Hi guys, I'm here in Warsaw with this legendary man.
For those left, the few left in the world who don't know who you are, please can you
introduce yourself?
Hi Luca, hi everyone.
My name is Davide.
I'm the man behind Podcast Italiano, which is a project for people who want to learn
Italian where I teach and talk about the Italian language.
It's a YouTube channel, it's a podcast, it makes sense since it has podcast in its name,
and I'm honored to be on this channel.
Thank you. So, let's get into it. First of all, what we're going to do is going to be
a little bit different from the usual videos that I do with polyglots, because Davide is
a polyglot. I'm not going to ask him about why he's learned the languages he's learned
or how, but rather what lesson he's drawn for each and every one of the languages that
he speaks, including his own native language, Italian.
And so, let's start with Italian.
Fantastic.
It's easier.
Not always, because you can forget it. For example, before we had difficulty remembering how to say "up and zoom" in German, I was in German now.
"On and off", yes.
"On and off", here it is. A whirlwind of confused ideas in our heads. I'm kidding.
So, what is the first lesson you learned from learning Italian, your native language?
The first lesson I learned is that your native language is, in a way, like other languages,
in the sense that it must be maintained and it must be nourished, if we will,
and so one can very well lose their level, or in any case worsen in their own language.
It happened to me, for example, in the period in which I learned languages more intensely,
languages, specifically Russian, but also French, I think, at the time, English, then I have always learned it, so it has always been present.
In short, there were times when I listened to very little Italian, my use of Italian was limited, quite limited, and I just felt that I could not think quickly in Italian,
especially my Italian was full of russism, anglicism and strange things, but also at the level of grammatical structures
so at a certain point this thing became unsustainable, also because I do this job, this project
and therefore my Italian must be in good shape, let's say so
so I really believe that your native language must be cultivated
and it is a piece of advice that I always give to anyone who learns a foreign language
to try not to discredit their own language and to improve their own language
and to treat it in a certain way like any other foreign language.
Great. I'll add a little bit, for me it's the same thing,
in the sense that speaking languages is great, but every now and then it hinders
and damages or can damage your native language,
and in particular in Paris, when I started the course for the speech interpreters,
In the conference, the professors always told us that the biggest problem of all Italian students, or almost all Italian students, is not only the foreign languages, but also their mother tongue, because the interpreters also work towards their mother tongue.
Actually, for those who are translators and interpreters, I studied translation and interpreting.
The most important thing is usually the knowledge of Italian,
also because most people translate to Italian, so it must be...
Clearly there is an important professional requirement,
but I would say in general that one should not forget that one's own language can get worse.
- "Pedulare". Okay, so now let's speak English. - "Gud".
- "Gud". Let's speak English this way. So, I know you speak English really well, with this very nice American accent.
- Thank you. - Thank you, man. And so, my question is, what is the lesson that you've learned from learning English?
From learning American English? - Yeah. The lesson I thought about is that you never stop learning a language.
You can learn a language forever, as we were talking about with your mother tongue.
You can always improve your own native language, and the same goes for any language.
You can be, you know, there's, as you were saying in the video we shot for my channel,
there's a notion beyond the C2 level.
You can always get better, you can always learn new words,
you can always improve minor details in pronunciations, pronunciation and grammar constructions.
So, you can always get better.
Language learning never stops.
Of course, you can decide to stop
and be content with the level you've reached,
but it potentially never stops.
And it can be good, it can be bad,
but in my opinion, it can be also an interesting experience
and it's good to have the mindset
that you're going to be on this journey,
on this path forever.
- Yeah, I believe that an expression
that a lot of people resort to is,
oh, you speak a language perfectly.
You've heard this before, right?
And I believe--
- What does that even mean?
- It doesn't mean anything.
We're like a master of language.
There's no such thing as mastering a language
or speaking a language perfectly
because as Salvador Dalí used to say,
"Don't be afraid of perfection.
"Perfection doesn't exist."
So you get into this mindset of,
I will be a lifelong learner,
and that's when you start appreciating every single moment
and what you know rather than what you don't know.
This is what I think.
Because as we were saying, even in your own native language,
there are different varying levels of proficiency.
Like if you're talking about writers,
those are people who know a lot of words,
and they speak in a very elegant and eloquent way.
So of course, a writer is not going
to have the same level of proficiency as, I don't know,
a regular person with regular education.
So yeah, there's a lot of room for improvement
even when you're really good at a language.
The more you know, the more you know you don't know.
So that's how it works.
Exactly, exactly.
And every time I read a book, an English novel, I'm reminded of how many words I don't know.
Yeah, same here.
So, we spoke in English, we spoke in Italian, we'll speak in French a little.
We'll speak in French, but my French isn't very good.
I'm sure it's excellent.
The standards of this man are very high.
No, no, no, my French isn't very good.
It's not very good.
It's not very good, it's not very good, thank you.
The problem is related to the lesson that I produced
of the French language
The lesson is that if you want to speak well, you have to speak a lot
Because with French, I didn't speak the language a lot
And that's why I never reached a very high level
It's very difficult to speak well
Lack of practice
Yes, there is a big difference between passive and active skills
It's very simple, but it's an important lesson
Ok, I would also add that for me it's impressive that even if you don't speak French very often
you speak in front of the camera
Sometimes, if I don't speak a language very well, I prefer not to speak in front of the camera in general
which happened for example with Serbian
I'm a little scared to speak in French, because I never do it.
Yes, it's completely normal.
As far as languages are concerned, for example, that I don't speak very well now,
for example Serbian, I've been learning Serbian for two years,
I haven't spoken it yet, because like everyone else, we're a little scared to expose ourselves,
because we're afraid of being judged.
