Lýdia Machová - Ten things polyglots do differently [EN] - PG 2017
There seems to be a gap between the way polyglots learn languages and the way they are taught in most language courses. Why is that? And what exactly makes polyglots’ ways of learning languages different?
Lýdia’s mission as a language mentor (www.languagementoring.com) is to help people learn languages more effectively by applying learning strategies that polyglots use. In this talk, she provides a few insights on where the methods of polyglots and of foreign language teachers seem to differ. She’s helped thousands of Slovaks change their approach to learning foreign languages by applying polyglots’ principles in practice. Lýdia's also one of two head organizers of Polyglot Gathering 2017 and 2018 in Bratislava.
Do you like Lýdia Machová's way of learning languages? Then you're going to love her webinar that you can watch for free here bit.ly/34SEoyr Find out how to learn to speak a foreign language - once and for all!
Want more tips on learning like a polyglot? Then visit:
💙 Lýdia's FB page where she regularly adds useful language-learning tips: / languagementoring
📸 Lýdia's Instagram @languagementoring to get motivation for your learning
🔗 Lýdia's website where you can learn all about her online courses and latest blog posts about events in the language-learning world bit.ly/3mKq15h
💌 Sign up for her newsletter here: bit.ly/2GmpNSa and get fresh news in your inbox every month
This video was recorded at the Polyglot Gathering in Bratislava 2017 (www.polyglotgathering.com/).
1.Polyglots don't have a special talent! 15:07 2.Every polyglot has their own method 16:34 3.Polyglots learn languages mostly by themselves 17:08 4.Polyglots create their own language material 18:31 5.Polyglots learn one language at a time 19:12 6.Polyglots spend much more time listening and speaking 20:32 7.Polyglots are not afraid to make mistakes 23:12 8.Polyglots have mastered the art of simplification 24:50 9.Polyglots learn in small chunks 26:20 10.Polyglots enjoy learning languages 27:10
mgspunk Thank you!!
thank you
mgspunk Merci beaucoup! :-)
Thank you, saved me 40 minutes
Is not the polyglots' gathering an instance of paralel-multi-lingual learning when her focus jumps among her tongues? It is about focus favoritism. Naturally one tongue is the winner of that focus. The BS is in her excluding learning using methods, materials and contents among or between our L2 to Ln tongues where L1 is the tongue of the environment. Also No 6. has its mavericks such as Emanuele Marini who when beginning a new tongue, habituates himself with passive methods' boost.
My biggest key to learning a language is to find a way to communicate an idea with the vocabulary you have.... even if it is not how you “properly say something”, the key is simply finding a way to express your feelings and ideas, and NOT FEAR THE MISTAKES. 👍🏼
Not just language, if you want to learn anything you cannot depend on a tutor or a class. Ones dedication to the learning is what matters most.
Language skills aside, she is a superb public speaker!
Agree! I love listening to her! She's self-confident, skilled with a positive and pleasent presence. 👍👍👍
@@Tina-wk2pr How odd. I found her to be condescending, not engaging and a little full of herself. I speak 4 languages and I was looking forward to this talk but as much as I wanted to, I just couldn't watch the whole thing. English was the first language I learned and it is the language that I use everyday. It is true that you have to make the process fun. Music has been a huge way for me to get involved in a language.
@@letsgomario I know, right?! I agree with your opinion about the speaker. She also seems to be more concerned with quantity over quality. My native tongue is English. My language-learning goal is communication, but also for the purpose of understanding nuance, culture, idioms, expression of emotion, etc. Music is helpful for me, as well. Pictures also help me. I often label items in my home to help with natural identification of characters instead of letters.
@@laraspecter5653 she had a ton of examples of different styles different people use, as opposed to most presenters who just relate what works for them as if its self-evident that it should work for everybody. Even if her style was unappealing to me (which it wasn't), I would have wanted to watch the whole thing. I think maybe some people are threatened by such a confident Eastern European female.
I agree! I like her self confidence. This is my third time watching this video.
Every time when I feel tired of learning another language, I try to watch polyglots. And I get energy and I change the way I am learning. It's work. Thanks for sharing.
Happy to help!
@@Languagementoring Most of those so-called polyglot aren't polyglots at all. They're just attention seekers who are trying to show off as a kind of special breed.
@@kishanchali8752 That’s true but Lydia is a real one
You want to know a language that will give you depth whereby you'll be able to figure out hidden meanings? Classical Arabic. Arabic has diacritics and dots, but in the past, they used to write Arabic without diacritics and dots. If you learn Arabic, then learn it first with dots and diacritics, but if you're done, then go to the next level by understanding Arabic without diacritics and dots. This way you will maximize your depth. Your contextual comprehension will become better. Why is this? For example; without dots, the Arabic B, T and TH look exactly the same. So if you read without dots, you'll have to figure out the context by digging. It's like a code language. A secret language. Lots of letters will resemble each other without dots in Arabic. Classical Arabic without dots makes you dig, and this is good for creativity.
