The video is OUT!
While traveling in Osaka, I met up with
@mattvsjapan
and we delved into his unique approach to learning Japanese, his mindset, methodology... and he even shared with me some exclusive insights into his first few months in Japan😊
My best advice for language learning is to get used to not understanding everything as this is the norm until your reach high proficiency. It's very important to develop your ability to guess things from context or simply ask/look it up if the situation permits.
Most people are shocked when I tell them I work 3 jobs, speak 10 languages fluently, have no accent in any of them, learn languages all day every day, maintain a healthy social life, have a YouTube channel... All on my own! I mean, anything is possible when you lie.
Linguists : We know quite a bit about how we learn languages but we're still figuring it out
YouTube Polyglots : I KNOW THE SECRET TO LEARNING A LANGUAGE I WILL TELL YOU EVERYTHING 😳😱🤯
Dear linguists,
What's a language concept/idea that non-linguists usually either ignore or reject?
For me, it's that non-standard forms of language aren't mistakes.
If you're able to correct someone's language, that means that you understood what they meant to say or write. So since that 'mistake' doesn't impede communication, consider whether correcting them is appropriate or not.
For those who are above beginner level in Japanese, what is one resources that you've used which really helped you incredibly. Ideally something that most people might not think about? Thanks :D
@franceinfo
Les gens qui disent "Mais l'académie a dit que (...)." On s'en fout. Les académiciens ne sont pas des linguistes et n'ont aucune légitimité à se prononcer sur la langue. L'idéologie linguistique est hideuse. Il serait temps d'abolir cette académie en carton.
Being a native speaker doesn't automatically make you a good teacher of that language. Native fluency isn't really a show of competence in and of itself.
Is it me or linguistics is one of the only scientific fields where non-experts think they know more than actual experts? It doesn't seem as prevalent in fields like, say, physics or medicine
I find the belief that 'language learning should be fun' to be toxic. It creates the expectation that as soon as it's not fun we should quit because something is wrong.
Honing any skill requires hard work. The result IS fun. But the process can't always be.
No, code-switching isactually a very complex way for bilinguals to communicate. It's just badly understood and highly stigmatised by people who don't know much about bilingualism. For example, many don't realise that with code-switching you can express yourself with more nuance.
I think it's fair. We need to stop expecting people in non-English speaking countries to speak English.
Tourists should accommodate the countries they visit more.
One day I'll create a language app which will teach you a language in 5 years. No one will buy it but at least it'll be realistic and free of false promises.
Can we stop pretending that speaking a language fluently is being able to introduce yourself and talk about your hobbies? That's literally A1 level. Beginner level.
If you feel insecure about calling yourself bilingual/polyglot simply because you have a foreign accent or make some mistakes, stop. You're bilingual. "Perfect bilingualism" is the exception, not the norm. Don't judge your bilingualism against monolingual standards.
For me it's whenever a person says a language is dying because it borrows words from English.
Or when they call out a linguist for making a spelling/grammar mistake (typo or not)
@UjuAnya
It's so strange to be this woman. If you think band aids that match darker skin tones are weird/stupid/whatever, isn't the normal thing to do to just ignore it and move on?
The idea that learning more than one language at a time is bad for linguistic development is a myth and a lie. Learn as many languages at a time as you wish. That's all.
Those "French words English ppl pronounce wrong" type videos are pretty annoying. Those words might have come from French but they're no longer French words. They have been fully adapted into the English language. Therefore they're governed by different pronunciation rules.
Sometimes language learning can be disheartening but remember that any new word you learn, any grammar concept you master, any book you finish reading, any film you watch IS progress. Good luck! ✌️
Language learner: you don't need to study grammar so much when you're learning a language
Me, an obsessive grammar lover: but then... what's the point of learning a language? lol
The more I see people/companies promoting "speaking like a native speaker" the more it sounds wrong to me to do so. Why can't we just sound foreign in another language since that's what we are?
So, fun little thread to illustrate that sometimes, us native speakers have no idea of what words are commonly used or not in our own language.
The starting point is this post on The Language Nerds page on Facebook. 1/
People often confuse "native prononciation/sounding native" with high fluency/proficiency. They're not really related. You can have both but you can also definitely have one without the other.
A common misconsception in language learning is that books/media made for kids are necessarily appropriate for beginners.
Children's materials do offer simpler language but young native speakers have a deeper language comprehension than beginners.
When you start learning a language, the first few months/years are quite overwhelming. You always feel like you don't know enough or aren't good enough and still have SO MUCH to learn. It can get quite frustrating. But eventually wih time, everything falls into place! :)
I still remember the time someone told me 'once you can understand a language, it's impossible to consciously not understand it anymore'. It blew my mind.
The first step of learning a language isn't to master the grammar and have perfect accuracy. It's to make sense. Your grammar and vocabulary don't necessarily need to be spot on!
When a non-native speaker makes a mistake, I find it so interesting to try and work out why they made that mistake in the first place. Like, what it says about the grammar, syntax, spelling, structure, etc. of their native language(s)
It blows my mind how so many French people think French is that superior godsent language. Calm down guys. French is as good as any other language in the world. It's not superior. It's not better. It's just a language. Our culture isn't superior to any other either.
What's your most embarrassing language mistake?
Once at the restaurant I wanted to ask if I could eat something with my fingers and I said "Can I finger it?"
I think this is a very English centered take. I know that in France, native speakers do know grammar. Maybe not to the level of a French teacher but we are all taught grammar for years in school because French can't be spelled without conscious knowledge of grammar.
It's crazy how the stronger someone's foreign accent is in a language the less we assume they're fluent. Conversely, we consider someone more fluent if they have a near native accent
To all L2 speakers of English: I know most people don't really acknowledge our efforts to learn English and it's taken for granted. Well, I just want to say WELL DONE. You're so badass. English is hard to learn but you didn't give up!! 💪💪
I really get irritated when people use someone's spelling/grammar mistakes to humiliate them, instead of focusing and what they have to say. You're not smart when you do that. You're a complete loser. Here, I said it.
People criticising the mistakes I make in English in my videos and I'm over here like 'yeah English is my fourth language, I ain't gonna apologise for that'