Ex-Professor Reveals How to Learn a Language
Dr Bill VanPatten explains the language learning process after decades of working in the field of language acquisition. Here he explains how we learn languages and shares advice for language learners.
Bill VanPatten is an internationally known scholar of second language acquisition, and an award-winning teacher and writer.
✅ Find out more about Bill: www.billvanpatten.net
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Although I agree that you have to experience communication events to truly learn a language... I still learn the rules of the language when studying it. Since i can learn the rules quickly if I learn them explicitly, I can know what is going on immediately when i immerse myself in a communication event. Anyways my point is that explicitly learning the rules allows me to accelerate the language acquisition process- which I agree should be taking in a huge amount of input.
please, no background music
This is a really good interview. It's too bad it is so exhausting to listen to with all that background music. Why do youtubers insist on adding background music? Have you ever been to a lecture where there is background music? Ever heard a TED Talk with music? You have two guys talking. That's what we want to listen to. Not some random canned royalty free crap music.
I totally agree. Es agobiante!!!
I didn't really care. I've understood every single word from this interview.
It used to be called elevator music, can we now call it youtube music ? I hate it. Please loose the ting ting ting. Love the video.
@@clown77776 Some people may have hearing impairment. I do. Glad you are so good.
Websites removed music 20 years ago but it's a proven fact visitors leave
Great video. I would just say I like to use another metaphor about the "sea of information" that is language with my students: Think of it as a vast jigsaw puzzle, and every small piece you put down does not complete the puzzle, but it gives you an idea of the entire picture the puzzle is making. Every sound, every word, ever idiom, every little piece of language helps understand the final picture.
A fine comment, thanks.
Dang... What an eye opening video. Amazing interview, thank you for sharing
Thank you for the video! Great Interview and information.
Thanks for the video Matt
Great interview! Thanks ❤
This is a great interview. 👌
Good interview. I’ll check out his other videos. Thank you.
I had lots of imput in Romanian in the last 3 months. I had a great improvement in understanding it both in written and spoken form. For a time, I read lots of news online, then a textbook, then a youtube audio course, then youtube videos, now the bible in audio, etc... If I start to get tired with a type of content, I look for a new kind of content. I plan to watch a whole football match narrated in Romanian, for instance, as they are available for free on youtube.
That's a language on my list!
Great video, Matt!
Great video and interview :)
Really good interview!
Hey, Matt. Great video. The "Diva" is one of the best references in English acquisition, besides Stephen Krashen, of course. Keep it up!
You don't need music for this :((
Great interview! I started learning English when I was about 10 at the elemental school back in China. It took so much time but I improved very slowly. I felt I learned more English in the first 1-2 years in the US comparing to my 14 years learning of English in China.
That was an amazing video, Matt. I have just finished watching it, and I am going to sit and watch it again right now. Epic video. Well done, Matt.
I'm so glad you found it helpful. I've got more like this coming out in the future!
you are an amazing teacher. I wished I could have your knowledge.
Yes! Just what I needed, some wise advice from Professor Ex
At least with my Japanese, I was able to make a lot of progress just watching KZhead and using Anki every day. In the beginning, I would mostly just read subtitles on beginner videos, and over time my vocabulary and comprehension improved so that I didn't need subtitles as much so I could watch more native level content. I had to make the language part of my daily communication habit and my brain subconsciously started to understand grammar and rules. I did have to study vocab and kanji separately, but after a while it was pretty fun to learn new kanji because I saw how much progress I was making.
Encouraging finding. Thanks for sharing.
Great watch, thanks!
This is great and just what I am looking for. I don't want to do the same thing. Rather than 'teach' I want to be able to 'convey' a language. Using non text book methods. Listening and visual associations seem to be the main keys. I devised 6 week courses for people about 5 years ago. You can't learn the whole language but you can learn to communicate. I focus on patterns in the language and what I also call, 'pick and mix'. But what most students struggle with is comprehension. The more you comprehend the more you learn. I am going to focus on videos for teaching that are not teaching per se, but they will require the learner to listen, to day to day subjects. Instead of feeding them one word at a time. To communicate simply in a language, you do not need all the tenses to begin with. Present, past and basic future will suffice, in the beginning. I left school at 15, no further education and I learned Portuguese in about 6 months, I don't consider myself a genius or anything. I hardly spoke in those six months! But when I did start speaking people couldn't believe how much I knew. Because I LISTENED A LOT :) Great video, sorry for going on.
Text books are good. They just have to be interesting enough to read.
@@user-qg1dp3fm3j They don't teach how to say the words though. So without enough listening practice you might say the words incorrectly. It is harder trying to change the way we have learned later on too.
