Good evening, guys. This is a video about studying multiple foreign languages and...
how you can switch between those different languages without getting confused and mixed up
If you looked at my channel before, you've seen that I've studied a number of different foreign languages.
Maybe you've studied a number of different foreign languages and maybe you found it kind of confusing or...
maybe you've found there's some overlap between the language or you've crossed wires between language.
Maybe it gets confusing when you study more than one.
how do you keep them all inside your head and be able to speak
more than a couple languages like five, six, seven languages. How do you do it?
Well, keep in mind I'm talking from the point of view of someone who's studied all these foreign languages as an adult.
I didn't learn any foreign language or second language as a kid
I was raised monolingual, speak English. So this is from that point of view of learning as an adult.
Someone who learned it as a kid might be different.
Just keep that in mind. Ok so basically...
There are three things. I will start with the first one:
I think you really need to refine your pronunciation for each of the languages.
You really need to get specific ... with the distinctions you make in the phonology.
So really look at all the different sounds in each language and get them as...
as specific and as precise as possible.
Because I think a lot of what causes crossover between different languages is that...
you are using the same phonology or similar phonology for those languages.
When a native speaker has a very precise distinct phonology for that language.
So this is something ...[/] My theory on this came from studying a few different languages.
I studied Hebrew and Arabic which are quite related but the phonology isn't that similar, they're quite different.
But also I've studied French and I find that I've had a lot more crossover between French and Hebrew
than between Arabic and Hebrew, even though French and Hebrew are not related really.
And that's because there are some similar phonological sounds between Hebrew and French don't exist between Hebrew and Arabic.
So that's caused some of the crossover between them. It's the phonology, it's the similar phonology.
So in order to solve that problem, I had to really get precise with my phonology
for French and for Hebrew. I had to look at all the sounds, look at...
exactly how to pronounce those sounds that were causing the confusion.
So you can do that, I mean... when I say refine your pronunciation, it's in general...
focus on studying your pronunciation and improving it.
Get some help from native speakers, really focus on emulating native speakers.
But also at a more advanced level, I'll teach you a little technique that ...
that helps people take it to a more native level or near-native level.
The technique is this : imagine that...
a particular native speaker is actually speaking through you.
It might sound strange but they're your kind of channeling a certain person through your body and they're speaking out your mouth.
Like when I speak French, I imagine that Sarkozy, the former president, is speaking through me.
Because he's somebody that I modeled when I was studying French, I have paid attention to his pronunciation, tried to copy his intonation.
So when I speak French,
when I'm trying to get precise with my pronunciation, I imagine it's him speaking through me.
Right? And when I speak tagalog, I imagine a certain...
filipino person who I know, who speaks tagalog. I Imagine that person is speaking through me.
And by doing that, you're really...
Your brain is picking up on a lot of very little subtle cues in the pronunciation that you can't pick up on consciously.
if you try to focus on all those little differences, you can't really do it but...
if you just focus on the whole person, your unconscious mind can pick up on all those little fine-tuned elements of the pronunciation and it helps you out a lot.
So that's one thing, one trick you can try for getting your pronunciation to a more authentic level.
Okay so focus on the pronunciation : that's my first piece of advice.
The second thing is 100% commitment.
No half stepping 100% commitment when you are switching into the next language.
Okay, so when you are moving from one language into the other, it's kind of like you are walking through a doorway into another room.
If you enter the doorway and you just stand in the doorway,
and try to speak the other language of the other room,
you're going to retreat into the first room, you're going to go back into the other language.
Or you're going to get some crossover between the 2, you'll find it hard to really move into the 2nd language.
So what you really need to do is just make a firm decision. Okay, now, I'm switching into the other language.
I'm not going back into the old one, I'm walking through the doorway and I'm closing the door behind me.
Right?So, you're...
You're basically just completely deciding: I'm speaking this language now and not the other.
You don't want to switch back and forth. So you want to just lock the door behind you.
Okay so... it's really just about pushing yourself and making a firm commitment. And...
When you make that firm decision to speak this one, then it motivates you and pushes you forward.
And it takes you into that zone of that language. Ok?
So that's the second thing, just that 100% decision.
Okay I'm going to speak French now, I'm going to speak arabic now.
And completely cut off the language you were speaking a moment earlier.
Alright. So that's number two.
Number three is a little more abstract and it's one that I don't use all that often anymore, but I used it.
I've tried it in the past and made use of it when I needed it. And it's like this :
You imagine a scene that you associate with the language that you want to speak.
So, for example, when I speak French, I might imagine a scene,
on the patio of a café in Paris. Right?
And imagine all of the the subtle little sensory cues that go along with that, like...
the taste of wine and the smell of my baguette.
And all that kind of stuff and hearing the ambience around me, hearing the French language spoken around me.
So by doing that, you're...
creating a connection between the language and that image.
So that, whenever you want to move into that...
that state in which is you are speaking the language well,
then you imagine that image and it brings you into the zone of that language.
Okay. So that's something you can try.
Another example of it when I speak Hebrew, I imagine...
the time I spent in Jerusalem because that's a very vivid time for me.
So I can bring myself back to that time, imagine the environment, imagine a certain situation I was in, in that place.
Where I can hear Hebrew speakers and I see different cultural things,
that remind me of the Hebrew language and all of that.
So all of those things are associations that bring me back into the zone when I was speaking Hebrew well.
All of these pieces of advice are kind of abstract. I wish I could be a bit more...
logical and scientific in the tips I'm giving.
Well, when we're dealing with...
We're dealing with switching from one language to another, we're dealing with switching in two different states.
And that kind of requires you to take control of your perception.
Right. It's not the same for everybody so if...
these tips don't really work for you then you don't have to use them of course, just...
but think about similar types of techniques and how you can control your perception in a way that...
will take you into that zone where you are speaking the language well.
So a lot of it has to do with associations and connections with that language.
Another thing I should point out is that...
the languages that you haven't spoken recently are always going to fade a little bit...
if you leave them in the background right?
The ones that you can move into the most easily are the ones you have used most recently.
So don't expect to use one of these techniques and ...
be able to speak really well and really really instantly in a language you haven't spoken in five years.
You might be able to with the basics of that language.
but you won't be at the level you were at it, five years ago, obviously.
Because you start to lose some of the language gradually.
So just keep that in mind. It's also a matter of...
just keeping the language fresh and keeping them...
well practiced. You can't always do that with all of them.
If you speak 10 languages, you can't speak all 10 everyday.
So you'll always have some that are more...
ready to go than others and the others are more waiting in the background for you to ...
retrieve them and start to practice and...
and brush up on those languages.
And then, they'll be in the forefront and ready to get into the zone again.
Alright... so that's all you got to say about that. I hope that's clear.
'talk to you later...