How to learn any language in six months | Chris Lonsdale | TEDxLingnanUniversity

Summary

The speaker explores the concept of accelerated learning, sharing his personal journey and insights from psychology to effectively learn a new language within six months. He emphasizes the importance of relevant content, using the language as a tool, comprehension, physiological training, and the right psychological state. By debunking common myths around talent and immersion, he outlines five principles and seven actions to achieve fluency, advocating for an active and engaged approach to language learning.

Takeaways

• 🤔 The central question addressed is 'How can you speed up learning?' which has been a long-standing curiosity for the speaker.
• 🎓 The speaker believes that if learning could be accelerated, it could potentially reduce the time spent in school and even make attending school unnecessary.
• 💡 Hypnopaedia, or sleep-learning, was an early interest of the speaker but was found to be ineffective, though it sparked further research into learning methods.
• 🌏 The speaker set a goal to become native level in Chinese within two years, applying psychological research to the learning process, and achieved fluency in six months.
• 📈 The speaker emphasizes the importance of learning each other's languages in a global context, given the environmental, social, and political challenges we face.
• 🚀 The speaker draws parallels between language learning and other historical human achievements, such as running a mile in four minutes or flying cars, to show that expanding our limits is always possible.
• 🎨 The speaker shares a personal story of learning to draw in five days by applying key principles, illustrating that anyone can learn a new skill quickly with the right approach.
• 🌟 Five core principles for language learning are identified: attention, meaning, relevance, memory, and using the language as a tool from day one.
• 🛡️ Two myths are dispelled: the need for talent and the effectiveness of immersion as the sole method for language acquisition.
• 📚 The speaker proposes that any adult can learn a second language to fluency in six months by following the five principles and seven actions outlined in the talk.
• 🌟 The seven actions for language learning involve listening a lot, getting the meaning before words, mixing and creating sentences, focusing on core vocabulary, having a language parent, copying facial expressions, and making direct connections between known images and new words.

Q & A

What is the central question the speaker has been pondering for many years?

The central question the speaker has been pondering is 'How can you speed up learning?'

Why did the speaker write a letter to researchers in the Soviet Union at the age of 11?

The speaker wrote a letter to researchers in the Soviet Union at the age of 11 to inquire about hypnopaedia, which is sleep-learning, because he was curious about faster ways to learn.

What was the speaker's goal when he went to China in 1981?

The speaker's goal when he went to China in 1981 was to become native level in Chinese within two years, applying principles from psychological research to the learning process.

How long did it take the speaker to become fluent in Mandarin Chinese?

It took the speaker six months to become fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

What are the two myths about language learning that the speaker wants to dispel?

The two myths the speaker wants to dispel are that one needs talent to learn a language and that immersion in a new country is the way to learn a language effectively.

What are the five principles the speaker believes are essential for an adult to learn a second language?

The five principles are: attention, meaning, relevance, memory, and using the language as a tool to communicate from day one.

What does the speaker mean by 'comprehensible input'?

'Comprehensible input' refers to the process of acquiring a language unconsciously by first understanding the message and then learning the language, which is well-documented in language learning research.

How does the speaker describe the physiological aspect of language learning?

The speaker describes the physiological aspect of language learning as training the brain to hear and filter sounds of the new language and training the facial muscles to produce understandable sounds.

What are the seven actions the speaker suggests to learn a second language effectively?

The seven actions are: listening a lot (brain soaking), getting the meaning first, starting to mix (creating sentences), focusing on core words, having a language parent, copying the face (observing native speakers), and direct connect (associating new sounds with existing images and memories).

What is the significance of the 'language parent' in the learning process?

The 'language parent' provides a safe and supportive environment for the learner, offering comprehensible input, understanding the learner's attempts at communication, and using known words to facilitate learning.

How long does the speaker claim it can take for an adult to learn a second language to fluency?

