Have you tried and failed
multiple times to learn a language
you tried so many different things,
so many different ways,
and none of it seems to work.
If you're asking yourself,
why can't I learn languages?
I'm about to tell you.
And, you know, obviously
you can learn languages,
but I'm going to talk about
seven different reasons
why you may feel like
you can't learn languages
and what to do about it.
If you're new here. Hi.
My name is Jamie.
I'm a language coach
and my job is to help
online language learners
feel confident in their language
learning and make educated decisions
about what to do
in order to achieve their
language learning goals.
So if you're interested in learning more
make sure you subscribe
and hit the bell to be notified
when I post a new video.
First reason why you may be thinking
that you can't learn a language
is that every app and resource out there
says that they do the exact same thing.
I mean, it comes in different flavors,
but you have learn a language
in five minutes a day.
You have the most efficient way
to learn a language.
You have science's best approach
to learning a language.
You have learn a language like a child.
These are great marketing lines
that sound really good
and they're really motivating,
but they don't say anything real.
So how are you supposed to know what one
resource does and another one doesn't do
and which one you should be choosing,
especially when they all have hundreds
of thousands of reviews
saying how wonderful it is,
like there's no way to actually know.
So, of course, you try
all these different language
learning resources.
You don't know what to
expect, and somehow
none of them solve your problem.
That's not your fault.
I mean, this is the exact reason
why I started reviewing
every language learning resource
that I could find.
If you go to my website
link below in the description,
you can find all of my reviews
when every resource on the market
says the same thing
and also says nothing at all.
How are you supposed to
make the right decision?
How are you supposed to feel like you are
inherently able to learn a language.
It's completely natural for you
to think that it's your fault,
that you are unable to learn the language
because you've tried
and failed where everybody else.
has succeeded, right?
Not exactly. But we'll get to that.
The second reason
why you may feel like
you can't learn a language
is because of generic advice.
Just here on YouTube,
there are like thousands
upon thousands of pieces
of generic advice for language learners.
And that's not to say that
those are wrong.
And it's not to say those are bad.
That's not what I'm saying at all.
But what I'm saying
is it's really difficult
to diagnose and fix the problem
of any individual language learner.
I mean, it's something that I
dealt with for years
when I was struggling with motivation
to learn a language,
for example, or ways to enjoy
learning a language.
Those are pretty vague ideas.
And I didn't realize
that I was just looking for help.
But when I would watch videos,
read blog posts,
they all had very generic answers.
And not only could
they not give specific answers,
because these are pieces of content meant
for hundreds of thousands of people
with different problems,
that you couldn't talk
to each individual viewer
every single time.
It can be really, really difficult
to diagnose and solve
a very specific solution
for a very specific language learner,
especially when the things
that you're feeling,
the problem that you're experiencing
isn't the actual problem
it's the symptom of a problem.
And that's something
that I experience a lot
when I have my first conversations
with my language learning clients
is they tell me about a problem
they're having.
But then, you know,
as we go along in a conversation,
I realize the problems
that they think is their problem
isn't their actual problem.
It's just one of the many ways
that their problem is showing up.
So when those generic, not bad generic
pieces of advice
aren't helpful, as helpful
as you'd like them to be,
it can feel like you are unable
to learn languages.
And the third reason
why you may feel like
you're unable to learn
a language is because of our
like inherent urge
to blame ourselves for something
that doesn't go completely right.
I see this a lot,
not only in conversations
that I have with language learners,
but also in a lot of the rhetoric online
about different language
learning resources,
saying that this is the best way
to learn language
with the insinuation that
if this doesn't work for you,
there's something wrong with you.
Now, nobody necessarily
says that outright,
but there's giant like
implication insinuation
that people really take on
and really genuinely believe
that it's their fault.
So instead of realizing
what isn't working
and looking for something
that is working,
we tend to like absorb
the issue and assume that it's our fault
and that we are inherently flawed.
And that flaw is that
we are unable to learn languages,
because on the outside, like I said,
everybody else seems to be able to
using these resources.
So if you are unable to,
it must be something wrong with you.
Right. Number four is limiting beliefs.
Now, this is absolutely huge.
In fact, it's the very
first lesson in my course.
I take language learning clients through
and it just like it blows their mind
every time every human on this planet
has a limiting belief of some sort.
Some people are better at recognizing it
and switching around
and changing the way
that our brain works.
But a lot of language learners
have these limiting beliefs
that they can't learn a language
because they're too old.
They don't have enough time.
They don't have enough money.
