Un polyglotte sommeille en vous | Sébastien Roger de Nuñez | TEDxToulouse

Summary

The speaker shares their journey of learning 11 languages, highlighting the importance of motivation and persistence. They discuss how languages connect people to cultures, emphasizing the 'carrot and stick' approach to language learning. The speaker believes that practice, not perfection, is key to communication. They encourage listeners to start speaking from day one, make mistakes, and embrace the learning process. By doing so, learners can open doors to new worlds and build meaningful connections. The talk inspires viewers to overcome fear and embrace language as a gateway to deeper understanding of others.

Takeaways

• 🌍 Learning languages becomes addictive, starting with one and expanding to others.
• 🔑 Each language opens a door to a new culture and a deeper understanding of the world.
• 🍃 People learn languages for two main reasons: the 'stick' (necessity) and the 'carrot' (personal motivation).
• 🧳 The speaker's personal motivation (carrot) for learning languages is travel and connecting with people.
• 🛠 Languages in the same family, like Romance languages, share similarities, making them easier to learn for some speakers.
• 💬 You don’t need to know a language perfectly to start speaking it; even 100 words are enough for basic conversations.
• 🎯 Making mistakes and inventing words is part of the language-learning process; it helps communication and progress.
• 🤝 Language learning is about communication, not perfection. It's okay to get things wrong as long as the message is understood.
• 🎶 Accent and body language are as important as vocabulary; they shape how a speaker is perceived in a foreign language.
• 🚀 The key to learning a language is daring to speak from day one, making mistakes, and embracing the learning journey.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the speaker's talk?

The main theme is the joy and importance of learning languages, how it opens doors to different cultures, and how one can approach language learning in a fun and effective way.

What does the speaker mean by 'the stick' and 'the carrot' in language learning?

'The stick' refers to being forced to learn a language for practical reasons, like communicating with family or in regions where multiple languages are spoken. 'The carrot' refers to a personal motivation or goal, such as traveling or building relationships, which encourages language learning.

How does the speaker describe the experience of learning languages?

The speaker describes language learning as addictive, where one starts with one language and keeps going. It’s a process where making mistakes is acceptable, and the focus is on communication rather than perfection.

What personal experience does the speaker share about learning Japanese?

The speaker spent a year and a half learning Japanese, focusing on kanji and polite expressions, but after all that time, the only sentence they could remember was 'What’s there in the tree?', which is not a practical, everyday sentence.

What analogy does the speaker use to explain the structure of languages?

The speaker compares languages to family members, explaining that languages within the same family (such as Romance languages) are like brothers and sisters, while languages from different families are like cousins. They also note that while languages evolve, certain words, like 'mother' and 'father,' remain similar across time.

Why does the speaker believe you don't need to be fluent to start speaking a language?

The speaker emphasizes that you can start speaking a language with just a few words and grow from there. The goal is communication, not perfection, and even with limited vocabulary, it's possible to engage in basic conversations and be understood.

What strategy does the speaker use to practice and reinforce language skills?

The speaker practices by hitchhiking, where they meet new people frequently and engage in repetitive conversations, reinforcing their language skills by explaining the same things to different people.

How does the speaker use imitation in learning new languages?

The speaker stresses the importance of imitating not only the words but also the melody and gestures of the language. For instance, they share how they imitated Portuguese with a certain melody and gestures when speaking Spanish in Brazil, which helped them communicate better.

What does the speaker suggest about the role of mistakes in language learning?

The speaker encourages making mistakes and even inventing words, as long as the overall message gets across. Mistakes are part of the learning process, and it's more important to communicate than to be grammatically perfect.

What advice does the speaker give to those hesitant to start learning a language?

The speaker advises people to be bold and start speaking from day one, without waiting until they know the language perfectly. They suggest focusing on communication rather than worrying about mistakes and encourage learning through practice and interaction.

Outlines

00:00

🌍 Embracing Multilingualism and Cultural Discovery

The speaker begins by sharing their passion for languages, highlighting how learning new languages can become addictive. They describe their journey from studying Japanese to learning 11 languages. Despite the initial struggles, such as focusing more on tests than conversation, they found motivation through personal goals. The speaker asks the audience what language they would like to learn and emphasizes that people usually learn a language for two reasons: necessity (the 'stick') and personal motivation (the 'carrot'). The speaker's own 'carrot' is traveling, which has led to meaningful experiences like bonding with locals in Istanbul through speaking Turkish.

