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10:46
Transcript
0:13
I love learning foreign languages.
0:16
In fact, I love it so much that I like
to learn a new language every two years,
0:20
currently working on my eighth one.
0:22
When people find that out about me,
they always ask me,
0:25
"How do you do that? What's your secret?"
0:27
And to be honest, for many years,
my answer would be,
0:30
"I don't know. I simply
love learning languages."
0:33
But people were never
happy with that answer.
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0:36
They wanted to know why they are spending
years trying to learn even one language,
0:40
never achieving fluency,
0:41
and here I come, learning
one language after another.
0:44
They wanted to know
the secret of polyglots,
0:46
people who speak a lot of languages.
0:49
And that made me wonder, too,
0:50
how do actually other polyglots do it?
0:53
What do we have in common?
0:54
And what is it that enables us
0:56
to learn languages
so much faster than other people?
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0:59
I decided to meet other people
like me and find that out.
1:03
The best place to meet a lot of polyglots
1:05
is an event where hundreds
of language lovers
1:08
meet in one place
to practice their languages.
1:11
There are several such polyglot events
organized all around the world,
1:14
and so I decided to go there
1:15
and ask polyglots
about the methods that they use.
1:19
And so I met Benny from Ireland,
1:21
who told me that his method
is to start speaking from day one.
1:26
He learns a few phrases
from a travel phrasebook
1:29
and goes to meet native speakers
1:30
and starts having conversations
with them right away.
1:33
He doesn't mind making
even 200 mistakes a day,
1:36
because that's how he learns,
based on the feedback.
1:39
And the best thing is, he doesn't
even need to travel a lot today,
1:42
because you can easily have
conversations with native speakers
1:45
from the comfort of
your living room, using websites.
1:48
I also met Lucas from Brazil
1:50
who had a really interesting
method to learn Russian.
1:53
He simply added a hundred random
Russian speakers on Skype as friends,
1:58
and then he opened
a chat window with one of them
2:02
and wrote "Hi" in Russian.
2:05
And the person replied, "Hi, how are you?"
2:07
Lucas copied this and put it
into a text window with another person,
2:12
and the person replied,
"I'm fine, thank you, and how are you?"
2:15
Lucas copied this
back to the first person,
2:18
and in this way, he had two strangers
have a conversation with each other
2:22
without knowing about it.
2:23
(Laughter)
2:24
And soon he would start typing himself,
2:26
because he had so many
of these conversations
2:28
that he figured out how
the Russian conversation usually starts.
2:32
What an ingenious method, right?
2:34
And then I met polyglots who always start
by imitating sounds of the language,
2:38
and others who always learn the 500
most frequent words of the language,
2:43
and yet others who always start
by reading about the grammar.
2:47
If I asked a hundred different polyglots,
2:49
I heard a hundred different
approaches to learning languages.
2:53
Everybody seems to have a unique way
they learn a language,
2:57
and yet we all come to the same result
of speaking several languages fluently.
3:02
And as I was listening to these polyglots
telling me about their methods,
3:06
it suddenly dawned on me:
3:08
the one thing we all have in common
3:11
is that we simply found ways to enjoy
the language-learning process.
3:17
All of these polyglots
were talking about language learning
3:20
as if it was great fun.
3:21
You should have seen their faces
3:23
when they were showing me
their colorful grammar charts
3:25
and their carefully handmade flash cards,
3:28
and their statistics
about learning vocabulary using apps,
3:31
or even how they love to cook
based on recipes in a foreign language.
3:36
All of them use different methods,
3:38
but they always make sure
it's something that they personally enjoy.
3:42
I realized that this is actually
how I learn languages myself.
3:46
When I was learning Spanish,
I was bored with the text in the textbook.
3:49
I mean, who wants to read about Jose
3:51
asking about the directions
to the train station. Right?
3:54
I wanted to read "Harry Potter" instead,
3:57
because that was
my favorite book as a child,
3:59
and I have read it many times.
4:00
So I got the Spanish translation
of "Harry Potter" and started reading,
4:04
and sure enough, I didn't understand
almost anything at the beginning,
4:07
but I kept on reading
because I loved the book,
4:10
and by the end of the book, I was able
to follow it almost without any problems.
4:14
And the same thing happened
when I was learning German.
4:16
I decided to watch "Friends,"
my favorite sitcom, in German,
4:20
and again, at the beginning
it was all just gibberish.
4:23
I didn't know where one word finished
and another one started,
4:26
but I kept on watching every day
because it's "Friends."
4:29
I can watch it in any language.
I love it so much.
4:31
And after the second or third season,
4:33
seriously, the dialogue
started to make sense.
4:37
I only realized this
after meeting other polyglots.
4:40
We are no geniuses
4:41
and we have no shortcut
to learning languages.
4:44
We simply found ways
how to enjoy the process,
4:48
how to turn language learning
from a boring school subject
4:51
into a pleasant activity
which you don't mind doing every day.
4:55
If you don't like writing
words down on paper,
4:57
you can always type them in an app.
4:59
If you don't like listening
to boring textbook material,
5:02
find interesting content on YouTube
or in podcasts for any language.
5:06
If you're a more introverted person
5:08
and you can't imagine speaking
to native speakers right away,
5:11
you can apply the method of self-talk.
5:13
You can talk to yourself
in the comfort of your room,
5:16
describing your plans for the weekend,
how your day has been,
5:19
or even take a random
picture from your phone
5:21
and describe the picture
to your imaginary friend.
