lot! The mindset of learning other languages just to impress others is just so wrong. It's all about learning to communicate and connect with people. Love this video!!❤️❤️
It can be quite intimidating talking to a native speaker straight away when you’re learning a new language. I would suggest at the beginning you talk to someone who is also trying to learn the same second language as you. You can help each other and feel confident knowing they are also learning too, so there won’t be any judgment there.
It is intimidating but necessary, in my opinion, if you're going to have decent pronunciation. You need to get native feedback on your speaking skills early on or else you will practice saying words incorrectly for too long. I'm learning Jordanian Arabic and I've been fortunate enough to have a few patient Arab friends who correct me but also encourage me. And I help them with their English. Once I got several months of study under my belt, I started to meet some fellow native English speakers who are also learning Arabic and that has been beneficial.
I can say that is important to do it, but extremely necessary (at the beginning), because that will probably turn to cero your confidence, but actually start speaking from the beginning, by gathering more vocabulary from videos (specially short ones) that way you would not get stressed for not been able to fully understand all the words, but also you you will be force to not read subtitles also read a lots of books and listening to music in that language. Speak to yourself, sometimes just act like you doing a youtube video. I hope this will help you, because it worked for me, and first language is Spanish😅.
Oh my God. I am so proud of you. You speak farsi beautifully. We love and appreciate anyone who speaks Persian. It is so hard to learn Persian without Iranian parents or relatives.What you did is really amazing and courageous.
You're right zoe most people who criticize you and ignore your efforts are unable to do half of what you've already achieved ✨️ ❤ nice advice keep going .
Hi Zoe! Your videos are so motivational for me - whenever I'm feeling down on my language studies I watch your videos. 🥰 Also, your English accent is really good and anyone who told you that you were hard to understand was lying!
Your voice is so calming. It may be the things I'm going through now, but I almost started crying around 1:42 Thank you so much. This definitely made me a bit more confident in studying.
Thank you Zoe! This was very helpful to me. I started studying French a month ago, and am progressing. I find myself getting a headache, or physically tired after a 30 minute lesson. So..I review the same lesson over a few days 4 to 5 times, till I feel I have about 80% mastered the lesson. Then I move on to the next. I did not set myself a time reference for learning. I'm taking others advice, on the different channels. I'm 68 years old, and have a high interest in learning more languages. I speak native English, and have some background in Spanish. So it is learning, that I want to be fun for me. Thank you again, your channel is my favorite, and most helpful.
I love your humility. Actually making a video about your mistakes so other people can learn from them. You are amazing. Thanks for the great tips, I will definitely take that to heart as I've just embarked on a journey of brushing up on my languages again. One bit at a time.
I speak and English and Spanish and now I’m trying to learn Arabic to better communicate with people I work with and friends of mine who are native Arabic speakers and this has helped me so much. I’m a perfectionist and i try to not fail but this has made me realize it’s one day at a time and i will learn. Thank you! 💓
I can't believe how many languages you know! You're so powerful and I admire you. Thank you for inspiring me, I'll study some french today. All the love from Argentina 🤗
I’m Argentinian and I’ve been trying really hard to get fluent in Portuguese for the last 2 years and now that I think I got it I started learning French and German which are two of the languages that I always wanted to learn 😊 today I had classes of both of those languages and I was feeling a little bit stressed out but your video really helped me to stay motivated 💕 at the end of the day I’m only doing this for myself and because I love learning languages and connecting with people from different cultures 🥰
I'm native speaker in portuguese, if I can I help you in something...I hope you go so far in all of this languages. Btw I'm trying to get fluent in English almost three years, isn't easy but I trust in myself. We can do it anything!!!
I was just telling my self about the mistake of studying for hours and not being productive enough and this video made me sure that I should just focus on what can I learn per day instead of just studying 5 hours and not be able to remember what I have just studied thanks zoe ❤❤
Thank you for reminding me to be more patient and reasonable with myself. I studied French in high school and university, and I’m re-learning after a very long time away from it. My goal is to not only get to where I once was, but to surpass that level and gain real proficiency. I’ve been so frustrated with myself because I do recall a lot from before now that I’m practicing regularly, but not as much as I would like. This video is a good reminder to meet myself where I am with my skills and not expect that I should be back to my old level so quickly. Also, I think your English accent is so elegant! :) It sounds so musical to me.
Thanks so much. When you said I changed my mindset and language is not for showing off it's a way to communicate It touched me. I go through depression for 2 years and tonight you're telling me don't be afraid if it's taking more time. Thank you for your beautiful heart btw your Persian is very good. I hope God protect you. Love you 💓❤️💕❤️💓
I can't tell you how HAPPY I am to have found your channel. I truly admire you. I travel often and try to learn as much of the language and culture of the countries I visit, but I aspire to be a polyglot like you! I look forward to watching more of your content!
You know, you put it out straight that we learn language to connect with people. and what you said that you learn better in a harsh way is actually true.
I love your message and it's amazing how you can take an insult or a mockery and turn it into a positive. Your English accent is fine and I understand you perfectly.
I tihnk once people can recognise that language-learning can, at times, be quite a "humiliating" process, they'll see how much confidence in general they've gained by being able to overcome such psychologically challenging ideas. I'ts taken me this long to understand this while I've been learning Japanese for 3 years, but now am adding two more languages to my repertoire. Everyone learns differently and its so so important to take the pressure off yourself to do more faster, just so you can see your own progress that you're making. I GUARANTEE you're making more progress than you realise!
I’ve just found you, and I have to say you really motivated me to go on and learn new languages 😊 Also I’m Iranian and it was really nice seeing you talking in Persian 🥰
Thank you so much for this video... I've been stressing out for the couple of months because I don't feel like being better in German at all, even after 7 months being in the country... Now I only have 3 months left, and I have to pass a language exam to make my German ability "recognizable", honestly I regret for not having worked hard enough, but at the same time, I don't want to deny that I did make effort, and am able to communicate with people without so much difficulties as before. Speaking correctly a language takes so much time, much more than I've expected, it is indeed time to lower my ambition and the pressure I put on myself a little bit and just do my best :) Great video, thanks for the reassuring words!
When visiting The Netherlands, I met some Turkish men in a bar we played music at. They could not speak English and I could not speak Turkish, but we both could speak a little German. Cobbling together a simple dialogue was one of the most satisfying experiences in my life. They bought us drinks and shared their appetizers and we babbled mostly nonsense at each other. It was great!
