We can't connect all words we learn to scents, tastes and emotions. It's impossible. For me it's not the problem to learn a new word but to call it from my head when I need it in real conversation. And when I can't call it and conversation halt and someone tell this word for me I know immediately what it means and that this is exactly the word I was looking for. The only way to start speaking other language is practice because this way we get experience in pulling words from our heads. I hope that I explained it clearly because english is not my mother language :-).
@@marcingruszka4414 I think the main point was to not memorise translations, but to internalise what a word means, which in the example given turned out to be the association of the according sensory perceptions.
That's quite fair point. I've once realized that you must _understand_ the word, not _translate_ it. And from then I use flashcards (electronic only) with pictures, and with context (phrase, where I first met the word). And it's way more efficient for me. Never translate words to another language to remember them. Use images and other senses instead.
@Lolu Oresegun, no, negative. Say, I know a bunch of languages. And I'm trying to memorize some new word. To which language I have to translate it? There is no right answer. All you need to begin to use the word, is the sensation in your mind, that corresponds to hearing this word (or a phenomena associated) in one of your known languages. Moreover, you can use a word in particular language, if you know (feel) its meaning, but you never know the word in any other languages you know. When you think in that target language, there is no need to translate words to any other language. So, you know the word, you can use it, you understand its meaning, but you cannot translate it. I hope this example makes it clear, that knowing a word doesn't imply any translation.
I just came up with an even better explanation. :-) You can know a word in any single language. It means that you know it and you can use it in this very language. On the other hand, the fact that you can do some translation means that you know the word in at least two languages. It's clear and simple. :-) Both scenarios are legal and make perfect sense.
Translation is actually perfectly fine. People with a certain mindset get confused by translation, but not everyone. I don't need a picture of a _chien_ to stop me mistakenly thinking it is a surefire, 100% drop-in equivalent of "dog".
Well, I don't always translate French to English. I may translate Chinese to Spanish, or Italian to German. It exercises the brain more. You are wrong in thinking that translating impedes me in thinking in any particular language. I am a professional translator, and I no doubt think more deftly than you in French, Catalan and the rest.
“Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.” - Flora Lewis As a Spanish teacher with German and English proficiency, I totally agree with this.
Aussie boi it’s hard to think of the thing when for me only like nouns give me an image in my head. If that makes sense. I’m learning Spanish and it’s starting to flow more normal now but like I still usually tend to think of the English equivalent to “check myself” and almost translate it in my head.
Very good TED talk. The best thing is the story about the interview in French. That says something about the school system of teaching languages - it's actually totally inefficient...
Yeah, unfortunately it's mostly about exams. It is considered more like another subject we need to pass, unless you make the effort to sign up for a language class yourself and commit yourself to it. Other than that, it's just another school subject.
I taught myself Italian ten minutes a day for a year, and then the same with Spanish, and similarly aced the oral exam for both (not having spoken Spanish before, and only having spoken Italian a bit during a one-week stay in Rome). I didn't use his method at all. I abhor flashcards. I think pictures are for kids. I used the traditional grammar-translation method. I analyse the syntax of each language like a fascinating logical puzzle. I approach them the same way I approach programming languages. I now pass for native in those two languages, plus French. I speak another dozen or so to some extent. I'm a professionally accredited language teacher, translator, and interpreter. This bloke makes the mistake of assuming that what worked for him will work for others. What is very noticeable about successful language-learners is we they have barely anything in common but dedication. We each have a radical method that sounds like a "this one crazy trick" sort of scam, and it works perfectly for us, and not necessarily for others.
Watching sitcoms is a great tool to improve your language comprehension. But there are some genres where editors don't add audience laughter and applause ;-)
Except that there is nothing new in his methods. Full immersion and interaction with others in real situations has always been the easiest way to learn languages. Context and motivation are key.
@Alice Milne Just because it’s not new to you doesn’t mean it’s not eye opening for someone else. Language classes can be notorious for just using flash cards and textbooks to learn a language, to the point many students feel like languages are impossible and have little ambition to continue learning.
@alicemilne1444 So you’re criticizing him for bringing up a point that is completely true that some people might’ve never heard of before? Personally I don’t get it
i watched this video yesterday evening and i was surprised this morning. i was at the bus stop waiting for a bus and out of nowhere the word Moktor came to my mind, i wasnt even thinking about the video or anything and the word and the whole scenario came to mind out of the blue. am definitely going to give this method a try while am currently learning Korean
its actually going pretty good. am doing a korean course online with coursera and i try to use a storytelling method. so when i get new words i use them to tell different stories to myself and its actually bin helping me to remember the words. of course right now there are more english words in my stories than korean but as i learn more vocabulary and grammar i think i wud be able to form more korean sentences.
Hey! I'm learning Korean too. It's such an interesting language but I'm finding it much harder to learn than French or Spanish, obviously because it's a language isolate but also because it is such a grammatically focused language. Each sentence meaning is conveyed by different verb conjugations which seems to be endless and often subtlety different or interchangeable! My friend who learnt both English and Korean said to me once that with English they could often throw vocabulary together and convey their meaning but with Korean they had to know the specific verb conjugations. But I really really love Korean, it's such a beautiful language and the writing system is incredible. I'm lucky because I live here and I have an amazing language teacher Keep going, we got this!
Keep going. I'm learning Japanese too. It seems endless because of Kanji, but haven't so many foreigners already mastered it? Don't give up I got more encouraged, cuz I love achieving impossible goals (It's absolutely possible to learn Japanese)
Every language is endless. But that doesn't matter because we dont use it all anyway. No need to feel frustrated. Even in your mother tongue you may find yourself searching for words on google, dictionary or urban dictionary from time to time.
@@cloudybrains I know about a 1000 individual kanji (you need around 2000 to read newspapers) +their combinations, so believe me, I know. :D There are so many grammar rules tho and depending on which culture you grew up in, they might not make sense to you at all when you first see them haha My level is somewhere in B2 (I think it's inbetween N3-N2), we have learned grammar in class that you can't even find easily on the internet so if you learn on your own, it might seem like it's not that much.
I wish I could really thank this guy. This is such an amazing TED Talk - one of my favourites. His method has really blown me away, especially learning Japanese where sentence structures are like puzzles. I have suddenly memorised over a hundred new words in half the time it took for me to learn one sentence. I will never forget those words because I have memories, feelings, sights and connections with those words. And... I will never forget the word moktor, because it reminds me of this inspiring speech :)
I myself speak about 5 languages on intermediate or higher level, I highly agree with his thoughts about the benefits of total exposure, as I did a school exchange in France three years ago, without any real knowledge, but I learned Norwegian without ever speaking to a Norwegian, so it's well possible to learn a language without always having a such strong connection to it, as he illustrated with 'mortor'. But still very delighting talk, I am now done with school, but I hope the way languages are approached will change in the next years, there would be so much more potential!
@@alexshih3747 intentionally no. but so many phrases, words and grammar repeats naturally in what they hear, watch and read that they eventually memorize it.
This guy believes in teaching the exact same way my very first french teacher taught me and my class, from when we came in the door on the first day she told us; to learn a language you have to become fully immersed in it. And it worked. there are two french classes in my year, usually one, but so many kids wanted to keep doing french in this way. you can see the difference between students of one class and students of the other, if you think about it, what's the sense in learning one language in another?
Idk, I feel like I need to understand the grammar. Even in English, I think I would be able to speak so much better if I understood the grammar behind how I speak.
Every language is endless. So wonderful statement "Every word needs to connect to sounds and images and scents and tastes and emotions" It's a great formula to learn foreign languages.
Language is all about immersion... After learning 6 languages, I have met so many people who study a language but never dare to speak it. That to me is the biggest pity - to miss out on the capstone and benefits of language learning!
