The app I use to learn languages -> bit.ly/3Lb8nXG My 10 FREE secrets to language learning -> www.thelinguist.com Do you make a point of learning slang when learning a language?
I’m guessing from the way you use slang inappropriately that you are learning to speak English, and haven’t yet reached the intermediate B2 level. Keep at it, you’ll get there bud.
I don’t know about other countries, but here in Germany slang around the younger generation literally changes every month or so, it’s absolutely crazy. I’m 24 and a heavy Internet user, but I could never keep up with what is happening on social media language wise so that I could actually use it actively myself.
Here in belgium i have become so out of touch with my own people. i am not sure if we still make up new slang or we just pick everything from america now. because my dutch slang is stuck in 2010 but my english slang is only a year or 2 out of date.
It's honestly scary that I learn new fad words from people literally 2 or 3 years younger (I'm 25 btw). I'm already starting to feel like that stereotypical grumpy old man
Yeet and vibe check have staying and spreading power. Cappin and bussin feel contrived. That's just me though. Like if no cap and bussin stay, like they'll be technical jargon and then re-slanged before yeet changes or goes anywhere. Again, IMO.
I agree with you. Some students like to learn slang and contractions, but they sound incredibly unnatural to me. Some even put stress on “wanna and gonna.” They thought that they would sound like native speakers.
Wow! What an excellent topic! I am an English speaker who studies Spanish. While I know some Spanish (Mexican) slang I have never used any. I’ve always remembered a conversation, in English, with a native Spanish speaker who was just starting to use the language. He said things like, “gonna / wanna,” and I recall how awkward it sounded. It sounded “forced,” and I immediately thought he wasn’t a serious student. Right or wrong, that was the impression it made on me and I don’t want to sound like that. BTW: Definite fuddy-duddy, 74 and started studying Spanish less than six years ago (and loving it!).
I don't think informal contractions like gonna/wanna are the best examples because, if we're speaking about spoken language, nowadays many native English speakers use 'wanna' and 'gonna' more frequently than they would use 'want to' or 'going to'. There are even environments where using the latter would be more pronounced. That said, I also personally feel more comfortable starting with formal speech, especially if I'm in a formal learning situation (as opposed to when I'm learning "on the fly"). I think starting with formal speech makes it easier to change registers when necessary. Personally, I usually try to adapt my speech so that more attention is paid to the content/meaning rather than the form, which means I sometimes opt for informal speech or slang.
You’ve articulated my thoughts brilliantly. Thank you!!! I actually extend that to idioms as well. I think it’s important to get an understanding of slang, idioms, swear words etc. In natural contexts but all of those things sound very strange coming out of the mouth of a non native speaker unless they come out naturally, so I’m not even attempting to introduce them into my everyday speaking. It’s enough to learn the standard language itself from outside the country of origin, let alone adding the extra complication of trying to use slang.
I agree with you to some extent, but I would be interested in learning some slang anyway, not because I want to use it myself, but in order to understand what people say.
Agree completely. Also, the native speaker has no expectation that a non native speaker should use slang. In fact most citizens of other countries are pleasantly surprised that a native English speaker can communicate at all beyond a token 100 words or phrases that they have learned in a tourist guide.
What a subject! You gave us a rare chance to dig down deep the meaning of a language. The differences of countries, cultures, ages…a lot of things showed up in the comments. Very interesting. A WORD is not just a word, right? I guess this is one of the reasons why you are so into languages. Thank you. PS I’m so impressed with your Japanese.
In my company English is the language everyone uses. However, no one of us is a native. Some of my colleagues have books like "Business English" on their desks. Exactly those are the guys whose English is the worst :D This kind of proves your stance on the topic, Steve. Thanks!
Great advice. I find that my Japanese students have trouble with English sentence structure. I make it a point they construct complete sentences, especially when a one-word response may suffice. Only when I see that they are comfortable do I suggest they loosen things up a bit. I avoid teaching slang, altogether.
I agree 100% with you. I avoid using or teaching most students slang, unless they ask about a certain expression. And if I know what the expression means I'll explain it. Also, one-word answers don't allow students to show what they can do in the target language. I try to ask open-ended questions so I can receive some information from my adult ESL students.
There can be the linguistically reversed experience which I had when I lived in France and was just beginning to learn the language. Being immersed mostly in their literature I ended up saying things like “Il eut un sourire” in lieu of “Il a souri” or “astre” - “orb” after seeing a piece by Molière because I didn’t know how to say “star”. While many people from other languages deem this verbiage orgulous, the French, au contraire, amusedly approved of and embraced these utterances.
I'm learning one of the Arabic dialects and from the materials available in the language (mainly series, songs, vlogs etc.) there's little standard language and lots of colloqualisms, which I find difficult to learn to use as there are lots of nuances that take time to grasp.
If you learn standard Arabic you will be able to speak to all arabs, but learning a dialect can limit you to a region. most arabs can understand the dialect of the Middle East especially gulf because their dialect is closer to the standard. And most arabs can understand Egyptian dialect because they are a lot 🌚 and very active in social media. But if you go after dialects in the north of Africa other than Egypt. It will be difficult for me and other Middle Easterns to understand and we will very appreciate it if you can speak standard Arabic instead
I recently became guilty-pleasure-addicted to American boys' prep-school/sports novels ca. 1900-1920. The authors of these books portrayed boys' slang frequently and consistently, and I suppose that they researched their dialogue as well as they could. When I tried to write a pastiche and imitate their slang, it was trickier than I thought. For example, these characters almost never used 'O.K.', surprisingly enough (Mark Twain never used it at all, and he portrayed slang freely), and never as an interjection at all, only as an adjective or adverb. "Chap" filled the semantic space later occupied by "guy", but are they exactly the same? One 1920 character refers to something about 'those Greek guys', but could he have used 'chaps' there fifteen years earlier? "Fellow" appears close, at first, but it does seem to connote a peer, a fellow student, and you can hear that right through radio shows of the 1940s and 1950s ("With the Tom Corbett patch, you'll be the envy of the other fellows!") Just when did one use the fascinating phrase, 'don't get gay with me'? It mostly seems to mean 'to make trouble', but it also seems to just mean 'to be audacious or daring' in some places. So, if you aren't assimilating slang naturally, mistakes are probably inevitable. As a 21st century boy visiting the previous century learns in my story :)
Hey Steve, thanks for the tips! I'm learning english, and i have a dream to be an english teacher one day! You are such a nice person, who ispires anyone! Greetings from Brazill.
fairdinkum to that! It also doesn't transfer well. If you're in a different part of the country, different country with the same language, different age group or interest group, People won't know what you're. rabbiting on about. Whatever country I'm in, just I try and learn the style of language as used in the capital in their news and broadcast media, that way I'll have a greater chance of people understanding what I'm saying.