I had the same experience you had with the Iranian girl, with a hong kong girl at a conference I attended this weekend. It was a conference that was taking place in German so, most of the people there were German. I then met here there and we started talking in Mandarin. She was so happy to find somebody at the Conference who spoke mandarin. That made me really happy.
See the thing I find so odd about living in a European country as a Canadian is about how many foreigners care about not sounding foreign but personally I would never expect anyone to sound like me when I speak English so why should I sound like them? Accents are what make us all unique and show off your ability to know multiple languages. Trust me I wish I knew multiple languages other than just English and my basic understanding of French.
It's always been my perfectionist attitude that has stopped me from progressing. Making mistakes is such a crucial part of learning a language. Thank you for this video, I have taken a lot from it. Wonderfully explained:)
Thank you Zoe! Your English is GREAT! I understood every word and was highly intrigued by the idea of your almost British, sounding, dialect. It has a certain je ne sais quoi....
Ok, this is my first comment on youtube english video, I always nervous about make mistakes, but I guees, that she said, make mistakes is the only way to learn a language. Thanks for you advices!!
You are so awesome!!! Your video popped up on my recommendations & I needed this video and didn't know that I needed it. WoW!!! This video covered all of the issues that I have & my problems run deep. I am learning Korean, I get Spanish & Italian confused, I've forgotten quite a bit of French & German, & if that's not enough, I want to learn Arabic as well. My expectations 'were' off along with my pronunciation. This video put everything in perspective for me. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! (New Subscriber)
Hi Zoe! Thank you for this video (and your whole channel), it motivated me to come back to learning a new language which I've been struggling with (Spanish). I've been a life-long student of foreign languages, but I don't speak any other Romance one, so it's been a real struggle. I hope this time I finally get somewhere! I actually have a funny story about not wanting to impress others: when I moved to a country whose language I didn't speak at that time (Denmark) I heard this from my supervisors: "Well, Germans can learn Danish, but the rest of you won't. It's too difficult, so just don't worry about it." I'm Polish, but I also have an M.A. diploma in linguistics and was kinda offended, so I decided to prove them wrong. After 4 months I read books in Danish (just simple stories for teenagers, but still), but kindly refrained from laughing in my supervisors' faces, just talked to them daily in their funny language ;) Obviously I still did it for me, not for others, but sometimes being a mean witch pays off ;) Good luck with your studies, I think you're incredibly impressive!
1000%! I’m an English teacher and aspiring polyglot, and this is the same advice and same things that I tell my students. It’s so refreshing to hear it come from someone who has so much more experience with languages! Thanks ❤️ A hug to you! 😊😊
I come here just to say thank you and i love you so much ! Please don't be hurt or affected by the hated comments ❤️ You have helped me and thousands of people become better, everyday 🥰
I like to learn new languages but I'm so afraid of making mistakes but from now on I'm not afraid of making mistakes 😊 I learned a lot from you thank you so much 😊
I feel that people don’t realize how much of work it is to be able to speak as many languages as you do. I appreciate your honesty. A lot of « polyglots » only show off, when sometimes their skills in some languages are questionable. Although it’s very disgusting for to people to mock someone’s accent, sometimes it’s true that if your accent is too strong people won’t be able to understand you. One thing viewers can’t evaluate is how good TH-cam polyglots’s accents are. I can only tell for the languages I know well. So it’s hard to really know if they’re good or not. Anyway, pronunciation is essential too and shouldn’t be forgotten while learning a language
我同意。Great advice! 😊 Adjust your expectations, adjust your goals, see "mistakes" as learning opportunities, find supportive people - and just keep going. 👍👏🍃 加油!
És uma garota muito inteligente, que transmite sólidos e úteis ensinamentos, utilizando seus próprios desafios obtidos em tua caminhada no aprendizado dos vários idiomas que conheces. E isso é o que sinceramente te desejo senhorita Zoe... muito sucesso!
You give us so much❤. New perspectives on language learning, sociological and psychological aspects of living in a foreign culture and lots of selfcare advice. You are such a pure soul!
Zoe…your accent in English is delicious!!! Your intelligence comes through immediately with your vocabulary and manner in which you communicate ideas. I hope you never lose your accent.
Thank you so much for this video, at times I feel shy to speak English because I feel like people will judge my accent of I judged myself first which is totally wrong
Thank you for sharing your experiences and offering encouragement. I’ve been studying Japanese three years. I passed the JLPT N4 in December but since then it’s been difficult for me to make progress and prepare for the next level. Watching your video helped me to better manage my expectations and recognize my limitations.
The first minutes explain really well, why learning a language in school often builds a barrier instead of teaching it. For making mistakes you get bad marks, you are forced to learn the way the teacher wants (my french teacher told us exactly how we had to write down vocabulary and in which order to learn, which... Well, i can't speak French) and you do it for the mark not for yourself and the language.
Watching your videos is very motivating not only for learning languages but for studying, making plans and organising your life in general. Love your videos! Thanks for sharing !
6:44 Whaat? I love your English accent. I mean I just discovered your TH-cam channel yesterday and I have been watching your videos. And your English is so clear. I can understand everything you say easily and that's the point. I am just learning English and I can understand you. Communicate is the most important thing, even tho I just started to understand this.
Hi Zoe, I'm American mother tongue English....grew up in a hispanic community and was raised by stepdad from Puerto Rico. Long story short I also speak Spanish but I'm not great and I make mistakes and got made fun of. But I slowly improved. Your channel helps me want to improve in confidence.
Making mistakes is a part of being learning ...so keeping it up is the solution and the answers ...don't stop , and don't listen to others opinion.believe in yourself... 💯
Brilliant video! I didn’t think I’d like this video as much as I have done or glean as many learning points like the way you structure your studies versus the hours & the expectations from yourself and others. Thank for your honesty and again so many useful tips.💖💖 And I would definitely love to see a video on accents and challenges of language learning from an immigrant/foreigner perspective
Zoe, you are so adorable and wise. But, everyone must take time out to allow the subconscious mind to digest and divulge all the excessive conscious learning intake.. The key is to enjoy life and learning, naturally.
