Matt vs Japan's Guide to Starting Output
Summary
TLDRThe speaker shares their journey and insights on learning Japanese, emphasizing the importance of both input and output in language acquisition. Initially believing that ample input would lead to natural and perfect output, they later realized the necessity of deliberate practice to improve speaking skills. They suggest starting with a strong focus on input, especially for beginners, then transitioning to output practice after establishing a solid foundation. The speaker recommends adopting a 'parent'— a native speaker to model speech after— and engaging in activities like shadowing, pitch accent training, and recording oneself speaking to identify and correct flaws. They stress the value of consistent practice, self-assessment, and eventually, seeking feedback from native speakers to refine language skills further.
Takeaways
- 📚 Start with a strong emphasis on input, especially in the early stages of language learning, but be aware of the need to transition to output practice after a solid foundation is built.
- 🎯 To actualize your language potential, actively work on improving your output through practice, as natural proficiency won't be achieved without it.
- 📈 After a couple of years of learning, shift your focus to include speaking practice to improve fluency and comfort in using the language.
- 👪 Adopt a 'parent' in the target language — a native speaker from whom you take a significant amount of input, and mimic their speech patterns.
- 🎧 Use shadowing techniques with audiobooks to practice speaking in real-time, focusing on matching the speaker's intonation and rhythm.
- 📉 Identify and work on the specific problems in your speech by recording yourself, listening back, and making corrections.
- 📈 Practice shadowing daily for at least 20 minutes to build muscle memory and improve your speaking abilities.
- 📉 For Japanese, learning and practicing pitch accent is crucial, and should be done alongside general language study.
- 🎥 Record yourself speaking on spontaneous topics and review the recordings to identify areas for improvement.
- 🤔 Engage in self-reflection after output practice to notice weaknesses and actively seek ways to address them through further input.
- 🚀 Regularly seek feedback from native speakers once you have a strong foundation to fine-tune your language skills and address unconscious mistakes.
- 🌟 Be patient with your progress and recognize that achieving native-like proficiency is a long-term goal that requires consistent effort and practice.
Q & A
What was the speaker's initial belief about language learning through input?
-The speaker initially believed that getting enough input would naturally lead to fluent output, and even to the point of speaking like a native speaker without much speaking practice.
What did the speaker realize about the importance of output practice in language learning?
-The speaker realized that while input is crucial, after a certain foundation is built, one needs to start practicing output to improve speaking skills and actualize their language potential.
What is the concept of 'adopting a parent' in language learning?
-'Adopting a parent' refers to choosing a native speaker of the target language to model one's speech after. This involves listening to a lot of input from that person and trying to mimic their speech patterns and idiosyncrasies.
Why is shadowing an effective technique for language output practice?
-Shadowing is effective because it involves listening to a language and repeating it back in real-time, which helps to match the inflection and pronunciation. It also allows for immediate feedback by comparing the output with the input.
How does the speaker suggest incorporating shadowing into a language learning routine?
-The speaker suggests starting with 20 minutes of shadowing per day, preferably in the morning, and gradually increasing the duration as one becomes more comfortable with the technique.
What role does recording oneself speaking a language play in language learning?
-Recording oneself speaking allows learners to review their performance and identify areas for improvement, such as pronunciation errors or awkward phrasing. This self-assessment helps learners to become more aware of their weaknesses and target them during further study.
Why is it important to practice speaking spontaneously rather than from a prepared script?
-Practicing spontaneous speaking helps learners to develop the ability to think and express themselves in real-time, which is a more accurate reflection of natural conversational skills. It also highlights areas where the learner may struggle with immediate language retrieval.
How does the speaker recommend transitioning from solo practice to speaking with native speakers?
-The speaker recommends starting with solo practice for about six months to build a strong foundation. After that, learners should gradually start engaging in conversations with native speakers, focusing on identifying and filling gaps in their language skills.
What is the significance of having a strong input foundation before engaging in extensive output practice?
-A strong input foundation provides a robust internal model of what the language should sound like, which helps learners to recognize their mistakes and understand the correct way to express themselves. Without this foundation, learners may develop bad habits that are difficult to correct.
