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Hi, Steve Kaufmann here again, and today I want to talk to you about my advice
for a first time language learner.
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So, uh, the reason I want to talk about this.
I have a brother, an older brother, and he lives in Windsor,
Ontario, not far from Toronto.
I went to visit him.
He's kind of, you know, bedbound, bedridden.
Uh, so I want to go there and I wanted to go there and cheer him up and give
him things to do because he's in the bed.
Like he, he does exercises to try get, you know, strengthen his muscles, but for a
variety of reasons that I won't get into, it's going to be a bit of a chore for him.
He's going to, it's going to take him a while before he gradually
gets, you know, more mobile.
So I said, okay, you know, kind of get the brain moving as well.
So I bought him an iPad and I said, first of all, you should do Scrabble because
as kids we used to love playing Scrabble.
And the great thing about doing Scrabble on the iPad, which my wife does, I don't
do it, is that the other person like you're playing against the computer,
the computer puts a word out right away.
So you don't have to wait.
The worst thing in Scrabble to me was I was fairly quick at putting out a word.
And then if were, if I had one opponent, opponent, or two opponents, it would
take forever before I had I turn again.
Whereas if you play with the computer it's instant, which is kind of fun.
So I got my brother onto Scrabble and I also said you should learn a language,
which language do you want to learn?
Spanish.
Okay.
Get on LingQ and learn Spanish.
So, okay whatever he wasn't tremendously motivated.
But at some level, he would like to learn Spanish.
He does speak French, you know, grew up in Montreal.
And, uh, so, uh, anyway, he calls me the other day and he says, Steve, I
have a real problem in using LingQ.
Okay.
So I thought maybe it was something with our functionality and so forth.
And he said, uh, no, it's like all these words, I forget them.
So the Spanish words, as soon as I learn something, look it up, I've forgotten it.
And I thought to myself, you know, how many people uh, become
disappointed or frustrated because they can't remember things.
Uh, to me, it's obvious that I'm not going to remember.
I have to see the words, um, 10 times, and then there are words that I
know, and then I'll, then I'll forget them again in Persian or Arabic.
Uh, so I thought to myself, you know, there are so many people who at some
level would like to learn a language.
And, you know, they just never get anywhere.
So these are not the keeners, the people who know what they want to do in language
who say understand LingQ or who like LingQ or don't like LingQ, but they
know that they want to learn language and they know what they have to do.
But the vast majority of people don't.
The vast majority of people may even go to a bookstore and buy a book on
language learning and never do much.
So I would like to suggest three bits of advice for someone who is not kind
of, uh, an experienced language or may be trying to learn their first language.
The first thing is just get started.
There are expressions that exist in many languages.
The gist of which is the first step is the job half done.
You know, it doesn't matter whether it's, you know, I'm right
now, I'm power washing my deck.
Okay.
You have to get started once you get started, you'll continue.
I got to finish the deck, but as long as I look at it and don't do
anything it's not going to happen.
So the first thing is if you'll just get started.
Just get started.
And I thought again with my brother, I finally got him to get started.
Okay.
Get started.
The second thing is try to create a habit.
I mean, we all know that if we haven't been exercising for a while
and then we go to the gym, the first two or three sessions are difficult.
But if we are able to create a habit where we go to the gym regularly, three
times a week, four times a week, We start to feel unhappy if we haven't
had that exercise because we've created a habit at different levels, both
psychologically and physically, we've developed this, this, uh, this dependence,
this need for that regular activity.
And I feel that way about my language learning.
If I let too many days go by where I, you know, spent time with the language
that I'm learning, it bothers me.
So I have that habit for better or for worse, but if you can, create a habit
that will drive you to keep going.
So first of all, get started, second of all, try to create
a habit to do certain things.
That's why we have so many things at LingQ, like, you know, maintaining
your streak or following your statistics because sometimes you
need that, you know, a little nudge all the time to keep you going.
Because if you put in the time, you will improve.
That, that gets back to the statement that I heard from this director of the
San Diego University Language Department who said there's only two things that
matter in language learning: the attitude of the learner and the time you put in.
You've got to put in the time.
You've got to keep going.
So whatever it takes to develop a habit so that you keep going.
The third thing is, and if I expand from, you know, the attitude of the learner
and the time you put in to this formula from Kato Lomb or Lomb Kato Hungarian
polyglot, uh, she had this equation, which basically was sort of the time
you put in and the attitude divided by negativity, frustration, inhibition,
fear, all of the negative stuff.
So you have to put in the time, you have to have a positive
attitude, you have to want to learn.
You have to think you can learn, but you have to minimize the negative stuff.
So if you forget, that's normal, don't expect to remember.
Recognize that if you keep putting the time, putting the time in, if you keep
a positive attitude, you will learn.
And I think very often the beginner language learner thinks that they have
to learn these rules and if they don't remember the rules, then they won't learn
the language or they've been at it for several months and they still can't speak.
And so they, this negativity comes in.
I still can't do anything.
I'm no good.
And yet, you know, the, the beginner language learner has to understand
that with enough exposure to the language, if you can develop a habit...
first of all, you have to get started and then you develop this habit that
you are regularly listening and reading to and do whatever you'd like to do.
If it's Duolingo, I'm not going to, you know, personally, I prefer
working with LingQ, but as I've said many times, you know, people should
do what they want to do so that they enjoy it, but stay with it.
Keep doing it.
And when you encounter difficulties and I think...
I keep saying it, and yet it's so important for beginner language
learners to realize you get it wrong, it doesn't matter.
You can't remember, it doesn't matter.
You don't understand, it doesn't matter.
Nothing matters except the fact that you maintain a positive attitude,
believe that you will eventually get there and keep on putting in the time.
And in order to keep on putting in the time, you may have to set up some
routine that helps you create this habit.
So this is kind of what I told my brother and I thought to myself, you
know, it's not just my brother, it's many people who never, who at some
level would like to be, uh, fluent in another language would like to be good
language learners think they aren't good language learners and therefore
they end up not achieving very much.
So I hope that's helpful to those of you, and maybe people listened to me
are all good language learners, but maybe some of your friends are not.
So I hope that's helpful.
Yeah.
And oh, and I think I'll leave you with two videos, uh, from, uh, before where I
talk about being a lazy language learner.
And I also talk about the three keys to language learning success.
Thanks for listening.
Bye for now.