*Summary* Initial Insights - Polyglots manage quality of time, rather than quantity - Polyglots have personalised system, though have common traits e.g. of systems - Speak from day 1(bennie) - Material (Steve kaufman) - High frequency words (Lucas) - Flashcard system w/o translation - Robin McFernon (dissection) - David James (Re-write vocab list) - Phrases *then* fun, material, consistency, priorities (Lydia) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. No special talent 2. No one-size-fits all method 3. Independent learners 4. Create own material 5. One language at a time * 6. Polyglots spend MUCH MORE speaking and listening 7. Polyglots love to make mistakes 8. Art of simplification (e.g. Lucas' High Frequency method) 9. Diligently consistent 10. Polyglots MAKE language learning their addiction (key: find material YOU find important for native speakers) *Personal approach is what matters, so try to add and revise your systems* -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quotes: -'Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right' -'If you do what you've always done, you will get what you've always got'
thanks, that's a good summary!
Gratias ago!
+meusisto Latine scio?!?! Optime! Nostrorum non multi sunt.
Ita est, rex Keegster, latine loqueris! Latine etiam ego loquor. Magnam laetitiam mihi dat scire te latine loqui posse.
perquam bene! :) Obiter, si mecum Latine loqui uellis me offendere possis in Discord aut Skype.
Languages cannot be taught, they can only be learned. That's true! I liked her speech a lot.
How very, perfectly, true!
I read fanfics 😂😂😂 I have this guilty pleasure of reading fanfiction, and it helps me learning languages. Today, after six years of reading fanfics, I can read them in five different languages :)
AWESOME
Do you have suggestions for fanfic sites?
Rebbeca Chunn watpad
Hi, what is fan fiction? (I'm too lazy to google it)
How?Do u learn vocabulary with writing down them somewhere?Can u explain it, please?)
My first French language teacher was from a Ivory Coast. He could speak German and English (so, he claimed, at least) but not Spanish. So, the first month he spoke French only to us. Some students quit. I learnt French big time thanks to him and never forgot what I learnt.
If there were a tenth circle of Hell in Dante's "Inferno", it might include watching reruns of "Friends" in six languages.
Ha!
Jajajajaja
😂😂😂 I'm laughing in 3 languages.
ROFL nice one! Seriously, i barely could bare watching it once...
I've watched friends 9 times in english (and I didn't even know english, that's how I learned it), and now I'm planning to watch it in german. all people have different tastes, can you guys believe it? for me 10th circle of hell is "game of thrones"
First off all, besides being a polyglot, Lydia is an amazing and an effective public speaker. Listening to her speech is a pleasant experience. I am going to listen to as many of her speeches as I can. Secondly she is an inspiring person. She has inspired me to learn what I have been trying to learn for professional development. These methods of learning can be applied to learning different skills or habits such as public speaking, playing the piano, programming or working out. Just do it consistently.
How many languages requirements to be a polyglot. I speak Cantonese and mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish, Japanese and French. I know most of the polyglots learned the languages at their early age. But, I am old at age of 70. Can I still learn and mastery of these five languages in a year or two ! Please, wish me good luck and let me join the polyglots society.
Wozitoya Dude it is so wonderful and encouraging to me that you are seventy years young and still want to improve the languages you speak and I believe you will improve. All the best to you.
Wozitoya Dude, I'm a 17 yrs old Kenyan girl and wish to tell you that we have a similar goal. So far I'm conversant with 4 languages but still thirsty for more e.g. this language I'm typing with, I learnt it. It is not my mother tongue. Success!!!!!!!👍
My rule of thumb: polyglots are those who speak 4 or more languages.
I applaud you! I am several years older than you and have had a challenge in learning only Spanish well (I am a native English speaker). The older you get the worse your short term memory becomes. So eventually you will forget as much as you learn. At that point you will be at a Mexican standoff thereby going one step forward and one step back. Good luck!
all the best
Her voice is too good, soft, melodic to just ignore. Such a powerful ability to make others concentrate! The contents she presented were also wonderful. Inspiring speech indeed.
Absolutely brilliant attitude towards language learning. That's exactly what I needed to hear. A lot of polyglots on KZhead presentatinons try to push forward their own methods as if everything else was not good enough. This lady put it right - everything is good as far it is enjoyable.
+Tibo Rikk Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, good taste is in the tongue of the beholder, fun is in the eye of the beholder. What is your trash is my treasure.
kzhead.info/sun/rbqjnLaFfoiMamw/bejne.html
I love her accent. She has a calm, soothing voice.
Totally agree
@Elielson da Rocha she is from Slovakia :-)
I was born in Slovakia. When I was 15, I moved to Ireland and I had to do the Irish equivalent of secondary school graduation in 2 years time. As my second language in school (third for me, English was my second) I had chosen German, starting from scratch. Compared to other students who had 5-6 years to learn it, I knew I was up for a challenge, but I believed I could do it. I spent time in school, doing assigned homework, writing essays, etc., after about 1.5 years I noticed this was not good enough and at this pace I wouldn't be able to graduate well. My writing skills were okay, but 50% of the final grade were based on a 10 minute spoken conversation with the examiner. I wasn't great at that. I had decided to move in with my aunt who speaks German very well as she has lived in Germany for 7 years (and met her, now husband, there. Whose first language is Spanish). She also has 2 children who speak German a little bit, mainly from watching cartoons or from listening to their parents' conversations (Even though they speak Slovak/Spanish to the children). I lived with them for 2 weeks and all we did was speak German. Every day, whether it was regular chat, getting groceries in the store, or me babysitting the kids. My aunt refused to speak any Slovak in front of her children. I have to say, this was the best spent 2 weeks I ever could. I learned way more German than I would have during the 2 years in school. When I returned to school, some of my classmates thought I was German. I graduated with a B!