Why is it beneficial to watch back recordings of one's own language output?
-Watching recordings allows learners to critically assess their own performance, notice mistakes, and become more aware of their language abilities. It also serves as a motivational tool, highlighting areas for improvement and encouraging learners to continue practicing.
How does the speaker view the balance between input, output, and real-life conversations in language learning?
-The speaker views input as the foundation, output as the means to practice and refine skills, and real-life conversations as a way to apply and solidify learning. They emphasize the importance of sequencing these activities correctly to build effective communication skills.
Outlines
😀 The Importance of Balancing Input and Output in Language Learning
The speaker discusses their experience with language learning, emphasizing the common misconception that sheer input alone leads to fluent language output. They explain that while input is crucial, especially for beginners, there comes a point where active practice is necessary to improve one's speaking abilities. The speaker highlights the need to transition from a focus on input to a balance of both input and output to actualize one's language potential.
🎓 Selecting a 'Parent' for Language Modeling
The paragraph introduces the concept of choosing a 'parent', a native speaker whose speech you aim to mimic. This approach is likened to how children often speak like their parents. The speaker suggests that selecting a parent can be based on various factors, including gender, age, and personality match. They also discuss the benefits of using radio show hosts or YouTubers as models, given their engaging speaking style and the availability of their content.
🎧 Shadowing as a Technique for Language Improvement
The speaker delves into the practice of shadowing, which involves listening to a language input and immediately repeating it to improve speaking skills. They recommend starting with audiobooks due to their clear enunciation and consistent pace. The goal is to eventually match the voice's inflection and rhythm. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of daily practice and using new material to prevent memorization and ensure active listening and repetition.
📚 Integrating Pitch Accent Training into Language Learning
The paragraph focuses on the importance of pitch accent, especially in languages like Japanese. The speaker advises learning the pitch accent system and training oneself to recognize and reproduce it accurately. They suggest using tools like Yomi Chan to check the pitch accent of words while reading texts aloud. This practice is meant to build the habit of correct pronunciation and eventually internalize the rules without conscious effort.
🎥 Utilizing Video Recordings for Self-Assessment and Improvement
The speaker recommends recording oneself speaking on a spontaneous topic and then reviewing the video to identify areas for improvement. This method provides a raw assessment of one's speaking abilities and helps to pinpoint specific issues like pronunciation, sentence structure, and pitch accent. The speaker encourages maintaining a daily routine of deliberate practice, which includes shadowing, pitch accent reading, and video recording for self-assessment.
🤝 Transitioning to Conversational Practice and Seeking Feedback
After establishing a strong foundation through individual practice, the speaker suggests gradually engaging in conversations with native speakers. They highlight the importance of real conversations for learning the social aspects of communication and solidifying language skills. The speaker also emphasizes the value of feedback from native speakers to identify and correct issues that one might not be aware of. They propose a structured approach to language output, starting with self-assessment and gradually moving to more interactive and applied settings.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Input
💡Output
💡Shadowing
💡Parent
💡Pitch Accent
💡Fluency
💡Immersion
💡SRS (Spaced Repetition System)
💡Motivation
💡Blind Spots
💡Feedback
Highlights
The importance of input in language learning, but also the necessity to balance it with output practice for fluency.
The concept of 'adopting a parent' - choosing a native speaker to model your language learning after.
The benefits of using radio show hosts or YouTubers as language models due to their clear speech and engaging content.
The recommendation to match gender and age with the chosen 'parent' to better emulate speech patterns.
The practice of shadowing as a method to improve real-time language replication and accent mimicry.
Starting shadowing practice with audiobooks for clarity and consistent pace.
The significance of daily practice and gradually increasing the complexity of shadowing material.
The psychological impact of recording oneself speaking a foreign language and reviewing it for self-assessment.
The strategy of focusing on spontaneous speech during video recording to capture raw language ability.
The use of video self-assessment to identify and correct specific language errors.
The motivational aspect of self-assessment and setting clear goals for language improvement.
The gradual transition from solo practice to actual conversations with native speakers.
The value of native feedback in refining language skills and addressing unnoticed errors.