Good call. I remember a visiting German acquaintance who put f _ _ _ in every other sentence so he would sound more American. He sounded like an F_ _ _ ing idiot. 🤣
My German wife used to do the same thing. She told me that she didn't feel the impact of the words. There were a couple of times when she really raised some eyebrows with her choice of swear words. All is good now after I sat down with her and we chatted about it.
In Chinese novels they call it "building one's strong foundation". When learning a language, we should start with the sort of 'default' structures and words and slowly pick up and put things on top of them, otherwise those "trandy" words and expressions are going to slot in in place of the basics.This, on top of making one sound corny in some situations, will make using standard language somewhat troublesome in the future.
I prefer dont speak slang, but Im learning to understand a little in my job. Im actually learning English right now after moving to UK, but I work in a social work nursery in Scotland, and the parents that all come from Social exclusion speaks scottish, and slang scottish, gaelic words. I only can listen. Tata is bye y siyamorra (with Spanish pronunciation, Im Spanish) is I see you tomorrow, etc. And the accent is the some than in Trainspotting film.
You're probably right about slang, but i think a close cousin to that is formality. Lots of language materials are very stuffily formal to be absolutely sure a beginner can't possibly offend anyone, and i think it's better to learn what's normal
When it comes to SLANG and also COLLOQUIL LANGUAGE, I try to avoid them as much as possible in start. I try to my best to stick with written textbook form of language until I master it decently enough.
The title of this video says don't *learn* slang, but the actual video is all about not *using* slang. I agree about not using slang yourself, but you should still learn it, so you can understand people when they say it.
It definitely didn't sound like that... Until you said Fuddy-Duddy! 😂🤣😂 Overall, great advice. Cómo siempre, ¡a darle qué es mole de olla! As a fellow 🇨🇦, thanks for teaching be that language leading IS for me, despite a decade of disappointment in school
Regarding the deliberate use of words, I tend to consume a lot of content about Japanese history, religion, etc. And I quite often tend to talk about those topics with natives, but because they're not necessarily knowledgeable about that subject I oftentimes have to explain words to them... I don't know if I should continue doing it as it is really just summarizing and rephrasing the things I learnt, or if I should have less conversations like that
I haven't watched one of your videos in such a long time... I get what you are saying about awkwardness, and also formality. However... I was talking to a lady who was having a yard sale one day. She was selling a lot of French books. There were a bunch of albums from the Spirou series that interested me. She said her daughter had been studying French but these books were difficult because there was so much slang in the text. So it strikes me even if slang has a long arc for mastering it, it is still necessary to understand slang and what it means in order to read some media. Listening to popular music might be another area where the text might be very dense with slang vocabulary... And not make much sense if you don't make an attempt to learn that. On your point about the elision between words my Irish teacher would've disagreed strongly with you. One of the best lessons she taught us was about sounds gliding from one word to the next. When I meet adult learner's and they trudge over every consonant and vowel and every word in a sentence it sounds stiff unnatural and painfully slow to listen to. You want to encourage people but the prosody of the language depends so much on the overlapping or words. Russian as well. I took one semester of that in college and he said pronouncing every syllable distinctly will make you sound completely unnatural. Native Russian speakers always reduce vowels or drop them completely. Horosho sounds like hrasho moloko sounds like mlako and so on. So it's probably not a good strategy to try to speak every word cleanly because so much of the sound of the language is lost when you do this. Also there is so much cultural context embedded in slang words so it seems a pity to lose that for the sake of a more neutral register.
Finally someone is saying it. I am German, I do speak German, English and French and I never cared about grammar or whatsoever in languages. I am deeply convinced languages have no grammar! No. These are patterns in a language found later. Why do so many languages have so many exceptions from the rule (like German). Well because there is no rule in the first place. It's good to know somebody finally, eventually speaks out. Good!
When you use slang you are usually in a certain community where that slang is used. there is slang i use online but not in real life. even online i use different slang on different websites or even different communities on the same website. there is slang that i use with one group of friends .there is slang i use with my other friends .there is slang i use with my younger family members there is slang i use with my older family members. there is slang i use with people i know vaguely who live in my neighbourhood. there is slang i use when talk to my parents friends. there is slang i use when i talk with total strangers. and even with strangers i use different words depending on how old they look.
That's a piece of advice that I will keep in mind for the rest of my life. Not too casual not too formal. Just try to get the gist of it, because in most cases these phrases/words don't even make sense. Fortunately I'm not learning Spanish where people right off the bat teach you slang. I'm sure it's true in other languages, I just noticed it from Spanish speakers more than other languages.
(I'm assuming Mexican Spanish) North Americans definitely appreciate slang a lot even if it's not used by everyone. Eventually you pick your particular archaisms and modern slang in a few sociolects and your English or Spanish really becomes yours. This is true everywhere but I find it so front-loaded here. Like the exposition in a J-RPG, you gotta click "i read the tutorial and all your plot yes" 16 times before you get to the meat sometimes. I moved from Arizona to Oregon and while the pronunciation and majority of lexicon nnd grammar of the Spanish English and French I encountered didn't change much, it took me a month of catching up to figure out what other kids were talking about in school.
@@EchoLog Don't assume my man. Colombians, Venezuelans,etc... they all try to teach you slang and regional terms. A foreigner learning italian didn't have any opportunity to grasp on a single word. Because they were teaching him slang and then telling him "this is a colombian greeting" and then jumped in and said "you know this also means x in other countries?" I'm saved I'm a native speaker
I usually don't understand slang words when foreigners use them, because I don't expect to hear them. So even if they use them in the right way, right context etc, it's still odd.
i remember using slang not knowing it even was slang, i genuinely thought してもろて was a conjugation of some sort but its just kansaiben that was taken from kansai with a changed meaning and got big in other parts of japan in like 2018. slang is way to undercover for someone not native to understand.