Great story :-)
very courageous ! Why did you not apply for a grant or a scholarship with the German DAAD ? The problem with the crucial German language lies in its history and the dialects. The only persons who speak well German are the teachers and professors. I taught to Thai administrators German and used the method which no German teaching course entails: old songs (Volkslieder). Singing gives you a feeling of a language's melody. Each has got one - more or less articulate. In the USA there is a program to teach children born with grave brain damage. They never learn to read and write, but by singing a text memory is created and that helps in the long run to speak. In my long career I came to Tehran and observed that there are groups with no academic background, mostly selling food and goods. They all speak fabulously 5 to 8 languages. So, I guess, there are genetic patterns which help learning a language. I wait for a respective genetic infusion letting me speak 30 languages without any accent.
bemdav Great!
Maith an fear! ;)
Well done. Are you and your family still living in Ireland? We are blessed to have such a beautiful country.
Her point of listening is key: The french I was taught in school was completely different from what actually is being spoken in France.
Same for other countries. There's a huge underlying problem in the languages that are taught in schools around the world, because majority of them are "taught by the book" and do not represent real world languages. And sometimes even mistranslating things , because of missed cultural contexts. As a native Russian and English speaker it pains me every time listening to those translations , even at the highest levels (Putin translations are also very vague and are contextually wrong alot of the times ) they miss alot of stuff... There's also this famous Russian evening show called "Vecherniy Urgant" and I will never forget how some "professional" translator from that show translated one of the most famous Arnold S. quotes "get to da choppa" as "get to the chapel" in Russian, I was facepalming so hard🤦♂️...
When you réalisé she's your age mate that A-ha moment kicks in... Don't you just love her.. She speaks graciously and with authority... This is what I call goals🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪 and she learnt Swahili
Amazing. Kazi safi sana
Not every native speaker of a language is blessed with a special talent, so you don't need a special talent to learn a new language. But you need exposure to the language, and motivation.
The internet has made learning a language SO much easier. I wish there had been the variety that's on the internet now for my first 3 decades of life!
I learned a lot of Bengali online and in chatrooms for two years
One of the best speeches I have ever heard. Very useful.
Thank you for your kind words! :)
what worked for me was to build a very basic vocabulary, such as I want, I need, I have. then learn the second person such as can you? do you? would you?. and if you do not know the rest, just point to the object in question and the other person will name It, after that it gets easier, as you learn to add, the " he, she, we, they", and some of the structure. when you are pointing you are hearing the pronunciation aplicable locally. language is such a beautiful concept, I have seen a lot of different children, playing together, each speaking their own language and all understanding eachother, it was wonderful, there was, no color, no language barriers, no preconceptions. we as adults can learn so much from the children. and you are right!. each has to find what works for them. and do not be afraid to make mistakes, practice makes perfect.
+lfmb4real Tim Ferriss style, "Give me the apple, i want the apple, he ate the apple, she has the apple, they gave me the apple, we have the apple, who has the apple?, it is my apple".
I should've did this!!!!! My method was treating other languages like it's English and adding it to my English vocabulary so I'll learn 10 words a day and I'll put it in a sentence (I only do that with nouns & verbs) overtime it gotten stressful. Im definitely doing this method
@Jonas Felipe Modena de morais The thing with those is that they are not really spoken, but written.
Her point about taking a class and expecting to learn is so true. I've made that mistake.
the 'timekeepers' are those who learn a language in school without actual immersion. I was a 'timekeeper' for a LONG time - did several years of french but couldn't really figure out how to speak it because i wasnt' really expose to real french - not in a 'working' environment anyway- but then on a lark i moved to germany and was forced to learn german 'on the street' - this completely 'upped' my game a LOT. Not only did i learn functional german within a year or so - but actually i figured out how to 'do' french afterward ... you really have to reach out and thrust yourself in a functional linguistic environment IMO ...! ok good luck
Funnily enough, so was I. 7 years of french and I still can't carry a simple conversation without a great deal of effort and concentration! Yet my accent fools most into believing I'm a native speaker, which gets me in WAY over my head, TOO OFTEN!!😳🤦♀️
I think learning a language in school most of the time doesn't achieve great results. I did French for 5 years and Irish for 10 and I am still at only beginner level. The difference is that in school you have like 8 different subjects with homework from each so time and brain energy is scarce. I was never introduced to things like Duolingo or encouraged to use resources other than my books. Now I am doing my masters so only have 2 subjects at a time and much less homework. I am learning German for the past few months because I want to get a job in Germany when i graduate (bf is German). Now I have huge motivation and I already know more German than the other 2 languages. Being fluent in Polish helps also because some words are similar.
Yes. Those of you who have hit on this already, correct. Any form of education -- langauge learning or mathematics or economics -- is only learned to mastery by an individual who personally pursues it. Education in anything is not an inoculation that someone shoots into your arm after you pay them a fee. You can't go to a "teacher" and say, "Educate me to proficiency." You must go get it. You must ply yourself at it. Or ... it never comes. Learning is not something you receive, it's something you go SEIZE.
My parents pounded a few things into my head!