All sorts of things.
And these limiting beliefs,
they don't feel like limiting beliefs.
They feel true.
They feel like facts.
And so, of course,
we're not going to push past them.
We're not going to try
and like prove them wrong
because they're facts.
So we have these limiting beliefs.
We genuinely believe
that we cannot learn languages.
So when we're asking ourselves,
why can't I learn a language?
We come up with an answer.
Can you relate to any of these points?
Hit the like button to let me know.
Number five is the well-meaning advice
of another language learner.
Now, again, this isn't to say that
getting advice from a language
learner is wrong. Absolutely not.
But it becomes a problem
when you take the advice
and you treat it as fact.
So if somebody recommends
this language learning app
that works well for them,
and then you try it.
And it doesn't work for you?
You take it as fact that
because this worked for that other person
and it doesn't work for you
that there's something
inherently wrong with you.
And then again, it becomes
that same thought process as
why can't I learn languages?
This can be a language
learning resource suggestion.
This can be a strategy.
This could mean an
approach to motivation.
This could mean how often
you're learning a language.
This could mean whatever language it is
that you're learning in general.
Not knowing how to respond to
that advice can really lead us
to believe that we can't learn languages.
Number six is not accepting
the fact that we are human, OK?
We are not just robots
where you put in a specific
combination of resource
strategy, mindset, routine,
put it into our machine,
our robot machine and out comes fluency.
That's not how this works, you know,
there are ebbs and flows
to language learning.
It requires a long term commitment.
Yes.
But that doesn't mean
you have to be constantly
learning all the time.
And I find that a lot
of language learners,
they get started on learning a language,
they get started on a routine schedule
that works for them.
And then all of a sudden,
something changes something
trips them up,
something else happens in their life,
and they're thrown off
their language learning.
They think it's because there's
something wrong with them.
And they take it personally and say,
see this proof that
I can't learn the language
because I was doing so well
and then I got knocked off
when in reality, you're just human.
Everybody needs to take a break.
Sometimes everybody
needs to focus on other things.
Everybody has other priorities.
It's not that you are unable
to learn a language.
It's just that you need to lower
your expectations of yourself.
You are human.
You're not like a magical, ethereal being
that just can learn languages
all the time. That would be awesome.
But that's just not realistic.
Successful language learning isn't
about getting in 10 hours all at once
and then just like breaking yourself.
It's about being responsive
to your life circumstance
and being responsive
to your needs and your desires
and things like that.
In the seventh reason
why you may feel like
you can't learn a language
is because you don't know
what you're looking for.
I mean, the classical online language
learner journey goes great.
I want to learn language.
What am I going to do?
I'm going to play Duolingo.
Wow. This is really awesome.
I'm learning so much.
I'm so motivated for like a week,
a month maybe.
But after a while, Duolingo
gets monotonous,
boring, annoying,
very surface level, stressful,
almost like anxiety ridden,
because you're stuck with your streak
and you're terrified
of losing your streak.
So you lose all your
motivation, you give up,
you don't know what else to do.
And again, you take it personally
and assume that it's something
that's wrong with you.
We have this assumption
that because a language
learning app is the most popular
one on the market,
it's the best one for us.
And that's just not true.
So we know why we feel like
we're unable to learn languages.
And we know theoretically
that it's not true,
that everybody is able
to learn languages. So what do we do?
What's the next step?
The thing is, all of these very,
very, very common
problems in language learning,
they are reactive.
When you solve these problems,
you're being reactive
to problems in your language learning,
which means you experience a problem
in your language learning
that is not only incredibly common,
but also very preventable.
You fix a little fire
ignoring the big fire
instead of reactive.
It's always better to be proactive.
So how do you be proactive?
It really all depends on your approach.
Now, like I said, I've talked to
and worked with countless
language learners
who have experienced
problems just like this
and so many others
in those experiences and conversations.
I have found the uniting thread
between all problems
is all about shifting
how you're approaching language learning.
If you click the link below
in the description,
you can access my free training.
Where I tell you
exactly what that approach is.
This is an approach has been tested
with many, many, many language learners
who are experiencing
this problem and has showed
them wild success.
Click the link in the description
to access to free training,
to learn all about this proactive,
not reactive, approach
to language learning.
And if you want another little taste
of my approach to language learning,
check out this video.
I talk about the number one key
to learning languages,
and it's not like a
specific product
or strategy or anything like that.
This is real advice that I wish
I had like years ago.
Other than that,
have a wonderful day and
I will see you next time.