Many people wonder if you can really learn a language using an app.
To answer that question, let's meet someone all the way from Myanmar,
an Asian country located between India and China.
And let's hear the story of Kyaw Soe Htet.
There's adventure:
So, my main motivation is actually to travel around the world,
because I love meeting new people.
I love learning other people's cultures and, most importantly, their languages.
I really do love to learn other people's languages.
There are challenges:
Classes in my town...it can be very pricey, probably around 300 or 200 dollars for...
especially Spanish and French. You know, we don't even have classes for Portuguese right now.
That's why I really wanted, you know, to learn the languages, but I didn't find any way...
And, there's also compassion and generosity:
And another motivation I have in mind right now is to help my people,
because our country is now facing a lot of difficulties in many sectors,
so I really wanted to help my people to, you know, learn the languages.
Because Myanmar's people... mostly they have a language barrier.
I really want to become, you know, a barrier-breaker for Myanmar's people.
If you haven't been here before , I'm Lize, from MosaLingua
and today I'm happy to welcome one of our most successful users.
When we first heard about Kyaw, it was because of his impressive statistics as a learner.
In his first three days using MosaLingua apps he managed to learn:
219 flashcards in Spanish,
133 in French,
100 in Portuguese
and 30 in German.
Can you please let us know how many languages you currently speak?
I am now speaking like... you can consider seven.
Primero, el español se parece difícil para mí. (At first, Spanish was difficult for me.)
Pero, dos años después, descubrí que no era tan difícil. (But two years later, I've realized it's not so hard.)
Me gustan mucho las canciones (I really like the music)
de latinoamericano y de español. from Latin America and Spain.)
El español me suena muy musical cuando lo hablo (When I speak Spanish, it sounds really "musical.")
J'apprends le Français parce que (I learn French because)
j'aime beaucoup les chansons françaises. (I really love French music.)
Par example, La Vie en Rose... (Like "La Vie en Rose," for example...)
et la culture des francophones. (and the French culture.)
Aprendo português porque eu gosto do som e do ritmo da língua. (I learn Portuguese because I like how the language sounds.)
O português parece mais fácil quando você sabe espanhol e francês. (Portuguese is easier if you can speak Spanish and French.)
Também, eu gosto das músicas portuguesas. (I also like Portuguese songs.)
Deutsch ist meine schwerste Sprache. (German is the hardest language for me.)
Ich habe Deutsch gelernt, weil ich viele deutsche Freunde habe (I learned German because I have many German friends)
und ich mag sehr diese Sprache. (and because I really love this language.)
我学了中文 已经有 十年多了 。 对一个缅甸人来说 (I have been learning Chinese for over 10 years.)
中文好像是一种古代的 以及 很难学到的 语言。 但是 因为 我 (For a Burmese, Chinese seems like an ancient language)
不断的 学习了很长的时间 (and it is a very difficult language.)
但是 因为 我不断的 学习了很长的时间 (But as I have been learning continuously for a long time,)
所以 现在 中文好像是我的母语了。 (Chinese is now like my mother tongue.)
我在当中文老师 (I am working as a Chinese teacher)
在网路上 教中文课堂。 (and I teach Chinese courses online.)
Meri hindi mere bhashon mein sabse kamzoor hai kyunki main yeh (Hindi is the weakest language on my language list)
bhasha akhiri sekha. (because I've started learning it most recently.)
Main bollywood ki fan hoon isliye hindi bhasha mujhe pasand hai. (I am a fan of Bollywood, so I love the Hindi language.)
Mujhe lagta hai ki Hindi ek aasan bhasha hai (I think that Hindi is an easy language,)
aur Myanmar bhasha ke bhi samaan hai. (and very similar to the language of Myanmar.)
Mujhe Urdu bhi aati hai. (I can also speak Urdu.)
And what was your main motivation to learn all these languages?
So my main motivation is actually to travel around the world, because I love meeting new people,
I love learning other people's cultures and, most importantly, their languages.
I really do love to learn other people's languages, what I'm currently doing right now.
and another motivation I have in mind right now is to help my people.
Because our country is now facing a lot of difficulties in many sectors,
so I really wanted to help my people to, you know, learn the languages.
Because Myanmar's people, mostly, they have a language barrier.
Mostly, people, they don't really know how to, you know, use English properly.
So I really want to become, you know, a barrier-breaker for Myanmar's people.
That's why I was planning... I'm planning to start my YouTube channel very soon.
So I will teach some of the languages on my YouTube channel
so that they can have access to my language videos, mostly for free,
because, most people they...you know, they can't afford the prices of language schools.
So another motivation right now is to help my people learn the languages.
That's beautiful!
How many of these languages have you learned with MosaLingua?
So, I learned six languages from MosaLingua.
Spanish, which will be my, you know, first language.
And French, German, Portuguese, Italian, and Russian.
And why did you choose to learn with MosaLingua?