I have learned english by gaming a lot on the home PC around 5th grade. Up to that point I knew almost no English despite continuous effort from teachers and relatives. I simply despised school methods. Zero attention span... What seemed like a massive problem (gaming) later saved my carrer. I finished school with subpar grades and severe knowledge gaps. My math and my French are trainwrecks. However I was always curious about stuff. Slowly this habbit of consuming desirable content accreted in my solid programming skills that I posses today. Almost all knowledge that makes me successful today was gathered outside of school environment. I am deeply saddened to have discovered that school made me hate learning and only after finishing school I finally found the right environment to study hard and have a good time while at it. Seems ridiculous what I am saying but it fits so well with all the points that have been expressed in this video. I fully endorse the methods described. Currently I am learning German at a rapid pace after stalling for two years with classical methods. The secret was watching the entire Star Trek TNG series on Netflix with german dubbing and english subtitles. First 2 seasons were totally white noise at first glance. By the forth season some words started making sense. At the end of it I could understand 70% of the dialogue. Currently I am at 90% level of comprehension without subtitles. Already able to understand native conversations in the office and formulate replies. All in just 4 months. Curently I am planning to go for French and Italian, which is quite convenient while being in Switzerland. By the way, I have zero grammar knowledge. So... immersion really works! Find whatever feels fun, and expose yourself to that activity daily. Results will happen fast! Und jetzt, muss ich zu den deutschen KZhead kanälen gehen! Viel spass!
Che buono! Stai imparando l’idioma con il modo più efficace! Good luck!
I speak Portuguese, Spanish, English, Italian, French. I have knowledge of German and Swedish and now I am learning Romanian. I use everything she said.
If you speak a Romance language, it will be easy to learn its siblings.
@@danielblue4460 Definitely.
As a polyglot, I can tell you. Need is a motivator. Just like necessity is the mother of invention. The languages I speak (Spanish, English, German, French, Italian) I learned because I needed it. When you need it, you are not afraid to speak nor you set your self a time to have reached a certain milestone. The news, the newspaper and going to the local community to "speak with them". The best feed back is when you ask for cake and coffee and you get cake and coffee in any language. Languages are not learned with books nor in a grammar classroom.
This probably why I feel I am learning more French as a beginner than I did with Japanese and Spanish. With those two languages, I took classes and mainly did the work I was supposed to do and that was it which results in forgetting a lot. Now with French, I am learning on my own and discovering tips that I was never told back then. Once I feel fluent enough, I will retry learning the other languages applying what I know know-read, writing and speaking it out loud recording it, listen to songs, clips from movies, etc....using apps and programs. Before I didn't do any of this as I thought I needed to understand the languages really well first; but I think that was partly what held me back.
She has an amazing ability to concentrate. Excellent presentation. (How many ways can you translate "Obtrusive photographers?")
J Babb or "can you give me your flashlight for moment? ", in Slovakian
:D I think the photographer couldn't understand English and was bored to death!
Jeff most unprofessional photographer I’ve ever seen.
I think that the main problem with learning a language in school is that the teachers and the other students are all constantly telling you what you do wrong. You use the wrong word, the wrong grammar and get laughed at for getting it wrong. After learning English in school for years and years I still did not speak it. I had no confidence. After moving to Ireland all by myself I spoke English in three weeks... By far the easiest metod for me. 😊
I can hear her voice for hours. Calm, shooting, but smart and energetic.
There's no mention of imitation in learning a foreign language -- taking on the persona of a speaker of the target language, and imitating their pitch pauses, expressions, etc. I guess it would be called 'Modelling'. It's worked for me.
Yes . But not everyone has that talent / ability . You probably have good music learning skill too.? It's a gift .
Audio CDs do wonders here. I started learning Spanish a month ago, and the very first learning I did was using Michel Thomas' Spanish courses. In those courses, he stresses pronunciation heavily, so I tried my best to model my speech exactly as how he instructed. I really enjoy his method for getting an overall feeling of the language, but I believe that pretty much any audio CD where you listen and repeat can be used to achieve the goal you mention. Then, you can practice your pronunciation more by reading out loud in your target language.
I'd say the same principles apply to learning in general. Not only languages. Playing an instrument, for example, too. Or just anything that requires some skill(s).
Marek Cupák By the way, learning a language is very similar to learning playing a musical instrument, there are many common points.
I was learning piano and guitar both without any structured focus at the same time ... which she says the polyglots do not do
well some people may learn 2 languages at once but it'll definitely slow down your progress
Libor Supcik kaufman and lucia do, but the others at the conference don’t
Io parlo italiano e spagnolo Yo hablo italiano y español I learned Italian and Spanish at the same time, Italian took me a year only and I can converse. It just depends on your method and preferences
I'm almost 54. I'm now learning French again for the 4th time. 9am I too old to start? Your seminar was amazing. I still dream of being a polyglot even though I don't speak any other language fluent yet.
Don't mind your age. It doesn't matter so much. Most important things in learning in general are: be fascinated about what you learn and want to know it at every price (feel it) Learn when you relaxed and rested. Drink a lot of water. Eat light, nutritional food. Don't distract yourself with thinking about some other stuff during learning (concentrate on your learning). Have a fresh air (open window from time to time). Think in a language you learn, talk to yourself in that language. During learning listen to music that synchronize brain's lobes - when your lobes are in perfect balance you absorb everything much faster. Enjoy :)))
I apologize in advance grandpa, you're old, not dead. That dude Lucas learned a language in one hour!