Hello Zoe, I have just discover your channel yesterday night (we are in the morning when I writing this message) and I love your videos and learn so much ! I am learning japanese and need to learn and have fun in learning. I see that is more simple to learn when it's a pleasure . Your stories and those of your friends are so shocking. Your are so kind woman and you speak so well english. I love your british accent and understand without difficulties what you say. I'm french and I know that native speakers like to correct rudely people sometimes. But I don't understand why they act like this. But there is people, like you said, that are very caring too. I want to thank you for this video and try to have those advices in my mind. I never really practice english outloud because I think that I will not have enough words to express myself but I understand well english. I will try to communicate more now ! Thank you so much ! Je te remercie pour cette belle vidéo, et j'espère voir aussi un jour des versions françaises de certaines de tes vidéos qui sont excellentes :) Merci encore pour tes conseils et belle journée à toi Zoé !!!
I'm so proud of you Zoe! You're a great inspiration, I'm currently studying Arabic, Deutsch, English and Portuguese. I hope one day to be a Great polyglot like you! ❤ Greetings from Mexico city 🇲🇽
Thanks for this video, Zoe. I think there is an element of wanting to impress people when language learning-- impress people by communicating well. And it definitely works in the opposite direction; people being impressed because you have put in the time to learn their language. Of course, you need other motivations and qualities, but I do think that learning a language can have a positive affect on your social life and perhaps even self-esteem, especially if it is a difficult one. And people do learn languages to impress a potential boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife (like Mark Zuckerberg learning Chinese to speak with his wife's mother, I think). Of course, this goal alone isn't sufficient to get you through the many challenges of learning a foreign language, but it may work as a psychological boost when things get tough.
أنا لغتي الأم العربية تليها الفرنسية ثم الإنجليزية، أعشق الإسبانية وأدرسها حاليا...رغم أن قناتك لا تشمل الإسبانية إلا أنني أتابع فيديوهاتك بتركيز لأن فيها دائما معلومات قيمة حتى في لغتي العربية أستفيد منك كثيرا...فشكرا لك جزيل الشكر على مشاركتنا بهذه المعارف والخبرات... بالنسبة للصينية أعرف نيهاو و هوايينغ و تسايجيان تحية لك من 🇩🇿
Self discipline and mental strength are the skills we need to acquire for being successful not only in a language but rather in life. It's time to stop hosting our own pity party. Thus we are busy with our goals
Zoe, thanks so much for sharing these tips and the super inspirational stories with us. It's very sad and shocking to hear how your Syrian friend was mocked for her Arabic accent - it's amazing how she didn't let this defeat her but rose above it and grew stronger! And yes, it would be very interesting to hear about your research on the experience of migrants and how their accents affect the way they are perceived. 真的很欣赏你，加油Zoe!
Dear Zoe, thank you for making this video, it raged me and motivated me to continue my efforts to speak and French well to communicate with other people.
شكرًا لكِ لهذا المقطع اللطيف، رحلة تعلمكِ للغات رائعة جدًا، أنا عربية، وحاليًا أتعلم اللغة الإنجليزية والإسبانية، كنت أعاني من المشكلة الأولى التي ذكرتيها، سخرية البعض بسبب لهجتي أو أخطائي في التحدث، لكنني أوقن أنه لا تعلم بدون أخطاء، وأن الخطأ جزء من التعلم :)
there are always people who don't like you for any reason and who judge you easily ignoring your efforts.. very true❤ you can't change their wills. just know yourself your level and goals🎉. don't be distracted by those people. focus on your work🎉🎉🎉
❤i see your efforts Some people are toxic and try to put you down because they cant stand seeing you so good IGNORE them and trying hard am sure most of them are below you. My dear sister you are princess and keep going you already know more then them congrats i love you from somalia❤
I totally agree with you, i made exactly the same mistakes, i want quick progress, as many new words every day as possible, no matter what, and that is just not realistic. Thank you for sharing this and for being so honest.
Tank you, Zoe ❤️ So inspiring and motivating video. The story about your friend mastering her French so no-one can bully her is really touching. I can relate to this and it is a great example that we should never get discouraged. Really interested in the video about your study.
Being afraid of making mistakes is a huge problem that prevent you from progress. Unfortunately people are not always kind to you, when you try to comunicate in their language. It can happen that native speakers roll their eyes at you , when you kindly ask them to repete what they said. This can be terribly discouraging and make you afraid of even starting a conversation and pratice the language you have been studying for long time, preventing you to progress and also demotivating you to continue to study that language. The biggest tips I would give to a language learner is to keep calm during a conversation, to be confortable with making mistakes (we do not have to care about not-empathetic people) and not to want to always understand everything we're told. The most important thing at the beginning is to understand the topic of a speech and give long answers. In this way you can practise your speaking and the guy you are speaking to can undesrtand if you're getting the point or not and adjust the speech to your level of comprehension. That can keep a conversation alive and your fear of speaking away!
Just chat to someone else. There will always be understanding people out there.
Funny thing, my problem is not the other people. It's my family. For example, I married into a family of language geniuses, it's like my husband's familys gift. My hubby can speak 5++ languages (german, english, italian, french, japanese and some chinese and korean), my stepson 5 (german, english, spanish, portuguese, japanese) and so are the rest of them. They speak and write these languages fluently like a native speaker and not like those levels (A1 to C2 type). Me, I am terrible in grammar but my memory is very good, so I know a lot of vocabulary but can't speak. So whenever I try to speak at home, I am bombarded by extreme criticisms that made me feel so bad and in turn, I got so afraid to speak with any of them. I am learning japanese now so it's hard when the people you expect to teach you and help you just tells you how bad you are (my stepson once to me I am stupid).
@@люблюсмаженихкацапськихнемовля Some english speakers assume we must be perfect when speaking their language because it's the most spoken language in the world and so like you said sometimes it discourage us. But let us keep improving one day we'll reach the goal.
What is the not empathetic people are your teachers? I’m learning Turkish bc im living in Turkey and I’m shocked how people here don’t like foreigners
I had similar troubles when learning Spanish, it took me awhile to learn to not care about the comments but it can make conversing with people like that very exhausting. It taught me a lot about failure and that it is really just part of the learning process which I think has helped with other areas of my life now. I learnt to have more compassion for myself too. I also realised I was much slower at retaining new information then others but if I at least learnt one or two new words each language class that was much better and much easier. I also had to get past the strong belief in Australia that languages are really hard and theres no point, I now see how beautiful it is to have access to another way of thinking and expressing myself and I just love the connections I make with new people. I hope to learn a few more languages now and become properly fluent in Spanish.