Interesting chat! I am learning Cherokee - remote with first language speaker Ed Fields - i love the music of it! His parents would say, 'yunaduliha yanadeloqua' - if they want to, they will learn.
I like his calm and thoughtful demeamor. He is not like "THIS is the ONLY way to aquire language...everything else is a waste of time! (buy my courses)".
I came to the same conclusions. You can start with some basic grammar videos on youtube, a travel phrasebook and month on an app. After that, lots of reading, lots of listening. If you don't have someone to talk to you can read aloud and look for materials that contain lots of dialogues, such as theater, detective novels, etc...
Wow! How practical.
I really admire BVP, and I've benefited greatly from his "Tea with BVP" podcast. But man, his comment about Latin is very strange: Until the MID-20th CENTURY, Latin was a language widely spoken in Europe and America by educated adults, and had been such for hundreds and hundreds of years. It's fixedness was a part of the appeal, sure, because it allowed relatively consistent communication over time and geography, but it was taught largely in an immersive, active environment, even if it did spend a lot of time parsing and covering grammar.
he was talking specifically about high school teaching of it.
We do not pluralize maths in British English. It has an s on the end because it's a truncated form of mathematics. It's not short for mathematic. That's why we say maths
American English speaker here. Your point is well taken. However, I would dare say that both truncated forms (of mathematics) are equally legitimate. The shortened form used in the UK (maths) is correct because "mathematics" does indeed have an s at the end, but the shortened used in North American English (math) is equally legitimate because the "ematics" portion of the original word is being lopped off altogether. (I bring this up only because I think arguing about "correctness" in this instance is unnecessary.) Still, you're 100% right. "maths" is a truncated form, not a plural.
@@user-jf5ro8uz5n I only made the point because the speaker said we pluralize it and that is not necessarily so. That is the only thing I'm speaking to. In fact, I live in the US now and do say math. I don't think I mentioned correct.
@@kanthonysmith You didn't mention correct at all. I just wanted to explain to other speakers from the UK the logic behind both abbreviations, but you and I are actually very much on the same page.
Is there somewhere you've posted the full interview? This is fascinating!!!
Once again, I’m minding my own business and eating breakfast with my family when I see Matt has uploaded a new video. And, once again, I had to excuse myself and let them continue without me so I could watch this immediately. No regrets. They knew what this was. Need Matt’s insights so they’ll deal. 😏
Thanks Jeff! Hope you enjoyed it!
I wish I could relate to what you see in Matt. I honestly did not understand anything on how he helps to learn a language. I have been struggling to learn Spanish for two years and have not found the way to properly learn and even have a conversation of two sentences. I feel I need structure. The suggestion he gave at the end is to read and stay away from the crap! What is crap? Apps, video, games? What? Wish he helped. Glad he works well for you.
Correction on learning Latin in grammar schools: it was learnt as an active spoken language, not just for reading or writing. The move away from spoken Latin came as it declined in use from about 1650 onwards. It was still spoken in many universities until the 1800s.
Hello. Very informative video. Thank you. One criticism: the bg music is too loud compared to your voice. I was listening in a noisy environment, had to blast my phone's speaker on almost 100%.
Daaaamn look at you playing in the big leagues now with one of the OG CI researchers! 🙂 Way to go!
Hahaha, thanks!
I was surprised to find this out last year, but actually VanPatten is correct about the section on tones. I am a native speaker of both English and Swedish, and well, Swedish is a semi-tonal language. The word 'anden' means either spirit or mallard. For me, I thought this was just stress, but tones are part of it. I also think in regards to the languages we often think are the hardest, like Chinese or Arabic, those principles that make them so difficult can not too rarely be found elsewhere too. Such as tones in Chinese being present in Vietnamese and Thai. Perhaps not the easiest languages either, but the principles are the same. Arabic with its difficult alphabet has that same alphabet used by the significantly closer languages of Urdu and Farsi.
Good interview here. Main take-away: language acquisition takes TIME. A lot of time. I'm four years into Russian and feel like I'm on a 10-year journey (minimum).
Love the baby teeth analogy!
From 9:13 is Professeur referring to programs such as the likes of michel thomas, pimsleur, language transfer, Paul noble method? Because what you're saying from 9:25 - 9:50 sounds familiar to the promotions these programs claim or am I wrong?
Around 11:34 where he begins to speak about 3 Broad Stages and the 1st is where you're dependent on the other person. Q: @ 12:40 Does it matter if you try to speak in that 1st stage? His answer is that it causes you to lose interlocutors. My question: What if we're using AI for conversation? At stage 1, does it help or hinder us to speak with all the rambling, searching, stumbling ?