@@billykranberry6077 - he is not old, ok ? I modern society many people in their 50-ties look and are in better condition than those in their 20ties and 30ties :P
@@billykranberry6077 - typical answer of pseudoscientist, like you. Real scientist is open-minded - you are not. I am not going to waste my time as you have no the foggiest idea what I am taking about but you necessarily want to be right. Ego. And you are not the first person with such an attitude, so again - I am not going to waste my time with you anymore.
@@billykranberry6077 I'm 77 and I'm learning French and loving it. I took it in school years ago, but I really understand it now. Listening to podcasts and practicing with DELF exam material has helped. Has my rate of learning slowed down? Yep. But it's certainly possible. You can do it.
Hi! I am from Brazil. When I writte I can to learn English much more. I AM 60 years old and I AM almost fluente in English. I hope I' ll be fluent this year.
Luiz Carlos Sá excellent. You are an inspiration to do that at your age. I'm naturally no good with languages
Bom trabalho na força de vontade, eu ainda consigo ver muitos erros na tua escrita e com todo respeito acredito que tu estejas um tanto quanto distante da fluencia, não falo isso como forma de te desmotivar, mas como a Lydia mesmo falou no video: "Poliglotas não tem medo de errar porque é corrigindo-os que ficamos fluentes". Não deixe que te digam que está velho demais pra aprender, não existe essa de gente mais velha ter mais dificuldade, todo mundo tem dificuldade principalmente quando estão aprendendo a primeira lingua estrangeira. Está aí Steve Kauffmann para provar, ele tem 65 anos, salvo engano, e é um dos maiores poliglotas, inclusive aprendeu russo aos 60 anos para acabar quebrar esse paradigma. Um abraço e boa sorte aprendendo Ingles.
Parabéns. É bom continuar apesar da edade.
do you really think I will take the time to make my youtube posts grammatically correct?
I'll just correct you to help you (I'm a non-native speaker). *I can learn (after can you don't need "to" for the infinitive). *fluent. Good job. Keep going! Your English is very good. I'm sure you're going to be fluent very soon.
Totally agreed! The foundation of a language pyramid should be listening and speaking. Writing/Reading system takes each civilization thousand of years.
The 10 tips are listed at 30m38s
There is no age limit to learn a new language. I learned Thai (my fourth language) at the age of 60, Spanish at 75 . There are important factors to remember. 1- Polyglots enjoy learning languages 2- Every polyglot has his/her own method 3- Polyglots learn languages mostly by themselves
This video is 5 years old and yet, it's eternal! Well done, Lýdia!
1mo11m1k
This presentation is absolutely riveting and 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 motivating for those trying to learn a language totally new to them.
Thank you! Your videos motivate me alot!
Brilliant! Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!
Her accent becomes more and more prominent during the lecture. Go "all in" and try to speak more like a native is one of my primary goals.
I actually find that listening to people speaking with accents is a good way to learn a language though. For example; if you listen to a native Japanese speaker and you aren't very familiar with the language it can be incredibly difficult to decipher what they're saying and figure out where a word ends and another one begins. If you speak English and hear native English speaker speak Japanese with an accent it's suddenly a lot easier to relate to because they'll typically speak slower and clearer and pronounce words in a way you're more used to. Which is not to say that you shouldn't try to sound like a native but learn the language first. I don't mind accents myself though.
If you want to sound like a native, that's great! Definitely a valid goal. But for me, personally, it's primarily about understanding and being (easily) understood; everything else I consider expendable, unless you're a spy or something and need to blend in lest you end up killed. :p
How i learn (starting) is very young children's cartoons and children's books. Words that stick out i look up in a dictionary. I build my vocabulary this way, learning as a native child would. This is really similar to how i learned my native language.
The problem with that method is that you might spend too long on easy material, tho, and it can be very boring, because what interests a child is not what interests an adult.
King Keegster That's true, but you should progress as fast as you can - I've done this, moving on to older children's books and teenage books. But you need other material, too, like newspapers and television.
It's not isolated to just that, children's books are just a starting point. I watch children's tv, listen to the radio, talk to people in the bar, watch other tv shows that look interesting. I just said i felt it was a good starting place. It's helpful to get examples of proper grammar early.
Excuse me, does that take you much time?
I didn't feel that it took much time, while i was in the native country i was able to learn rapidly and had no problem communicating with people. I got to 6 year old speaking level in about 4 weeks. I'm actually going back there next week for 3 months. I'm hoping to get some level of fluency this time.
Salam/ Hallo! Mistakes are proof that we are working. Great job!!! Warm regards from Mexico
The best method is to combine them all. 1. Vocabulary is the backbone of language, 2. Visual learning works faster, 3. Repetition is essential, 4. Input quality (via meaningful Reading & Listening) set the socio-linguistic bar 5. Social Interactions provide 'natural' context, 6. Pharses facilitate fluency 7. Intensively focused learning has been shown to foster improvement 8. Ongoing maintenance is essential to limit language loss
TV
TV as
Thank you so much, you just a opened my mind! Best presentation ever!
She is amazing, i love the way she is speaking in public
It's all about self-confidence. When you are self-confident you seem cleverer than you really are.
The best presentation I've ever seen
do you really think she can teach anyone any lang. as she seems to think?
She doesn't teach.
She is just a show off
he's not wrong
if I knew a ton of languages I'd be a show off too
Oh, yes. We had a wonderful time yesterday. Thank you.