The concept of 'pitch accent' and its importance in languages like Japanese, along with strategies for learning it.
The recommendation to read texts out loud with correct pitch accent to reinforce muscle memory.
The idea that extensive input is necessary for rapid progress during output practice due to the potential it actualizes.
The overall structure of language learning stages, from input-heavy in the beginning to a balance of input and output for advanced learners.
Transcripts
hey guys so today I'm gonna be talking
about how to start outputting now before
I jump in I just wanted to talk a little
bit about my experience without putting
for a little bit so basically I was a
big fan of the age at web site
throughout Mike's you know journey
learning Japanese and what my impression
was from reading the a jet web site was
that if you got enough input then you
would become able to output naturally
and that is true but I kind of extend
that out too if you get enough input
you'll become completely perfect in your
output so if you just get enough input
then you'll become able to output
basically like a native speaker
I mean I'm exaggerating a little bit I
did have some sort of understanding that
in order to get good at speaking you'd
have to practice speaking but I think
personally looking back I put too much
emphasis on input for too long now if
you've only been learning for a couple
years then I do recommend putting a huge
amount emphasis on input perhaps you
know not outputting at all especially in
the first couple years but after a
certain point you have enough foundation
and you'll probably want to start
actually doing work to help you improve
your output because although you can
still get pretty fluent with almost no
output practice and that was my
experience if you really want to get
comfortable speaking Japanese and you
really want to kind of actualize your
potential when it comes to your output
then you're gonna have to put a lot of
work into that and what I mean when I
say actualize your potential is that for
example in my experience I would try to
speak Japanese I record myself and
listen to it back and I would notice all
these problems with my Japanese and
these were problems that were very
obvious to me very apparent like oh I
didn't pronounce that word correctly
right there or like oh I said that word
to the wrong pitch accent or oh why
didn't I say use this expression instead
of that expression whatever and so you
know when you have so many flaws in your
output that you're aware of it really
just feels like you're not actualizing
your potential because it's like oh I
can see what's wrong here I could easily
fix it whereas for example if you do
actualize your potential you still might
have a lot of problems with your output
but those are gonna be beyond your
perception right you're gonna listen to
yourself back and you're not gonna be
able to find very much that's wrong with
your output you're gonna have to go to
natives and get feedback in order to
find that out and so basically if you
want to get to that point it takes a lot
of practice if you don't put a lot of
practice into your output then you're
gonna have the experience of you know
always cringing out your output noticing
countless problems with it yet you know
not being able to fix it because you
haven't actually you know built up any
kind of muscle memory in your mouth and
kind of mental muscle memory in order to
help you be able to speak effortlessly
and fluently and things like that and so
with that all said I didn't do what I'm
about to tell you but I wish that I did
and I've been incorporating more and
more of what I'm talking about in the
last few months and I've found myself
making huge progress in my output pretty
rapidly and of course
the more input you have gotten up till
this point the quicker your progress is
gonna be when you output because you
have so much potential to actualize but
I still think from much earlier than
what I did it's probably gonna need a
start at least doing things that prepare
you for output and so that's why in the
MIAA overview I put adoptive parent and
start shadowing at stage 3 and so you're
not actually creating your own output
yet at stage 3 but those are things that
you do to prepare and I'm going to talk
about without more in a second and then
in stage 4 continue those things but
then you actually start practicing
speaking and there are some things that
I'm going to talk about to help you with
that as well so first of all when you're
in stage 3 first what you want to do is
adopt a parent and so as far as I know
this was cought Simotas
idea I'm using the term but he used the
idea comes from the fact that people
tend to talk like their parents right
because in your most you know formative
period as an infant you hear your
parents speak more than anyone else and
that kind of becomes the model that you
base your output up on and a lot of
times if you you know know someone well
and then you meet their parents you
noticed like oh that's so funny your dad
talks exactly like Eeyore you talked
exactly like your dad and so the idea is
that you kind of replicate that process
intentionally by selecting a native
speaker of the target language and
trying to get a large amount of your
input just from that one person
specifically and then you actually can
put some conscious effort into you know
noticing with all the idiosyncrasies of
that person are and trying to mimic