So seven years ago, you know, like when I first started using MosaLingua,
I achieved a lot within three days, you know. Many many flashcards...
So...I didn't trust it at all in the beginning, you know?
But after I made this progress, you know, the app really surprised me.
That's why, you know, I've continued using the app until now.
How do you use MosaLingua in your learning routine today?
So using MosaLingua has become part of my life, like part of my daily routine.
And mostly I use MosaLingua to revise everything that I've learned in the morning,
because morning is like, you know, the freshest time before I start teaching classes.
So every time, every morning, I learn... I revise with MosaLingua.
Do you have a favorite feature within the app?
So my favorite feature in the app would be the "free hands" mode.
Because, you know, I'm like a daily commuter, but... not now, because everything is closed due to covid...
So I used to be a very, you know, regular commuter.
So wherever I go, you know, I can just plug in my headphones and, you know,
I can use all the time to revise everything that I've learned.
So I really love the hands-free mode of MosaLingua. It is effortless and it also, you know,
increases your listening skills while you have, you know, spare time to learn, right?
Because why waste your time on the road, if you can do something else?
Aside from the MosaLingua apps, what other learning resources do you use to start learning a new language
or to improve in the languages you've learned?
I actually use LingoDeer for, you know, Japanese.
And apart from that I also have my own language journal.
So it looks like, you know... I actually did it to motivate myself.
Because on the first page, you know, I wrote some of the main reasons why I've learned languages
and why I keep learning them, you know, up until now.
So these, you know, main purposes... I wrote them on the first page.
And, you know, on other pages I've also put some beautiful photos of the countries,
like, you know...like from Brazil, right? And then from other countries.
Because, you know, my main goal is to travel around the world, one day.
So I really want to motivate myself through my language journal.
And I also keep record of my learning process, so it will also be included in my language journal,
and I've also added a timetable, right now.
Because, you know, I'm also part-time teaching, part-time learning.
So my timetables are kind of full all the time.
Has learning all these languages changed your life in any way?
Of course it did! Because, you know, I used to be a sailor...
I graduated from Myanmar Maritime University,
so I'm actually supposed to be on a ship, not here. Not teaching languages.
But it really got me... you know, "into the field" that I'm really interested in.
And I didn't follow my seaman career at all,
and I jumped into the field of learning and teaching languages.
Now I'm currently serving as a Chinese and English teacher.
I teach Chinese and English to Myanmar's people.
You've decided to follow your passion...
Yep! I decided to follow my passion.
That's great!
Do you have any special advice for people who
want to learn a language but don't really know how to start?
Okay, so I really want to advise people to start light and easy, you know?
Being greedy in learning seems good in the beginning, but it's not really effective.
And you should also use great resources to learn all these languages.
Otherwise, you'll get nowhere.
But using an app like MosaLingua, you'll get your goals quickly and effortlessly
and my main practices, I would say, or "the quote"... so these are the four P's,
that I really want to share with everyone.
So the four Ps are passion, practice, patience, and lastly but not the least, people.
So whenever you do whatever you do, you need passion.
In that case you will not fall behind, right? You will not abandon what you're doing, you know?
If you have a strong passion...
And you need to practice, like mostly every day, right?
So I practice mostly every day, like in the morning,
because it really helps me remember what I've learned during the week, during the month...
So practice is also patience.
If you don't practice, your brain will forget everything that you've learned,
so you'll be a little bit discouraged to continue it, right?
So practice is also one of the most important factors in language learning.
And another one is patience, because learning languages is not a short journey, right?
You're actually stepping into a long journey.
You have to invest a lot. You have to commit yourself in learning languages.
So it's not quite easy, right? And it's not a short journey.
So the last one is the people because, you know, you feel grateful if you help your community, right?
So you grow them, right? You grow yourself first, and then you'll grow other people as well.
So you'll feel grateful, very very grateful if you give more than you receive.
So helping people will also improve your skills because you're teaching the people.
So it means you have to revise everything, you have to plan the curriculum,
you have to plan everything... and you're sharing your knowledge with the people.
So I think the last P is the most important factor in language learning.
So if you teach people what you know, your knowledge is also increased
and will also be concrete for a very long time.
That's very beautiful.
Well, although I don't speak your language at all, at least not yet, there's something I'd like to tell you:
Kyei zu tin pa te, Kyaw! ("Thank you, Kyaw!", in Burmese.)
...and, just because I know you can understand my native language perfectly,
Foi um prazer conversar com você. ("It was nice talking to you," in Portuguese.)
Interview a twat saga pyaw ya lo kyay zu tin pa te. ("Thank you for the interview," in Burmese.)
Saga pyaw ya ta wan tha pa te. Kyei zu tin pa te. ("It was nice talking to you. Thank you," in Burmese.)
Thank you for watching this video!
Yes, thank you for watching.
And I really hope this interview with a very committed language learner, who became a language teacher,
has been as inspiring for you as it was for me.
Happy learning and see you soon.
Bye bye!
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