Latest / bit of a Rambler / 027 Speaking in Tongues

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027 Speaking in Tongues · bit of a Rambler

• 1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,480 Hello, my name is Kai and I am a bit of a rambler. 2 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:08,560 I like to travel, learn, and tell stories. 3 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:11,920 And I want to talk about language learning today in general. 4 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:16,320 When you get into traveling as much as I did, or even just a bit, your first new country 5 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:20,440 can be kind of overwhelming when you land and everybody is making sounds that you don't 6 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,880 understand in different cadences, especially. 7 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:29,640 If people spoke with the same cadence as I'm speaking now, or any standard, whatever 8 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:33,720 cadence you're used to, the rhythm of the speech from where you're from, it would be much 9 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:35,520 easier to translate. 10 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:36,520 But they don't. 11 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:42,080 A lot of countries fit more or less phonemes into the same space you would use to get 12 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:44,560 your meaning across. 13 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:49,520 There's actually an interesting study about this showing that even though in languages 14 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:55,440 where you speak faster and more phonemes are spoken in the same amount of time, the general 15 00:00:55,440 --> 00:01:01,200 amount of meaning imparted by vocal language doesn't change between cultures or languages 16 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:02,360 that much. 17 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:10,320 So if China uses "woshirdo" like mine, versus mine in English, Chinese people are saying 18 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:15,560 three words for the Americans single word, but both languages are conveying the same meaning 19 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:20,760 in about the same amount of time, even if more words or less words are used. 20 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:22,760 So let's get some meaning across. 21 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:28,040 How do you more easily learn languages and why should you learn the languages of the 22 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:29,480 country? 23 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:31,400 We can start with that. 24 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:36,320 You should learn the language for the obvious reason that you'll be able to talk to people, 25 00:01:36,320 --> 00:01:42,200 but it's going to make your time wherever you are so much more interesting. 26 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:47,640 Not the least of which because if you can speak even just a little bit to the locals in 27 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:53,680 the area, they are going to like you way more, and they're going to share things with you 28 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:58,360 that you never would have known if you couldn't speak to anybody. 29 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:02,760 Now there are a lot of countries that do speak English at some level, but there are a lot 30 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:04,560 that don't. 31 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:10,720 Chinese students learn English from their first footstep into the door at the school until 32 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:16,280 they leave for college, and you're going to have a very difficult time finding people who 33 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,160 can even have a basic conversation in English. 34 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:24,840 I still haven't figured out exactly why this is because Cambodia, who puts almost no money 35 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:30,880 because they don't have it into English education, has a lot of English speakers. 36 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:31,880 India is another one. 37 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:36,920 They learn it in school, but in India, tons of people speak fluent English. 38 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:43,680 It was shocking when I landed in India, and every day I meet at least one fluent speaker 39 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:48,040 that I've never seen before, and they just want to say hello and share a few thoughts, 40 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:51,820 but their thoughts are like, "Oh, those tariffs are going to make everything terrible 41 00:02:51,820 --> 00:02:53,960 for all the world's economies again." 42 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:58,720 And I think about how well I can converse in Mandarin and how I don't know the word for 43 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,840 tariff, and I would definitely get that wrong. 44 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:09,440 I would have to say, "Too bad about the big up money by goods money." 45 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,960 So I don't know exactly what it is that let some people who study English their whole 46 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:19,960 lives not catch on it all, and other people who study English catch on quite easily. 47 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:25,120 In any case, you're going to travel to a bunch of places where there are not many fluent 48 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:26,840 English speakers. 49 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,440 So you should learn at least the basics of the language because it makes everything 50 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:31,760 easier. 51 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:39,320 If you just learned, thank you, bathroom, water, food, like a few things, it's going to make 52 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:40,760 your life so much easier. 53 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:42,000 This and that are huge. 54 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:47,360 You can still point, but if you say this, you're going to get better service than if you 55 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:54,920 just point a few times, which leads me into locals appreciating your effort. 56 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:56,840 You don't have to have a perfect accent. 57 00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:58,720 You don't have to know the word. 58 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,240 You can talk around the gaps in your vocabulary. 59 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:02,760 You can talk around your accent. 