@@Adam-uz3hj Try to absorb entertainment in another language as much possible, watch dubbed movies and shows and try being around the language as much as possible, there’s really no trick to learning a new language, it just requires patience and practice but being around native speakers definitely helps
Honestly, that is the best tip about learning languages that I have ever heard: '' If you wanna learn an English efficiently, then you need to give that language life''. I'll try to use it. Thanks!
Came into the video with the mindset of "here's another opinionated dude who will share bunch of anecdotal information on language acquisition and will somehow try to prove he's onto something" I have to say I'm sold. Solid arguments all throughout and heck his storytelling+delivery was on point and it's what elevates this talk to another level. Planning a video comparing this and other TED talks on language learning. Come over and watch.
Great video! I've been teaching English for more than 35 years and I keep telling my students that oral production comes from feelings, words have no meaning if one doesn't feel them. Memorizing vocabulary just make us a robot. If there's no feeling there's no natural oral production. Unfortunately, language courses focus on grammar. People are trained to be afraid of making grammar mistakes. The worst is that students want to be sure that they are not making grammar mistakes. And most of them are afraid of expressing feelings. Feelings connect us to sound, meaning, experience, when to use a word, live language. Learning languages from what you like in your mother tongue can make one's learning process easier. But pleasure is not related to the learning process, to the ending of it, though. While learning one needs to be a good observer, persistent, and take risks. LOVE, LIVE, LEARN n LAUGH MAC
@@eduardoreis8443 How long have you been struggling to learn English structures? How often do you practice them in real situation? Have you ever thought about creating your PET, I mean, your Personal English Task? Mine is my TH-cam channel - English for Life. It's something I create to have fun and force me to practice real situations in English. I love lyrics and I search about the lyricist and give my viewpoint about the meaning in the lyric in a critical way through the visual communication. By doing so I'm not only practicing English but having fun and learning about the song, the singer and everything surrounding the environment that created it. Love helps you learn. By the way I live in S. Paulo. LOVE, LIVE, LEARN n LAUGH MAC
"Grammar needs to be something that can help you tell your story" It is just marvelous!!!! Thank you so much for sharing your experience Mr. Wyner!!!💕✨
This talk has greatly improved my language learning. One thing that I have begun to use is music. If I'm learning French, I will turn on music that reminds me of France, and the same for Japanese, or Spanish. So thank you, Gabriel!
He makes some really good points such as the power of stories and context, the idea of replicating the principles by which we all acquired our native languages, and the fact that traditional grammar classes take you nowhere. However, I'm a bit tired of listening to people say that they learnt "x" language in 7 weeks, or 3 months..., that's simply not possible, there's no shorcut to learning a language, it just takes more time than that. I've actually recorded how much it took me to learn some of the languages that I speak now and he'd need around 10 hours of exposure to German daily in order to be able to communicate in 7 weeks (getting 10 daily hours of comprehensible input when you're just starting out is highly unlikely, if that's the case I apologize) , but there are just not enough hours in a day to become FLUENT in a language in 7 weeks. I'm as passionate a person on languages as you're gonna find, I speak 7 of them as of now and I can tell you without the shadow of a doubt that nobody becomes fluent in a language in 7 weeks. I do agree though on the fact that learning languages is totally possible and it's actually fun!! But I appreciate honesty and I never tell my students things like that because I believe it's misleading, so that's why I'm a bit tired of people saying you can achieve "x" in a few days, or weeks or whatever (not just for languages). Great talk overall though!!
Just like running a mile in less than 4 minutes is “simply not possible”? Just like humans achieving flight is “simply not possible”? Just because pretty much nobody knows how to do it doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Some people are simply smarter than others. And some methods are far better than others. Put the smartest and most determined people with the best methods and what’s possible will truly blow your mind
❤Notice to diverse language lover : I'm a native Bengali speaker,you know what!Bangladeshi people sacrifices theirs life to save theirs beloved language on 21 feb 2020 and this is the reason why 21 feb is called international mother language day.I think a lot of story that we Bengalis have to share with outsiders and the same way all the outsiders have. I'm trying to learn English and to be more fluent like a native English speaker.I'm also a good known Hindi and Urdu language. If anybody who is interested to learn Bengali,Hindi or Urdu language and to teach me English language or other language. pls contact me over whatsapp +8801307320559.
it's not a word in swedish.. Could be the barkeeps local word for his weirld drink: mörktår.. His prenounciation of sweish is terrible Dark tear? Dekaying fish: fermented hearing..
The way that you explained how do you learned languages was amazing to me. You give life to sentence, words and even every small letters. Outstanding speech.👏
A really engrossing Ted talk from a very interesting guy. I bought the book Forever Fluent just over two weeks ago,read it, and have now started putting it into practice.I would highly recommend this book to anyone learning languages. One of my best purchases.
This guy is my inspirational. Thank you so much. I have been making slow progress with Korean the past year and forget vocabulary for abstract concepts all the time. My new teacher is amazing but I need new methods for my vocab learning. You have given me hope.
As someone who's learned Korean self-studying, I can give you some advice even though it's a year late :D 1. Definitely use visuals for words. Either by using flashcards or just write them on stick notes and stick them where you look frequently 2. Listen to songs in Korean. Read the lyrics. Sing along. Words and even grammar stick in your mind this way 3. Try to make simple sentences using those words Happy learning :)
Use an app called ‘Drops’. I learnt all my Korean vocabulary there. You will love it! (I just realised it’s been 2 years you posted this comment so I think you don’t need it anymore but here😂😅)
❤Notice to diverse language lover : I'm a native Bengali speaker,you know what!Bangladeshi people sacrifices theirs life to save theirs beloved language on 21 feb 2020 and this is the reason why 21 feb is called international mother language day.I think a lot of story that we Bengalis have to share with outsiders and the same way all the outsiders have. I'm trying to learn English and to be more fluent like a native English speaker.I'm also a good known Hindi and Urdu language. If anybody who is interested to learn Bengali,Hindi or Urdu language and to teach me English language or other language. pls contact me over whatsapp +8801307320559.
I’m happy to see all the Japanese learning comments as a Japanese-English bilingual. I have read this guy’s book and it totally struck me out!!! I am a teacher in Japan, teaching English, and using some of his methods into my teaching!!! Thank you for Mr. Gabriel Wyner for the wonderful book and wonderful speech. I will watch it over and over and use your methods for my language studies!!!
I’ve learned English for years ,but still can’t speak it will.Sometimes I thought maybe I don’t have the gift.But this video gives the courage to me that there’s nothing about gift.i can do the same.thank you
You can't speak cuzz you don't speak.... you have to speak even though you do some mistakes you have to make your brain become familiarize with the language.. Speak speak and speak as much as you can, this is the way.
Key words! - “It needs to connect to real life”. Undoubtedly, that’s how it naturally works, how we all have learned our first language. Regrettably, not everybody has realised it yet and still struggles with that ;( and also like the words about fear. We all need to be more fearless :D
Thanks to you, I've just decided that, from now on, I'm going to learn French, Italian and every new language I could possibly learn. And by the way, I'm not that confident when it comes to speaking english publicly, but this video has given me the will to try. Thanks.
"If you want to learn a language efficiently, then you need to give that language life." That's absolutelly true. That's why I use music to learn better and always learn something new.
This might be weird... but I cant be the only one who thinks you should be a book narrators. You are very good at using your voice to Express, stress and enhance a sentence to get a point across or add drama. Very entertaining video.