those so basically first you want to
find a parent now it doesn't actually
have to be one parent it can be multiple
people you can listen to a few
people and then try to kind of combine
them I know that Casa moto had two
parents right now I have a few people
that I use as parents basically and I
used to think that it would be best to
choose basically like a radio show a
host because you know if you do a radio
show like first of all a lot of radio
show hosts are kind of comedians or at
least they're funny so you gotta learn
how to be funny from the person they're
also obviously gonna be good at talking
and you're gonna have lots of input
available from them whether they're just
speaking sometimes a monologue and
sometimes dialogues with other people
and so that's one thing you have to
consider right is not just hey do you
want to speak like this person but also
am I gonna be able to get enough samples
of this person speaking and so that's
still a pretty good option I think if
you choose like a comedian who has a
radio show then you can go on YouTube
you might be able to find you know like
hundreds of episodes of this person just
pretty much speaking either
yeah just monologuing or either you know
talking to other celebrities or whatever
and that can be a really good sample but
recently I've been thinking that
youtubers are probably even more ideal
than that because it's a lot closer to
kind of normal speech like if you can
find a youtuber who makes videos where
they kind of just talk into the camera
you know with no script or anything I
think that could be better because first
of all you get to really see their face
and their facial expression and you know
their their body movements and that's
actually pretty important I've been
realizing and you know it's kind of nice
that there's just these little five to
ten minute maybe 15 minute segments
where you can just say I'm gonna watch
one video you know and it's very
concentrated it'll just be like them
talking for 15 minutes straight whereas
even with the radio shows you know it's
like they have commercials or they might
like take breaks for songs and and they
might have like little corners and
things and kind of gimmicks and stuff
and so I've been using youtubers
recently and I really found that that
works really well for me and basically
some things to think about when you're
choosing a parent is like obviously you
want them to be the same gender as you
because men and women speak very
differently in Japanese and so if you're
a guy and you want to sound like a guy
then you should choose a guy to be your
parent you also want to choose someone
that's at least within the same age as
you I'd say within a 10 year range
either way because depending on what how
old you are that also changes how you
speak and your style of speech and your
inflection and things like that at least
in Japanese
and then also just kind of someone who
matches your personality a little bit or
at least what you resonate with right
someone who you could see like feel kind
of like oh yeah I'd want to talk like
that and I received the question before
like should you choose someone who kind
of seems similar to your personality in
your native language and to that I'd say
not necessarily because you know
everyone kind of expresses themselves
differently in each language and you
might have a sort of different
personality at least on the surface in
Japanese or your you know your l2 then
your native language so instead of what
is similar to you I would just think
more in terms of what would you like to
speak like you know well what do you
resonate with in Japanese or your target
language and so you want to choose some
parents if you choose a youtuber or
whatever like get as much content from
them as you can there's ways that you
can just download entire YouTube
channels so like I downloaded the entire
YouTube channels of all the people that
I want to use as parents and I would say
try to listen to them like half the time
for your immersion that make listening
to your parent half of all your emergen
and then the other half you know just
the kind of stuff you're doing before
either just because you enjoy it or
because it's helping you broaden out
what you can understand so yeah so try
to listen to your parent as much as you
can active and passive especially
passive because you know you're trying
to pick up all their habits consciously
and unconsciously and so basically by
the time you're doing this you should be
at the point where whoever you chose as
your parent you can understand virtually
everything they say pretty easily
because I mean if you're still having
trouble with understanding at least with
the kind of stuff that you're using as a
parent then you're probably not even
ready to be thinking about this yet so
first just are listening to your parent
all the time try to notice their
idiosyncrasies and things like that like
oh he uses this word a lot or oh when
he's thinking he says and a lot but he
doesn't say like on all of that much or
like whatever things like that and so
that's what the parent the other thing
you want to do is shadow and so you know
basically what that is is you are gonna
listening to input in the language and
then in real time you're gonna be
repeating it back out and you're trying
to match the inflection as much as
possible and so I'm gonna make another
video later when I go more in detail
into how to shadow on how I shadow