60 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:07,320 You can come up with words that work instead of what you are supposed to say. 61 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:12,440 And especially if you are an English speaker and they know you're American, they're going 62 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:17,960 to be surprised and impressed that you're even making the effort because our reputation 63 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:23,960 abroad for even trying to speak a few words of the language is pretty poor. 64 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:25,200 It's pretty dismal. 65 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,120 It's very dismal. 66 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:32,720 It's an appalling reputation and it's fairly well deserved. 67 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:38,600 I cannot count the number of times that I have just used a phrase or a couple words that 68 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:44,000 I was familiar with in a new country and the entire demeanor of the person I'm talking 69 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:51,280 to changes, whether I'm buying food or clothes or gifts or whatever. 70 00:04:51,280 --> 00:05:01,720 If I'm in Japan and Arigato or India, Daniava, there's such an immediate giddy response 71 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:07,200 that this guy who clearly isn't from the area and doesn't know anything at least has picked 72 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:13,200 up a couple words and it has been expressed to me by the better English speakers that 73 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:22,200 they appreciate you care enough to basically honor their culture by participating it as well 74 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:26,680 as you can, even if as well as you can is dipping a toe in the water. 75 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:33,600 Learning just a few basic words is going to warm all of the locals to your otherwise 76 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:40,320 blundering missteps through their carefully cultivated neighborhood and gardens. 77 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,040 Locals love it when you speak their language. 78 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:47,000 It's kind of the same thing as if you're eating their food and you clearly enjoy it, people 79 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,080 love seeing that too. 80 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:55,200 I find people trying to sell you something also try to downplay the amount they're trying 81 00:05:55,200 --> 00:06:01,880 to rip you off if you even know one through ten or even if you just know how much, if you 82 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:06,400 just say how much in English, they'll understand you but you're probably on the way to get the 83 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,960 highest quoted price they think they can get off of you. 84 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:16,000 But if you say, "Sure, do a shachan," then they'll still try and up the price a little bit 85 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:20,000 but you're going to get a much more realistic quote most of the time. 86 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:24,560 And if you know the numbers, then you can haggle very easily, determine the value of what 87 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:30,240 you want to buy, lo-ball them, they're going to highball you, and then you meet in the middle. 88 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:32,240 The price you want to pay originally. 89 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:37,600 Ooh, and quick note, I've never had this happen when I just say like this or that or 90 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:42,760 I don't speak any of the language but almost every time when I go to an open market and 91 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:51,920 I speak in the language, they give me an extra one, I always get, I mean not always but it 92 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:57,760 happens quite often in markets if you're speaking the language, they'll throw in an extra avocado 93 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:05,080 or like an extra, you know, bit of steak or whatever it is that you're buying. 94 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:10,480 So it helps with everything, if you just pick up a few basic words and you can learn those 95 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,480 in a few days on an app or anything. 96 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:16,520 Let's talk about apps. 97 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:18,880 Duolingo is the obvious one. 98 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:23,120 And until a few years back, it was my go-to. 99 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:29,400 I learned Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, I already knew Mandarin but I went through the whole 100 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:31,920 course just kind of as a refresher. 101 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:32,920 German. 102 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:36,800 I even learned Irish, a different language than Galic. 103 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:42,280 There were so many languages that they offered that the community puts together for Duolingo 104 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:48,680 and then you get to benefit from the hard work of hundreds and thousands of volunteers 105 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:54,480 who made this language course for you just put into the scaffolding of the Duolingo tears. 106 00:07:54,480 --> 00:08:02,000 I could not believe how effective it was and that's without being comprehensive. 107 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:07,800 Duolingo missed tons of basic phrases and vocabulary that would have been very helpful 108 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:14,600 and it wasn't exactly structured like incrementally. 109 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:19,560 It's more study this simple thing and then it'll get kind of harder later on. 110 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,880 But the topics aren't connected. 111 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:26,640 It's very easy to get lost in the different topics of Duolingo. 112 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:28,280 But that didn't seem to matter. 113 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:33,800 As long as I put in 30 minutes a day or something like that, I could very clearly tell that 114 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:38,360 I was getting better at talking and just more comfortable around everybody else speaking 115 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:41,440 this language I was putting a little bit of time into. 116 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:44,680 Even one lesson a day made a difference in Portugal. 117 00:08:44,680 --> 00:08:52,320 So I used to highly recommend Duolingo and the problem now is that they destroyed everything 118 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:54,080 and I can't use it at all. 119 00:08:54,080 --> 00:09:03,640 I have tried to use it since they retooled the entire app but it's so plotting and uninviting 120 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:10,280 with a new crown system and they took away all the fun game incentives. 