People mocking accents is one of the rudest things I've seen. And it happens often, even between natives from different parts of a country. YOUR ACCENT IS VALID, let's normalize variety and call out people who make fun of others for it.
my mother would say, go ahead and laugh, i may have a strong accent but i speak and understand 3 languages whilst you can only speak one.
agreed! I live in California (I was born and raised here) and when people who aren't from America try to speak English, I just think it's super impressive that they can speak at least two languages (and possibly more) where I'm here struggling to learn my second language (German. I can read pretty well-- Currently reading harry potter in german-- but speaking is a wholeeee other matter haha). Apparently some students at my university were making fun of a Spanish speaker's accent/language or something and I just... can't fathom why people would do that because I just find speaking more than one language really impressive.
@@kaitlyng7850 it's sad too, because when you see that you feel discouraged to try practicing too. Good luck with your German! I studied it for a while but quit bc the declensions were giving me a headache lol
@@ceciliagarcia6823 oh nooo! are you learning a different language now or just given up entirely? I don't find declensions particularly horrific-- it just takes practice and everything like it just now sounds right that "der changes to dem" or "die changes to der" in dativ. But the real annoying thing is knowing which noun is der, die, or das. That's really my biggest struggle lol. Once I know the gender, then it's pretty okay but yeah when I don't... it's a 33.3% chance of getting it right haha
@@kaitlyng7850 I didnt have much problem with that bc Im from Spain and we have gender in nouns too xddd my advice is that you dont worry too much, even natives make mistakes since it's not relevant to the speech whether "table" is masc or fem. You sound less natural, but they understand anyway.
Now I am focused with japanese :) I wanted to try an asian language and this one is so much fun!
“The purpose of learning a language is not to show off your abilities or intelligence but to communicate and connect with people…”
Amazing point!
Thanks so much.
Isn’t that a… well, an extremely obvious point? Do people *really* learn language(s) just so others will think they’re intelligent, rather than because they enjoy and appreciate the culture and want to connect with others??
You’d think those types of people would become mathematicians or physicists if their sole purpose is to feel smart
Yup. That is also my code on learning foreign language. I mean, how could I enjoy travelling aboard if I couldn't ask the local citizen about "where is the public toilet, sir/mam?". We learn new languages for communication, not to impress people. That's the point.
@@adhiseaman1099 But there are many people for whom, this is pretty important reason. Including myself. Let's do not pretend this is not importnant to maaany language learners.
And BTW who Zoe is to tell us why people learn languages and what are valid and invalid resons to learn?
I think the biggest take away for me is when you said “you don’t learn a language to impress others.” In my head I know that, but I think that in my heart that was the goal. I think learning for yourself and learning to communicate comes with less pressure than to impress people. I am learning ASL (American sign language) and I have immersive sessions Sundays and Wednesdays. But my Korean, I don’t have that. When I go to the Korean mart, I am afraid to ask questions in Korean because I don’t want to be judged for my low level. That’s a mindset I need to get over. Thank you for your video and the tips on how to make studying fun! I had not thought of taking new words and turning them into sentences that apply to my life. 💙💪🏾
im learning asl and korean as well!! asl i take classes for and korean im self-learning :)
You may want to start with greetings & saying thank you in Korean when you go to the Korean mart next time. I never wait when learning a second language, you would be surprised how much faster the improvement could be in terms of speaking a new language. The smile of native speakers (especially the minorities living abroad) appreciating people learning their language is priceless ❤️
I think she’s so nice, kind, humble, and helpful. I love how she’s so transparent and shows that she’s not afraid to be vulnerable, even as someone so talented. This is important because it gives us realistic expectations about language learning and so that we can learn from her experiences. So Zoe thank you for learning these mistakes the hard way so that we don’t have to! Many TH-cam polyglots try to create an illusion that they’re perfect and don’t struggle, which sets unrealistic expectations for us viewers or cause us to start doubting ourselves. Not only is Zoe’s transparency and willingness to admit her struggles helpful to us, it shows us that she is still human, and not a robot or a god. She is just like us. She is a friend. So down to earth and humble!
'You don't learn a language for others, but for yourself.' Such a brilliant point. Tip number one is so important for learning languages, and in life in general.
Merci beaucoup.
Yes i always scared to talk to people. In writing and speaking to myself I was good but when i need to talk to others I hesitaded. Now the ice is broken and I'm more fluent.
I understand your english very good and as a native German you have a very clear pronounciation i understand everything you said in german and it was also right so far. You motivating me to study languages. I'm learning arabic, french and farsi right now
That's great! English is hard so don't be too hard on yourself! I am currently learning German! Wish me luck 😊
@@ihavenoname330 I’m trying to learn Spanish and German, and yes good luck. I’m having trouble with the grammar in German, and pronunciation in Spanish. However, if I keep practicing I will make progress. And it will be worth it. Alles gute!
@@results5124 I quit German for now 💀 I'm learning something else but idk yet. I am also struggling with pronunciation in Spanish
Do not worry for that. I believe in you. You can do it ❤❤🥰🥰
For me the best motivator was my dreams. I wanted to live in Sweden so badly that I learned swedish in comunicative niveu in 1 year. I have learned from students books and audiobooks and tv-serie. In the same time I have been working as a doctor as usual. I have moved and started working as a assistant nurse so that I could learn swedish language a bit more. Half year after I have started to work as a doctor here in Sweden and my dreams come true! Motivation is a key to sucess! And I fully agree with your film, you are right with all your tips.
I'm currently learning English and I've made this habit of leaving atleast one comment in English on every TH-cam video I watch . Thank you for the video, it was really helpful .