Even in my teens and twenties (I'm 46 now) I didn't use much slang, and I'm sure my meagre knowledge of slang in my native Danish is mostly decades out of fashion. Never strived to learn slang - other than what I pick up in movies and TV for passive use - in English or other languages either.
In terms of studying slang I would probably disagree with you,Steve. Because having a grasp of slang words and expressions makes you feel ^at ease^^ with a certain language. Now, I dont consider German a foreign language to me anymore since I have used it my whole life, but still I do really enjoy dabbling in my special german dictionary (Umgangssprache Deutsch). But maybe you do talk from a perspective where people usually dont reach an advanced C1(C2) level, which is correct- People at lower stages in the acquisition process wouldnt be able to naturally use slang words, because they dont sound native-like in the language, most of the time.
I’m still flustered 30 years after being ordered by my young French friends to stop saying “homme” - I think I was meant to say “mec” but I didn’t feel comfortable enough with the language, after only a couple of months learning, it to use even familiar words let alone slang.
Sound advice especially regarding profanity. I kind of feel like if I became proficient enough in Italian I'd still revert to English to use dirtier language.
I notice there are some who teach foreign friends (such as among college students to foreign students on educational exchange program) swear words even when they still new to the language of the country they visit. Not only it doesn't have any practical use, it's even dangerous as it might put that person in hard time unnecessarily in an unfamiliar country. Like in Fawlty Tower where Manuel was told to say "You are a hideous orangutan." when he can only understand minimal English (he's only recently move from Catalonia) only to get punch. Proper language instructor always tell their students to go formal such as formal you or formal greeting when they are uncertain to be on the safe side.
I used to think slang is cool and maybe if I use slang then that’s probably an indicator that I’m good at that language. However as I grow more mature and get better at the language and culture, I later realized that using slang sounds a bit uneducated, not cool at all. Maybe it’s just at the beginning stage when people are not that familiar with the language, they are eager to learn everything including the slang, but gradually you may change this opinion.
The best way to pick up on standard modern slang form is through modern media. In my opinion there is what I'd call inside slang, which is constantly changing (the stuff teenagers create) and there's standard slang like dude, that basically everyone uses. I think it's pointless to study slang. It's better to pick it up naturally through natural interaction with the language. I picked up on basic slang and swearing in Norwegian from watching many of their films and TV series.
i agree in principle with everything youre saying, but in practice, japanese slang is essential for understanding as much as talking and it can help alot to make people feel comfortable with you (getting beyond the veil so they actually make friendships with you and not jus keeping you at a respectful distance). i did learn it naturally rather than from books though, and when you learn by immersion you get a very very very good sense of the precise space/time to use it. i agree its all "instinct" (which is really all volume of observation) and avoid swearing in any context where you're with someone. pair slang with neutral grammar learning, so you actually understand how the slang is constructed, such as abbreviating words or whatever. interestingly, alot of swear words in japanese are quite soft, like yatteshimatta for shit or fuck. it can be quite helpful to learn some of these words for when you're thinking in the language, but still trying to feel personally expressive. i think english relies heavily on swearing for acceptable expression, so at some point, you're going to want to feel like you are able to swear in japanese, even if its in your mind.
I loved LingQ two and a half years ago when I started my language journey. It was easy to use and I recommended it to many friends. With the many overhauls it has become unusable, incredibly complicated, not in any way intuitive. In short, it has been completely wrecked. It’s a total mess. It is such a bummer.
The biggest problem with slang is that a huge source of it is from native speakers who use a lot of slang...and a big proportion of them don't speak correctly to other native speakers, because they only know the slang level. So, if you ask them, they will tell you that it's OK to say "ey tío" to a random guy in his 60s in Spain, which isn't. The old guy will think you're an idiot but won't tell you where the problem is because: - if you use slang, they will assume that you already speak well the language and you're being disrespectful on purpose. - the people who speak in that way to aged guys are people who you don't want to have an argument with. So you'll being looking as a fool for a long time before someone tells you where the problem is. By The Way: Spain is NOT very strict on formal speaking and "ey tío" is just "hey dude". I don't want to imagine in other cultures with a stricter formal/informal distinction.
For expressing our thoughts and opinions for example Philadelphi or psychology things religious matter should we be at C1 or C2 levels or we just need to know vocabulary that we need?
I agree with you but the extent because I know the slang should not be used in formal English or business English but by native speakers and use the slang every time if they person who would be too young we can the movie and tv shows use vulgar slang every time however I agree if you are going to use slang before you have to recognize the exact meaning in that slang and remember the situation what kind of situation we are going to use the slang but native speakers use slang instinctively because the 100 % sure of the meaning of slang
I wish I would become as cool as you are at your age, you are an inspiration for me someone who is about to get into their midlife crisis having achieved so little in their life.
A nice thing to say about Steve! And hey, don't pay undue attention to achievements. Look at the fleeting glory of people once famous in the past. There's no other Jack Davids and there will never be another one. So just do you, that's your unique contribution. Nothing wrong with getting inspired by other people, on the contrary, but people are also inspired by you when they see an authentic person. In the end I think the most important is love. Everyone understands it and many desperately need it. All the best to you!
Slang is useful if you spend a lot of time with people who use it. Otherwise, it's a waste of time and you also risk using it out of context. I'd stick to standard language unless you're living in the country surrounded by people who use slang all the time.
I’ve currently lived in Germany for the last 3.5 years. I met a mutual acquaintance who made a snarky comment about a German phrase that a picked up from my friends; I had said “Was geht ab”? “Is that the first thing that you learned from a book?” Apparently in Rhineland Pfalz it’s common to say “UN?” Instead of “Und wie geht’s dir?” No biggie. In contrast, she said she had been speaking English for almost 18 years. She used the phrase often, “Ya know what I’m saaaying?” I asked where she learned her English. Her reply, “I learned a little in school, but mostly from watching Flavor of Love” (Which was a reality show featuring Rapper Flava Flave). My point. Don’t learn a language by focusing on slang or by listening to low-level speakers; because you’ll pick up all those details.