121 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:16,400 So it still has the bad structure but you're basically just learning vocabulary flashcards 122 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:17,720 at this point. 123 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:22,960 It doesn't encourage you as much or I don't get that out of Duolingo like I used to. 124 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:30,720 So you should try it out because if I'm somehow missing something or most people can get something 125 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:36,320 out of the app that I can't, it was a great resource for me for years until they retooled 126 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:41,360 everything and I can't use it anymore or I don't like to use it anymore. 127 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:46,040 Other than Duolingo, I didn't have a ton of success with the other apps. 128 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:51,320 Memorize or a babble or whatever there was, I just didn't really connect with those 129 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:59,040 and I like studying at my own pace and because I'll get into a language then just search 130 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:04,080 forward five chapters just be like, okay, that's interesting and that's okay, sure. 131 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:10,920 And none of the apps I used had the structure I liked or the ability to teach me what I 132 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:16,320 wanted to know and like I said, even though Duolingo missed a whole bunch of stuff, by the 133 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:23,240 end of a Duolingo course, I was pretty confident using that language around town or with a local. 134 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:27,320 I knew it didn't sound great by which I mean I knew it sounded terrible but I also knew 135 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:32,040 that they would understand me and I would get most of my meaning across and they could 136 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:35,080 help pick up the slack as a native speaker. 137 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:40,920 I started using drops and that's pretty good for basic vocabulary but I don't know if 138 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:46,680 that's developed as much as I would like it to be to be an actual recommendation although 139 00:10:46,680 --> 00:10:52,440 it does help me get into the language and it's only three minutes a lesson and the art 140 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:53,440 is nice. 141 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,240 It's a fun little gamified language app. 142 00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:01,680 So that's my second now that's the one I use instead of Duolingo now but I'm not getting 143 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:04,840 out of it what I got out of Duolingo. 144 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:07,520 So let's move on to Rosetta Stone. 145 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:14,240 Now I haven't used the app but I can very easily see how the PC program fits right into an 146 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:20,520 app form and the PC program of Rosetta Stone is the most comprehensive, structured and 147 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:26,560 useful language learning tool I have ever used leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. 148 00:11:26,560 --> 00:11:28,280 Duolingo included. 149 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:34,680 Even in my Duolingo heyday I knew I wasn't quite learning everything I should and my brain 150 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:40,840 wasn't absorbing everything as effortlessly as I do with Rosetta Stone. 151 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:48,200 It's so natural and so easy to pick up the pictures, the reference pictures they use 152 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:51,320 particularly in Rosetta Stone are fantastic. 153 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:57,280 So you can't mistake a spatula for a fork which happens in every other program I have 154 00:11:57,280 --> 00:11:58,520 ever used to study a language. 155 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:03,400 Half the time they'll say something you'll have to like study the image for a second to 156 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:10,720 know what they're talking about but with Rosetta Stone great image references great audio 157 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:12,800 references too. 158 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:16,640 It goes by gender so if you're looking at a picture of a young woman you're going to 159 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:21,640 get a voice of a young woman saying the phrase they're trying to teach you or an older 160 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:25,760 man you're going to get the voice of an older man which really helps my brain click 161 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:29,360 into the meaning of something it feels so much more like there's a real person talking 162 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:34,720 my brain just pays more attention to the phrase they're trying to teach me and the pronunciation 163 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:42,520 is great also very important with the audio and the vocabulary is it's more accurate all 164 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:48,480 of the apps including Duolingo will use like the common dictionary definition of whatever's 165 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:56,520 online especially with AI these days but Rosetta Stone has the real definitions and words 166 00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:03,360 and just the vocabulary that you would actually use in the real world I find their audio 167 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:08,080 and the vocabulary so much better structured so you don't have to go through all this work 168 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:12,040 of memorizing a phrase and then find out you've been using three extra words the whole 169 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:18,660 time because you're using an AI powered app that just grabbed a random definition from 170 00:13:18,660 --> 00:13:26,400 an online dictionary Rosetta Stone's audio is clear and accurate a very relevant lessons 171 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:32,800 connected to each other and it builds very clearly it's so easy to tell the amount of work 172 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:40,240 that linguists and devs have put into this program so if you're interested in languages 173 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:48,920 Rosetta Stone is number one it just works if you are walking around or you want to supplement 174 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:55,320 to Rosetta Stone the Pimsler audio courses are great they are particularly useful in learning 175 00:13:55,320 --> 00:14:00,920 the cadences and rhythms I was talking about so that when someone like a local speaks to 176 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:08,040 