That's a really nice habit! By the way your english seems to be very good already :)
@@perlad3100 thank you ^_^
As someone who grew up in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia spoken 3 languages - Malay, Bahasa Indonesian, and Chinese Mandarin. I was born in Australia, but grew up in Asia for the past 4 years during my Primary schooling. I was always hesitate to learn English since I was born in a English country even though I didn't grew up there during my primary schooling, I was always made fun of speaking English since I had an accent, but I never listen to criticism because English isn't my first language and I was still learning transition to my high school schooling. And now even, I'm in my 2nd last year of university getting a bachelor degree with honours. Ive always believe in myself that I was smart enough to achieve anything in life, and those haters especially my high school teachers and those students making fun of my accent. I am so happy that finally, I am such a better English speaker than them now, and smart whose able to speak 4 languages fluently and currently learning Arabic now, French, and Korean. I've always believe in myself, and hard work does pay off. Not only I remain a high GPA and high distinction overall grades in my university in Australia against those people who made fun of me. I am such a better state I am now. I may not be white, but Asian skin. And those people who think they have the audacity to say absolute nonsense. I never took it personally. And those people who just haters my advice just ignore them, if you know you can achieve it than no other opinions matters expect yourself! PS: Zoe language your English is perfect. Believe me as someone who grew up in a English speaking country :)
Such a strong mind!💪 You inspire us! Thank you for sharing ❤️
Yes, Im definitely learning a lot from my mistakes in my language learning journey.
Thank you so much for this video. As an English native speaker studying Mandarin Chinese, seeing someone like you and hearing you message is really encouraging and inspiring. I have been living in Taiwan for about 5 years now, and I try to practice my Mandarin with native speakers almost daily. It took me about 3 years to realize that speaking "perfectly" was really just an unrealistic expectation, and that I should let go of this and just focus on communication and connecting with others. Although I still have so much to learn and improve, after letting go of that unrealistic expectation and desire I have noticed that my speaking has improved quite a lot. Learning a language is different for everyone, but I just want to let you know that I truly respect and admire what you have been able to accomplish and I hope to be like you someday.
@11:26 "do it less, more regularly" - so powerful and so true! i'm learning to write farsi and often get discouraged by how easily i forget. now i have a limit: just 5 sentences at a time. it's easier to keep on going when the chunk size is small.
I’m glad you made this video. One of the reasons I was drawn to your channel is because you DO have an accent and sometimes the words don’t come out easily.
But as a language learning channel, that makes you more relatable and encouraging! I think “her accent isn’t perfect either but she made a whole TH-cam video in English and I understood her easily. If she can do that, surely I can say a few simple phrases out loud.”
Ça m'a remotivé à apprendre des langues, merci. J'ai si peu de temps de libre que j'avais presque abandonné cette petite lueur que je trouve magnifique : pouvoir communiquer avec le monde à travers leurs mots.
Est ce que tu apprendre le français ?
@@lanuit6527 nop, le français est ma langue maternelle, j'apprends le coréen, l'anglais et le créole antillais ~
@@aurorebcs
Ah ok bon courage ❤
@@lanuit6527 merci, toi aussi si tu apprends une langue ~~
The first language I was exposed to wasn't English, and for most of my life living in the US I was only mocked- language, customs, everything, so I tried to blend in and by 17 I was even able to get rid of my accent in English. Moving to Japan almost 10 years later, I am sad I let one mindset change me so much- there are so many opinions and people that you'll never fit in a single mold and that's ok.
I've heard many motivational speeches when trying to learn a language, but this one really struck me the right way. Thank you for being so transparent and honest. I feel ready to learn all the languages I wanted to but was told it was a waste of time ^^
I had the same challenges when i started learning chinese language but I'm proud that that i was able to overcome those challenges. I'm now doing my PHD in Chinese language😍
It's people like Zoe that give me hope! After years of study, I am still not fluent in my second language like I would like to be. Fear has a lot to do with that
You've become my favorite language channel. I love that your content usually is made thoughtfully to actually provide value vs just coming up with random content so you can make a living from TH-cam.
I can see from observation that your study, routine, work and routine habits are a big part of how you not only became successful with languages but helped you accomplish in your studies and career. I struggle with disciplining, and organizing my day, wake up and bed time, managing distractions and actually going into deep work on tasks. I'd love to see how you approach all these and built your disciplined habits and would appreciate more content that focused on that.
Will do ❤️
@@zoe.languages also please make more french content when you can! That's what I'm learning! I'd love to hear your journey learning french and your tips.b
So motivating , I salute the choice of perception you've adapted to handle linguistic bullying . If this barrier within each one of us is dismantled , we can make miracles .
Hi Zoe!
You talked about your sociology PhD research, and I am really interested in this! Your topics on refugees and foreigners are really similar to what I am studying in high school at the moment, I would love to see you make a video about your insight on the subject!
I would love to hear her talk about it !💕
Yeah!!!
Agree, would love to know more about it. Btw. I love southern accent of Chinese, there is so much beauty in it melody and rhythm.
I would also find that interesting
最近看了好几个你的视频，可谓醍醐灌顶，重新出发了，感谢。你说学语言不是为了炫耀而是为了沟通，真得好
The 2nd point is definitely me. I am extremely impatient and set high goals in a short amount of time. I have been learning Dutch for 1 month, but am going to amsterdam in August. I made it a goal to be conversationally fluent by then. Of course I am still going to try my hardest, but I am not going to beat myself up if I am not there by the trip. Language learning is a process, and many we learn at different paces.
I just have to remember that
Hello Zoe! Thank you sm for taking your time doing this video! I learn a lot! The mindset of learning other languages just to impress others is just so wrong. It's all about learning to communicate and connect with people. Love this video!!❤️❤️
Doing anything to impress other people is dangerous, because you seek validation from outside. Your validation should always come from within.
It can be quite intimidating talking to a native speaker straight away when you’re learning a new language. I would suggest at the beginning you talk to someone who is also trying to learn the same second language as you. You can help each other and feel confident knowing they are also learning too, so there won’t be any judgment there.
It is intimidating but necessary, in my opinion, if you're going to have decent pronunciation. You need to get native feedback on your speaking skills early on or else you will practice saying words incorrectly for too long. I'm learning Jordanian Arabic and I've been fortunate enough to have a few patient Arab friends who correct me but also encourage me. And I help them with their English. Once I got several months of study under my belt, I started to meet some fellow native English speakers who are also learning Arabic and that has been beneficial.
language exchanges are good for this because if you’re both learning the other’s language both people get a native speaker and an empathetic learner
I can say that is important to do it, but extremely necessary (at the beginning), because that will probably turn to cero your confidence, but actually start speaking from the beginning, by gathering more vocabulary from videos (specially short ones) that way you would not get stressed for not been able to fully understand all the words, but also you you will be force to not read subtitles also read a lots of books and listening to music in that language. Speak to yourself, sometimes just act like you doing a youtube video. I hope this will help you, because it worked for me, and first language is Spanish😅.
