What's up guys?
It's Saturday, and I wanted to share a language learning story with you guys today.
This is a personal story that happened to me.
A lot of people have been asking me where the name Fingtam comes from.
Where did you come up with the name Fingtam Languages?
This is a username I've been using online since 2006.
That's when I was 16 years old.
And I went on a mission trip with my church to Hungary.
It was my first time to a country that didn't speak English.
I was 16 years old, a teenage male.
The first thing I did when I got off the plane was to...
Well, when I met my translator, he comes up and he says, "Hi, my name is Jon.
I'm gonna be your translator.
If you have any questions about Hungarian, if you need me to translate something, if
you have any needs at all about the language, I'm your man and I can help you.
So, being a sixteen year old male, the first thing, obviously, that I wanted to learn was...
I mean, most people, when they get to a new country, they want to learn how to order a
beer.
Right?
Well, I don't drink.
So I didn't have to worry about that.
They might want to know how to ask where the bathroom is.
Well, I just use the bathroom wherever I want.
I'll pee in a bottle.
I don't care.
So I don't gotta learn that.
The most important thing for me to learn at that time as a teenage male was how to say
"I farted".
So I asked him how to say, "I farted", and that is the hungarian word "Fingtam".
So, equipped with this knowledge, I started to go all around the country of Hungary saying,
"Fingtam".
I knew how to say two things.
I knew how to say, "Hello", and "I farted."
So, whenever I would meet someone, they would introduce themselves, and they would tell
me their name, and I would say, "Hello.
I farted."
And people would ask me what my name was.
And I would tell them, "My name is Fingtam", even though it wasn't.
And I got some sidewalk chalk, and I would write "Fingtam" on the sidewalk.
And I went to a custom t-shirt shop, and while I was in Hungary, I got them to create me
a shirt that said Fingtam across the chest.
And I wore my Fingtam shirt everywhere I went.
And people would point and laugh, but the point is that I would use this word all the
time.
It's one of the two words that I knew how to say in Hungarian.
And I just was not afraid to say it.
And I'm telling you, if you're learning a language, this is the secret to learning the
language.
You have to be bold.
You cannot be timid about practicing that language.
Even if you're just beginning.
If you only know two words in that language, use those two words and say them to everyone
that you meet that speaks the language.
You have to practice in every opportunity.
And if you do this, and you're not scared.
You're not timid, but you're bold, and you practice bold, you're gonna start learning
really quick, and it's gonna be fun.
And you're gonna be enjoying yourself.
You're gonna be experiencing new things that you've never experienced before.
And you're gonna be having a better life.
Maybe you're learning Chinese, and you say, "Oh, I don't know how to pronounce the tones
right.
I speak terrible Chinese.
They're gonna laugh at me.
They're gonna make fun of me.
They're gonna think I'm an idiot."
Embrace it!
Who cares?
If that's what you do, then you have to run with it.
And if you say something really stupid in their language, they're probably gonna laugh
at you.
But then they're gonna teach you what you said wrong, and why you said it wrong.
And then you're gonna laugh, and they're gonna laugh.
Everyone's gonna laugh, and then you're gonna have a great story about when you were learning
that language.
If you're gonna make mistakes, make mistakes all the way.
Go big or go home.
Make some BOLD mistakes, and embrace them.
You have to love the mistakes.
You have to love your screw ups.
Maybe you're just starting to learn the language, and that's fine.
If you only know two words in the language, say those two words to everyone you meet.
I only knew how to say, "Hello.
I farted", and I went around the whole country of Hungary telling everyone that I had farted.
To this day, when I meet hungarian people, and they see my username, they comment on
it, "Hey, do you know what your name means in Hungarian?", and I say, "Yeah.
It means, I farted".
And then we have a good laugh, and we become better friends that way.
So you're really gonna miss out on life, and on language learning if you're too scared
to practice, or if you're too scared of making mistakes, or if you're too scared of saying
something uncomfortable in the language.
You have to embrace it.
You have to run with it.
So, that's all I have for you guys today.
I hope you like the story, and that it helped motivate you and encourage you to practice
your language.
I think I'm gonna start doing a story every Saturday.
A language learning story that's gonna help motivate, or encourage, or maybe just give
you guys a good laugh.
So, if you want to subscribe, then you're gonna get new language learning videos every
week.
And, thanks for watching my video.
I'll see you guys next time.