Ooooh! Thank you for this!! Thank you so much for this!! I am fluent in English and Tagalog, and after watching this TED talk I realized a lot of things. Currently studying French (in the app called Duolingo). I sometimes find it hard to remember the words but... I feel like the reason why it isnt that difficult is because I sometimes daydream when learning French. I dont translate it I... remember the images, the things I daydream about. Like for example "Ou est la gare, s'il vous plaît?" While typing that, I wasnt thinking of the English or the Tagalog translation of it, I was remembering the time where I daydreamed about me, wandering around French then asking someone, "Ou est la gare, s'il vous plaît?" Even if it didnt happen, there was an image, and it stuck with me. The sentence stuck with me. It like, connected. While watching the video, I was trying to remember the English of "Where is the train station, please?" When I remembered the image in my head, the sentence greeted me like "yo, lookin for me?" Its magic. Its so cool. Even if you arent in France, even if you dont have a friend or relative who speaks in French, it is possible to learn it, and possible be fluent in it. And I find it very cool. Again, thanks for this TED talk. Merci beaucoup!
This is one of the most enlightening talks I've ever seen on this subject. As a "wanna be" polyglot, I'm always searching for new methodologies and inspiration.
This is really strange that I found your comment. I've been in a relationship with a dual native speaking lady for about 6 months now (eEnglish and Portuguese) and while she was the inital motivation to start with, I don't think I've ever asked her to sit down with me and just practise even though she always reminds me that we can have days of just pure Portuguese and nothing else. Consider myself really fortunate in the sense that I'm surrounded by all her family and friends which is more or less a 75% submersion in with both European and Brazilian Portuguese - but I've learned MOSTLY everything I know now through my own methodologies. I havent't actually created a universal platform but watched the likes of Stephen Kraushner (can't remember his name, sorta of ironic) and Steve Kraussman and various others. From what I have found best so far is to learn already passionate topics and agendas such as sport, tech, politics, nature, space, ANYTHING in which you already are involved with. If I spent a month in Portugal now and spoke English 0% of the time I would be confident enough to say I would be pretty concrete in my daily conversations (500+ words for intermediate) I've even changed my devices and consoles including laptop to be Portuguese. It's actually really scare when you start to develop a wider understanding of concepts and grammar and tenses in conversations because at that pinnacle point of realisation, that you're not actually hearing your mother tongue and another language gives you the most exhilarating moment. Concept, repetition, MAKE MISTAKES!!! Grammar is NOT as important as you may think, Grammar can be corrected after you form the sentence as depending on word placement, could either be past or future or present, but natives will correct you, and you wan't need correcting much! I tend to create jokes out of the words I already know, PURPOSELY putting the incorrect word in a sentence to see how funny it can be and then repeat that joke, in Portuguese to myself to hear the pronunciation and to correct it (which only comes when using the language, and in time) this way I'm engaging self-confidence and laughing at it :) desejo voce o melhor en tu e aprender meu amigo :)
Learning Chinese was difficult. After 3 months, i was amazed suddenly that i could recognize the pinyin word as it was spoken on the cassette. Three months later, a new shock : i could recognize a written chinese character as it was spoken. Later, another shock as i could remember what they were saying on these cassettes without looking at the book. I decided to try something new: the gospel of mark read in Chinese, 1 hour total. The first time i listen, i recognize Iesus here and there. Next time, i listen and try to follow the French translation. I could follow approximately by scaling the 1 hour time by the number of pages. The cassette is about at 25%, then it should be page 6... i watch for a name like pide or iesus... found it. Repeat a few times and i now remember that entire 1 hour reading like a long music. Here, he will get angry, here he will repeat the same word, etc After 1 month, i could tell which paragraph in the French translation he is reading in Chinese. Until today, there is at least 50% of the Chinese words that i am not sure which one it is, but i can say what the phrase translate to. Hard work, such a different language compared to all european languages which borrow so heavily from each other.
if your goal is speaking well, pick a Chinese lesson with CD which speak Chinese only. no English explanation to disrupt. Listen the lesson once a day when you have other task to do which don't require much attention. After a few weeks, when listening 10 to 20 times, the sound will come back like any popular music that you recognize. This will be your life long reference, the foundation on which the entire building has to stand. it will alliow you to recognize the correct accent and, if you imitate the sound closely enough, people will compliment you for lack of accent. Assuming the lesson is well design with native speakers who have "no accent", which mean the accent of Beijing.
@@charlotteantibroscience8773 There is only one official Chinese language : Beijing hua, Mandarin. Similarly there is only one official French : Parisian. For English, I think Ozzyman on youtube is the standard.
His speech tells the way of how we learnt our native language but didn’t realize it because it was just natural. It’s a great reminder of how we can acquire the culture and the words.
I adored this talk! I have always been so very fascinated with the thought of learning different languages and find the art of communication so wonderful, but I only speak English. I have been trying to learn Spanish, but I have struggled. This has given me a newfound motivation to really immerse myself in the language.
How about your Spanish now? I am thinking of studying it since it's my girlfriend's specialisation and one of my best friend's mother tongue, hence I'd be quite exposed to this language....and last but not least, I am Italian and this might give me an advantage since it's quite similar to Spanish
@@pieroadamo1202 Yeah yeah it will certainly help you knowing Italian. Italian is on my bucket list as well. I have started out listening to many podcasts in Italian so that I get used to the language. But I haven't spoken yet. I understand quite a bit though. We are lucky that there are so many ressources out there these days. My Spanish is quite broken :)
True. You have to live the language. You can use every resource available, but the most important thing is that you learn the language in a way that has meaning for you. You have to connect the language to emotions and experiences. Language is for communicating with others and you have to use it to do just that.
Living with the people experiencing their culture personally will not just teach us the language that is being spoken but we will also learned the language not spoken.. it’s the body language … gestures and
This is a great talk. I speak Japanese as an intermediate. The words I will never ever forget are actually from experiences in Japan. Of course, I'm still learning and having just been in the hospital I have learned words for bleeding and examination that are not the casual/laymen words I already knew. My son, OTOH, has been growing up in Japan. He sort of surpassed me by 2nd grade. *But* he had about 10K hours of exposure in daycare and grandma's house before he even started school.
When I learn a language it’s between work and at home. I work with Spanish, French, and Portuguese speakers. Duolingo has helped me become more fluent in Spanish, and German. I notice first hand when I hear root words from other languages I immediately envision images of those words in my mind.
@Laura S Ohhh, igy, I'd say after 10 months I still feel the advice is life changing though. Just because it makes you approach the daunting task of learning a language with a different perspective. It's not so much about memorising batches of vocabulary like a machine, but more about going out there and using it to *express* yourself (at least that's what I took from it). I realised that understanding the culture around the language you're learning is soooo much more important than the language itself because you start to understand what phrases are most common, what fillers are frequently used and what subjects native speakers tend to gravitate towards in conversation. Obviously, ou can talk about almost anything in any language, but knowing these things makes *using* the learned language more natural. Again, I thought the talk was life-changing because of how *I* received the information. It helped me see things in a different way. But that won't be the same for everyone🤷🏽♀️
I have been learning English since school and used to translate English words from English into Russian instead of think of the thing. Astonishingly, recently I realized it doesn't work well so I changed my way and now I can say it definitely works much better. To learn a language faster you need not only to speak the language, but to think in the language. Speaking about children, it is really an illusion they learn faster than us - adults. They have much more time and it takes them years to learn a language and even after that there are still a wide range of words they don't know. Apparently, learning a language is a lifelong process.
there's such a beautiful quote "if you want to learn a language efficiently, then you need to give that language life." and i can't agree more with that. there're so many examples from my students who think that they're not good enough or they're too old or this or that, but they haven't even tried to immerse into language. oh man, i wish i could just show them this ted talk instead of explaining everything.