Oh my God. I am so proud of you. You speak farsi beautifully. We love and appreciate anyone who speaks Persian. It is so hard to learn Persian without Iranian parents or relatives.What you did is really amazing and courageous.
You're right zoe most people who criticize you and ignore your efforts are unable to do half of what you've already achieved ✨️ ❤ nice advice keep going .
I haven't watched this kind of genuine video on TH-cam for a while. Very informative, sincere and courageous. ❤
Hi Zoe! Your videos are so motivational for me - whenever I'm feeling down on my language studies I watch your videos. 🥰 Also, your English accent is really good and anyone who told you that you were hard to understand was lying!
I clicked on this video for language tips yet left it with not only that but also life wisdom. Thanks!
Your voice is so calming. It may be the things I'm going through now, but I almost started crying around 1:42
Thank you so much. This definitely made me a bit more confident in studying.
Thank you Zoe! This was very helpful to me. I started studying French a month ago, and am progressing. I find myself getting a headache, or physically tired after a 30 minute lesson. So..I review the same lesson over a few days 4 to 5 times, till I feel I have about 80% mastered the lesson. Then I move on to the next. I did not set myself a time reference for learning. I'm taking others advice, on the different channels. I'm 68 years old, and have a high interest in learning more languages. I speak native English, and have some background in Spanish. So it is learning, that I want to be fun for me. Thank you again, your channel is my favorite, and most helpful.
I love your humility. Actually making a video about your mistakes so other people can learn from them. You are amazing. Thanks for the great tips, I will definitely take that to heart as I've just embarked on a journey of brushing up on my languages again. One bit at a time.
赞同。别害怕别人的评价。通过坚持的工夫，有发展是我们不是别人。
我来自马来西亚。从来不是中文/华语的母语者。以前也被别人不好的评价影响到我。一开始学华语，有一些华人笑我的口音。而且，他们回答我用英文不是中文，我以为因为自己的中文不够好而没用中文回答。那时候我再不敢讲中文
然后，上italki的网课，老师们都很鼓励。他们讲我不用害怕/害羞。所以我就慢慢找讲中文的朋友交流。有坏有好的人，我选择跟好的靠近一点
I speak and English and Spanish and now I’m trying to learn Arabic to better communicate with people I work with and friends of mine who are native Arabic speakers and this has helped me so much. I’m a perfectionist and i try to not fail but this has made me realize it’s one day at a time and i will learn. Thank you! 💓
I can't believe how many languages you know! You're so powerful and I admire you. Thank you for inspiring me, I'll study some french today. All the love from Argentina 🤗
I’m Argentinian and I’ve been trying really hard to get fluent in Portuguese for the last 2 years and now that I think I got it I started learning French and German which are two of the languages that I always wanted to learn 😊 today I had classes of both of those languages and I was feeling a little bit stressed out but your video really helped me to stay motivated 💕 at the end of the day I’m only doing this for myself and because I love learning languages and connecting with people from different cultures 🥰
Olá Marcos, sou brasileiro, se quiser praticar português é só avisar, um abraço
Remember, the first 5 languages seem hard, but then it becomes a piece of cake!
It's actually quite true tho.
I'm native speaker in portuguese, if I can I help you in something...I hope you go so far in all of this languages. Btw I'm trying to get fluent in English almost three years, isn't easy but I trust in myself. We can do it anything!!!
Que genial que aprendiste el portugués.
que bom que se interessou em aprender português, não é uma língua fácil mas é muito bonita, fico feliz que esteja quase fluente! 🤩boa sorte.
I was just telling my self about the mistake of studying for hours and not being productive enough and this video made me sure that I should just focus on what can I learn per day instead of just studying 5 hours and not be able to remember what I have just studied thanks zoe ❤❤
Thank you for reminding me to be more patient and reasonable with myself. I studied French in high school and university, and I’m re-learning after a very long time away from it. My goal is to not only get to where I once was, but to surpass that level and gain real proficiency. I’ve been so frustrated with myself because I do recall a lot from before now that I’m practicing regularly, but not as much as I would like. This video is a good reminder to meet myself where I am with my skills and not expect that I should be back to my old level so quickly. Also, I think your English accent is so elegant! :) It sounds so musical to me.
Thanks so much. When you said I changed my mindset and language is not for showing off it's a way to communicate It touched me. I go through depression for 2 years and tonight you're telling me don't be afraid if it's taking more time. Thank you for your beautiful heart btw your Persian is very good. I hope God protect you. Love you 💓❤️💕❤️💓
I can't tell you how HAPPY I am to have found your channel. I truly admire you. I travel often and try to learn as much of the language and culture of the countries I visit, but I aspire to be a polyglot like you! I look forward to watching more of your content!
非常真诚的一个视频。我和你有很相似的学习经历，我在中国长大，在德国读书，学了英语法语和俄语，曾经学过两年阿拉伯语，最后放弃。。。 现在在学土耳其语和塔吉克语（另一种形式的farsi）,这两门语言和阿拉伯语相比非常友好，目前非常有动力继续往下学。不过，除了中文之外，其他语言用起来或多或少都觉得有限制，有时候很受挫。看到你的努力和坚持，我也得到了很多勇气和信心，感谢你。
Completely agree! I always say to others that making mistakes is the best part of language learning, the more you make the better you get!
You know, you put it out straight that we learn language to connect with people. and what you said that you learn better in a harsh way is actually true.
I love your message and it's amazing how you can take an insult or a mockery and turn it into a positive. Your English accent is fine and I understand you perfectly.
That point about learning to communicate rather than learning to impress is very helpful 👍
I tihnk once people can recognise that language-learning can, at times, be quite a "humiliating" process, they'll see how much confidence in general they've gained by being able to overcome such psychologically challenging ideas. I'ts taken me this long to understand this while I've been learning Japanese for 3 years, but now am adding two more languages to my repertoire. Everyone learns differently and its so so important to take the pressure off yourself to do more faster, just so you can see your own progress that you're making.
I GUARANTEE you're making more progress than you realise!
I really like the idea that learning a language isn't about showing your abilities but about communication
Thank you for your video!