AMAZING and so inspiring! Thank you so much.
i was told by a German that I may not be Sprachbegabt, as my command of German grammar is good, but not great ... that may or may not be true, but I function comfortably in several languages by bumping along despite the mistakes I might make, so I ignore the comment and continue to bump along. I don't need to be perfect, just understood.
It was a German saying that lol
Germen grammar ist a nightmare like English pronuntiation.
@@bilbohob7179 pronunciation. Spelling is worse!😁🤷♀️💞
@@highstandards6226 yeah In English it is the another face of the SAME coin (pronuntiation-spelling) because both differ a lot between them
4 is not a lot
Beautiful accent and a beautiful mind I could listen to her speak all day.
Thank you so much Lydia Machova'!
спасибо этой доброй милой девушке за столь познавательную открытую, чудесную лекцию. Thank you very much to this girl for this wonderful, beautiful, open lecture. From Russia with LOVE!
Super lecture - such great advice! Thanks Brendan
great speech: clever and insightful
"... change their approach to learning foreign languages..." I agree with her, and can say with some certainty that languages are taught in schools mostly the wrong, or unnatural way. In human experience, from baby age, the sequence is roughly: 1. listening 2. making sounds 3. learning words 4. speaking words 5. learning and speaking sentences 6. perfecting grammar 7. reading text 8. writing text 10. understanding grammar rules The school systems typically want to skip the early steps and reverse that order. The first thing schools do is stick a book under your nose. As writing systems, even with the same alphabet, are heterogeneous the written text get "misinterpreted" and may be a weak system for guiding speech. English is probably a good example of this. What good is one rule if there are 192 exceptions. interesting video...
Cqwet Dbdfte spot on,at an early age we learn by listening,you are right we cannot learn a foreign language from a book.As I was trying to learn Thai I realised the obvious mistakes from the romanisation of Thai to English.It is best to learn from a native speaker and once the sounds are familiar learn the alphabet so that a dictionary can be used to decipher what you read and add what you need.It is very hard to get the correct pronunciation of Thai from a script the only way is to hear a native speaker in person or through audio tapes,CD’s etc.
Really an inspiration! I have been following her talks a fee months now and always learning new things. Thanks!
When she asked how you can learn 10 languages in two easy steps, I thought she was going to say (1) know 11, and (2) forget one of them.
I like you're clear speech, nice job 👍👍👍
such amazing!
Looooove this. Thank you !!!
In my experience and in my personal opinion, I believe that in order to become highly fluent in a different language, first you must have thorough and complete knowledge of at least one language . A kid cannot keep jumping languages if she or he still has undeveloped knowledge of his first , parent's native language.
Everyone has enough mastery of his own native language
@@Maria-jt7hu you would be surprised, but where I'm from, a lot of people make mistakes when writing or speaking our own language haha
@@Maria-jt7hu - no, not children who can't speak well yet. And many of people of modern generation who don't read the books they are very poor at their own language....what a pity.
“Like some of you, I don’t dabble in a bunch of languages.” Loll the shade
That smugness gets pretty tedious. First, I loath to be around people who mistake curiosity for a lack of discipline. Second, dabbling helps relieve boredom and can fend off burn-out. When I stayed hyperfocused on one or two languages, I always got burnt out. I would get sick of studying for months, sometimes years, I was stuck at B2 level in those languages and couldn't understand why I couldn't improve, and it was costing me valuable time I cannot get back now. Today I study multiple languages and dabble in others and I don't get burnt out. It's enabled me to improve my advanced languages beyond what I could before and get past basic level in others simply because I'm not getting burnt out and not going for long stretches without studying or maintaining my languages. My progress is slower in each languages but so what? I doing it because I love learning languages, not to impress people like those at these conferences.
@@languagewitch6442 The problem isn't dabbling in languages if that's what makes you happy, the problem is the sheer amount of people who claim they speak 8 languages or something and only know some basic phrases in the language they claim to be fluent in. I see no problem in learning whichever way works best for you, I do find people who claim to speak a bunch of languages but can usually speak 1 or 2 fluently and a tiny bit of the other ones tedious and beyond pretentious. There are plenty of examples of this on youtube, I can see a video of a woman I've seen like this who claims she speaks 12 languages in my recommended videos literally right now. It's obvious to the native speakers of those languages that she doesn't actually speak most of them. Nothing wrong with not being fluent yet or taking a while to learn a language, but the fact that some people are so disingenuous in bragging about speaking languages they obviously don't speak is absurd. I once met a girl who claimed she could speak French and German and it turned out she could only understand some basic medical terminology because she worked at a hospital, and she couldn't even come up with a complete sentence or two. Why lie? To seem ~worldly or some such nonsense? This isn't tedious? I very much doubt the woman in this video learned languages so she could impress people at conferences, especially since she already speaks a couple of languages simply because she comes from another part of the world and her first language is obviously not English. Especially since she helps people in her country to learn English and other languages, which they do so can get jobs in the west. I'm familiar with these programs. Yeah, I'm sure she does all of this and helps people just so she can brag about knowing multiple languages at conferences. You think she doesn't do it because she loves learning languages? There's no need to get so defensive, especially when the "shade" of the original comment wasn't really directed at you to begin with. But since we're being honest, Anglo or western people who want to base their whole identity on knowing languages because they think that makes them seem more interesting and go around calling themselves "language witches" seem oddly smug to me too. I simply LOATH to be around people who try to base their identity on the fact that they like learning languages, I also loath to be around western people who treat languages from Other regions of the world as obscure/rare gems to collect and brag about knowing, and these people are increasingly common.