@@commoncola I'm currently learning Swedish and Italian (my third and fourth language) at the same time and this video always motivates me when I get frustrated 😊
Thank you for this. Although the reasoning may be different and the level of immersion, I can resonate with this as you put it sort masochistic way of learning a new language complete immersion is amazing. It is sort of intoxicating in a way even if you can't respond to what has been heard or can only make out bits and pieces of the conversation. I think I am very slowly starting to really enjoy learning to think in a completely different way and the feeling a different language seems to have on my brain. Long story short, I'm a US Soldier that 6 months ago got stationed in Korea. The first time I went off post, seeing Hangul everywhere bothered me because I could not read it. This pushed me to learn to read Hangul but I quickly learned reading is not the same as translating or understanding. Then when learning a few words the grammar started to fascinate me becuase of how different it is to my native language. This lead to me watching tons of videos, reading books, and writing loads of notes on the Korean language during the majority of my free time. On the weekends I like to situate myself in places where there is very little English and attempt to communicate with the native speakers of this country or just listen to see what I manage to understand. Although before arriving I did not have much of an intention on learning Korean, in the six months I have been here I have learned how to read everything in Hangul (although not quite as fast as some scrolling displays move but almost), at least 400 Korean words, and a lot about particles, and grammar. I also have spent a ton of time visiting museums and learning about the culture as a whole. Not sure how far I will get during the remainder of my time here but I really hope that it continues to capture my interest after I leave and maybe I can find friends back home to help learn more.
Jolene님, 정말 훌륭하십니다. 저는 호주[Australia]에서 영어를 배운 후, 학교/학원에서 영어를 가르치다가, 지금은 영어도서관을 운영하며 한국사람들에게 영어를 가르치는 사람입니다. Jolene님이 이렇게 열심히 한글을 배우는 모습이 존경스럽고 자랑스럽습니다. 고향으로 돌아가실 때는 Jolene님 자신에게 안겨주는 최고의 선물은 한글이 될겁니다. Good for you, Jolene. As a linguist, I respect you, and am proud of you. Jolene, you are the linguist, I dream!
❤Notice to diverse language lover : I'm a native Bengali speaker,you know what!Bangladeshi people sacrifices theirs life to save theirs beloved language on 21 feb 2020 and this is the reason why 21 feb is called international mother language day.I think a lot of story that we Bengalis have to share with outsiders and the same way all the outsiders have. I'm trying to learn English and to be more fluent like a native English speaker.I'm also a good known Hindi and Urdu language. If anybody who is interested to learn Bengali,Hindi or Urdu language and to teach me English language or other language. pls contact me over whatsapp +8801307320559.
I hope you are keeping learning Korean still! I am learning English and I am attracted to the way to express of English. As interest in English grows, It seems to be getting closer to English. I hope you can find the beauty of my language Korean and enjoy it much!
Give language life,it's the critical spirit of leaning a new language,though I already know it ,I haven't draw it yet,thanks to your speech I am more aware of it right now.
Thank you very much! Best way to learn any language."If you want to learn a language efficiently, then you need to that language life".I don't want forget that.😊
Wow what an amazing TED talk, people sometimes say how you need to live or visit some place to learn its language, yet don't really have a good explanation to it, this guy actually gave thought and found the main thing to learn a language, living it, experiencing it.
"If you want to learn a language efficiently, then you need to give that language life."
I won't ever forget that sentence. I totally agree.
How do you give it life?
We can't connect all words we learn to scents, tastes and emotions. It's impossible.
For me it's not the problem to learn a new word but to call it from my head when I need it in real conversation. And when I can't call it and conversation halt and someone tell this word for me I know immediately what it means and that this is exactly the word I was looking for.
The only way to start speaking other language is practice because this way we get experience in pulling words from our heads.
I hope that I explained it clearly because english is not my mother language :-).
@@marcingruszka4414
I think the main point was to not memorise translations, but to internalise what a word means, which in the example given turned out to be the association of the according sensory perceptions.
Thanks for the inspirational quote! 😀
@@nunenuh "Moktor" is still more memorable to me :P
Tough audience
edogaktop I think they just didn't mic the audience.
No they did because you can hear them laugh a lot at one point.
IKR
I thoguht the same, while he was making the moktor acting, that was funny but the audience didnt laugh
He's not funny
That's quite fair point. I've once realized that you must _understand_ the word, not _translate_ it. And from then I use flashcards (electronic only) with pictures, and with context (phrase, where I first met the word). And it's way more efficient for me. Never translate words to another language to remember them. Use images and other senses instead.
Well, you'll have to do some kinda 'translation' upfront.
@Lolu Oresegun, no, negative. Say, I know a bunch of languages. And I'm trying to memorize some new word. To which language I have to translate it? There is no right answer. All you need to begin to use the word, is the sensation in your mind, that corresponds to hearing this word (or a phenomena associated) in one of your known languages.
Moreover, you can use a word in particular language, if you know (feel) its meaning, but you never know the word in any other languages you know. When you think in that target language, there is no need to translate words to any other language. So, you know the word, you can use it, you understand its meaning, but you cannot translate it. I hope this example makes it clear, that knowing a word doesn't imply any translation.
I just came up with an even better explanation. :-) You can know a word in any single language. It means that you know it and you can use it in this very language. On the other hand, the fact that you can do some translation means that you know the word in at least two languages.
It's clear and simple. :-) Both scenarios are legal and make perfect sense.
Translation is actually perfectly fine. People with a certain mindset get confused by translation, but not everyone. I don't need a picture of a _chien_ to stop me mistakenly thinking it is a surefire, 100% drop-in equivalent of "dog".
Well, I don't always translate French to English. I may translate Chinese to Spanish, or Italian to German. It exercises the brain more. You are wrong in thinking that translating impedes me in thinking in any particular language. I am a professional translator, and I no doubt think more deftly than you in French, Catalan and the rest.
“Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.” - Flora Lewis
As a Spanish teacher with German and English proficiency, I totally agree with this.
I completely agree too, but sometimes I don’t know how to give life some grammar or sentences😮
This could at least partially confirm Sapir-Whorf
Flora Lewis outlines it very well
nice sentence.
XCcddxddbded😢 5:50 5:51 5:51 hei 😊gfg😮😊
T
As a bilingual person I can conform that when I speak Spanish I dont think of the English translation i think of the thing
Mismo
Yo también
Aussie boi it’s hard to think of the thing when for me only like nouns give me an image in my head. If that makes sense. I’m learning Spanish and it’s starting to flow more normal now but like I still usually tend to think of the English equivalent to “check myself” and almost translate it in my head.
El same-o
same, but with french
Very good TED talk. The best thing is the story about the interview in French. That says something about the school system of teaching languages - it's actually totally inefficient...
It's not inefficient (ask French speakers in France, for example). It's just that the goals of high school/secondary school learning are different.
Different? If one learns a language there is only one goal - be able to use that language. What other goals can they have? Pass the exam?
Yeah, unfortunately it's mostly about exams. It is considered more like another subject we need to pass, unless you make the effort to sign up for a language class yourself and commit yourself to it. Other than that, it's just another school subject.
Karel Kohout you just realized that...
I taught myself Italian ten minutes a day for a year, and then the same with Spanish, and similarly aced the oral exam for both (not having spoken Spanish before, and only having spoken Italian a bit during a one-week stay in Rome). I didn't use his method at all. I abhor flashcards. I think pictures are for kids. I used the traditional grammar-translation method. I analyse the syntax of each language like a fascinating logical puzzle. I approach them the same way I approach programming languages. I now pass for native in those two languages, plus French. I speak another dozen or so to some extent. I'm a professionally accredited language teacher, translator, and interpreter.
This bloke makes the mistake of assuming that what worked for him will work for others. What is very noticeable about successful language-learners is we they have barely anything in common but dedication. We each have a radical method that sounds like a "this one crazy trick" sort of scam, and it works perfectly for us, and not necessarily for others.
To be fair, moktor is way shorter than falehskkwjow
Well gotta practice
Watch out your language! The Great Khan Attila is watching ya!
thought the same xD
TheSassi42 True, plus he repeated Moktot like 20 times
TheSassi42
Fényképezőgép. 🤣😂 ( light-picture-machine)
Why did no one laugh at his jokes :/
Sarah Matthews 😂
Maybe the audience’s volume was lowered in the editing so you could still hear him(?)