5:25
This is how polyglots learn languages,
5:27
and the best news is,
it's available to anyone
5:30
who is willing to take the learning
into their own hands.
5:34
So meeting other polyglots
helped me realize
5:36
that it is really crucial
to find enjoyment
5:39
in the process of learning languages,
5:41
but also that joy in itself is not enough.
5:45
If you want to achieve fluency
in a foreign language,
5:48
you'll also need to apply
three more principles.
5:51
First of all, you'll need
effective methods.
5:55
If you try to memorize a list of words
for a test tomorrow,
5:58
the words will be stored
in your short-term memory
6:01
and you'll forget them after a few days.
6:03
If you, however,
want to keep words long term,
6:06
you need to revise them
in the course of a few days repeatedly
6:09
using the so-called space repetition.
6:11
You can use apps which are based
on this system such as Anki or Memrise,
6:15
or you can write lists of word
in a notebook using the Goldlist method,
6:19
which is also very popular
with many polyglots.
6:21
If you're not sure which methods are
effective and what is available out there,
6:25
just check out polyglots'
YouTube channels and websites
6:28
and get inspiration from them.
6:30
If it works for them,
it will most probably work for you too.
6:34
The third principle to follow
6:36
is to create a system in your learning.
6:39
We're all very busy and no one
really has time to learn a language today.
6:43
But we can create that time
if we just plan a bit ahead.
6:47
Can you wake up 15 minutes earlier
than you normally do?
6:51
That would be the perfect time
to revise some vocabulary.
6:54
Can you listen to a podcast
on your way to work while driving?
6:58
Well, that would be great
to get some listening experience.
7:01
There are so many things we can do
without even planning that extra time,
7:05
such as listening to podcasts
on our way to work
7:07
or doing our household chores.
7:09
The important thing is
to create a plan in the learning.
7:12
"I will practice speaking
every Tuesday and Thursday
7:15
with a friend for 20 minutes.
7:17
I will listen to a YouTube video
while having breakfast."
7:21
If you create a system in your learning,
7:24
you don't need to find that extra time,
7:26
because it will become
a part of your everyday life.
7:29
And finally, if you want to learn
a language fluently,
7:33
you need also a bit of patience.
7:36
It's not possible to learn
a language within two months,
7:39
but it's definitely possible to make
a visible improvement in two months,
7:43
if you learn in small chunks every day
in a way that you enjoy.
7:47
And there is nothing
that motivates us more
7:49
than our own success.
7:51
I vividly remember the moment
7:53
when I understood the first joke
in German when watching "Friends."
7:57
I was so happy and motivated
7:59
that I just kept on watching that day
two more episodes,
8:02
and as I kept watching,
8:03
I had more and more of those moments
of understanding, these little victories,
8:08
and step by step, I got to a level
where I could use the language
8:11
freely and fluently to express anything.
8:14
This is a wonderful feeling.
8:16
I can't get enough of that feeling,
8:18
and that's why I learn
a language every two years.
8:21
So this is the whole polyglot secret.
8:23
Find effective methods
which you can use systematically
8:26
over the period of some time
in a way which you enjoy,
8:29
and this is how polyglots learn
languages within months, not years.
8:35
Now, some of you may be thinking,
8:36
"That's all very nice
to enjoy language learning,
8:39
but isn't the real secret
that you polyglots
8:41
are just super talented
and most of us aren't?"
8:45
Well, there's one thing
I haven't told you about Benny and Lucas.
8:49
Benny had 11 years of Irish Gaelic
and five years of German at school.
8:55
He couldn't speak them
at all when graduating.
8:58
Up to the age of 21, he thought
he didn't have the language gene
9:02
and he could not speak another language.
9:04
Then he started to look
for his way of learning languages,
9:07
which was speaking to native speakers
and getting feedback from them,
9:11
and today Benny can easily
have a conversation in 10 languages.
9:17
Lucas tried to learn English
at school for 10 years.
9:20
He was one of the worst students in class.
9:23
His friends even made fun of him
9:24
and gave him a Russian textbook as a joke
9:27
because they thought he would never
learn that language, or any language.
9:31
And then Lucas started
to experiment with methods,
9:33
looking for his own way to learn,
9:36
for example, by having Skype chat
conversations with strangers.
9:40
And after just 10 years,
9:42
Lucas is able to speak
11 languages fluently.
9:47
Does that sound like a miracle?
9:49
Well, I see such miracles
every single day.
9:52
As a language mentor,
9:54
I help people learn
languages by themselves,
9:56
and I see this every day.
9:57
People struggle with language learning
for five, 10, even 20 years,
10:02
and then they suddenly take
their learning into their own hands,
10:05
start using materials which they enjoy,
more effective methods,
10:09
or they start tracking their learning
10:11
so that they can appreciate
their own progress,
10:14
and that's when suddenly
10:16
they magically find the language talent
that they were missing all their lives.
10:21
So if you've also tried
to learn a language
10:23
and you gave up,
thinking it's too difficult
10:26
or you don't have the language talent,
10:28
give it another try.
10:29
Maybe you're also
just one enjoyable method away
10:32
from learning that language fluently.
10:34
Maybe you're just one method away
from becoming a polyglot.
10:38
Thank you.
10:40
(Applause)
— end of transcript —
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