you you don't get bold over and confused by this huge wall of words that you can't differentiate 177 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:13,120 the Pimsler audio courses completely changed that for me when I was listening to someone 178 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:20,200 speak Chinese it was just like a tsunami of foreign phonemes that I didn't understand 179 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:25,040 but just by listening to the Pimsler courses while I was running or whatever even though 180 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:30,600 they were speaking at the same speed the way they introduced it which is very basic they 181 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:36,720 just introduced the English and then the local language I don't know how they do it but 182 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:42,760 they trained my brain to understand words distinctly and it just made more sense to me after 183 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:51,120 listening to the Pimsler courses so I recommend Rosetta Stone and Pimsler as a supplement 184 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:56,560 but the number one thing no matter what you use whether it's a book or an AI app or Rosetta 185 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:02,800 Stone is consistency and time the amount of time you put into studying the language will 186 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:09,160 directly affect what you get out of it it really is one to one if you're studying 15 minutes 187 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:13,880 a day you're going to learn something for sure especially if you study every day 15 minutes 188 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:19,840 if you learn 30 you're going to learn twice as much it is such a direct feedback that 189 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:25,840 you should experiment with it like you can check yourself spend five days working 15 minutes 190 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:30,440 a day and then spend five days working 30 minutes a day at whatever language you're doing 191 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:38,680 and you'll just see such a rapid increase twofold some might say and it can really supercharge 192 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:44,680 your language learning by just adding a few more minutes a day it makes such a big difference 193 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:49,960 so if you're planning on traveling long term and you stay in one place longer like two or three 194 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:56,240 months at a time or six months at a time or a year it's really worth it to put in the time 195 00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:02,200 that first week you get there so that you can immediately be immersed in the culture and 196 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:09,200 get to talking with people from that culture sooner because that's the next thing that's 197 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:16,800 what's so valuable everything a local tells you is going to help you better understand the 198 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:21,720 culture and what's happening and help you interact with the country more and appreciate 199 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:27,480 what is happening around you more the better you understand what the locals are saying the 200 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:31,320 better you're going to understand every single thing about that country and I don't mean 201 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:38,400 the functionalities or practicalities of where the biblioteca is it's more like why you 202 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:44,560 should eat that before you eat that because rice will settle your stomach and prep it for 203 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:50,800 solid food and oil or why everybody seems more confrontational because they're speaking 204 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:55,960 in a tonal language and the only way to consistently make sure people are understanding subtle 205 00:16:55,960 --> 00:17:03,640 differences in tones every phone name you need to talk louder or what that particular 206 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:09,440 action you've noticed 10% of the population of that country doing every time they walk by 207 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:15,840 a box that one is Thai people praying at prayer houses while walking down the street every 208 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:20,760 single prayer house on the street so if you're lucky enough to meet a local who can speak 209 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:27,680 even conversational English ask them your questions or just listen people are happy to explain 210 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:32,280 in whatever level of detail you want the questions you have about their culture especially 211 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:37,480 if they're not expecting to see you there in their country they'll be happy to tell you 212 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:41,520 everything you want to know about every aspect that you don't yet understand you don't 213 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:46,440 want to badger anyone but I have found that people love sharing their knowledge about 214 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:51,640 their culture they're proud to share what they know and they're very gratified that you 215 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:57,200 carry enough to ask these questions I often refer to learning languages as building a subway 216 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:03,080 map of the language in your brain like each significant words to you that you learn makes 217 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:10,440 the entire subway map more concrete more real and more significant to your brain if you 218 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:15,840 need to learn something or you really like learning something your brain learns it faster 219 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:22,360 so I tend to gravitate toward the things I enjoy the most first so I always learn food 220 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:30,040 first in a country I always learn how to say like tree a book the things that I care about 221 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:36,720 my hobbies hiking or reading or food especially I learned those words first and those become 222 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:42,140 anchor points and I can go off of that book okay so what's read what's the plural for 223 00:18:42,140 --> 00:18:50,160 books if I know that then I can apply it to trees and it all spirals out of these vocabulary 224 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:55,960 hubs and the more hubs that I have the more well connected the language becomes in my brain 225 00:18:55,960 --> 00:19:04,800 and the more my brain cares about it if I strictly follow the curriculum that an app might teach 226 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:08,520 me and I'm like okay I have to learn this word before I learn that word because