Even ususing English slang can be cringe worthy to a foreign ear. For example the term "super duper" sounds to a native Polish person like "super bum."
Yo Canto la cancion de Julio Iglesia "HEY" en Español, Italiano, frances, Portugues e ingles, pero mi langua es Español, el ingles muy poco aunque vivo en los Angeles.Ca. USA pero el Portuguese, frances e Italiano los Canto escuchando a Julio Iglesia porque no los hablo. A partir de hoy estare aqui con used Sr.Kaffman, .porque quiero aprender muchos otros idiomas. Jose Guadamuz S
I agree with what you are saying! Slang changes quickly and becomes obsolete and even ridiculous after a few years or less. Some words like cool have been around forever. I remember meeting a friend of some of my friends in Argentina who had live in the States a few years. Even though I really preferred to speak Spanish with everyone, this woman jumped at the chance to speak English. She used so much slang and swears and sounded like a 20 year old person from the 70's. This really weird coming from a 50 + year old woman. Also the F-bombs were really annoying and somewhat offensive. I let it go and didn't say anything. She was actually a nice person but she came across as ridiculous. I try to avoid slang too but occasionally, if I am confident about the use of the word, I might use the odd term here and there. But it's never to be offensive and usually it get's a chuckle. I think if you want to impress, it's better to use on occasion, an expression or an idiom. Just my two cents!
Out of curiosity, when you don't use one of your acquired languages for a long period of time, do you just get a little rusty at speaking it or do you also lose the ability to comprehend it the way you used to? Please pardon the randomness of the question
I’m a Brazilian teacher and most of students can’t even form sentences properly, but they love to waste their time learning slang terms. I find it stupid to learn these terms since they’re a local this and “we’re not native speakers”. We have to learn how to communicate and that’s it. It even sounds fake and kinda stupid, imo.
@@dontreadmyprofilepic2124👍 the correct way to say it would be "I'm a Brazilian English teacher" or "English teacher from Brazil". Brazilian teacher implies teaching Brazilian, same as an English teacher does not denote the nationality of the teacher.
I agree with the main point, but I disagree for the French example of "je ne sais pas", because there are 2 things at play here: * The somewhat slang-ish transformation from "je sais pas" to "j'sais pas", but also * the non-slangish difference in usage of "ne" between formal written french and spoken french. When speaking, "ne" means something different (it serves to emphasize the negation when speaking, kind of like typing the sentence with caps lock enabled), and you shouldn't aim to say "ne" for every negation. The neutral language version of this sentence in spoken french is "je sais pas".
I disagree with your disagreement. In my opinion, the neutral version in spoken French is rather "je n'sais pas" (it is very natural when speaking a little fast, quite neutral) than "j'sais pas" (which is much more familiar, not particularily neutral, we don't say that to unknown people, or else it gives me a bad impression if unknow people say "j'sais pas" in front of me).
I think it's fun to use swear words with friendly contacts, even if you don't fully understand how to use them. Many people may be shocked and amused with how you use the words unnaturally, and it can cause a great deal of laughter for everyone. That said, if you can't laugh at yourself, if you want to be taken seriously at all costs, I agree, don't try to swear.
O Brasil, por ser um país demograficamente grande existe uma diversidade de gírias regionais. Não brinquem com as gírias se vierem ao Rio de Janeiro ... 😘🇧🇷
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Do you make a point of learning slang when learning a language?
I'm relieved to hear your English because you don't use the word 'like' very often.
@@amamariya Yes, exactly. I knew of a English language learner who latched on to that word! It doesn't sound good from a native speaker either!
Hi Steve!
There's a bot impersonating you in the comments, offering a package...so most probably is a Fraud
Steve you are so sus I’m not even kidding. Among us IRL holy crap you are beyond sus in this video 💯💯
I don't know what "sus" means. Then again, I'm not a giga-chad.🙂
omg it's the language gigachad fr no cap amogus
I’m guessing from the way you use slang inappropriately that you are learning to speak English, and haven’t yet reached the intermediate B2 level. Keep at it, you’ll get there bud.
Sussy Stevie dripped tf out he finna drown
@@StillAliveAndKicking_ Hmm it looks like American to me actually, far more complicated language than English
I don’t know about other countries, but here in Germany slang around the younger generation literally changes every month or so, it’s absolutely crazy. I’m 24 and a heavy Internet user, but I could never keep up with what is happening on social media language wise so that I could actually use it actively myself.
The same happens in the United States. I’m happy I’m not the only one who is lost 😂
Have you been to the US? lol
It's really insane how fast it changes, I can't keep up either.
Here in belgium i have become so out of touch with my own people. i am not sure if we still make up new slang or we just pick everything from america now. because my dutch slang is stuck in 2010 but my english slang is only a year or 2 out of date.
it is same in everywhere i guess. in Turkiye it changes very fast as well.
It's honestly scary that I learn new fad words from people literally 2 or 3 years younger (I'm 25 btw). I'm already starting to feel like that stereotypical grumpy old man
Appropriate slang terms will come with immersion in my experience.
exactly. You'll encounter a word so many times you have to look it up or ask someone or learn from context. That's how you learn slang
Yeah, learn slang in conversation with natives, especially if you live there. Don't learn it for the sake of learning it.
No cap steve, youd seem sus af yeeting out bussin words without passing the vibe check
😂
😂😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Yeet and vibe check have staying and spreading power. Cappin and bussin feel contrived. That's just me though. Like if no cap and bussin stay, like they'll be technical jargon and then re-slanged before yeet changes or goes anywhere.
Again, IMO.
Yep
And translate to formal :)
I agree with you. Some students like to learn slang and contractions, but they sound incredibly unnatural to me. Some even put stress on “wanna and gonna.” They thought that they would sound like native speakers.
Wow! What an excellent topic! I am an English speaker who studies Spanish. While I know some Spanish (Mexican) slang I have never used any. I’ve always remembered a conversation, in English, with a native Spanish speaker who was just starting to use the language. He said things like, “gonna / wanna,” and I recall how awkward it sounded. It sounded “forced,” and I immediately thought he wasn’t a serious student. Right or wrong, that was the impression it made on me and I don’t want to sound like that.