Watching sitcoms is a great tool to improve your language comprehension. But there are some genres where editors don't add audience laughter and applause ;-)
He's telling jokes?
It is hard to listen to polyglots when they babble on and say nothing.
Probably one of the best Ted talks I've ever seen. It didn't even feel like 16 and a half minutes, it felt like 5. Truly enjoyable and inspiring
Except that there is nothing new in his methods. Full immersion and interaction with others in real situations has always been the easiest way to learn languages. Context and motivation are key.
@Alice Milne Just because it’s not new to you doesn’t mean it’s not eye opening for someone else. Language classes can be notorious for just using flash cards and textbooks to learn a language, to the point many students feel like languages are impossible and have little ambition to continue learning.
@@endm_ Poor teaching, then, especially with all the options available today via the internet.
THAT WAS 16 MINUTES??? FELT LIKE 3
@alicemilne1444 So you’re criticizing him for bringing up a point that is completely true that some people might’ve never heard of before? Personally I don’t get it
Children are so good at learning languages that they make up their own language
i watched this video yesterday evening and i was surprised this morning. i was at the bus stop waiting for a bus and out of nowhere the word Moktor came to my mind, i wasnt even thinking about the video or anything and the word and the whole scenario came to mind out of the blue. am definitely going to give this method a try while am currently learning Korean
How is it goin??
its actually going pretty good. am doing a korean course online with coursera and i try to use a storytelling method. so when i get new words i use them to tell different stories to myself and its actually bin helping me to remember the words. of course right now there are more english words in my stories than korean but as i learn more vocabulary and grammar i think i wud be able to form more korean sentences.
I highly recommend the TH-cam channel "Motivate Korean"
Hey! I'm learning Korean too. It's such an interesting language but I'm finding it much harder to learn than French or Spanish, obviously because it's a language isolate but also because it is such a grammatically focused language. Each sentence meaning is conveyed by different verb conjugations which seems to be endless and often subtlety different or interchangeable! My friend who learnt both English and Korean said to me once that with English they could often throw vocabulary together and convey their meaning but with Korean they had to know the specific verb conjugations. But I really really love Korean, it's such a beautiful language and the writing system is incredible. I'm lucky because I live here and I have an amazing language teacher Keep going, we got this!
thanks. i listen to him as well kpopgrrl
I came to Ted for advice on learning Japanese, and he literally says, it's endless...
Right.In.The.Feels.
Keep going. I'm learning Japanese too. It seems endless because of Kanji, but haven't so many foreigners already mastered it?
Don't give up
I got more encouraged, cuz I love achieving impossible goals (It's absolutely possible to learn Japanese)
Bahaari TV do you have any study tips or resources??? 😫
Every language is endless. But that doesn't matter because we dont use it all anyway. No need to feel frustrated. Even in your mother tongue you may find yourself searching for words on google, dictionary or urban dictionary from time to time.
Of course it's endless. Every language is endless. But that doesn't mean you won't reach the fluent level. You are unique in your own way.
you dont need to master the whole japanese characters to fully use it correctly even japanese nationals cant master japanese 100% in their whole life.
He's spoken good speach.
I go to USA tomorrow to study International relationship and languages. He taught me good things to learn them.
Good luck, I hope it is all going well for you! I lived in Japan for a year, but I regret not learning enough Japanese :(
sounds fun
旅はどうだった？
I know it's been a year, but I hope you're doing well!
fallinlove language relations or relationship?
"And i became addicted to the feeling of thinking in a completely new way" that was exactly me and my spanish journey.
Necesito lo mismo pero en Inglés :'/
"...because Japanese is endless." God that's accurate. I'm a year into studying Japanese and I have soooo much ahead of me.
6 years and just OMG I know nothing
@@tublike It's all fine and good until you hit the Kanji. It all goes downhill from there...
@@cloudybrains kanji is easy, grammar tho..
@@tublike There are several thousand kanji characters to learn though, and only a handful of grammar rules.
@@cloudybrains I know about a 1000 individual kanji (you need around 2000 to read newspapers) +their combinations, so believe me, I know. :D There are so many grammar rules tho and depending on which culture you grew up in, they might not make sense to you at all when you first see them haha My level is somewhere in B2 (I think it's inbetween N3-N2), we have learned grammar in class that you can't even find easily on the internet so if you learn on your own, it might seem like it's not that much.
I wish I could really thank this guy. This is such an amazing TED Talk - one of my favourites. His method has really blown me away, especially learning Japanese where sentence structures are like puzzles. I have suddenly memorised over a hundred new words in half the time it took for me to learn one sentence. I will never forget those words because I have memories, feelings, sights and connections with those words. And... I will never forget the word moktor, because it reminds me of this inspiring speech :)
Write him a short note on LinkedIn if you really want to give him positive feedback :)
But what is his method? What am I actually supposed to do? Use flash cards? An app? A tutor? Read a book? Which?
I am a polyglot myself and agree on every single word he said in this talk.
Please share your tips on learning languages
I myself speak about 5 languages on intermediate or higher level, I highly agree with his thoughts about the benefits of total exposure, as I did a school exchange in France three years ago, without any real knowledge, but I learned Norwegian without ever speaking to a Norwegian, so it's well possible to learn a language without always having a such strong connection to it, as he illustrated with 'mortor'. But still very delighting talk, I am now done with school, but I hope the way languages are approached will change in the next years, there would be so much more potential!
Antispiritanimal im learning Norwegian currently!
Are you sure that's not "polygloat" ?
'Agree WITH' every word...
"If you want to learn a foreign language you have to give that language life."
TL; DW: We learn language through context, not memorization.
@@lorax121323 Then how do babies learn their first language? They don't memorize anything.
@@alexshih3747 intentionally no. but so many phrases, words and grammar repeats naturally in what they hear, watch and read that they eventually memorize it.
@@babygorl9541 got em! Yes, not deliberate memorization. Repeated learning, repeated exposure for the basics, and associations.
Then you just missed out on how fun this presentation is.
@@alexshih3747 babies don't learn their first language they aquire it, its a natural process
Tough audience... Great speaker. Superb message
This guy believes in teaching the exact same way my very first french teacher taught me and my class, from when we came in the door on the first day she told us; to learn a language you have to become fully immersed in it. And it worked. there are two french classes in my year, usually one, but so many kids wanted to keep doing french in this way. you can see the difference between students of one class and students of the other, if you think about it, what's the sense in learning one language in another?
Outdated educational systems is all I can say...
Idk, I feel like I need to understand the grammar. Even in English, I think I would be able to speak so much better if I understood the grammar behind how I speak.
The way I’ve understood what he’s said in german without having heard a single word in german before. Unbelievable. Magic.
I could listen this guy speaks for hours, such passion, give this man a Ted 1 hour session please.
Every language is endless. So wonderful statement "Every word needs to connect to sounds and images and scents and tastes and emotions" It's a great formula to learn foreign languages.
"Never get between a man and his moktor"
Ancient Swedish saying.
If only 'Moktor' was Swedish...
Yeah... moktor isn't swedish though.
PanzerKami what is the meaning of that saying?
@@Shrejo33 it's a joke.
Dead Fish Wine?
Man, this guy is such a good storyteller! I still don't know what Moktor means though, what is it?
You’ll never know.
An alcoholic beverage
I am scandinavian and I have never heard of motor either, must be a swedish og danish thing then
I looked it up and it said motor in Swedish but what does that have to do with his drink? 🤷🏽♀️🍺
He says something similar in his book, I think it’s just a nonsense word he made up to illustrate a point
This TED talk is actually one of the most informative one that I've ever seen. Thumbs up!
Language is all about immersion... After learning 6 languages, I have met so many people who study a language but never dare to speak it. That to me is the biggest pity - to miss out on the capstone and benefits of language learning!