that's the 227 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:13,920 order they've presented it to me it's going to be slower and my brain isn't going to 228 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:19,120 care as much so definitely find the words that you care about more and just learn those learn 229 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:25,480 those words that you can easily remember whether it's music or guitar specifically or marine 230 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:31,480 life whatever it is that your brain can easily latch on to learn as much about that stuff 231 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:37,280 that you like first because then your brain is going to attach significance to these new 232 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:41,720 sounds and mouth shapes that you're making it's going to be like oh this must be something 233 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:47,160 important because we like this like we already care about this so it'll be easier to learn 234 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:52,320 other stuff if you teach your brain hey look there's a bunch of stuff we already like that I can learn 235 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:57,920 that I want to learn you can spring off of that knowledge base however brief or meager that 236 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:02,320 knowledge base may seem in the beginning one of the first things I do when I land in a 237 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:08,080 country is grab a menu I kind of missed that they don't have paper menus at many places anymore 238 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:12,800 because I would get a menu translate what sounded great to me and I would remember a few 239 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:18,280 of those at least and I'd order them and once I ordered food my brain was like oh this is a food 240 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:23,440 sound okay we'll remember this forever then so I'm never going to forget see home tragedy 241 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:29,960 down the end or Hweiguo or P.D.O. Kaoya I'm never going to forget those for the rest of my life 242 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:35,040 because those are some of my favorite foods in China and my brain is like yeah this is what 243 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:41,120 we care about and by using that if I go into a restaurant and I say can I get the P.D.O. Kaoya 244 00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:47,080 the person is going to say back you know she's your or do I or whatever back to me and my brain is 245 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:54,320 going to connect their response with what I said building off of that hub that I made so whatever 246 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:59,960 field you're interested in or subject you're interested in learn those words first that you feel 247 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:09,720 naturally inclined toward and any response or connection to that vocabulary is going to naturally 248 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:15,280 build the subway map of whatever language you're learning in your mind it'll become easier to learn 249 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:20,880 other words that are connected to the things you intrinsically you naturally care about Spanish 250 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:27,160 was probably the first language I learned back in high school but I did pretty well at that and then 251 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:33,720 nothing I basically didn't try again to learn any language for 10 years until I went to China and 252 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:39,280 I was like okay I'm gonna teach English here I'll be here a while I should learn some stuff 253 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:44,840 and that's how I figured out a lot of these language tips I'm sharing with you it was just through 254 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:51,600 trying a whole bunch of different things like the menu thing after a few days maybe a couple weeks 255 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:57,560 of not making any progress I was like okay I know words for food I'm going to remember those words 256 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:01,880 so I guess I should learn all of the words for food on the menu and maybe I can build off of 257 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:08,440 that because regular interactions weren't helping me I was I could say the basic ones 258 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:13,680 how are you and what are you doing but as soon as I said how are you they'd answer with like five 259 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:19,640 different sentences and I just be like I don't know sorry so I went to my favorite restaurant took a menu 260 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:27,200 and worked on that and I knew all those words and then when I had that like focal point like I 261 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:33,120 said any response I got when I talked about food my brain cataloged it was like okay this is the 262 00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:37,760 response to this what is that word doesn't mean oh salty or sweet okay we'll remember salty and 263 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:44,520 sweet then do you like do you not like and it just build up from there once I know do you like something 264 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:50,000 I can apply that to all topics not just food oh do you like this music oh do you like America oh 265 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:56,480 do you like China also making your own rules to remember or at least for me making my own rules 266 00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:03,360 to remember really helped me with Chinese the tones any way that a textbook explained it I was like 267 00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:12,000 I get the tones are different and I understand in English we have is that a ball that is a ball like I 268 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:18,000 know the tones are different in English also but I just can't wrap my brain around the four 269 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:23,760 different tones I didn't know at that time that Cantonese had nine tones or tie had 23 or whatever 270 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:30,880 it is but I couldn't even wrap my head around these four tones I was trying to brute force the 271 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:36,000 memorization of every single word even though my brain didn't appreciate the differences between 272 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:44,400 tones and only the basic neutral tone and interrogative tone in English so I came up with a 273 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:55,760 system of the four main Mandarin tones so this is the four main Mandarin tones ah ah ah the way 274 00:23:55,760 --> 00:24:05,840 these four tones are always taught is one two three four flat rising falling then rising falling 275 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:14,800 which is mildly descriptive