BTW: Definite fuddy-duddy, 74 and started studying Spanish less than six years ago (and loving it!).
I don't think informal contractions like gonna/wanna are the best examples because, if we're speaking about spoken language, nowadays many native English speakers use 'wanna' and 'gonna' more frequently than they would use 'want to' or 'going to'. There are even environments where using the latter would be more pronounced. That said, I also personally feel more comfortable starting with formal speech, especially if I'm in a formal learning situation (as opposed to when I'm learning "on the fly"). I think starting with formal speech makes it easier to change registers when necessary. Personally, I usually try to adapt my speech so that more attention is paid to the content/meaning rather than the form, which means I sometimes opt for informal speech or slang.
I'm Brazilian and I'm learning a lot from Mr. Kaufmann. Good job!
You’ve articulated my thoughts brilliantly. Thank you!!! I actually extend that to idioms as well. I think it’s important to get an understanding of slang, idioms, swear words etc. In natural contexts but all of those things sound very strange coming out of the mouth of a non native speaker unless they come out naturally, so I’m not even attempting to introduce them into my everyday speaking. It’s enough to learn the standard language itself from outside the country of origin, let alone adding the extra complication of trying to use slang.
I agree with you to some extent, but I would be interested in learning some slang anyway, not because I want to use it myself, but in order to understand what people say.
I agree, and it's one of those things people obsess over WAY before they even understand how the language works.
Agree completely. Also, the native speaker has no expectation that a non native speaker should use slang. In fact most citizens of other countries are pleasantly surprised that a native English speaker can communicate at all beyond a token 100 words or phrases that they have learned in a tourist guide.
What a subject! You gave us a rare chance to dig down deep the meaning of a language. The differences of countries, cultures, ages…a lot of things showed up in the comments. Very interesting. A WORD is not just a word, right? I guess this is one of the reasons why you are so into languages. Thank you. PS I’m so impressed with your Japanese.
In my company English is the language everyone uses. However, no one of us is a native. Some of my colleagues have books like "Business English" on their desks. Exactly those are the guys whose English is the worst :D This kind of proves your stance on the topic, Steve. Thanks!
Great advice. I find that my Japanese students have trouble with English sentence structure. I make it a point they construct complete sentences, especially when a one-word response may suffice. Only when I see that they are comfortable do I suggest they loosen things up a bit. I avoid teaching slang, altogether.
I agree 100% with you. I avoid using or teaching most students slang, unless they ask about a certain expression. And if I know what the expression means I'll explain it. Also, one-word answers don't allow students to show what they can do in the target language. I try to ask open-ended questions so I can receive some information from my adult ESL students.
There can be the linguistically reversed experience which I had when I lived in France and was just beginning to learn the language.
Being immersed mostly in their literature I ended up saying things like “Il eut un sourire” in lieu of “Il a souri” or “astre” - “orb” after seeing a piece by Molière because I didn’t know how to say “star”.
While many people from other languages deem this verbiage orgulous, the French, au contraire, amusedly approved of and embraced these utterances.
I can't even use slang in my own language.
I'm learning one of the Arabic dialects and from the materials available in the language (mainly series, songs, vlogs etc.) there's little standard language and lots of colloqualisms, which I find difficult to learn to use as there are lots of nuances that take time to grasp.
If you learn standard Arabic you will be able to speak to all arabs, but learning a dialect can limit you to a region. most arabs can understand the dialect of the Middle East especially gulf because their dialect is closer to the standard. And most arabs can understand Egyptian dialect because they are a lot 🌚 and very active in social media. But if you go after dialects in the north of Africa other than Egypt. It will be difficult for me and other Middle Easterns to understand and we will very appreciate it if you can speak standard Arabic instead
I recently became guilty-pleasure-addicted to American boys' prep-school/sports novels ca. 1900-1920. The authors of these books portrayed boys' slang frequently and consistently, and I suppose that they researched their dialogue as well as they could. When I tried to write a pastiche and imitate their slang, it was trickier than I thought. For example, these characters almost never used 'O.K.', surprisingly enough (Mark Twain never used it at all, and he portrayed slang freely), and never as an interjection at all, only as an adjective or adverb. "Chap" filled the semantic space later occupied by "guy", but are they exactly the same? One 1920 character refers to something about 'those Greek guys', but could he have used 'chaps' there fifteen years earlier? "Fellow" appears close, at first, but it does seem to connote a peer, a fellow student, and you can hear that right through radio shows of the 1940s and 1950s ("With the Tom Corbett patch, you'll be the envy of the other fellows!") Just when did one use the fascinating phrase, 'don't get gay with me'? It mostly seems to mean 'to make trouble', but it also seems to just mean 'to be audacious or daring' in some places.
So, if you aren't assimilating slang naturally, mistakes are probably inevitable. As a 21st century boy visiting the previous century learns in my story :)
Hey Steve, thanks for the tips! I'm learning english, and i have a dream to be an english teacher one day!
You are such a nice person, who ispires anyone! Greetings from Brazill.
That’s Cap Steve, you buggin.
fairdinkum to that! It also doesn't transfer well. If you're in a different part of the country, different country with the same language, different age group or interest group, People won't know what you're. rabbiting on about. Whatever country I'm in, just I try and learn the style of language as used in the capital in their news and broadcast media, that way I'll have a greater chance of people understanding what I'm saying.
Good call. I remember a visiting German acquaintance who put f _ _ _ in every other sentence so he would sound more American. He sounded like an F_ _ _ ing idiot. 🤣
My German wife used to do the same thing. She told me that she didn't feel the impact of the words. There were a couple of times when she really raised some eyebrows with her choice of swear words. All is good now after I sat down with her and we chatted about it.
lol
Sounds like me 15 years ago.
This is what happens when you learn English from gangsta rap and action movies (sorry for the double comment)
I agree on slang, it often just sounds weird from many nonnative speakers. I use it sometimes when I want to make my wife’s Chinese friends laugh.
Exactly, it's great when you're clearly joking around and you want to make people laugh. But just don't expect to sound cool and smooth with it haha.
good video, thanks for simplifying the language learning process yet again. one less thing to worry about. much appreciated.