05:01

🧠 Finding Patterns in Language Learning

The speaker explains how language learning can start with simple phrases and build up through recognizing patterns. They illustrate how understanding basic numbers in one language can lead to comprehending larger numbers through logic. By comparing several Romance languages (Spanish, Romanian, Portuguese, and Italian), they show how similar structures across these languages make them easier to learn for those already familiar with one. They also emphasize that using linguistic tools like prefixes and suffixes can help learners build new words and communicate effectively, even when they don’t know the exact terms.

10:03

🎯 The Importance of Mistakes and Creativity in Language Learning

Mistakes are an essential part of learning languages, the speaker insists. They recount their experiences in Germany and Sweden where they created words by applying rules from other languages they knew, like forming 'intryck' in Swedish. While they were sometimes wrong, they were still understood, which highlights the importance of attempting communication rather than perfection. The speaker also points out that we should not be overly critical of others’ mistakes, whether in our own language or when they are learning ours. Fluency isn’t the goal; communication is.

15:04

🗣️ Speaking From Day One: Overcoming Fear and Making Progress

The speaker stresses the importance of starting to speak a language from the very beginning, even with a limited vocabulary. They argue that with just one word, like 'thank you' or 'hello,' you’ve already begun speaking the language. With 100 words, you can have a basic conversation. The key to progress is practice and seizing every opportunity to use the language, which the speaker achieves through hitchhiking conversations, repeating similar dialogues, and gradually expanding their vocabulary. Imitating the local intonation and gestures is also important to avoid sounding foreign, as language goes beyond words alone.

💪 Dare to Make Mistakes and Immerse Yourself in the Culture

The speaker concludes by encouraging learners to take risks and be brave in their language learning journey. They advise not to wait until you know a language perfectly to start speaking, as progress comes through practice. Mistakes are inevitable and part of the process, but the goal is communication and cultural connection. Learning a language shows interest in a culture, and this opens doors to deeper understanding and relationships with native speakers. The real challenge is daring to start and persevering, even when progress seems slow.

Keywords

💡Languages

Languages are at the core of the video's theme. The speaker discusses how learning new languages opens doors to different cultures and perspectives. They emphasize that languages are tools for communication and connection with others, and the joy of learning comes from the ability to engage with people worldwide. The speaker uses personal anecdotes, such as playing backgammon with a Turkish fisherman, to illustrate how language learning can foster meaningful human connections.

💡The Stick and the Carrot

This concept refers to two motivations for learning languages: 'the stick' (necessity or external pressure) and 'the carrot' (personal motivation or reward). The stick symbolizes being forced to learn a language to communicate with family or society, while the carrot represents personal goals, like traveling or making friends. The speaker explains that while hard power (stick) may force language learning in regions like Alsace, personal motivation (carrot) is essential for sustained language learning.

💡Cultural Doors

This metaphor refers to the idea that each language provides access to a unique culture and worldview. The speaker suggests that learning a new language is like opening a door into another universe, giving the learner insight into the people, customs, and history of that culture. For example, the speaker describes how speaking Turkish allowed them to bond with a fisherman in Istanbul, thus opening the door to Turkish culture.

💡Language Families

Language families are groups of languages that share a common ancestral language. The speaker explains that understanding the concept of language families can make learning new languages easier, especially when they belong to the same family. For instance, Romance languages like French, Spanish, and Italian share similar roots, making them easier to learn for speakers of one of these languages. The speaker refers to these languages as 'brothers and sisters' and highlights that we even have linguistic 'cousins' from distant times.

💡Practice

The speaker emphasizes that consistent practice is essential for mastering a language. They share personal strategies, such as hitchhiking, where they repeatedly practice basic conversational phrases. This repetition helps solidify their knowledge. The speaker also suggests that practicing with real people is crucial, as it leads to gradual improvements in vocabulary and confidence, even if one makes mistakes along the way.

💡Making Mistakes

Making mistakes is presented as a natural and valuable part of the language-learning process. The speaker encourages learners to take risks, make up words, and embrace errors because they can still communicate effectively even when they don't speak perfectly. The anecdote about saying 'Ich habe die Impression' instead of 'eindruck' in German illustrates how mistakes can still lead to successful communication.

💡Melody of Language

The speaker refers to the 'melody' of language as its rhythm, intonation, and accent. They explain that each language has a unique melody, and learning to mimic this is crucial for sounding natural. For example, the speaker humorously contrasts speaking English with a French accent versus speaking English fluently, noting that language isn't just about vocabulary—it's also about the way it’s spoken.

💡Communication

The speaker highlights that the ultimate goal of learning a language is communication, not perfection. They argue that even with a limited vocabulary, one can still communicate effectively and be understood. The speaker reinforces this by saying that with 100 words, a person can have a basic conversation, and the focus should be on conveying meaning rather than perfect grammar.