It's a long time after you wrote this so not expecting a response. But how do you find people to speak the languages with?
@@Adam-uz3hj Try to absorb entertainment in another language as much possible, watch dubbed movies and shows and try being around the language as much as possible, there’s really no trick to learning a new language, it just requires patience and practice but being around native speakers definitely helps
@@Adam-uz3hj try italki
Gosh this guy is such a great storyteller. He kept every second of it interesting
Honestly, that is the best tip about learning languages that I have ever heard: '' If you wanna learn an English efficiently, then you need to give that language life''. I'll try to use it. Thanks!
Yes. So simple yet overlooked
Came into the video with the mindset of "here's another opinionated dude who will share bunch of anecdotal information on language acquisition and will somehow try to prove he's onto something"
I have to say I'm sold. Solid arguments all throughout and heck his storytelling+delivery was on point and it's what elevates this talk to another level.
Planning a video comparing this and other TED talks on language learning. Come over and watch.
Great video! I've been teaching English for more than 35 years and I keep telling my students that oral production comes from feelings, words have no meaning if one doesn't feel them. Memorizing vocabulary just make us a robot. If there's no feeling there's no natural oral production. Unfortunately, language courses focus on grammar. People are trained to be afraid of making grammar mistakes. The worst is that students want to be sure that they are not making grammar mistakes. And most of them are afraid of expressing feelings. Feelings connect us to sound, meaning, experience, when to use a word, live language. Learning languages from what you like in your mother tongue can make one's learning process easier. But pleasure is not related to the learning process, to the ending of it, though. While learning one needs to be a good observer, persistent, and take risks. LOVE, LIVE, LEARN n LAUGH MAC
Thank you for doing what you do! Your students sound lucky to have you
Well, I can see that you're a very good teacher :) I'm struggling to learn English
@@eduardoreis8443 dear Edu, where do you live? What city? What native language is it yours? Maybe I can give you a helping hand.
@@marcoaureliocavalcante I'm from Brazil
@@eduardoreis8443 How long have you been struggling to learn English structures? How often do you practice them in real situation? Have you ever thought about creating your PET, I mean, your Personal English Task? Mine is my TH-cam channel - English for Life. It's something I create to have fun and force me to practice real situations in English. I love lyrics and I search about the lyricist and give my viewpoint about the meaning in the lyric in a critical way through the visual communication. By doing so I'm not only practicing English but having fun and learning about the song, the singer and everything surrounding the environment that created it. Love helps you learn. By the way I live in S. Paulo. LOVE, LIVE, LEARN n LAUGH MAC
"Grammar needs to be something that can help you tell your story"
It is just marvelous!!!!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience Mr. Wyner!!!💕✨
if anyone is interested, he has a book, 'Fluent Forever', which I really enjoyed
Thats one cute profile pic you have kept👍🏼
This talk has greatly improved my language learning. One thing that I have begun to use is music. If I'm learning French, I will turn on music that reminds me of France, and the same for Japanese, or Spanish. So thank you, Gabriel!
Hello sister I'm interested for English learning please sister
He makes some really good points such as the power of stories and context, the idea of replicating the principles by which we all acquired our native languages, and the fact that traditional grammar classes take you nowhere. However, I'm a bit tired of listening to people say that they learnt "x" language in 7 weeks, or 3 months..., that's simply not possible, there's no shorcut to learning a language, it just takes more time than that. I've actually recorded how much it took me to learn some of the languages that I speak now and he'd need around 10 hours of exposure to German daily in order to be able to communicate in 7 weeks (getting 10 daily hours of comprehensible input when you're just starting out is highly unlikely, if that's the case I apologize) , but there are just not enough hours in a day to become FLUENT in a language in 7 weeks. I'm as passionate a person on languages as you're gonna find, I speak 7 of them as of now and I can tell you without the shadow of a doubt that nobody becomes fluent in a language in 7 weeks. I do agree though on the fact that learning languages is totally possible and it's actually fun!! But I appreciate honesty and I never tell my students things like that because I believe it's misleading, so that's why I'm a bit tired of people saying you can achieve "x" in a few days, or weeks or whatever (not just for languages). Great talk overall though!!
As a Brasilian I entirely agree!!!Learn language is a process …so it’s slow and gradative
Just like running a mile in less than 4 minutes is “simply not possible”? Just like humans achieving flight is “simply not possible”?
Just because pretty much nobody knows how to do it doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Some people are simply smarter than others. And some methods are far better than others. Put the smartest and most determined people with the best methods and what’s possible will truly blow your mind
Polyglots amaze me so much. I realize I need to step up my game when it comes to learning Norwegian, but I am motivated.
Du er flink :)
"Each and every words needs to be connected with some memories" thats how the words themselves introduce within you. 💯❤️
The best TED-talk about learning languages I've ever watched!
It actually works! It worked for me with English. You have to live the language.
Well said, fully live it
Been following fluent-forever for years now. Never disappointed me
❤Notice to diverse language lover : I'm a native Bengali speaker,you know what!Bangladeshi people sacrifices theirs life to save theirs beloved language on 21 feb 2020 and this is the reason why 21 feb is called international mother language day.I think a lot of story that we Bengalis have to share with outsiders and the same way all the outsiders have. I'm trying to learn English and to be more fluent like a native English speaker.I'm also a good known Hindi and Urdu language. If anybody who is interested to learn Bengali,Hindi or Urdu language and to teach me English language or other language. pls contact me over whatsapp +8801307320559.
moktor!
I am Norwegian and understand Swedish and Danish and I have never heard that word. Doesn't even sound Scandinavian.
MOKTOR
it's not a word in swedish.. Could be the barkeeps local word for his weirld drink: mörktår.. His prenounciation of sweish is terrible Dark tear? Dekaying fish: fermented hearing..
Fényképezőgép!
*Jószef* bless you?
"If you want to learn a language efficiently, then you need to give that language life."
That was so poetically but so useful at the same time.
The way that you explained how do you learned languages was amazing to me. You give life to sentence, words and even every small letters. Outstanding speech.👏
A really engrossing Ted talk from a very interesting guy. I bought the book Forever Fluent just over two weeks ago,read it, and have now started putting it into practice.I would highly recommend this book to anyone learning languages. One of my best purchases.
There's a lot of books out there about how to learn languages. But Fluent Forever is the only one I've found that is actually helpful.
You Sound like a spam bot. Good try.👎
This has to be one the 5 best ted talks I've seen, really motivates me to learn a new language and describes how to do it in a good way
A year and half later I am running into this video again. I see I have liked it. And to this day, I still remember the word "moktor."
First time watching a full Ted talk and man it's awesome
Wow I need to be like him!
Never stops learning
This guy is my inspirational. Thank you so much. I have been making slow progress with Korean the past year and forget vocabulary for abstract concepts all the time. My new teacher is amazing but I need new methods for my vocab learning. You have given me hope.
As someone who's learned Korean self-studying, I can give you some advice even though it's a year late :D
1. Definitely use visuals for words. Either by using flashcards or just write them on stick notes and stick them where you look frequently
2. Listen to songs in Korean. Read the lyrics. Sing along. Words and even grammar stick in your mind this way
3. Try to make simple sentences using those words
Happy learning :)
Use an app called ‘Drops’. I learnt all my Korean vocabulary there. You will love it! (I just realised it’s been 2 years you posted this comment so I think you don’t need it anymore but here😂😅)
"If you want to learn a language efficiently, then you need to give that language life", WOW!
❤Notice to diverse language lover : I'm a native Bengali speaker,you know what!Bangladeshi people sacrifices theirs life to save theirs beloved language on 21 feb 2020 and this is the reason why 21 feb is called international mother language day.I think a lot of story that we Bengalis have to share with outsiders and the same way all the outsiders have. I'm trying to learn English and to be more fluent like a native English speaker.I'm also a good known Hindi and Urdu language. If anybody who is interested to learn Bengali,Hindi or Urdu language and to teach me English language or other language. pls contact me over whatsapp +8801307320559.