but not exactly intuitive um so I came up with robot question unsure 276 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:27,600 angry and the first time I thought of that I remembered that so robot ah question ah unsure ah angry 277 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:33,840 ah and as soon as I did that I was like okay I get the tones now one two three four robot question 278 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:40,160 unsure angry and then neutral ah and every time I hired a new teacher or someone asked me to explain 279 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:45,520 Chinese to them they were like what the heck is up with those tones then it was like easier than 280 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:52,080 you think so robot question unsure angry and every single person I have explained that to I'll give 281 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:58,480 them the four tones without telling them my scaffolding for them and they'll be like how the heck 282 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:04,400 can you remember that and then you say robot question unsure angry and then I'll be like okay so 283 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:12,240 the word is ma and it's unsure and they'll go ma because they know what unsure sounds like 284 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:19,840 but if I said okay the word is ma with the third tone the brain is like the fuck is the third tone 285 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:24,800 nobody knows what the third tone so it really makes a difference if you can understand 286 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:32,080 the way a language process works in a way that makes sense to you like intuitive sense 287 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:37,600 that is just as valid as whatever is written on the page or this app is speaking to you 288 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:42,000 make that in your brain and your brain will remember it better your brain is telling you how to think 289 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:47,360 about it I just thought what does that sound like if it's flat ah sounds like a robot okay 290 00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:56,640 what about ah that's a question you know so you can make up these scaffolding in between the 291 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:03,360 subway hubs of vocabulary and phrases in your mind and place what you are learning within the scaffolding 292 00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:11,680 that is most intuitive to yourself nomonas are also great so there's quaguo row which is twice cooked 293 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:20,320 pork but if I even think quaguo row that sounds like hey great row row I remember because it's meat 294 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:26,960 I'm not gonna forget that it's used in every type of meat but quaguo twice cooked pork but if I 295 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:31,920 think hey great meat my brain will remember that because it's a phrase that makes sense to me 296 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:39,280 intuitively I want to eat great meat so quaguo row becomes hey great meat and having that pairing 297 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:44,320 just makes it easier to learn that phrase because it's connecting to something my brain already knows 298 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:49,840 the English phrase in the meaning of hey great meat and to be clear don't use the same mnemonic I 299 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:57,600 use because your meanings your brain network has different connections just find any mnemonic 300 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:03,600 that works for you and make that connection whatever that connection is because if it's the most 301 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:12,080 natural connection to you your brain will remember it so any pairing any instinctual technique that 302 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:21,760 tells you how to absorb vocabulary or makes a phrase more relevant to you go with that it will work it 303 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:27,520 will stick in your brain better and every single word every single phoneme that you're able to stick 304 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:33,760 in your brain creates that subway map that scaffolding that connects everything else and soon you're 305 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:40,560 going to be using sentences or very importantly since you aren't going to be fluent for a long time 306 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:46,640 you'll be able to cobble stuff together if you learned very cold and then you learned water a long time 307 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:51,360 ago but you don't know how to say ice if you say very cold cold cold water to someone in their language 308 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:56,160 they'll be like oh ice and then you'll have that word you'll still be able to get around even 309 00:27:56,160 --> 00:28:01,360 barely conversational you'll be able to get your meaning across and people will be able to help you 310 00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:09,040 with whatever you're looking for speaking of this let's talk about difficulty it's often said like 311 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:13,840 Chinese is one of the most difficult languages in the world or whatever is one of the most difficult 312 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:20,240 languages in the world I don't see a huge difference between all of the languages I've studied in 313 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:27,360 terms of difficulty like the complex characters of Chinese are much more difficult for a western 314 00:28:27,360 --> 00:28:33,360 audience to discern than moving from English to Spanish would be of course but that's just the 315 00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:40,960 written connotation the language itself has never made much of an impact the amount of time I put into 316 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:48,080 studying that language makes a way bigger difference the more time I put into a language the better I 317 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:54,480 get at that language that's it like no matter which country I've been in every single time the more I 318 00:28:54,480 --> 00:29:00,400 study the better I get at that language I like to think about that like instruments like people 319 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:05,200 think of the guitar is really easy to learn and people think of the violin is very difficult to learn 320 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:11,120 but they're both pieces of wood with some strings on them and if you put in as much time to the violin 321 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:17,120 that you put in to the guitar you're going to get good at either instrument maybe you can pluck 322 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:23,440 along with guitar tunes quicker but you're still going to learn the violin if you put time into 323 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:28,400 the violin you're going to learn the flute if you put time