💡Learning from Day One

The speaker encourages learners to start using a new language from the very first day, rather than waiting to achieve fluency. They stress that speaking from day one builds confidence and accelerates learning. Even with just one word, such as 'thank you' or 'hello,' learners can begin engaging with others in their target language, as demonstrated by the speaker's experience in Brazil where they started speaking Portuguese with only a few words.

💡Imitating Gestures

The speaker highlights that communication goes beyond words, involving body language and gestures that vary between cultures. They use the example of how hand gestures that are common in Italy might be inappropriate or misunderstood in Sweden. To fully integrate into a language, the speaker suggests that learners must also adopt the cultural norms and gestures associated with it, not just the spoken words.

Highlights

Learning languages becomes addictive once you start, moving from one to another.

Each language opens a door into a new culture and universe.

People learn new languages for two main reasons: 'the stick' (necessity) and 'the carrot' (inspiration or goals).

Having a clear goal, like traveling or personal connections, can help keep you motivated to learn a language.

Learning a language isn't about perfection—it's about communication, and you should start speaking from day one, even with just one word.

Languages are part of families, and understanding the connections between them can help you learn faster.

Creating words from known prefixes and suffixes in other languages is a good technique to communicate even if you’re not fluent.

Imitating the sounds and melody of the language, rather than just its words, is essential for proper communication.

Languages aren’t just words—they also involve cultural gestures and body language, which vary from place to place.

Mistakes are part of learning: making them is better than staying silent and not practicing.

You can have basic conversations with just 100 words, and by using them daily, you gradually learn more.

Understanding a language means embracing its culture and its people, which creates deeper connections.

You don’t need to be fluent to start communicating—daring to try is the key to learning.

Patience is necessary as learning progress sometimes feels slow, but persistence leads to success.

The ultimate reward for learning a language is the connection it fosters with other people and cultures.

Transcripts

Translator: Denise RQ Reviewer: Elisabeth Buffard

(Spanish) When somebody has

(Italian) an interest in languages,

(Italian) it becomes (Br Portuguese) addictive.

(Portuguese) You start (German) with one language, then another,

(Swedish) and you can't stop, and even if happens

(Norwegian) that you (English) mix them up,

(Bosnian) it's OK, it's fun.

(Russian) Each language opens you

(Romanian) a door into a universe, into a culture.

(Turkish) If we want to get to know our world

(Greek) we must learn new languages.

(French) Today I speak 11 languages;

however, things didn't start well at all.

I had spent a year and half studying katakana, hiragana,

kanji, polite expressions,

and the only thing I still remember in Japanese,

is (Japanese) "What's there in the tree?"

This isn't a daily used sentence.

In fact, we've been prepared to take tests, not to speak.

But I didn't throw in the towel, and I continued.

I kept on trying to learn languages. I didn't give up.

But I have a question for you: what language would you like to learn?

What language would you like to learn and why this language in particular?

Why do you want to learn another language?

I ask you why you want to learn another language

because we learn a new language for two reasons.

The first one is the stick, and the second one is the carrot.

The stick is what we were all subjected to

as children.

In order to learn a language, we had to be constrained

because otherwise, we wouldn't communicate with our family or our circles.

This is also true in border regions, like in Alsace, where people are bilingual

or in areas where there is a lot of foreign trade, like Sweden,

or countries where the language has been imposed, like in Corsica.

There are many areas where hard power was imposed,

but when you don't get the stick, you can get your carrot.

So the carrot is to find yourself a goal in order to learn.

That goal can be, "I'll go abroad,"

or "I'll find myself a girlfriend."

It can be a good way to practice a language.

My carrot is traveling.

It's traveling because when I am in Kumkapi,

a district of Istanbul where English is useless,

- and because I speak a little Turkish -

I can play backgammon with a fisherman.

(Applause)

So I find myself playing backgammon with a Turkish fisherman,

and asI speak a few Turkish words,

- I am not fluent in Turkish, but I speak it a little -

he feels comfortable with me.

And he invites me to go fishing with him at the Golden Horn,

and eat fish with him on his boat.

So when I find myself alone with Ahmed on his boat,

I know why I put so much effort into learning a foreign language.

You need a carrot, a carrot that makes you move forward.

A carrot that keeps you going, that simply means treating yourself.

So since you treat yourself,

you may as welle learn a simple language, right?

But saying 'a simple language' does not really make any sense

because for a Mandarin Chinese ,

it is much easier to learn Cantonese than Italian.