because even like a physical level it
can be pretty difficult to get a set up
where you can clearly hear your voice
and the voice you're listening to
because that's kind of the idea with
shadowing right is like you're hearing a
language that you're trying to
and then you're mimicking it in
real-time and if there's any
discrepancies between the two you can
naturally notice those and then you'll
be able to correct that right but it
turns out to be pretty difficult to find
a setup that really allows you to do
this because if you make the input loud
enough that you can hear it clearly then
it kind of drones out your own voice but
if you turn it down enough that you can
hear your own voice well no you can't
hear that the input well enough to
really mimic it so I have some ideas
with regards to that I'm gonna talk
about but what I would do is at first
don't actually start with your parents
start with audio books because audio
books are in a way the easiest thing to
shadow because you know the voice actors
that read the audio books enunciate very
clearly and there's kind of a nice even
pace it's not too fast and it's not too
slow and it's very consistent right if
you're trying to use an anime then there
might be long chunks of time where
there's almost no dialogue or there
might be two people going back and forth
and that's kind of awkward to try to
mimic right with an audio book it's
mostly just a monologue I mean there's
conversations as well you know but a lot
of time it's just a continuous monologue
and I think that makes it more ideal for
practicing shadowing and at first you're
not gonna be able to keep up at all you
know you're only gonna get a few words
per sentence but as you get better
keeping up becomes easier and easier and
then once you find that keeping up isn't
a problem well now you can actually
start paying attention to how close is
my voice to the voice I'm listening to
and so that might take you a while but
what I recommend doing is 20 minutes
every day and I'm gonna talk about this
more in a little bit but I kind of have
a routine a kind of like output training
routine and I would recommend kind of
starting as well so once you get more
advanced or in stage at 3:00 right
you're gonna be relying on the s or s
less than you were before and so you can
spend less time on the SRS and then more
time doing these kind of activities and
so I always recommend doing the SRS in
the morning because then you know it's
gonna going to happen and that's when
you are the most fresh and so I
recommend kind of also shadowing in the
morning and so like what I do is I would
wake up and then meditate and then I was
shadow for 20 minutes and then I would
do reps and so that's what I recommend
is just do it for 20 minutes you know
it's not that much but it builds up over
time right because that's an hour every
three
days and so before you know it you'll
find that you've shadowed whole
audiobooks right and so try to get to
that point like I said a second ago
where you can repeat out what you're
listening to in a real time without that
much struggle and I also just note that
when you're doing the shadowing you
don't want to be using any sort of
script you don't want to be looking at
subtitles or anything it's all your ears
you're old you're just listening and
then you're repeating back in a
real-time and it's okay if you miss
stuff you just want to keep going and I
would try to use something new every
time I wouldn't try to counter the same
thing over and over because then you
start to remember it right and you start
to just kind of memorize it through
osmosis and then you're not really
listening and repeating what you're
hearing you're just saying what you
remembered was said right but that
defeats the whole purpose the purpose is
that you're listening with your ears and
you're repeating what you're hearing and
so I would never shadow the same thing
multiple times I would always just keep
using new material and just keep going
and don't worry about how much you miss
and if you actually practice every day
just for twenty minutes but you actually
you know practice very seriously in your
and you're concentrated you will improve
very quickly at least that's my
experience and it's actually very
satisfying to feel this improvement
because you know you think back you're
like well just a few weeks ago I was
missing a word every other sentence now
I can do almost the whole thing you know
no problem and so that sense of
improvement will be very motivating and
so I would recommend doing that for at
least try to get like 50 hours of
shadowing under your belt while you're
in stage 3 so you're basically you're
listening to your parents a lot and
you're shadowing these audiobooks and
that's basically what you're doing to
prepare yourself for output for stage 3
so what that's gonna do is it's gonna
help your you get your tongue moving the
shadowing well and then basically
through exposing yourself to your
parents are basically subconsciously
biasing the the types of things are
gonna say and you're giving yourself
something to mimic so that your style of
speech can be more consistent like
you're not saying something that it
would be used in a novel than something
that's used in the news you know it's
like you can kind of model and say I'm
just gonna try to talk how this guy
talks and then your style speech will be
consistent and also it gives you
something smaller to aim for right