In Chinese novels they call it "building one's strong foundation". When learning a language, we should start with the sort of 'default' structures and words and slowly pick up and put things on top of them, otherwise those "trandy" words and expressions are going to slot in in place of the basics.This, on top of making one sound corny in some situations, will make using standard language somewhat troublesome in the future.
I prefer dont speak slang, but Im learning to understand a little in my job. Im actually learning English right now after moving to UK, but I work in a social work nursery in Scotland, and the parents that all come from Social exclusion speaks scottish, and slang scottish, gaelic words. I only can listen. Tata is bye y siyamorra (with Spanish pronunciation, Im Spanish) is I see you tomorrow, etc. And the accent is the some than in Trainspotting film.
You're probably right about slang, but i think a close cousin to that is formality. Lots of language materials are very stuffily formal to be absolutely sure a beginner can't possibly offend anyone, and i think it's better to learn what's normal
This is good advice. By the way, I wrote my PhD thesis on a Mac just like the one you showed at the end.
When it comes to SLANG and also COLLOQUIL LANGUAGE, I try to avoid them as much as possible in start. I try to my best to stick with written textbook form of language until I master it decently enough.
Dear Steve I studied in Sorbonne and I received the same advice...thank you very much for your advice👍😊👏!
The title of this video says don't *learn* slang, but the actual video is all about not *using* slang. I agree about not using slang yourself, but you should still learn it, so you can understand people when they say it.
It definitely didn't sound like that... Until you said Fuddy-Duddy! 😂🤣😂 Overall, great advice.
Cómo siempre, ¡a darle qué es mole de olla!
As a fellow 🇨🇦, thanks for teaching be that language leading IS for me, despite a decade of disappointment in school
Regarding the deliberate use of words, I tend to consume a lot of content about Japanese history, religion, etc. And I quite often tend to talk about those topics with natives, but because they're not necessarily knowledgeable about that subject I oftentimes have to explain words to them... I don't know if I should continue doing it as it is really just summarizing and rephrasing the things I learnt, or if I should have less conversations like that
That actually sounds really cool. I imagine a lot of people you speak to are thrilled to have a foreigner so interested in their culture and history.
I haven't watched one of your videos in such a long time...
I get what you are saying about awkwardness, and also formality. However...
I was talking to a lady who was having a yard sale one day. She was selling a lot of French books. There were a bunch of albums from the Spirou series that interested me. She said her daughter had been studying French but these books were difficult because there was so much slang in the text. So it strikes me even if slang has a long arc for mastering it, it is still necessary to understand slang and what it means in order to read some media.
Listening to popular music might be another area where the text might be very dense with slang vocabulary... And not make much sense if you don't make an attempt to learn that.
On your point about the elision between words my Irish teacher would've disagreed strongly with you. One of the best lessons she taught us was about sounds gliding from one word to the next. When I meet adult learner's and they trudge over every consonant and vowel and every word in a sentence it sounds stiff unnatural and painfully slow to listen to. You want to encourage people but the prosody of the language depends so much on the overlapping or words.
Russian as well. I took one semester of that in college and he said pronouncing every syllable distinctly will make you sound completely unnatural. Native Russian speakers always reduce vowels or drop them completely. Horosho sounds like hrasho moloko sounds like mlako and so on. So it's probably not a good strategy to try to speak every word cleanly because so much of the sound of the language is lost when you do this.
Also there is so much cultural context embedded in slang words so it seems a pity to lose that for the sake of a more neutral register.
Finally someone is saying it. I am German, I do speak German, English and French and I never cared about grammar or whatsoever in languages. I am deeply convinced languages have no grammar! No. These are patterns in a language found later. Why do so many languages have so many exceptions from the rule (like German). Well because there is no rule in the first place. It's good to know somebody finally, eventually speaks out. Good!
When you use slang you are usually in a certain community where that slang is used. there is slang i use online but not in real life. even online i use different slang on different websites or even different communities on the same website. there is slang that i use with one group of friends .there is slang i use with my other friends .there is slang i use with my younger family members there is slang i use with my older family members. there is slang i use with people i know vaguely who live in my neighbourhood. there is slang i use when talk to my parents friends. there is slang i use when i talk with total strangers. and even with strangers i use different words depending on how old they look.
That's a piece of advice that I will keep in mind for the rest of my life. Not too casual not too formal. Just try to get the gist of it, because in most cases these phrases/words don't even make sense. Fortunately I'm not learning Spanish where people right off the bat teach you slang. I'm sure it's true in other languages, I just noticed it from Spanish speakers more than other languages.
(I'm assuming Mexican Spanish) North Americans definitely appreciate slang a lot even if it's not used by everyone. Eventually you pick your particular archaisms and modern slang in a few sociolects and your English or Spanish really becomes yours.
This is true everywhere but I find it so front-loaded here. Like the exposition in a J-RPG, you gotta click "i read the tutorial and all your plot yes" 16 times before you get to the meat sometimes. I moved from Arizona to Oregon and while the pronunciation and majority of lexicon nnd grammar of the Spanish English and French I encountered didn't change much, it took me a month of catching up to figure out what other kids were talking about in school.
@@EchoLog Don't assume my man. Colombians, Venezuelans,etc... they all try to teach you slang and regional terms. A foreigner learning italian didn't have any opportunity to grasp on a single word. Because they were teaching him slang and then telling him "this is a colombian greeting" and then jumped in and said "you know this also means x in other countries?" I'm saved I'm a native speaker
I usually don't understand slang words when foreigners use them, because I don't expect to hear them. So even if they use them in the right way, right context etc, it's still odd.
I totally agree with you , sir !!!!
6:35 Kansai Ben👍Ookani! (ありがとう）
i remember using slang not knowing it even was slang, i genuinely thought してもろて was a conjugation of some sort but its just kansaiben that was taken from kansai with a changed meaning and got big in other parts of japan in like 2018. slang is way to undercover for someone not native to understand.
Meanwhile Languagesimp...
あ！言われてみるとスティーブさんの日本語は関西の音程ですね！気のいいおっちゃんの感じで親しみやすいのはそのせいだったんですね😆👍✨スティーブさんの日本語は、とても自然で聴き取りやすい日本語です😊✨
It is difficult to acquire swear words naturally if you don't live in the country because they are not often used in literature nor videos.
I am studying listening skill today also !!