I'm impressed that even if you don't speak too often, you speak with me now in front of thousands of people.
So it's another lesson to learn.
Thank you.
Excellent.
Ok, so we went from French to Spanish.
To Spanish.
And I think Spanish is one of the languages, the first language you learned, right?
It was the first language after English and
a curious thing is that I started learning Spanish thanks to you.
Oh yeah?
It was the first language, I mean, because I was a big English geek,
I really liked the language in 2010 or 2011, I don't remember exactly the year, 2011 or 2012,
And I found this man's channel, this legend, who spoke very good English
and that surprised me a lot because there aren't many Italians on the internet with such a good accent
but I saw that he spoke languages in general, not just English
and that motivated me to start learning another foreign language, other languages
Spanish was the first language I learned, so thank you very much.
You're welcome, it's a pleasure. I'm especially glad to know that watching my videos, well,
the vision of my videos motivated you to learn the language.
Yes, you've changed my life, I must say.
Thank you, thank you very much. I don't know what to say.
When they tell me that...
You've turned red.
Yes, I turn red, I don't know what to say, but yes, anyway, I'm...
I'm glad to know this. You're not the first person to tell me this.
For example, here in Warsaw, at the Public Academy, many people have told me this.
At first I didn't know why or how to learn a language, but then I motivated them
and gave them a way to learn, so I'm very happy.
Indeed. But well, the lesson with Spanish I think would be...
How can you change your personality when you speak a foreign language?
In my case, I feel different when I speak Spanish,
especially because I speak it with people who have a very cheerful personality.
- Cheerful. - Cheerful.
A very open, cheerful, very sunny personality.
I don't know if you say it in Spanish, but in Italian it's said that way.
And because I think that Spanish people, but also people from Latin America,
are generally very positive, very funny and very cheerful.
they are generalizations, but I think it's usually like that
and so that helps a lot and makes everything a lot more fun
so for every language you speak you feel a bit different, let's say
I would say yes, and I think that's related a lot to the mentality and how...
culture
and how people interact in that language, in that culture.
I would say that Spaniards usually have a very warm personality
and that helps a lot and makes you feel like part of a tribe.
It makes you want to be part of that tribe, I would say.
I feel very good speaking Spanish.
I feel good, it's very fun.
and in fact, we often speak Spanish, me and my girlfriend, because it's very fun to do it, it makes us laugh a lot
and that's...
spectacular
it's good, it's very good
spectacular, I would say in Andalusia
so what I wanted to add is that what you were saying, precisely, is not only belonging to another tribe
but also that you can develop, discover the various sides of your personality
you have your Italian personality, your personality in Spanish, through culture
and a way of living
a way of living, let's say
and for me it's the same
when I speak Spanish, I have a blast
you have a blast
all those expressions
or all the rhymes
that the Spaniards do
the street modisms, it's amazing
it's amazing
how can you not feel comfortable
with this?
well
You speak Russian very well, what lesson did you learn from learning Russian?
Well, the lesson, probably...
You speak Russian so well, I see.
No, I used to speak better, now the level is constantly degrading.
I would say that you shouldn't worry about grammar, especially with languages like Russian.
Why?
Because Russian grammar is quite difficult, and if you want to understand everything 100%...
From the very beginning, right?
Yes.
Especially in the beginning, it's very difficult.
all the deviations, all the subordinates, all the verbs and movements, how it all works, you just go crazy.
Russian is a very difficult language in this regard.
So you don't have to worry about it, you just have to understand what is most important,
understand what constructions, work with constructions.
What did you do, for example, at the beginning when you studied Russian?
What about grammar?
I worked at the university on grammar, because grammar plays a very important role there, as you know.
To speak well, you need to know grammar.
- Yes, but I just wanted to say that at the university, of course, the focus will be on grammar.
I don't know. But of course, I worked independently on understanding, on speaking.
- You listened to a lot, for example, podcasts.
Yes, of course. But I would say that an important thing in languages like Russian is to work with constructions.
With constructions.
And with relationships too.
Relationships too.
So, for example, if you want to say "I live here" or "I live in this town"
It will be "в этом городе"
If you remember this phrase "в этом городе"
how does the prepositional case work in the adjective and in the noun form.
But it's just a construction that you learned in this city.
or "to my friend"
So, you need to work like this, I think.
You don't need to "zazubrit"
"zazubrit"
You don't need to do it all by yourself
but you need to remember the adjectives and nouns together
and phrases that will be useful to you.
What do you think?
I think that it's important
because, for example, children learned the construction in this way.
It means they just didn't learn the words, but in this city.
And it's the same with all languages.
And I think that if you want to study Russian, Polish, or...
It's very important not to focus on grammar at first,
but just listen a lot and read a lot.
and listen and read the content that you like.
And I think that this is the most important thing in learning languages.
And then, if you want, you can read how the grammar works,
but then, not at the beginning, especially when it comes to Russian,
or Bolsk, or Slavic, or Slavic languages.
Yes, I would say that perfectionism, especially in languages like Russian,
- In Russian, it's "glavny vrak" - Yes, "samy glavny vrak"
Okay, so this is it.
Thank you very much.
Davide, can you please tell our audience where they can find you?
So they can find me on YouTube, on my website, the name is Podcast Italiano.
They can find my podcast on Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
So pretty much everywhere.
On Instagram too.
I'm going to leave.
Sorry, there's an ambulance here.
We're in the center of Warsaw and it's a little bit noisy.
So you can find all the links in the description box.
Thank you very much.
I hope you learned useful things and if you want to leave comments about your own lessons
learning multiple languages, please do leave comments below.
Thank you very much and talk to you very soon.
Bye.
Thank you.
Ciao, ciao.
[BLANK_AUDIO]