But for us French, some languages are simpler than others.

Do you know why?

Actually, there are families of languages so those of you who know this,

do you know which family French belongs to?

Latin, is the common answer.

Technically, they're called Roman languages

but, in fact, they are just our brothers and sisters.

We also have cousins. Many of them.

We have a lot of distant cousins from Iceland to India and to Iran.

Our brothers and sisters are in blue.

That's just our brothers and sisters, but we have a lot of cousins

and some of them really like travelling.

So we can speak the languages in our language family,

everywhere on the planet.

We have cousins we have not seen for 7,500 years.

When you haven't seen them for 7,500 years,

you kind of forget about your family history,

but sometimes you still remember the name of our aunt.

Which brings us to the mother, "die Mutter" in German, "madar" in Farsi.

Some things stay the same, such as "father", "brother", "sister",

but you forget about them,

because in 7,500 years, you're bound to forget things.

But let's take a look at our brother and sister languages.

This is one of them.

If some may know it,

iplease keep quiet so that the others can play the game.

Do you understand what this dialogue is all about?

I'll help you a little bit by doing just that.

This way, you can easily understand what is being said:

"What's your name?"

" My name is Adrian. And you?"

" My name is Alina. How old are you?"

Here, you may all think "two" because it indeed sounds similar,

but when I highlight it like that, perhaps you will think: 2 x 10 = 20 years,

and suddenly Alina is 3 x 10 and 5, 35 years.

Some of you must have thought: "Yes, but that was easy, after all."

But you always start with the easy stuff when learning a language.

And those who think that it was difficult,

you see that with a bit of information in fact, you can understand.

You can understand, but it is not enough.

Sometimes you also have to speak.

But with education, nothing is impossible.

Here you have it in Spanish, Romanian, Portuguese, and Italian.

They look alike, don't they?

Some things will help you speak.

These are tools.

Some may remember the 4th grade classes,

if I talk about prefixes and suffixes... but we can't just call them tools anymore.

This is a toolbox that helps you build words.

With these tools, you can build our own words.

For example, here we have "education" in many languages.

In Portuguese: "educação".

If you had to say "training"?

Education, "educação", training, "formação".

Well done!

Similarly, in Spanish, "formación",

"formare" in Romanian, "formazione" in Italian.

There is also the word "impossible", but first I'll confirm for "training".

You see those tools, once you master them,

you know them, you can create many things.

Even if it seems a little unbelievable,

I'm sure you can do the same with this word.

And even if in other languages it doesn't look similar,

it still seems it may be said like that.

Sometimes, you make up words.

When I arrived in Germany - I spent six months there -

for five months, I said, (German) "Ich habe die Impression"

because I wanted to say, "I have the impression".

I tried. I tried and I was understood.

So for me it was fine.

But I paid attention and I noticed that no one ever said "impression".

So there had to be a problem.

I asked and I understood they say, "eindruck".

At first sight, they have nothing in common,

but in fact words are built exactly in the same way:

"im-", "ein-", "pressure", "druck".

So I was wrong, but they understood me.

But as I believe I'm not stupid,

I said to myself, "I won't repeat my mistake."

When I arrived in Sweden, I said, "I'll do the same. I'll rebuild the word."

I knew the prefix" im-" is "in-", and that "pressure" is " tryck".

So I came up with the word "intryck".

(Laughter)

And I was right. It turned out I was. So don't be afraid to make up words.

You musn't be afraid to make up words,

because that's how languages were created.

We used these tools.

I presented you some, but there are hundreds to invent words.

And you may be right only six times out of ten.

But if you are understood eight out of ten times,

even when you are wrong, you totally win.

Because the goal is to communicate with others.

But that's when you say:

"He said he spoke 11 languages, but in fact he invented everything.

This guy is a phony."

Yes, you could say that.

You're thinking, "He does not speak these languages fluently."

True, I don't speak them fluently, but I do speak them.

I speak them as much as possible.

Until I can't speak anymore.

But if that's what you think, I'm sure you're French...

you were tortured by Madame Michaud and her 4th grade dictations.

She sent you to the corner with a dunce cap on,

just because you had said: "If I would have."

That when your neighbor says: "The car of Michel,"

you tell him, "No. Michael's car."

(Laughter)

We are demanding with each others in our own language.

So, when we learn another language we are similarly demanding.

Worse, we impose such requirements on other people learning our language.

That's why when a foreigner arrives in France, he's told:

"In France, we speak French, sir."

And we correct them when when they make mistake.