I don't understand/or ever saying slang in MY NATIVE LANGUAGE also ENGLISH
I think it's weird and people calling me dumb :/
Keep going sir steve a lot of people watching you 👍👍
Even in my teens and twenties (I'm 46 now) I didn't use much slang, and I'm sure my meagre knowledge of slang in my native Danish is mostly decades out of fashion. Never strived to learn slang - other than what I pick up in movies and TV for passive use - in English or other languages either.
Please tell me about some dated danish slang from 1990.
Beg to differ mr. Steave i use some slang words in English, The words that we should avoid are swear/rude words not slang.😁
In terms of studying slang I would probably disagree with you,Steve. Because having a grasp of slang words and expressions makes you feel ^at ease^^ with a certain language. Now, I dont consider German a foreign language to me anymore since I have used it my whole life, but still I do really enjoy dabbling in my special german dictionary (Umgangssprache Deutsch). But maybe you do talk from a perspective where people usually dont reach an advanced C1(C2) level, which is correct- People at lower stages in the acquisition process wouldnt be able to naturally use slang words, because they dont sound native-like in the language, most of the time.
Lovin' the new thumbnail!
I’m still flustered 30 years after being ordered by my young French friends to stop saying “homme” - I think I was meant to say “mec” but I didn’t feel comfortable enough with the language, after only a couple of months learning, it to use even familiar words let alone slang.
Sound advice especially regarding profanity. I kind of feel like if I became proficient enough in Italian I'd still revert to English to use dirtier language.
Steve Kaufmann is the greatest reference when it comes to language learning . !👁
I notice there are some who teach foreign friends (such as among college students to foreign students on educational exchange program) swear words even when they still new to the language of the country they visit. Not only it doesn't have any practical use, it's even dangerous as it might put that person in hard time unnecessarily in an unfamiliar country. Like in Fawlty Tower where Manuel was told to say "You are a hideous orangutan." when he can only understand minimal English (he's only recently move from Catalonia) only to get punch. Proper language instructor always tell their students to go formal such as formal you or formal greeting when they are uncertain to be on the safe side.
Thank you for the tips
I would really like to learn Russian. But I still have doubts about how to start, because it's very different for me.
Very good common sense. Thank you!
I used to think slang is cool and maybe if I use slang then that’s probably an indicator that I’m good at that language. However as I grow more mature and get better at the language and culture, I later realized that using slang sounds a bit uneducated, not cool at all. Maybe it’s just at the beginning stage when people are not that familiar with the language, they are eager to learn everything including the slang, but gradually you may change this opinion.
LingQのゲール語版はいつか出ますか？
can i use Quebecois slang it goes back to the 19th century french
Pourquoi pas? Le français québécois familier a toute une histoire, surtout les sacres!
The best way to pick up on standard modern slang form is through modern media. In my opinion there is what I'd call inside slang, which is constantly changing (the stuff teenagers create) and there's standard slang like dude, that basically everyone uses. I think it's pointless to study slang. It's better to pick it up naturally through natural interaction with the language. I picked up on basic slang and swearing in Norwegian from watching many of their films and TV series.
The title is a bit click-baity but you're right Steve 👍
i agree in principle with everything youre saying, but in practice, japanese slang is essential for understanding as much as talking and it can help alot to make people feel comfortable with you (getting beyond the veil so they actually make friendships with you and not jus keeping you at a respectful distance). i did learn it naturally rather than from books though, and when you learn by immersion you get a very very very good sense of the precise space/time to use it. i agree its all "instinct" (which is really all volume of observation) and avoid swearing in any context where you're with someone. pair slang with neutral grammar learning, so you actually understand how the slang is constructed, such as abbreviating words or whatever. interestingly, alot of swear words in japanese are quite soft, like yatteshimatta for shit or fuck. it can be quite helpful to learn some of these words for when you're thinking in the language, but still trying to feel personally expressive. i think english relies heavily on swearing for acceptable expression, so at some point, you're going to want to feel like you are able to swear in japanese, even if its in your mind.
I loved LingQ two and a half years ago when I started my language journey. It was easy to use and I recommended it to many friends. With the many overhauls it has become unusable, incredibly complicated, not in any way intuitive. In short, it has been completely wrecked. It’s a total mess. It is such a bummer.
Fr Fr Steve no cap, I agree with you
The biggest problem with slang is that a huge source of it is from native speakers who use a lot of slang...and a big proportion of them don't speak correctly to other native speakers, because they only know the slang level. So, if you ask them, they will tell you that it's OK to say "ey tío" to a random guy in his 60s in Spain, which isn't.
The old guy will think you're an idiot but won't tell you where the problem is because:
- if you use slang, they will assume that you already speak well the language and you're being disrespectful on purpose.
- the people who speak in that way to aged guys are people who you don't want to have an argument with.
So you'll being looking as a fool for a long time before someone tells you where the problem is.
By The Way: Spain is NOT very strict on formal speaking and "ey tío" is just "hey dude".
I don't want to imagine in other cultures with a stricter formal/informal distinction.
For expressing our thoughts and opinions for example Philadelphi or psychology things religious matter should we be at C1 or C2 levels or we just need to know vocabulary that we need?
Luis Carlos Dias
há 1 segundo
Congratulation Mr Kaufmann, very good explanation
yes. even in my mother tongue I don't use slang I'm not used to, to look younger or smarter.
Great advice. Non-native speakers just look awkward and inept when they try to use slang.
I agree with you but the extent because I know the slang should not be used in formal English or business English but by native speakers and use the slang every time if they person who would be too young we can the movie and tv shows use vulgar slang every time however I agree if you are going to use slang before you have to recognize the exact meaning in that slang and remember the situation what kind of situation we are going to use the slang but native speakers use slang instinctively because the 100 % sure of the meaning of slang
I wish I would become as cool as you are at your age, you are an inspiration for me someone who is about to get into their midlife crisis having achieved so little in their life.
A nice thing to say about Steve!
And hey, don't pay undue attention to achievements. Look at the fleeting glory of people once famous in the past. There's no other Jack Davids and there will never be another one. So just do you, that's your unique contribution. Nothing wrong with getting inspired by other people, on the contrary, but people are also inspired by you when they see an authentic person. In the end I think the most important is love. Everyone understands it and many desperately need it. All the best to you!