into the flute none of the people born 324 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:35,200 in that country are inherently amazing at Portuguese they grew up with Portuguese so they naturally had 325 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:39,920 to put a whole bunch of time into it and now they're fluent Portuguese speakers speaking any language is 326 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:47,120 the exact same you're starting from nowhere you put time and dedication into that language you are 327 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:54,880 going to learn that language which brings us to age now I always hear that it's easier for young 328 00:29:54,880 --> 00:30:01,360 people to learn a language more than old people I think that's due to like the natural plasticity 329 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:07,520 they're just more they're absorbing more stuff the younger they are usually but it is not a 330 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:14,320 significant factor in learning languages as far as I've seen time is the factor here and focus 331 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:18,480 because kids don't have a ton of things going on their lives they don't have to worry about getting 332 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:23,760 to their job or what the utility bill is going to be next week or what their boyfriend 333 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:32,480 uh did last week to their dog um dark but they don't have a lot of concerns going on so 334 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:39,440 when children are learning something that's what they're doing that's like 25% of their lives 335 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:45,440 is learning the primary colors so of course it's easier for them to learn new languages they're not 336 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:51,360 getting up to much else and having taught such a range of ages I don't see the important factor as 337 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:56,960 age I simply see it as how much time and focus you spend on learning a language 338 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:06,720 anyone who tries to learn a language and puts time into that learning process learns the language 339 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:14,880 I have known I have taught people 60 years old who have picked up English pretty quickly um and they 340 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:20,480 can appreciate more complex phrases so sometimes quicker than the kids because they're they're 341 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:26,400 able to learn more and categorize it better and they understand their brains better so they know what 342 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:33,120 they're learning kids will learn quickly but adults will learn quickly too that said I know tons of 343 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:40,000 adults who just don't try and then will live in a country for literally 15 years and still know 344 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:47,280 almost nothing about the language and they chalk it down to not too difficult but they won't 345 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:52,400 try learning the language because they think it's too difficult I've worked with those people too 346 00:31:52,400 --> 00:32:00,240 I am firmly convinced that anyone at any age can learn any language it's just investing your time 347 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:08,720 and that investment pays dividends there is so much value you get from hearing the things you're 348 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:15,520 curious about in the new country from the locals themselves uncountable the number of times that 349 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:22,320 someone has said something off hand that I hadn't considered in all of a sudden a bunch of stuff 350 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:27,760 clicks in place and even if you can't speak the language well if you start trying to speak their 351 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:34,000 language and they happen to speak English better than you speak Italian or whatever they'll be much more 352 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:42,800 gracious about trying to meet you halfway and using your language uh then they would be otherwise if 353 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:47,760 they knew that you weren't even trying to learn anything about their culture you showing that you care 354 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:52,640 about their culture means okay well at least this person is worth talking to they're not completely 355 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:59,680 self-absorbed and that can be a great key into places you should travel food you should try or 356 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:04,960 just stuff that you should know about the country to better appreciate the time you're spending in it 357 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:11,600 okay another tool I'll throw in that I only recently started using our podcasts um actually didn't 358 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:19,520 listen to many podcasts for a long time but when I started um learning Arabic I was like oh you know 359 00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:23,360 what I should I listen to podcasts all the time now maybe I should check if they're and there are 360 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:30,000 like a hundred Arabic podcasts so it's very simple to try a few and just see what works for you 361 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:36,720 I find them very helpful just like the Pimsler I was talking about earlier they give you a native 362 00:33:36,720 --> 00:33:45,200 speaker speaking in their cadence uh teaching you vocabulary and useful phrases it's usually not as 363 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:50,560 structured as the Pimsler course will be but there is something about having a real person 364 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:57,760 earnestly teaching their language or just a word at a time that I find easier for my brain to 365 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:02,960 reciprocate with and try to learn what they're saying much more than reading a word in a book 366 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:10,880 if I hear it it makes much more sense so podcasts are amazing I would try them out there's an overwhelming 367 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:16,640 amount for every single language but you'll that's difficult to choose one but you're probably on the 368 00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:23,200 upside going to find one that you can appreciate you know it's just turned into more of a tips 369 00:34:23,200 --> 00:34:31,200 episode than I thought it was going to um the number one passive way to learn a language uh is 370 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:37,280 something that I've done and you have to have a lot of discipline to do it but again it is passive 371 00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:41,120 so the discipline is really only you have to watch a thing 372 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:47,920 I used to use muzi as a kid you