because when you're just trying to like
sound Japanese or or whatever your
language is that's a pretty broad target
right and so it's hard to know when
you're nailing it when you're not but if
you have a parent that say like I'm
trying to talk like this guy that's a
much smaller target and when you have a
smaller target it's easier to
know what you're aiming for and it's
easier to tell whether you're succeeding
at what you're aiming for or not and
even if you don't succeed you know they
say like shoot for the moon and even if
you miss you'll you'll hit the stars or
maybe those opposite it was true for the
stars even and even even if you don't
get there you'll probably still land on
the moon it's it's like that it's like
even if you can't sound exactly like
your parent you're much more likely to
sound Japanese or like a native speaker
of whatever your language is and so I
would do that for Stage three think of
that as a long-term thing like I said
try to get 50 hours of the shadowing and
then what you might also want to add in
is like this is for if you care about
pitch accent and a pitch accent is
important to you then what you also want
to be doing before you start outputting
is learning about pitch accent learning
the system of pitch accent this is for
Japanese obviously you know memorizing
the pitch accent of a lot of different
words and then really training yourself
to be able to hear the pitch accent and
so if pitch accent is important to you
then you want to be doing that alongside
all this other work and then you you
know when you're shadowing you want to
try to make an effort to make sure that
you're repeating things back with the
right pitch accent you want to be
training yourself to listen for that and
if pitch accent is important to you then
what I would add in addition to the
daily shadowing is a period where
basically you just read texts out loud
but you're making sure that you have the
right pitch accent so what you can do is
you can download a book in text form and
then read it like in a computer browser
with something like Yomi Chan so that
you can instantly check the pitch accent
of words you don't know and basically
the reason for this is that first of all
it's gonna help you build these habits
right because you want to build habits
of always saying things in the right way
but at first in order to build those
habits you're going to have to be
thinking about you know the pitch accent
rules and stuff you're gonna have to
remember like oh yeah this verb is that
and when it's in this form it's gonna
sound like this and so basically if
you're trying to practice actually
speaking and practicing the pitch accent
habits then that's going to be difficult
because now you have to do two things
you have to be thinking about the pitch
accent and you have to be deciding what
you're gonna say and forming sentences
and things like that but when you're
reading you can dump that second half
right you don't have to come up with
your own sentences or anything the
sentences are already there all you have
to worry about is the pitch accent so
you'll you know consciously recall the
pitch accent consciously recall the
rules and make sure
you read it the same way every time and
what will happen is that your brain will
get better and better at doing this and
you'll make a lot of shortcuts and I'll
get to the point where you don't even
really need to think about it anymore
you'll kind of internalize pronouncing
things in the right way and that will
take a very long time it's a very long
process and I'm still in the midst of
this process but I see it starting to
happen where you know on things where
I've made sure that I've said it the
right way multiple times I'm much more
likely to say it the right way
spontaneously when I'm just you know
having a conversation and not thinking
about the pitch accent and so that's
another thing that you can add is shadow
for 20 minutes and then for 20 minutes
just read and make sure that you are
getting nailing all the pitch exit and
that will be very slow because you know
you'll be having to look up the pitch
accent of like multiple words per
sentence but it's not that bad if you
have Yomi Chen so you know I would set
the timer do that for 20 minutes to
shadow for 20 minutes do this for 20
minutes and also you know whenever
you're listening Japanese try to get
better and better at hearing the pitch
accent noticing the pitch accent
patterns and things like that but I'll
talk more about pitch accent a lot more
in the future and so basically now
you're laying some really strong
groundwork so then by the time you get
to stage 4 in MI you're really ready to
output basically I would keep doing all
of the stuff that you've been doing but
then add to your routine filming a 5 to
10 minute video of you just talking to
the camera like speaking Japanese to the
camera on a spontaneous topic and then
watch that video back and this I think
is the best way to start doing output at
least spoken up but if you want to talk
about written output that's a little bit
different I would recommend you know
just instant messaging Japanese people
are starting really slow making sure
that you're only saying things you know
is correct and and there's that process
but kind of separate from that process
is the process of actually learning how
to speak and so you know what I would do
is you know you want to build up this
morning routine right of deliberate