@@seenonyt2210 thank you for your kind and encouraging words
@@jackdavids2723 Thank you very much!
Slang is useful if you spend a lot of time with people who use it. Otherwise, it's a waste of time and you also risk using it out of context. I'd stick to standard language unless you're living in the country surrounded by people who use slang all the time.
I’ve currently lived in Germany for the last 3.5 years. I met a mutual acquaintance who made a snarky comment about a German phrase that a picked up from my friends; I had said “Was geht ab”?
“Is that the first thing that you learned from a book?” Apparently in Rhineland Pfalz it’s common to say “UN?” Instead of “Und wie geht’s dir?”
No biggie.
In contrast, she said she had been speaking English for almost 18 years. She used the phrase often, “Ya know what I’m saaaying?” I asked where she learned her English. Her reply, “I learned a little in school, but mostly from watching Flavor of Love” (Which was a reality show featuring Rapper Flava Flave).
My point. Don’t learn a language by focusing on slang or by listening to low-level speakers; because you’ll pick up all those details.
Yea "was geht ab" can really only be used in an ironic way nowdays, its too outdated.
When, I started learning Swedish, I seen Swedish TH-camrs saying Va instead of Vad “What?” But, I don’t confuse it with the proper term Vad.
Don't pronounce the d bro, same as you don't pronounce the h in what in English
Even ususing English slang can be cringe worthy to a foreign ear. For example the term "super duper" sounds to a native Polish person like "super bum."
Yo Canto la cancion de Julio Iglesia "HEY" en Español, Italiano, frances, Portugues e ingles, pero mi langua es Español, el ingles muy poco aunque vivo en los Angeles.Ca. USA pero el Portuguese, frances e Italiano los Canto escuchando a Julio Iglesia porque no los hablo. A partir de hoy estare aqui con used Sr.Kaffman, .porque quiero aprender muchos otros idiomas. Jose Guadamuz
S
I agree with what you are saying! Slang changes quickly and becomes obsolete and even ridiculous after a few years or less. Some words like cool have been around forever. I remember meeting a friend of some of my friends in Argentina who had live in the States a few years. Even though I really preferred to speak Spanish with everyone, this woman jumped at the chance to speak English. She used so much slang and swears and sounded like a 20 year old person from the 70's. This really weird coming from a 50 + year old woman. Also the F-bombs were really annoying and somewhat offensive. I let it go and didn't say anything. She was actually a nice person but she came across as ridiculous. I try to avoid slang too but occasionally, if I am confident about the use of the word, I might use the odd term here and there. But it's never to be offensive and usually it get's a chuckle. I think if you want to impress, it's better to use on occasion, an expression or an idiom. Just my two cents!
Is 'slang' the same as 'idiomatic phrases'?
Out of curiosity, when you don't use one of your acquired languages for a long period of time, do you just get a little rusty at speaking it or do you also lose the ability to comprehend it the way you used to?
Please pardon the randomness of the question
Depends on the language. In my weaker languages comprehension slips too.
Very successful guy
I’m a Brazilian teacher and most of students can’t even form sentences properly, but they love to waste their time learning slang terms.
I find it stupid to learn these terms since they’re a local this and “we’re not native speakers”. We have to learn how to communicate and that’s it.
It even sounds fake and kinda stupid, imo.
A Portuguese teacher not Brazilian, the language is called Portuguese
@@seanlive6975 He's a Brazilian teacher who teaches English
@@dontreadmyprofilepic2124 para algumas pessoas o desenho é necessário. Obrigado.
@@seanlive6975 hahaha damn, baby. You're stupid asf.
@@dontreadmyprofilepic2124👍 the correct way to say it would be "I'm a Brazilian English teacher" or "English teacher from Brazil". Brazilian teacher implies teaching Brazilian, same as an English teacher does not denote the nationality of the teacher.
日本語のスラング（俗語）や若者言葉は基本から崩れすぎていて、40代になった私にもニュアンスが分かりにくい場合があります。
オンラインゲーム等から自然と日本語を学んだ外国の方は、俗語を日常的に使うので低俗なイメージがついてしまいます。
そういった事からも外国人がスラングを使うのはハードルが高いと私も感じています。
I agree with the main point, but I disagree for the French example of "je ne sais pas", because there are 2 things at play here:
* The somewhat slang-ish transformation from "je sais pas" to "j'sais pas", but also
* the non-slangish difference in usage of "ne" between formal written french and spoken french.
When speaking, "ne" means something different (it serves to emphasize the negation when speaking, kind of like typing the sentence with caps lock enabled), and you shouldn't aim to say "ne" for every negation. The neutral language version of this sentence in spoken french is "je sais pas".
I disagree with your disagreement. In my opinion, the neutral version in spoken French is rather "je n'sais pas" (it is very natural when speaking a little fast, quite neutral) than "j'sais pas" (which is much more familiar, not particularily neutral, we don't say that to unknown people, or else it gives me a bad impression if unknow people say "j'sais pas" in front of me).
Wanna
Gonna
Gimme (give me)
Gemme (get me)
Canava (can I have a)
Needa/neeta (need to)
No wuckin forries Stevo.
Got the cant down pat. Nothin like a good yarn or chin wag to try on the old jack Lang mate.
Steve be trippin'. I no cap learnt English like a gigachad in mere days thru slang. Common Steve L + ratio. What else...oh yeah, amogus pog NFT!
Very good, Steve! Exactly right.
吃瓜 will always be my favorite chinese slang.
I think it's fun to use swear words with friendly contacts, even if you don't fully understand how to use them. Many people may be shocked and amused with how you use the words unnaturally, and it can cause a great deal of laughter for everyone. That said, if you can't laugh at yourself, if you want to be taken seriously at all costs, I agree, don't try to swear.
O Brasil, por ser um país demograficamente grande existe uma diversidade de gírias regionais.
Não brinquem com as gírias se vierem ao Rio de Janeiro ... 😘🇧🇷
Verdade !! Hehehe
Well I didn't have to think about weather or not I should learn slang when I started to learn Russian, they just came to me
I love you Steve
I see the point 🧐
so true, Steve! :-)
My favorite polyglot
You right
just learn a language's curse words, they are timeless