I wish you never get told upon arrival in Greece:

(Greek) [...]

because then you'll look utterly silly.

So you have to be tolerant towards someone who's learning a foreign language

because we don't learn everything in one day.

Do not wait until you speak it perfectly in order to get started.

You have to start from day one.

You don't have to know a language perfectly.

You're not going to say: "I'm learning Russian

because my goal is to read Dostoyevsky but right now I can't speak it."

No, you speak it from day one.

Besides, do you know how many words it takes to speak a language?

One.

With one word, you can already start talking.

You can say "thank you", "hello", - the words you've learned -

but you are already speaking.

What's worse is you're usually answered in the same language,

and then you are a little lost.

But it doesn't matter, you have started. With ten words you can be polite.

"Hello.", "How are you?", "Thank you.", "I'd like to..."

With 30 words, you can introduce yourself and ask others to introduce themselves.

100 words will suffice for a basic conversation.

With 100 words, you can explain where you come from, where you're going,

what your goals are, what you're doing there.

But with 100 words, we manage to communicate.

You

don't have

to look for

your words too much.

Because if you do, people stop listening, like you did

the whole time I was looking for words.

Don't do that to others. Spare them.

You talk maybe well ? You know if sentence good, no?

But you say things. Say many things.

(Laughter)

"Others you understand, important is."

You all understood me.

I'm sorry. It goes to show that Grammar is just elegance.

I could have said the same thing using a better vocabulary, too.

But if the message got through, I won.

So learning comes with practice.

My technique is hitchhiking.

Why hitchhiking? Because you meet people.

you meet people, and it's kind of like speed dating.

Every 30 km, you have to start again. You repeat the same conversation.

You say where you come from, where you're going, what you're doing.

You talk about your job, the other person's job.

That's how you consolidate your knowledge.

You must seize all opportunities to use these 100 words you know.

Because if you seize them all, you'll get to know 101, 102, 103 words.

You must speak every day.

Also, when you hitchhike, you really get a lot of people to talk to.

(Laughter)

But a language is more than words.

Words are the basis, but you'll have to imitate.

(English with a French accent) Because if I start to speak in English like that,

maybe you have the impression that's English,

but for me, this is really French.

(Laughter)

This is French with English words, but this is not English.

(in French) Because French, has its own melody: ta-ta-ta-ta-ta.

When I say something, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta, I'm also singing,

but we don't realize it because you're overwhelmed

by the meaning of what you and the other are saying.

But when you speak a foreign language with such an accent,

as I've just used in English,

in fact you're speaking with the melody of the French language.

When I arrived in Brazil, I only knew one word

(so I started talking)

"Obrigado", thank you

- basic courtesy when visiting a country -

but I spoke fluent Spanish, I had that advantage.

So, I spoke Portuguese like this.

I thought Brazilian Portuguese sounded a bit like this,

so I spoke Spanish like this.

(Laughter)

If I had not done that, they would have understood me even less.

But they understood me.

And as I kept talking, I learnt.

Because what I used everyday got confirmed and so on.

But it goes further than words.

If I talk like this...

well, it is Napolitan.

(Laughter)

But if I do that when I talk to a Swede, they'll ask me if I have a problem.

(Laughter)

There's something wrong,

Even if I have the best accent in the world.

Because gestures have an accent, too. And it goes much further.

I'm sure some of you are not from Toulouse

but you already went into a bakery, and asked for a 'pain au chocolat'

(Laughter)

and you've been asked:

"Would you like a bag for your 'chocolatine', sir?"

(Laughter)

They made it clear to you that you aren't from around here.

(Laughter)

Because sometimes, little things give the impression you speak well.

When you come here, and you say "chocolatine",

even if you have a Parisian accent, you'll sound as if you are from here.

So you must become the people whose language you're learning.

So it's all well and good, but I won't deny

it takes effort to learn a language.

And sometimes you are a bit lost,

you don't know, you feel you're not making any progress,

but you must persevere.

Even when you think you're not making any progress anymore

because this is when knowledge settles.

But difficulty is elsewhere.

The only difficulty is to dare.

You must dare to speak from day one.

You must dare to make up words.

You must dare to make mistakes.

Forget about people who tell you:

"When you do not know something, keep silent."

In fact, in a nutshell, you must dare to believe

you can learn a foreign language.

Once you dare, you'll prove to the other

that since you're interested in their language,

you're interested their culture, you're interested in them.

And suddenly, they will open a door into that culture for you.

You will discover a people, a story.

The only question you need to ask yourselves now

is how much effort you are willing to put in

to deserve that smile.

Thank you.

(Applause)