practice you're doing to help yourself
be able to speak Japanese and so you can
wake up you can shout out for 20 minutes
you can do that pitch accent
kind of dictation or like the pitch
accent you know reading out loud for 20
minutes and then you can just film a
video of yourself speaking for 5 to 10
minutes and then watch it back and then
total that should take about 20 minutes
but it's very important that you watch
the video back because you're going to
notice a lot of problems with your
output you're gonna notice like
oh I didn't pronounce that word at all
like I felt like I did when I was
speaking but yeah my pronunciation
sucked on that word or like oh that was
a weird way to say it I should have said
it this other way or oh yeah I couldn't
think of a good way to say that let me
go look it up now the better way to say
that or like oh I said that word at the
wrong pitch axon or whatever and you're
gonna notice these things and then just
by noticing them that's gonna make you
notice when it's done the right way in
your input later and that's really
important because like for example if
you want it to say something but you
couldn't think of a good way to say it
then next time you are listening to your
parent or watching a movie in the
language and then you hear a Japanese
person say the thing you wanted to say
in a very Japanese way you're like oh
that's how I should say it and the next
time you'll probably remember that that
correct way to say and then it won't be
a problem and so basically you get good
at output from first finding out what
your holes are and then going to
immersion to fill those holes so if
you're just immersing without ever doing
any output practice or anything to
discover your weak spots you'll still
get better slowly but you know basically
always have these sort of blind spots
right that just won't won't ever kind of
work themselves out in order to work
themselves out you have to basically
first of all find out what those blind
spots are and then pay attention to your
input in a more directed fashion in
order to find out the correct way to
fill those blind spots and then you can
improve and so basically I think that
for the first probably six months just
every single day film a five to ten
minute video of you speaking and then
watch it back and in terms of what
you're gonna talk about in these videos
just make sure that it's spontaneous
don't actually think of anything ahead
of time don't start planning sentences
ahead of time you've been think about
what you want to talk about broadly but
it's important then it's totally
spontaneous because then you're getting
a really good sample of your raw ability
you know for example if you thought
ahead of time in the shower for like 20
minutes what you were gonna say in the
video then you're gonna sound way better
in the video because you already have
thought of you know ways you're going to
phrase certain ideas or constructions or
a good structure to your thoughts and of
course the products gonna be better but
that's kind of a different thing that
you're practicing you know you're not
really practicing speaking off-the-cuff
when you're doing that you're practicing
you know giving a performance and so you
really want to practice being on the
cuff and that will also put you very in
touch
with how much you suck because the
reality is you're going to be devastated
with how awful you sound and the reason
why this is is because first of all he
takes a lot of practice to get good at
output that's what I said at the
beginning of this video but second of
all because you have such a strong
foundation and input right like through
stages one and two of MA you were just
getting input you weren't outputting
then you were doing all this other
practice to make yourself more attentive
to things during stage 3 so basically
you have a pretty robust internal model
of what the language is supposed to
sound like and that model is going to
allow you to recognize how far off you
are from you know what a native speaker
was unlike whereas if you just took a
random you know Japanese learner off the
street hate to talk but if you took
a random Japanese learner off the street
who was mostly just studying for the
jlpt and he was using Yankee textbooks
and had very little immersion you know
if they recorded a video of themselves
speaking listen to it back I mean they
might still think that they sucked but
they wouldn't understand the true depths
of it right whereas you have such a
strong foundation an input you you
understand the depths of how much you
suck and that's a huge strength because
in order to fix a problem you have to be
aware of the problem right and you have
to know what it looks like to be fixed
so that you know whether you're going in
the right direction or not so basically
you're in a really good position when
you are outputting listening to your
output and being very disgusted but it's
important that you do go through that
process for two reasons first of all
like I said before it will help you
become aware of your weak spots and then
through that it will help you fill them
but it's also just very motivating like
for me when I started doing this thing
right just speak to myself in the camera
pretty regularly and then watch it back
I would get so disappointed to be like
holy I am nowhere near where I want
to be and then later on during the day
when you're thinking whom should I watch