watch to move you over and over and then you learn that language 373 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:53,600 passively by watching that thing so when I was having trouble understanding people in mandarin 374 00:34:53,600 --> 00:35:00,320 I actually watched well who's on long the um leong version of a crouching tiger hidden dragon 375 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:05,200 and it's funny because people are from all over Asia so the accents are all different 376 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:10,640 but they are all speaking mandarin sometimes even phonetically because some of them speak cantonese 377 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:19,520 and stador completely different language and I watched that movie every day for two months or 378 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:27,360 something maybe six weeks so I watched that two hour movie or whatever yeah for for 40 days I don't 379 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:35,360 know and for the first week I was like I think I'm I think my ears are tuning into this more 380 00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:42,560 and almost immediately by the second week everyone was asking me how my Chinese had improved so 381 00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:48,240 drastically from one week to the next they were like last week you didn't understand anything I said 382 00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:54,080 and now it seems like you understand my entire sentence and all of the sentences I'm saying 383 00:35:54,080 --> 00:36:00,720 and I told them that technique and one person used it and they learned English from one month to 384 00:36:00,720 --> 00:36:07,040 the next so it definitely works but you also have to watch the same thing and just let your brain get 385 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:12,080 used to it which when they talk about how kids learn you know they watch the exact same thing a hundred 386 00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:18,400 times in a row so I don't know maybe maybe there's something to it I will just say that that personal 387 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:26,000 tip worked for me wonders I was amazed at how quickly my comprehension and my speaking level improved 388 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:34,000 just picked a movie in the language I wanted to learn watched it once a day for I don't know 389 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:41,920 six weeks when I stopped but I saw definite improvement after the first week and the native speakers 390 00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:48,080 around me saw that improvement as well and commented on it so it's a drastic measure but if you want to 391 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:54,080 learn language a lot faster that works I've had a couple other people try it and for every person 392 00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:59,440 that actually stuck with it for two weeks I think three weeks was the longest anyone else made it 393 00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:04,320 because everyone's like I don't want to watch this out again but everyone who made it a couple weeks 394 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:11,040 was like yeah I mean it worked but I hate watching the same thing over and over but it's crouchy 395 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:16,400 tiger hit a dragon talk about a fun movie so if you're studying Mandarin Chinese I recommend that 396 00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:25,200 and connections again are just as important the English word juggernaut is a direct derivative of the 397 00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:33,120 name of the Hindu god juggernaut like this big buff god that Indians have and I know like the X-Men 398 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:38,400 character so I can make that connection and I'll remember that word for the rest of my life 399 00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:44,960 so because the language has become more significant to my interests any new part of that language will 400 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:52,720 become more natural and simpler to assimilate there really aren't any pitfalls to learning new languages 401 00:37:52,720 --> 00:37:59,040 especially the language of the country you're living in people like you more when you're traveling 402 00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:06,480 you'll like the people more you'll appreciate the culture more it's fun to say new things in 403 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:14,320 words that sound crazy to me anyway I love doing that it's a little scary at first but as soon as you say 404 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:20,720 amangerzu koro in italian and the guy is like oh he wants to eat something sweet and gives you a 405 00:38:20,720 --> 00:38:27,920 you know shows you where all the sweets are capped it's so satisfying to see the people light up 406 00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:35,440 and be like oh he is speaking our language that's okay he it's very satisfying to see that 407 00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:41,920 appreciation on someone else's face and seeing that appreciation makes me care so much more about 408 00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:46,880 all the people around me I'm like okay they like it if they can see I care about their country and 409 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:54,400 their culture at the end of it learning languages comes down to putting in the time finding the things 410 00:38:54,400 --> 00:39:00,400 you care about and learning those first so that you have something to build off of and putting in 411 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:05,840 the time and then get out there and speak a few words the first time you're going to be nervous 412 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:11,600 but as soon as you use a phrase correctly and someone lights up it is so encouraging even if they 413 00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:16,800 say five things after that that you don't understand you just changed how you interact with the world 414 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:26,560 if you now know how to order roast duck you'll always know that and now in that whole country you can 415 00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:32,160 order roast duck that changes your experience of the country I highly recommend learning the language 416 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:37,520 of the places you travel to I try to wherever I go and of course if you have any questions about 417 00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:43,280 specific languages or you're just curious about anything you can send an email to bit of a 418 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:51,280 rambler at gmail.com and I'll get back to you and it looks like flights are 132 bucks from Florida 419 00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:57,280 to Brazil right now and there are who knows how many free apps it looks like on the Play Store for 420 00:39:57,280 --> 00:40:02,880 Brazilian Portuguese my house is waiting go hang out in Brazil for a while 421 00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:05,360 [VIDEO PLAYBACK]