What a great down-to-earth summary of the essentials of language learning (and how different these are from what we have been put through at school). Completely in line, I think, with what the videos by Lingosteve (the maker of LingQ) tell at greater length. Guess I was quite lucky to have learned 6 or 7 languages by exposure and hunting for more input. Btw, I’m pretty sure that his language classes do not use background music…
You just doing discouraged me 😊
He didn't actually answer the question about explicitly studying the tones in mandarin. Which is obviously essential, as well as explicitly studying the hanzi with smart memory techniques.
Embracing a new language challenges your quick thinking and adaptability. So, go ahead-begin speaking your new language right away. Disregard naysayers who advise otherwise. Keep in mind that language instructors often emphasize long-term learning, but practical application is equally crucial. Like skilled salespeople, they hope you’ll remain a committed student.
Just read madrigal magic key to spanish
My gooooood! So cool 😚 Btw, the moment I heard *Rosetta Stones*, I was like whaaat, because I just listened to Cinderella by Future and Metro Boomin, haha 😂
what's his KZhead channel?
Children learn languages by hearing about 20-30 million words by the time they reach 5 years old. This gives an idea of the sort of input needed to sound like a native.
So what are the apps and the courses for acquiring a language?
KZhead and italki
Time, discipline, daily practice..... Of whatever method you choose
I choose fluent u for Spanish and I've spent at least 30 minutes everyday for about 500 days now. I might be at intermediate 2 to advanced 1 level IDK but I've have fun with it all along and I can now enjoy books in Spanish on Audible not 100% understanding yet but acquiring more language anyway.
"When they have something to say" That's when they should start speaking
I’m studying Spanish for almost 1 yr and 6 months, on and off or not that consistent so I don’t think I’m already conversational. It’s just too hard 😢
I know how you feel. For Spanish make a point of watching a Dreaming Spanish video every day. If you 43 struggling with consistency start small. Build up the habit from there and you’d be surprised how far you can get. I’ve got some other videos to help people in exactly your position. Start with a small daily habit and then build on it
Waaa this is a big help, thank you so much! Philippines was also colonized by Spain a long time ago so I should adapt their language hahahaha thank you for this! ❤
Rosetta Stone is working well for Chinese. You're not going to learn things fast, but you'll learn it the right way if you pay attention.
What's the difference between implicit and explicit?
Explicit is where you hold up your hand and say 'mano' to make clear that the Spanish word for hand is 'mano'
from the same channel, another video’s comments section; a quote by Alec72HD: “If you are using your NATIVE language (in any way) in the process of learning a foreign language, then you are "learning". When you are using a second language EXCLUSIVELY, you are acquiring a second language.”
Definitely a Chomskyan
Maths is also an language. How would you recommend people learn such an abstract language which is never spoken ?
I get waht he's SAYING IS TRUE re: kids takes 4-5 years to almost resemble adults still lots of mistakes halting speech etc, but I saw a Russian woman who in 2 years? passed C1 exam in Italian and truly spoke fluidly...so what is it with THOSE FOLKS?
You can have two years of 15 minutes of Duolingo a week vs hours of immersion per day. It’s the hours rather than the years that count. I would also say passing an exam isn’t the same as fluency (a Spanish teacher told passing the DELE is about exam skills rather than proficiency in the language)
Furthermore it is just C1 that the person attained... Not c2.
You said it, it's a C1 exam. It's an exam that measures how well you can take a test, not how well you can use a language to communicate. I often meet people who can pass tests who are not particularly good at communicating.
Can someone please get to the point and say how to learn a new language for example there are 5 steps to learn a new language: do this and that ...etc
Obviously you need explicit instruction to be able to write a language. Even native British speakers have to learn spelling rules, and even phonetic languages need explicit instruction to learn their alphabet.
Great video. I am learning a foreign language using your methodology. It took me only 3 months. So far I already know three languages. And I think the next 3 languages will take me 2 months. My goal is 3 languages per month. Thank you very much.
Learning Spanish and Chinese are equally hard to learn for an English native speaker? I don't think so.
I speak both Chinese and English. I am learning Spanish now. I found it might be easier for an English speaker to learn Chinese than Spanish, as long as you do not focus on the tones. I can never pronounce " "rr" properly in Spanish, and I cannot distinguish the pronounciations between "bed" and "bad" in English, nor I can tell the difference between "sh" and "s" in Chinese. But people still understand me. I can also understand some Chinese speakers who uses only two tones instead of four. I can understand English with Indian, Chinese, Japanese accents etc. Actually, Chinese had the same order of phrases as English. For instance, green shirt is " lv (green) chenyi (shirt)" in Chinese and "camisa (shirt) de verde (green)". The form of verb does not change at all in Chinese. NO male or female for nouns as well. A good thing for English speakers to learn Spanish though is the simiarity of vocabulary. A native speaker of English can learn spanish words much faster than Chinese.