I’m happy to see all the Japanese learning comments as a Japanese-English bilingual. I have read this guy’s book and it totally struck me out!!! I am a teacher in Japan, teaching English, and using some of his methods into my teaching!!!
Thank you for Mr. Gabriel Wyner for the wonderful book and wonderful speech. I will watch it over and over and use your methods for my language studies!!!
Loved listening to you. I know Hungarian, French, Hebrew, and English. You inspired me to go on. Thank you.
I enjoyed the story he told because of the attractive acting he gave. He is such a talented speaker!
This is incredibly inspirational and honestly makes me wanna restart my French-learning immediately
Alors, vous avez progressé ?
I’ve learned English for years ,but still can’t speak it will.Sometimes I thought maybe I don’t have the gift.But this video gives the courage to me that there’s nothing about gift.i can do the same.thank you
You can't speak cuzz you don't speak.... you have to speak even though you do some mistakes you have to make your brain become familiarize with the language..
Speak speak and speak as much as you can, this is the way.
The speaker is a genius.
Anyone else have the urge to watch this multiple times? His delivery of the talk is enticing, I really wanna learn multiple languages now.
Assign meaning, images, feelings, experiences to words; that’s how you give life to language.
And when you do that, it becomes intuitive.
I have watched a lot of content of TH-cam on language learning and this is by far the best video on the platform!!
Thank you for your talk. I’m currently learning English, Spanish and Mandarin. It inspires me a lot on the way to be fluent at those languges
Key words! - “It needs to connect to real life”. Undoubtedly, that’s how it naturally works, how we all have learned our first language. Regrettably, not everybody has realised it yet and still struggles with that ;( and also like the words about fear. We all need to be more fearless :D
Amazing! This is the point I've been thinking about for a long time, and now it finally makes sense.
After watching this video I ended up realising that vocabulary plays a significant role in English communication.
Fantastic talk!
I love how he bowed at the end...because he's an opera singer :)
Thanks to you, I've just decided that, from now on, I'm going to learn French, Italian and every new language I could possibly learn. And by the way, I'm not that confident when it comes to speaking english publicly, but this video has given me the will to try. Thanks.
How many languages have you learnt
I am actually learning English in the hope to become fluent. This man is so great and give to me a new motivation, thanks !
From a French guy.
Your English is amazing!
"If you want to learn a language efficiently, then you need to give that language life."
That's absolutelly true. That's why I use music to learn better and always learn something new.
This might be weird... but I cant be the only one who thinks you should be a book narrators. You are very good at using your voice to Express, stress and enhance a sentence to get a point across or add drama. Very entertaining video.
I just got so emotional at 14:20 omg I'm in tears right now I'm so happy that happened to you😭
Ooooh! Thank you for this!! Thank you so much for this!! I am fluent in English and Tagalog, and after watching this TED talk I realized a lot of things. Currently studying French (in the app called Duolingo). I sometimes find it hard to remember the words but... I feel like the reason why it isnt that difficult is because I sometimes daydream when learning French. I dont translate it I... remember the images, the things I daydream about. Like for example "Ou est la gare, s'il vous plaît?" While typing that, I wasnt thinking of the English or the Tagalog translation of it, I was remembering the time where I daydreamed about me, wandering around French then asking someone, "Ou est la gare, s'il vous plaît?" Even if it didnt happen, there was an image, and it stuck with me. The sentence stuck with me. It like, connected.
While watching the video, I was trying to remember the English of "Where is the train station, please?" When I remembered the image in my head, the sentence greeted me like "yo, lookin for me?"
Its magic. Its so cool. Even if you arent in France, even if you dont have a friend or relative who speaks in French, it is possible to learn it, and possible be fluent in it. And I find it very cool.
Again, thanks for this TED talk. Merci beaucoup!
This is one of the most enlightening talks I've ever seen on this subject. As a "wanna be" polyglot, I'm always searching for new methodologies and inspiration.
This is really strange that I found your comment. I've been in a relationship with a dual native speaking lady for about 6 months now (eEnglish and Portuguese) and while she was the inital motivation to start with, I don't think I've ever asked her to sit down with me and just practise even though she always reminds me that we can have days of just pure Portuguese and nothing else. Consider myself really fortunate in the sense that I'm surrounded by all her family and friends which is more or less a 75% submersion in with both European and Brazilian Portuguese - but I've learned MOSTLY everything I know now through my own methodologies. I havent't actually created a universal platform but watched the likes of Stephen Kraushner (can't remember his name, sorta of ironic) and Steve Kraussman and various others. From what I have found best so far is to learn already passionate topics and agendas such as sport, tech, politics, nature, space, ANYTHING in which you already are involved with. If I spent a month in Portugal now and spoke English 0% of the time I would be confident enough to say I would be pretty concrete in my daily conversations (500+ words for intermediate) I've even changed my devices and consoles including laptop to be Portuguese. It's actually really scare when you start to develop a wider understanding of concepts and grammar and tenses in conversations because at that pinnacle point of realisation, that you're not actually hearing your mother tongue and another language gives you the most exhilarating moment. Concept, repetition, MAKE MISTAKES!!! Grammar is NOT as important as you may think, Grammar can be corrected after you form the sentence as depending on word placement, could either be past or future or present, but natives will correct you, and you wan't need correcting much! I tend to create jokes out of the words I already know, PURPOSELY putting the incorrect word in a sentence to see how funny it can be and then repeat that joke, in Portuguese to myself to hear the pronunciation and to correct it (which only comes when using the language, and in time) this way I'm engaging self-confidence and laughing at it :)
desejo voce o melhor en tu e aprender meu amigo :)
He is the great narrator.
Finally, Gabe gets a Ted talk! Nice.
I know 7 languages and i agree with everything he says
nert momly Woah! Are you fluent in all 7?
what languages??? I’m okay in Japanese...I started like three or four months ago
Which languages?
I know 8 languages and i agree with everything he says
I speak 4 fluently and 3 perfectly well. I don't agree 100% with what he says but he has a good point.
Learning Chinese was difficult. After 3 months, i was amazed suddenly that i could recognize the pinyin word as it was spoken on the cassette. Three months later, a new shock : i could recognize a written chinese character as it was spoken. Later, another shock as i could remember what they were saying on these cassettes without looking at the book.
I decided to try something new: the gospel of mark read in Chinese, 1 hour total.
The first time i listen, i recognize Iesus here and there. Next time, i listen and try to follow the French translation. I could follow approximately by scaling the 1 hour time by the number of pages. The cassette is about at 25%, then it should be page 6... i watch for a name like pide or iesus... found it.
Repeat a few times and i now remember that entire 1 hour reading like a long music. Here, he will get angry, here he will repeat the same word, etc
After 1 month, i could tell which paragraph in the French translation he is reading in Chinese.
Until today, there is at least 50% of the Chinese words that i am not sure which one it is, but i can say what the phrase translate to.
Hard work, such a different language compared to all european languages which borrow so heavily from each other.
Christian Gingras
That's great! After I learn Spanish I'm going to learn Mandarin. Any tips you could give?
if your goal is speaking well, pick a Chinese lesson with CD which speak Chinese only. no English explanation to disrupt. Listen the lesson once a day when you have other task to do which don't require much attention. After a few weeks, when listening 10 to 20 times, the sound will come back like any popular music that you recognize.
This will be your life long reference, the foundation on which the entire building has to stand. it will alliow you to recognize the correct accent and, if you imitate the sound closely enough, people will compliment you for lack of accent. Assuming the lesson is well design with native speakers who have "no accent", which mean the accent of Beijing.
