and what do we think of the new camera? anybody? anybody? I feel like it's-- ohp.
listen, there is nothing I love more in this entire world than answering all of you guys'
wonderful questions about the language learning process. you know, anything I can do to clarify,
help somebody out with a problem they're having with their language studies, Primo for me. love
it. but there is one question that I get that I'm sorry to say, I've absolutely grown to hate. and
that is.. for me, it's.. I don't like hearing that word come out of my mouth, but that's how
strong I feel about this question. and it's not because I'm annoyed by the question or by the
person asking it, but rather hearing this question reminds me of all the misinformation there is out
there about language learning. and that makes me angwy. that misinformation, I'm here to shield
you from it. okay, the question of the day is: how long does it take to get fluent in a language? the
short answer is: it takes however long you make it take. and that is a very unsatisfactory answer,
but it's not a good answer because it's not a good question. so let's talk about some better
questions and some better answers, shall we? but wait just a minute, if we're talking about time,
we should talk first about how much you have of it. if you're like me and always
have a lot on your plate, sometimes it can get difficult to balance your language studies with,
you know, the normal hullabaloo of life. but even when I don't have that much time,
I take speaking classes and for that, I use Lingoda and you should too! so here's some stats:
Lingoda is an online language school that offers group and private classes 24/7 in four different
languages, which areL English, business English, Spanish, French and German.. is that five? no,
because business English and English are the same language, duh. you sillybilly. anyways,
once you sign up for Lingoda, you can literally take your classes whenever and wherever you want,
because it's all online and Lingoda teachers teach worldwide. and this is especially important to me
because I travel a lot, and I don't like that to interrupt my language studies. I like it to flow,
okay? and Lingoda is really really simpatico with that. now when I first started using Lingoda all
those years ago, I'd probably say it was 2020, for German, I was still really really shy to speak
in German. but the fact that I could start off in group classes and build my way up to solo classes,
that was really helpful and helped me to step outside of my comfort zone, but like.. at my
own pace, you know? but group classes are great, they're not something that's offered
by every language learning practice platform, so that's something with Lingoda that I find really
unique. and Lingoda has flexible plans for every kind of learner. whether you want to start off in
group classes or solo classes, whether you want four classes a month or forty classes a month,
they have something for you. and Lingoda is offering a free seven-day trial, so in this trial,
you can either choose to take three group classes or one solo class, whatever is your preference.
and if you decide to continue with Lingoda after the initial trial period, you'll get an additional
30% off whatever plan you choose. so I don't know about you, but that sounds that sounds pretty
good to me. who doesn't like free stuff? okay, all right, back to the video. Let's talk about
why time questions are wrong, okay? there are a handful of reasons that time-based questions with
regard to language learning are just nonsensical, confusing, misleading, every bad adjective,
actually. for example, this is what happens when you ask me the question: Elysse, how long did it
take you to learn Spanish? this may seem like an innocent, unassuming question, but this question
is super assuming because it assumes three things: the first incorrect assumption is that I'm, like,
"done" learning Spanish. I feel like this question assumes that I've passed some sort of check line,
and that's not the reality. there's always new expressions, there are always, you know,
regional and dialectical differences you'll discover, and most importantly, languages evolve
with time. for example, in Spanish, a linguistic change and a topic that's become a really really
important topic in the last I would say, 10 to 20 years, is lenguaje inclusivo. this is basically
just gender-neutral language. so instead of saying todos, you say todes, or something in that realm.
that's a prime example of learning being a forever process, and we should honor that. the second
assumption this question makes is that learning is linear, but in reality, it's fluctuating all the
time. just because I've been learning German since 2015 doesn't mean that I've been consistently
studying the language for seven years. if I tell you flatly, I've been learning German for seven
years, all that tells you is my starting point. it doesn't tell you my level, it doesn't tell you how
much effort I've been putting in, it doesn't tell you if I've taken a three year break--
which I have-- and there's all this information missing. so it's misleading in my case, because
just because I've taken seven years to get to this point doesn't mean everybody's gonna take seven
years. and lastly, this question assumes that a certain amount of time equals a certain amount
of progress. it does not. let's say there are two people both studying the same language for a year,
but they have different approaches. the first person? super dedicated, studies three to five
days a week, takes speaking lessons all the time, the whole nine yards. whereas the second person is
a lot more casual with their studies. they might do some flash cards here and there, maybe they
practice their speaking once a month or so, but if you ask both of these people after the year that
they've studied, what's your level? you're going to get two different answers, and that's because
time does not equal a certain amount of progress. the reason that I don't like answering time-based
questions around language learning is because we often weaponize the answer against ourselves.
it's hardly ever a positive conversation when we talk about time, and I feel it often only serves
to make us feel worse about ourselves. like, we hardly ever use time to talk about our studies or
our progress positively. it's always a matter of comparing and measuring, and oftentimes holding
ourselves to really harsh standards. standards that are often set not from what you think you
can achieve based on what kind of learner you are, but standards that are just imported from somebody
else's journey and you've decided to put yourself to as well. personally, as a language YouTuber,
I know that people look to me all the time for some kind of guidance. so if I tell you, you know,
it took me X amount of months or years to learn X language, that becomes a model for you and I don't
want you to compare yourself to me, I want you to compare yourself to you. you know, what did you
achieve last week, and how much better did you do this week? and so on. think about this one: okay,
almost any time-based question regarding language learning can be answered instead not with time,
but with effort. how long does it take to learn French? I don't know, how much effort
are you going to put in? that affects the answer. another question: I've been studying Italian for
three years, and now I want to switch to French. is that too soon? I don't know, how much effort
have you been putting in? these questions, you know.. any iteration of like, how much time, is
this too soon, how much longer, it's a moot point. honestly, there are so many more things that are
more important than time. time is irrelevant, forget it! what matters is how much effort you
put in, how focused you are, the quality of the activities you're doing, if you're studying any
other languages, if you have any conflicts. those are much more important things to consider in your
language learning journey than, how long. but don't get me wrong, there are examples
of time-based questions that I actually welcome, and I think that are good questions. for example,
how much of my time learning German should I spend on speaking? I think that is a great
example of a good time-based question, because it's proportional. not just quantitative of like,
how many minutes? how many hours? how many days? how many years? you know, it's, how much of my
time learning this language, what proportion of my time should I spend on this certain skill? perfect
question. as long as your time-based questions are about you and what you think to be best for
yourself, and not just you, you know, copy and pasting how much time somebody else spends into
your own routine, you'll be golden. every learner is different, we all have different starting
points and different linguistic backgrounds, we have different reasons for learning languages,
so we require different amounts of time to understand different languages. so there's no one
answer. there's no one amount of time that is the magic key to any language. so don't focus on some
arbitrary standard of time. focus on what feels good to you, activities that you like, and put
your heart into it. that's all I got to say about that. thank you so much for watching this video!
if you liked it, give it a thumbs up, subscribe, and hit the little bell button down there to get
a notification every single time I post. and what do we think of the new camera? anybody,
anybody? I feel like it's-- ohp. I feel like it's smoothing my skin, or maybe I just have really
smooth skin. honestly, I'm... skeptical of this camera. I still have to figure it out. okay bye