@BloodyPandas I have seen how long it takes for an English native speaker to learn a Romance language compared to the ones who don't have a Latin Alphabet, it takes much longer. By the way, I love your content.
I speak both fluently, Chinese is MUCH harder. The grammar and usage are harder than Spanish, too, contrary to what this professor asserts.
: You can't learn a language in 30 days. : Okay. : You might get it in ten years. : Uh...
You need real world interactions to learn a language. Nothing is as effective for learning a language as having to use it in real life situations to solve real problems. To most foreign language learners that real-world interaction is a sort of a luxury, you only get it a few times on a vacation, etc., and believe me, those situations that arise when you need the language will not fit neatly into your progress. They will require words and grammar that are outside the scope of what you have already internalized. In Portuguese, which I am currently learning, there are over 60 forms of each verb, that’s only counting the simple forms that require conjugating the main verb, not composed forms where you only have to conjugate an auxiliary verb. What is the probability, in the early stages of the learning process, that the situations you get into will only require those forms of the verb you have already internalized, and not another one of the 60 plus forms? ZERO. So bite the bullet, and MEMORIZE THAT VERB TABLE. That means that when you actually get a chance to use the language for real, you don’t have to pass up on the opportunity, because you’ll know the verb form or vocab, even if you’re not going to use it effortlessly. When you have used it in a real world situation, even just once, you are SO much closer to internalizing it. Believe me, I know form experience.
Do you speak a foreign language yet, or you still hammering away at learning Spanish?
Spanish is easier for English speakers after all it's related Chinese is not
Erm, should I be surprised by a professor describing Latin as a dead language without quotation marks?
I disagree. It took two hard years of conscious studying for me to became fluent in Chinese. I memorized a lot of vocabulary by practicing by speaking and writing, both traditional and simplified characters. Writing is key to learning a foreign language. You can't just speak, listen and read it.
“Learning Chinese and Spanish are equally difficult.” As a fluent speaker of both I can testify that this is false to the point where I laughed out loud at the absurdity. No, you can pickup Spanish in 6-12 months and be totally fluent in 2 years. Chinese takes years longer to even begin to feel competent.
I suspect that the reverse would be true for, say, a native speaker of Lao.
@@christiankreps5920 Possibly, but in the video he said Chinese and Spanish were equally difficult for a native speaker of English. And Lao and Chinese are worlds apart, much further apart than English and Spanish. Thai and Lao are close.
.
It takes a baby at least ten or twelve years to accumulate language passively. Also in the very early years they have not a lot to do but learn language. So a busy adult learning passively is the best way??? Are you kidding me? I learned enough Hindi to get by in a few months twenty years by STUDYING. If I was learning passively I would still be hanging around India. I've read too many people who said immersion just don't work. I am sick and tired of these bozos with their stupid ideas. Plus you ALL contradict yourself. No more of this crap for me - I'm just going to go learn the language and forget these dumb ideas.
maybe you're just dumb that it took you twenty years? I didn't even have to study English and I'm already mainly because I've listened to it passively day in and day out for a couple of years.
10,000 years? no
Wrong. Plenty of KZheadrs have documented their high level of almost fluency in 30 days. It can be done, many videos uploaded here
Hahaha. Bill’s spent about 40 years studying second language acquisition. I’ve watched some of the sorts of videos videos you mention, and whilst in 30 days they have memorised a lot of words of phrases (which is very impressive by the way), they are nowhere near fluency. I learned a bit of a language in 30 days isn’t much of a title though
I started speaking English, Italian, French, German, Spanish after about 20-30 hours of exposure to them (each language). Comprehensible input + alpha relaxation and mine is not the only viable approach BTW. I achieve similar results with my students. Thus, I have to respectfully disagree with the professor. I would give very different answers to all those questions.
You hate me
I don't agree with you maybe I lerent lot of thing
Pure lies.
... of course no one can learn a language in 30 days. When you decide to learn a language you have to learn how to name the reality that surrounds you in a new way (which you already know in your native language). Learning a language and using it is about being able to communicate in a basic way and over time you perfect your skills. No learning method is perfect, but they all show you the way. I see this man with a very negative attitude regarding the ways of learning a language and I see that he disparagingly criticizes recognized systems such as Babbel and Rosetta Stone ... many times in the blacksmith's house there are wooden knives ... (excuse my English ... I'm still learning ... )
Your English is great.
@@Nancy-sj7yg ... Thank you ... !!!
This lesbian knows what she’s talking about
I don't see her
THESE "METHODS" ARE ALL HOGWASH!!!!!!! IT TAKES YEARS AND YEARS TO LEARN A SECOND LANGUAGE *REALLY WELL* JUST AS IT TOOK US YEARS TO LEARN OUR NATIVE LANGUAGE!!!!!!