Christian Gingras I'm a chinese so I know chinese is really hard for non chinese people to learn it. Cheer up!👍🏻💪🏻
@@moiquiregardevideo I'm confused. Mandarin or Cantonese?
Then there's also Shanghai and Fukienese.
@@charlotteantibroscience8773 There is only one official Chinese language : Beijing hua, Mandarin. Similarly there is only one official French : Parisian.
For English, I think Ozzyman on youtube is the standard.
His speech tells the way of how we learnt our native language but didn’t realize it because it was just natural. It’s a great reminder of how we can acquire the culture and the words.
Strong association is the best way to internalize a new word, really
It's better to feel a definition once than hear it for hundred times
I adored this talk! I have always been so very fascinated with the thought of learning different languages and find the art of communication so wonderful, but I only speak English. I have been trying to learn Spanish, but I have struggled. This has given me a newfound motivation to really immerse myself in the language.
How's your Spanish going in the meantime? I also struggle a lot sometiems. I think it's just part of the journey!
How about your Spanish now? I am thinking of studying it since it's my girlfriend's specialisation and one of my best friend's mother tongue, hence I'd be quite exposed to this language....and last but not least, I am Italian and this might give me an advantage since it's quite similar to Spanish
@@pieroadamo1202 Yeah yeah it will certainly help you knowing Italian. Italian is on my bucket list as well. I have started out listening to many podcasts in Italian so that I get used to the language. But I haven't spoken yet. I understand quite a bit though. We are lucky that there are so many ressources out there these days.
My Spanish is quite broken :)
This is the best TED TALK I have ever seen, and believe me, I've seen a lot, Thank you for the magical message
That was fantastic and captivating! I’m learning Korean right now, and this talk has been so inspiring and helpful. Thank you so much
True. You have to live the language. You can use every resource available, but the most important thing is that you learn the language in a way that has meaning for you. You have to connect the language to emotions and experiences. Language is for communicating with others and you have to use it to do just that.
Living with the people experiencing their culture personally will not just teach us the language that is being spoken but we will also learned the language not spoken.. it’s the body language … gestures and
This is a great talk. I speak Japanese as an intermediate. The words I will never ever forget are actually from experiences in Japan. Of course, I'm still learning and having just been in the hospital I have learned words for bleeding and examination that are not the casual/laymen words I already knew. My son, OTOH, has been growing up in Japan. He sort of surpassed me by 2nd grade. *But* he had about 10K hours of exposure in daycare and grandma's house before he even started school.
When I learn a language it’s between work and at home. I work with Spanish, French, and Portuguese speakers. Duolingo has helped me become more fluent in Spanish, and German. I notice first hand when I hear root words from other languages I immediately envision images of those words in my mind.
It'll happen a lot with Portuguese and Spanish
This talk is much more motivational when english is not your first language :')
Flash cards with drawing of the word, rather than the English version of it. That is genius! Thanks for that !
This TED Talk is life changing, thank you.
MOKTOR!!
@Laura S do you not think so?
@Laura S Ohhh, igy, I'd say after 10 months I still feel the advice is life changing though. Just because it makes you approach the daunting task of learning a language with a different perspective.
It's not so much about memorising batches of vocabulary like a machine, but more about going out there and using it to *express* yourself (at least that's what I took from it).
I realised that understanding the culture around the language you're learning is soooo much more important than the language itself because you start to understand what phrases are most common, what fillers are frequently used and what subjects native speakers tend to gravitate towards in conversation. Obviously, ou can talk about almost anything in any language, but knowing these things makes *using* the learned language more natural.
Again, I thought the talk was life-changing because of how *I* received the information. It helped me see things in a different way. But that won't be the same for everyone🤷🏽♀️
I have been learning English since school and used to translate English words from English into Russian instead of think of the thing. Astonishingly, recently I realized it doesn't work well so I changed my way and now I can say it definitely works much better. To learn a language faster you need not only to speak the language, but to think in the language. Speaking about children, it is really an illusion they learn faster than us - adults. They have much more time and it takes them years to learn a language and even after that there are still a wide range of words they don't know. Apparently, learning a language is a lifelong process.
Why way you used at last?
Good points
Wow, I never even imagined this method to learn another language! Thanks Gabriel!
If you haven't read his book "Fluent Forever", I highly recommend it!
Elizabeth who is writer of this book
JAMES KRAMER oh sorry for that nd thanks for suggestions i will buy tomarrow this book
there's such a beautiful quote "if you want to learn a language efficiently, then you need to give that language life." and i can't agree more with that. there're so many examples from my students who think that they're not good enough or they're too old or this or that, but they haven't even tried to immerse into language. oh man, i wish i could just show them this ted talk instead of explaining everything.
Yes, great point
I've listened to this talk the third time now and it just gets better.
Hama Nari Glad to hear I’m not the only one re-watching this again and again!
@@commoncola I'm currently learning Swedish and Italian (my third and fourth language) at the same time and this video always motivates me when I get frustrated 😊
@Neppo that's awesome! 💪
Thank you for this. Although the reasoning may be different and the level of immersion, I can resonate with this as you put it sort masochistic way of learning a new language complete immersion is amazing. It is sort of intoxicating in a way even if you can't respond to what has been heard or can only make out bits and pieces of the conversation. I think I am very slowly starting to really enjoy learning to think in a completely different way and the feeling a different language seems to have on my brain. Long story short, I'm a US Soldier that 6 months ago got stationed in Korea. The first time I went off post, seeing Hangul everywhere bothered me because I could not read it. This pushed me to learn to read Hangul but I quickly learned reading is not the same as translating or understanding. Then when learning a few words the grammar started to fascinate me becuase of how different it is to my native language. This lead to me watching tons of videos, reading books, and writing loads of notes on the Korean language during the majority of my free time. On the weekends I like to situate myself in places where there is very little English and attempt to communicate with the native speakers of this country or just listen to see what I manage to understand. Although before arriving I did not have much of an intention on learning Korean, in the six months I have been here I have learned how to read everything in Hangul (although not quite as fast as some scrolling displays move but almost), at least 400 Korean words, and a lot about particles, and grammar. I also have spent a ton of time visiting museums and learning about the culture as a whole. Not sure how far I will get during the remainder of my time here but I really hope that it continues to capture my interest after I leave and maybe I can find friends back home to help learn more.
저도 한국에 살고 한글을 배우고 미국 사람이에요 : - )
Jolene님, 정말 훌륭하십니다. 저는 호주[Australia]에서 영어를 배운 후, 학교/학원에서 영어를 가르치다가, 지금은 영어도서관을 운영하며 한국사람들에게 영어를 가르치는 사람입니다. Jolene님이 이렇게 열심히 한글을 배우는 모습이 존경스럽고 자랑스럽습니다. 고향으로 돌아가실 때는 Jolene님 자신에게 안겨주는 최고의 선물은 한글이 될겁니다. Good for you, Jolene. As a linguist, I respect you, and am proud of you. Jolene, you are the linguist, I dream!
Jolene Mech.chic84 | this comment is so lovely 😊
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I hope you are keeping learning Korean still! I am learning English and I am attracted to the way to express of English. As interest in English grows, It seems to be getting closer to English. I hope you can find the beauty of my language Korean and enjoy it much!
Give language life,it's the critical spirit of leaning a new language,though I already know it ,I haven't draw it yet,thanks to your speech I am more aware of it right now.
Brilliant talk. Thank you. Bloody tough audience though.
Thank you very much! Best way to learn any language."If you want to learn a language efficiently, then you need to that language life".I don't want forget that.😊
Wow what an amazing TED talk, people sometimes say how you need to live or visit some place to learn its language, yet don't really have a good explanation to it, this guy actually gave thought and found the main thing to learn a language, living it, experiencing it.
Interesting and so inspiring video. Why education systems don't use these technics in their programs?
finally someone who knows what they are talking about