I’ve just found you, and I have to say you really motivated me to go on and learn new languages 😊
Also I’m Iranian and it was really nice seeing you talking in Persian 🥰
Thank you so much for this video... I've been stressing out for the couple of months because I don't feel like being better in German at all, even after 7 months being in the country... Now I only have 3 months left, and I have to pass a language exam to make my German ability "recognizable", honestly I regret for not having worked hard enough, but at the same time, I don't want to deny that I did make effort, and am able to communicate with people without so much difficulties as before. Speaking correctly a language takes so much time, much more than I've expected, it is indeed time to lower my ambition and the pressure I put on myself a little bit and just do my best :) Great video, thanks for the reassuring words!
I'm so in awe of you and the languages you've learned! I would love to learn languages like this
When visiting The Netherlands, I met some Turkish men in a bar we played music at. They could not speak English and I could not speak Turkish, but we both could speak a little German. Cobbling together a simple dialogue was one of the most satisfying experiences in my life. They bought us drinks and shared their appetizers and we babbled mostly nonsense at each other. It was great!
I had the same experience you had with the Iranian girl, with a hong kong girl at a conference I attended this weekend. It was a conference that was taking place in German so, most of the people there were German. I then met here there and we started talking in Mandarin. She was so happy to find somebody at the Conference who spoke mandarin. That made me really happy.
See the thing I find so odd about living in a European country as a Canadian is about how many foreigners care about not sounding foreign but personally I would never expect anyone to sound like me when I speak English so why should I sound like them? Accents are what make us all unique and show off your ability to know multiple languages. Trust me I wish I knew multiple languages other than just English and my basic understanding of French.
It's always been my perfectionist attitude that has stopped me from progressing. Making mistakes is such a crucial part of learning a language. Thank you for this video, I have taken a lot from it. Wonderfully explained:)
What a smart and charming girl. Really enjoyed her lifetime stories to learn languages. Thank you, Zoe.
Thank you Zoe! Your English is GREAT! I understood every word and was highly intrigued by the idea of your almost British, sounding, dialect. It has a certain je ne sais quoi....
Ok, this is my first comment on youtube english video, I always nervous about make mistakes, but I guees, that she said, make mistakes is the only way to learn a language. Thanks for you advices!!
Me, trying to learn a new language: This seems like a good video with helpful tips. *proceeds to watch the most inspiring video ever*
You are so awesome!!!
Your video popped up on my recommendations & I needed this video and didn't know that I needed it.
WoW!!! This video covered all of the issues that I have & my problems run deep. I am learning Korean, I get Spanish & Italian confused, I've forgotten quite a bit of French & German, & if that's not enough, I want to learn Arabic as well.
My expectations 'were' off along with my pronunciation. This video put everything in perspective for me.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
(New Subscriber)
Hi Zoe! Thank you for this video (and your whole channel), it motivated me to come back to learning a new language which I've been struggling with (Spanish). I've been a life-long student of foreign languages, but I don't speak any other Romance one, so it's been a real struggle. I hope this time I finally get somewhere!
I actually have a funny story about not wanting to impress others: when I moved to a country whose language I didn't speak at that time (Denmark) I heard this from my supervisors: "Well, Germans can learn Danish, but the rest of you won't. It's too difficult, so just don't worry about it." I'm Polish, but I also have an M.A. diploma in linguistics and was kinda offended, so I decided to prove them wrong. After 4 months I read books in Danish (just simple stories for teenagers, but still), but kindly refrained from laughing in my supervisors' faces, just talked to them daily in their funny language ;) Obviously I still did it for me, not for others, but sometimes being a mean witch pays off ;)
Good luck with your studies, I think you're incredibly impressive!
1000%! I’m an English teacher and aspiring polyglot, and this is the same advice and same things that I tell my students. It’s so refreshing to hear it come from someone who has so much more experience with languages! Thanks ❤️ A hug to you! 😊😊
Love seeing more women sharing their language learning journeys. Their is a humility you have that is much appreciated
I come here just to say thank you and i love you so much ! Please don't be hurt or affected by the hated comments ❤️ You have helped me and thousands of people become better, everyday 🥰
I like to learn new languages but I'm so afraid of making mistakes but from now on I'm not afraid of making mistakes 😊
I learned a lot from you thank you so much 😊
Thank you! Great reminders. C1 in French in one year is amazing. B1 in six months is amazing. Thanks so much for the encouragement.
I feel that people don’t realize how much of work it is to be able to speak as many languages as you do. I appreciate your honesty. A lot of « polyglots » only show off, when sometimes their skills in some languages are questionable. Although it’s very disgusting for to people to mock someone’s accent, sometimes it’s true that if your accent is too strong people won’t be able to understand you. One thing viewers can’t evaluate is how good TH-cam polyglots’s accents are. I can only tell for the languages I know well. So it’s hard to really know if they’re good or not. Anyway, pronunciation is essential too and shouldn’t be forgotten while learning a language
我同意。Great advice! 😊 Adjust your expectations, adjust your goals, see "mistakes" as learning opportunities, find supportive people - and just keep going. 👍👏🍃 加油!
谢谢你一如既往的支持
És uma garota muito inteligente, que transmite sólidos e úteis ensinamentos, utilizando seus próprios desafios obtidos em tua caminhada no aprendizado dos vários idiomas que conheces.
E isso é o que sinceramente te desejo senhorita Zoe... muito sucesso!
The people who Criticize ARE jealous of YOU
You should be very PROUD of You
Your English is great 🥰
Be you, 🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼
You give us so much❤. New perspectives on language learning, sociological and psychological aspects of living in a foreign culture and lots of selfcare advice. You are such a pure soul!
Zoe…your accent in English is delicious!!! Your intelligence comes through immediately with your vocabulary and manner in which you communicate ideas. I hope you never lose your accent.
Thank you so much for this video, at times I feel shy to speak English because I feel like people will judge my accent of I judged myself first which is totally wrong
Thank you for sharing your experiences and offering encouragement. I’ve been studying Japanese three years. I passed the JLPT N4 in December but since then it’s been difficult for me to make progress and prepare for the next level. Watching your video helped me to better manage my expectations and recognize my limitations.
The first minutes explain really well, why learning a language in school often builds a barrier instead of teaching it. For making mistakes you get bad marks, you are forced to learn the way the teacher wants (my french teacher told us exactly how we had to write down vocabulary and in which order to learn, which... Well, i can't speak French) and you do it for the mark not for yourself and the language.