@@amaliab6682 A lot of envy and frustration in these comments! 'Just so she can brag about knowing multiple languages?' I don't think so - it's also her profession (interpreter etc.) Try not to be so resentful just because someone is successful in acquiring languages seemingly easily.
@@bertsanders7517 Your reading comprehension seems to be a bit off, try directing your comment to the person directly above me, they seem bitter because some people genuinely learn languages instead of just dabbling? They're the one who called the woman in the video "smug", not me. I didn't say the woman in this video learns languages just to brag about it, I said the exact opposite. I was raised in a multilingual family of immigrants so I have no reason to be resentful about people speaking many languages and being able to learn other languages fairly easily as a result, because that describes my whole family. It describes a lot of people who speak multiple languages as a result of their experiences (like the woman in the video) and not just treating languages as something to collect. As I said, the issue is not actually learning languages, it's "dabbling" and not doing much else, being able to say a couple of basic phrases and then claiming you're fluent in all those languages. Being able to say "hi my name is" and "how are you" in a language does not mean you speak that language. When I only know the very basics of a language, I don't claim to speak it. This is out of basic respect and common sense. There's no shame in being a beginner, these people can just say that: "I speak this language at a beginner's level". What's so hard about that? What I take issue with is people I've come across who just seem to want to "acquire" pieces of languages so that they can collect tiny bits of other languages and cultures they find "exotic", as if they're collecting pretty rocks. It's embarrassing and it can even be disrespectful. I believe the term for that is "culture vultures". Plenty of people all around the world find this trend obnoxious. So in case you need it spelled out even more clearly for you, here is the point: people can dabble all they want but if you can't actually speak a language, don't claim you do. Simple. I know plenty of people who can actually speak the languages they say they speak, so people learning languages easily is not something I have an issue with. Which is what I said above, and is what the original commenter (Victoria) is also implying with her quote. Therefore I agree with Victoria and I agree with the woman in the video who said "I don't dabble in a bunch of languages" to begin with! Try reading what the other person is saying before giving out life advice.
@@languagewitch6442 She didn't say anything about lack of discipline, you read way too much into that. i think she was just stating a fact. Smugness?
What a wonderful speaker she is! Thank you!
I am a piano teacher and found many of Lydia's points quite applicable in teaching/learning a musical instrument. Thank you for providing a different perspective.
A very very,,,, MOTIVATING video !!! Thumbs up from Mexico,,, ;)
A gorgeous lady giving an outstanding presentation. Thanks a lot lady !
Thanks a lot for this 😍😍😍. I speak seven languages and the points I agree most are: polyglots have fun while learning, polyglots are not afraid to make mistakes and polyglots spend a lot of time listening and speaking. So have fun, gets lots of input and do not be afraid of making mistakes 😄
Perfect presentation....!!! Thank you so much...
This was very educational! Thank you so much❤
Public speaking at its best ... superb presentation
Damn.... she nailed it. All the teachers, lecturers and students should watch this. Here's to trying again in 2018. Muy Bien, Tres Bon.
That was definitely a great speech!
About the ways of learning foreign languages, no.5: polyglots learn one language at a time, with me things were different. I was born in Brazil so my native language is Portuguese. When I was 15 I moved to Japan and started to learn Japanese from ZERO. I learned Japanese, The Ryukyu dialect and English at the same time. After I learned other languages such as Spanish and Chinese.
what an accurate accent, I am enjoying listening to it :)
Алексей Сильверов. Her pronunciation is accurate, but the accent isn’t perfect.
I love watching these videos, so motivating!
She is amazing!
I speak 3 kikuyu,Kiswahili and English. I’m a trilingual now in the hope by 2030 I should be adding mandarin, Arabic, French,Afrikaans,German.
Mimi na ongeza french na korean
Very practical and applicable.. Thank you Lydia.
Brilliant! Thanks for such an inspirational talk!
Excellente vidéo !!!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Great presentation. Thank you for your inspiration. From Chile.
I am a time keeper
me too :/
stop it you have the power
The problem of the time keepers is that they stay passive. They don't explore the laguages for themselves.
Надо делать по-другому. You should change the way You do it. Du brauchst Vorgehensweise verändern. Treba zmieniać szliach vuczennia. Musisz zmienić sposób nauki. :)
Actually, you're a time watcher, nor timekeeper.
Thank you. This presentation on its own is encouraging !
Great talk!
I speak 4 languages, sometimes I don't even notice change or switch in languages, I don't even remember what language I said something or read or heard something. It's all just information and same meaning in my head. I remember one time I was convinced I spoke to a random person at school in French, then I find that they don't speak French at all but Italian 🤣 I spoke with the person in Italian but then I forgot the language I just remember the information exchanged 😅😂🙈🙈
So, you are in a real big four-language mess. I would advise you to put your priorities in order and don´t get lost in words. Focus on really being well understood by one person and not half-understood by more and more.
@@spanixtanspanixtan8757 I don't see that person as a mess. I think them not paying attention to the language shows that they speak it naturally and fluently without having to think too hard. Aka they've acquired the languages rather than just learned them. They don't translate every phrase they hear.