something in Japanese or should I just
you know watch that interesting English
podcast that my friend was telling me
about you'll remember how bad you you
suck and then you'll give me a lot more
motive to be like no dude I want to get
better I want to actually you know be
able to to get to that level where I can
speak just how I want to and so it's
very motivating but it's also kind of
nice because you're still kind of safe
in the sense of you're not engaging
directly with other people whereas when
you go try to
have a conversation with a real person
and you get destroyed because you don't
understand them or you sound really
awkward they don't understand you or
just you have a miscommunication that
can just really knock you down and
sometimes that might be motivating but
other times it might be discouraging but
with this type of thing I think you have
most of the encouraging motivational
elements without the kind of
discouraging you know heart crushing
ones so I would do that for about six
months and then I would start trying to
have actual conversations with Japanese
people but maybe only a few times a week
at first because in a way having a
conversation isn't that bit of practice
like the real main point of it is that
you find out what your holes are and
then you fill those holes during your
active immersion when you're paying
attention right specifically and also
what my experience is is that talking to
people is it's kind of like what caught
Simona said it's like it really is kind
of like the game it's like you don't get
good in the game you get good at
practice and then the game is where you
show off but you do definitely need to
practice talking to people because
that's just different than talking to
yourself right but you can get really
confident talking to yourself and then
talk to people and then maybe when
you're getting really serious about
nailing your input like you feel like
you have a good foundation and input
like you know you can speak with proper
pronunciation and proper pitch accent
and you know that you can phrase your
thoughts in a way that you're
comfortable with and sound natural just
it still takes more effort for you to
speak or you feel like you want to be
faster then it's kind of just a matter
of drilling it down and be like okay I'm
gonna talk to Japanese people for an
hour every day and get to that point
where it's totally effortless but the
thing is is that if you go into that
ultra practice output mode before you
have the foundation then you're likely
to build bad habits right it's like if
you're not happy with your pronunciation
but you just start speaking four hours a
day then you're kind of just gonna be
nailing in that pronunciation whereas if
you're doing something like shadowing or
like recording a video and then washing
it back it's gonna the opposite effect
because you're getting feedback right
you're putting out some output and then
getting feedback and then thinking about
how to fix that then you're gonna get
better and better but when you're just
talking you don't get that much feedback
I mean you can record conversations and
listen to them back and then you get a
pretty good effect but that's normally
really boring to do because
conversations are long and so really I
think having real
with natives is kind of the place where
you learn the more social aspects of
communication which is really important
and you're basically just like nailing
in and solidifying all the foundation
that you already have and so I'd say
that overall learning how to output is
kind of these three stages of one the
preparation work where you're doing the
shadowing if you're trying to a nail
pitch accent then you want to be
practicing or reading things out loud at
the correct pitch accent to kind of get
that muscle memory that pitch accent
muscle memory really into place and then
also listening to your parent and then
adding in the actually filming short
videos watching it back and then really
paying extra attention to the parts of
the your immersion especially with your
parent right that you think you're
missing and then you just go into the
drill down mode over there and once
you're in the drill down mode you also
probably you might want to get regular
feedback from natives and ask what to
fix because like I said once you start
maxing out your potential getting to the
point where you have fixed all the
problems that you're aware of and that's
going to take a very long time and if
you have the true foundation that you
should have built in stage 1 and 2 then
you should be sounding extremely good by
the time you have maxed out your
potential but they'll probably still be
lots of things that you can't catch
yourself and that's when you need to go
to a native and have them point that out
and you can kind of start that process
but I think a lot of people will already
be pretty satisfied by the time they get
to that point because you know they'll
be able to speak easily fluently and in
a very not you know natural way you'll
be so close where the few percentages
that you're away from a native speaker
probably won't bother you and it also
just feel like the returns have
diminished so much at this point where
it's probably a better use of your time
to just do something else
then continue to try to perfect your
output but anyway those are my thoughts
as of now hopefully that was useful and
good luck guys
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