Watching your videos is very motivating not only for learning languages but for studying, making plans and organising your life in general. Love your videos! Thanks for sharing !
Thanks so much Zoe for this video. It's the push I needed to keep learning Dutch. 🤗🤗🤗
I am in this process too! Good luck! 😊
6:44 Whaat? I love your English accent. I mean I just discovered your TH-cam channel yesterday and I have been watching your videos. And your English is so clear. I can understand everything you say easily and that's the point. I am just learning English and I can understand you. Communicate is the most important thing, even tho I just started to understand this.
Radiant honesty is always beautiful. Thanks, Zoe. And the precision of your thoughts is super helpful.
Hi Zoe, I'm American mother tongue English....grew up in a hispanic community and was raised by stepdad from Puerto Rico. Long story short I also speak Spanish but I'm not great and I make mistakes and got made fun of. But I slowly improved. Your channel helps me want to improve in confidence.
Making mistakes is a part of being learning ...so keeping it up is the solution and the answers ...don't stop , and don't listen to others opinion.believe in yourself... 💯
Brilliant video! I didn’t think I’d like this video as much as I have done or glean as many learning points like the way you structure your studies versus the hours & the expectations from yourself and others.
Thank for your honesty and again so many useful tips.💖💖
And I would definitely love to see a video on accents and challenges of language learning from an immigrant/foreigner perspective
Zoe, you are so adorable and wise. But, everyone must take time out to allow the subconscious mind to digest and divulge all the excessive conscious learning intake.. The key is to enjoy life and learning, naturally.
Hello Zoe, I have just discover your channel yesterday night (we are in the morning when I writing this message) and I love your videos and learn so much ! I am learning japanese and need to learn and have fun in learning. I see that is more simple to learn when it's a pleasure . Your stories and those of your friends are so shocking. Your are so kind woman and you speak so well english. I love your british accent and understand without difficulties what you say. I'm french and I know that native speakers like to correct rudely people sometimes. But I don't understand why they act like this. But there is people, like you said, that are very caring too. I want to thank you for this video and try to have those advices in my mind. I never really practice english outloud because I think that I will not have enough words to express myself but I understand well english. I will try to communicate more now ! Thank you so much ! Je te remercie pour cette belle vidéo, et j'espère voir aussi un jour des versions françaises de certaines de tes vidéos qui sont excellentes :) Merci encore pour tes conseils et belle journée à toi Zoé !!!
I'm so proud of you Zoe! You're a great inspiration,
I'm currently studying Arabic, Deutsch, English and Portuguese.
I hope one day to be a Great polyglot like you! ❤
Greetings from Mexico city 🇲🇽
Thanks for this video, Zoe. I think there is an element of wanting to impress people when language learning-- impress people by communicating well. And it definitely works in the opposite direction; people being impressed because you have put in the time to learn their language. Of course, you need other motivations and qualities, but I do think that learning a language can have a positive affect on your social life and perhaps even self-esteem, especially if it is a difficult one. And people do learn languages to impress a potential boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife (like Mark Zuckerberg learning Chinese to speak with his wife's mother, I think). Of course, this goal alone isn't sufficient to get you through the many challenges of learning a foreign language, but it may work as a psychological boost when things get tough.
أنا لغتي الأم العربية تليها الفرنسية ثم الإنجليزية، أعشق الإسبانية وأدرسها حاليا...رغم أن قناتك لا تشمل الإسبانية إلا أنني أتابع فيديوهاتك بتركيز لأن فيها دائما معلومات قيمة حتى في لغتي العربية أستفيد منك كثيرا...فشكرا لك جزيل الشكر على مشاركتنا بهذه المعارف والخبرات... بالنسبة للصينية أعرف نيهاو و هوايينغ و تسايجيان
تحية لك من 🇩🇿
I would love that you introduce your research for us, sounds super interesting! And thanks for the tips! They will help me a lot!
Will do ☺️
Best youtube channel. I have found so far. Great job Zoe. Thank you for your time and hard work.
❤️❤️❤️thank you for this lovely comment
@@zoe.languages 😁
Self discipline and mental strength are the skills we need to acquire for being successful not only in a language but rather in life. It's time to stop hosting our own pity party. Thus we are busy with our goals
Zoe, thanks so much for sharing these tips and the super inspirational stories with us. It's very sad and shocking to hear how your Syrian friend was mocked for her Arabic accent - it's amazing how she didn't let this defeat her but rose above it and grew stronger! And yes, it would be very interesting to hear about your research on the experience of migrants and how their accents affect the way they are perceived. 真的很欣赏你，加油Zoe!
I am Tajik but born in Uzbekistan so I speak Farsi, I was so happy when u said u know Persian. 🤩🤩🤩 and your pronouncing is so cute and perfect. ❤❤❤
Dear Zoe, thank you for making this video, it raged me and motivated me to continue my efforts to speak and French well to communicate with other people.
شكرًا لكِ لهذا المقطع اللطيف، رحلة تعلمكِ للغات رائعة جدًا، أنا عربية، وحاليًا أتعلم اللغة الإنجليزية والإسبانية، كنت أعاني من المشكلة الأولى التي ذكرتيها، سخرية البعض بسبب لهجتي أو أخطائي في التحدث، لكنني أوقن أنه لا تعلم بدون أخطاء، وأن الخطأ جزء من التعلم :)
there are always people who don't like you for any reason and who judge you easily ignoring your efforts.. very true❤ you can't change their wills. just know yourself your level and goals🎉. don't be distracted by those people. focus on your work🎉🎉🎉
姐姐的视频对我的帮助很大，通过这期视频发现了自己在学习语言的过程中的一些问题，非常感谢😚
❤i see your efforts Some people are toxic and try to put you down because they cant stand seeing you so good IGNORE them and trying hard am sure most of them are below you. My dear sister you are princess and keep going you already know more then them congrats i love you from somalia❤
Wow what a profound statement! Learning a language depends on more of your mental strenght not your intelligence
I totally agree with you, i made exactly the same mistakes, i want quick progress, as many new words every day as possible, no matter what, and that is just not realistic. Thank you for sharing this and for being so honest.
Tank you, Zoe ❤️ So inspiring and motivating video. The story about your friend mastering her French so no-one can bully her is really touching. I can relate to this and it is a great example that we should never get discouraged. Really interested in the video about your study.