The "don´t translate" myth and the "natural fluency" thing make no sense if you know how the brain areas work, and also about translation itself. But, first of all, think of other persons: if they will understand you perfectly; and avoid the self-centered view. People realize it the hard way when they try to work helping others as interpreters or translators; Then, you have to minding other people´s interests and capabilities, not yours.
@@Nicole3900 I agree with all your points!
Growing up I used to ask my parents A LOT to put me in a language school cause I wanted to learn English soooo bad (lol) but they never did - always with the promises like: yeah, maybe next month... Or whatever. I don't know when or at which point I became so good on it but now here I am, not only learned English but 5 other languages more, all by myself lmao (SO THE JOKE IS ON YOU, MOM AND DAD lol just kidding). And it's so weird cause I have friends struggling to learn a single language (English) since the dawn of time and spending tons of money with courses and private lessons and this kind of stuff while they can't even reach my level of knowledge in this particular language (Don't wanna sound cocky, it's because I never had a proper lesson of English grammar and c'mon they are trying waaay harder than I ever did). It still surprises me. In case you read all this and you're wondering: Portuguese (BR) is my native language → English (I like to think it's my second language, cause I know it even better than Spanish until this day. Yeah. Spanish. Hmpf) the others: Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, German. I know there's still a lot to learn about each of these languages to achieve my goal of personal satisfaction (except Spanish cause I'm done with it, too lol) so I'll be giving my best to keep learning them
I really appreciate the incredible insight that you present here, it is immensely useful for everyone. Thanks a lot.
Great tips! Thank you Lydia!
Mellifluous voice, marvelous speech modulation and wonderful presentation. I would love to watch all of Lydia's videos.
IN all her languages no?
I am a native English speaker and a teacher who works in bilingual teaching environments. Honestly, she needs to work on her English enunciation. A lot of her syllables are garbled. It's a common problem with many polyglots who follow the "one language at a time" approach. They learn a language up to a point where they are confident in it and then don't maintain it very well, even if they use it all the time.
@@languagewitch6442 A pretty harsh assessment! Compared with a lot of native English speakers who have gabbled through presentations at conferences I've attended she speaks English very clearly, with hardly any syllables that could be called 'garbled'. I imagine you would be very happy if you could give such a clearly enunciated talk in a language which is not your mother tongue.
@language witch she speaks English fine. Better then a lot of native English speakers I know. She just has an accent, and accents and dialects in different languages are valid. Everyone can understand her, and that’s what’s important.
You act like you are the god of English, you’re English isn’t perfect either, no one’s is. “Garbled”. 😂 lol wtf she’s speaking English fluently without grammar mistakes. You’re critiquing accent, which isn’t a valid critique when it comes to LANGUAGE. Stfuuuuuuuuuu 🥰
The Common thing i find that... The Most Important thing needed to Learn Language is ,The Spark of Learning Language should be your own, If Someone Advice you to learn new language then you will never learn it.... Make your Own Learning System,,(Don't Copy other's Method, you can just get inspiration how to write notes, Speaking, watching videos,)
This was really inspirational. Thanks for making learning the possibility of learning multiple languages seem approachable!
I learn languages by learning songs in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Arabic, Czech, Latin, Sanskrit, Hawaiian, etc. - I've been doing this since age 20 - nearly 40 years - because I grew up in a small town in middle America where only one language was spoken - no other cultures were there. As I learned to sing in over a dozen languages, my operatic repertoire expanded to over 50 arias which resulted in me becoming more and more in love with beautiful melodies, gorgeous orchestral accompaniments and romantic expressions in many languages - on my other channel, I am subscribed to only two music channels - one is Sanskrit and the other is a Hindi language - as my inner world expanded, I was offered a contract to sing in NY, then a scholarship to study in England, then another scholarship to study in Southern California, then more studies in British Columbia, my Doctoral studies were in Chicago, then I went to Quebec, then more studies in the PNW and now I'm Polynesia - in the Pacific - where dozens of cultures intermingle and enjoy one another - this includes Hawaiian, Tahitian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Micronesia, Jewish, Hindi, Mexican / Puerto Rican / Latina, etc. - all in one small town - with our ocean waves, palm trees, gorgeous flowers, awesome mountains with fresh fruits and vegetables growing 12 months of the year. Along the way, I realized Sanskrit is spoken by millions of people in the Baltic and Slavic nations and that their ancestors were the people speaking Sanskrit. As time went on, I also realized Sanskrit is also similar to Persian, Hindi and many other languages - and that the Persian Farsi language is similar to Spanish and Tahitian and Hawaiian ... and since Spanish is similar to the other Latin languages and since Yiddish is very similar to the German language, since the Turkish language is very similar to the Mongolian, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese languages ... since Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, etc., are very similar, since the people of Cameroon speak the Tamil language of India ... the language tree needs to be illustrated with circles of flowering blossoms to help people to realize the true magnificence of our ancestry.
I’ve had a desire to be a polyglot for many years now.
Timekeeper? lol
I just started learning Spanish French,English and soon Polish wish to learn it well.Very encouraging video and now I am motivated to do so.
I speak Portuguese(my native language), Spanish, English, a little bit of Italian(much more I understand than I speak), and I try to learn Arabic language now. At moment, It's my biggest challenge. :D
I can only thank you for the motivation you are proving to all of us with this presentation!
Its very important to define what “ learning a language. “ means to you. There is a whole range of capabilities that can be acquired, from just learning a few tourist phrases to being able to fully function in the language as if you are a native speaker.