The speaker claims that any adult can learn a second language to fluency within six months by following the five principles and seven actions.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 The Quest for Accelerated Learning

The speaker introduces a long-standing question about how to speed up the learning process, highlighting the potential benefits of reduced school time and the possibility of bypassing formal education. The speaker's personal journey begins at a young age, with an interest in hypnopaedia, a sleep-learning method that ultimately proved ineffective. However, this curiosity led to a lifelong passion for psychology and learning. The speaker's experience learning Chinese in six months, defying common beliefs about the difficulty of the language, underscores the potential of applying psychological research to language acquisition. The talk emphasizes the importance of communication in solving global challenges and introduces the speaker's method for rapid language learning.

05:02

🎨 Learning to Draw and Language Acquisition

The speaker shares a personal anecdote of learning to draw by applying five key principles in just five days, demonstrating that with the right approach, anyone can learn new skills quickly. The speaker asserts that the same logic applies to language learning, challenging common misconceptions about talent and the effectiveness of immersion as the sole methods for language acquisition. The speaker introduces the concept of modeling successful language learning and asserts that any adult can achieve fluency in a second language within six months, drawing parallels to historical breakthroughs in human limits.

10:02

🌳 Principles of Language Learning

The speaker delves into the five core principles of language learning: attention, meaning, relevance, and memory, and the importance of focusing on language content that is personally relevant. The speaker uses the metaphor of a forest walk to illustrate how these principles naturally apply when we encounter information crucial for survival or personal goals. The speaker emphasizes the effectiveness of using a language as a tool from the outset, sharing personal experiences of learning Chinese and the concept of 'comprehensible input', which is backed by extensive research in the field.

15:03

🗣️ Seven Actions for Language Fluency

The speaker outlines seven actionable steps for language learning based on the previously discussed principles. These include 'brain soaking' through extensive listening, focusing on meaning before words, mixing and creating sentences with a limited vocabulary, and concentrating on high-frequency content. The speaker also introduces the concept of a 'language parent', a supportive individual who provides a safe and nurturing environment for practice. The importance of mimicking native speakers' facial expressions for pronunciation and the technique of 'direct connect' for vocabulary acquisition are also highlighted, emphasizing the learner's control over their own progress.

🎉 Achieving Fluency in Six Months

The speaker concludes by reiterating the five principles and seven actions that can lead to fluency in a second language within six months. The talk encapsulates the empowering message that with dedication and the application of these methods, any learner can achieve their language learning goals. The speaker encourages the audience to take control of their learning and apply these principles and actions to unlock their potential for rapid language acquisition.

Keywords

💡Speed up learning

The concept of 'speed up learning' refers to the process of accelerating the rate at which new information is acquired and understood. In the video, the speaker is interested in this concept as a means to potentially reduce the time spent in school and to enhance personal development. The speaker's journey into this question led to the exploration of various psychological and practical approaches to learning, including hypnopaedia and immersion techniques.

💡Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and behavior. In the context of the video, the speaker's passion for psychology led to a deeper understanding of learning processes and the development of effective strategies for language acquisition. The speaker applied psychological research to their own language learning, achieving fluency in Mandarin Chinese within six months.

💡Hypnopaedia

Hypnopaedia, also known as sleep-learning, is a method of learning through the use of audio recordings played during sleep, with the aim of absorbing information unconsciously. The speaker's early curiosity about hypnopaedia opened doors to further research in learning, despite the method itself being ineffective.

💡Fluency

Fluency in language learning refers to the ability to speak a language smoothly and effortlessly, with accurate pronunciation and natural use of grammar. In the video, the speaker's goal of achieving fluency in Chinese within two years demonstrates the application of psychological principles to language learning.

💡Language acquisition

Language acquisition is the process by which individuals learn to understand and produce a language. The video emphasizes the speaker's interest in finding efficient methods for language acquisition, particularly for adults learning a second language.

💡Comprehensible input

Comprehensible input is a concept in language acquisition theory, which suggests that learners acquire a language when they receive and understand input that is slightly above their current level of proficiency. The speaker highlights the importance of this concept in the natural and unconscious acquisition of language.

💡Physiological training

Physiological training involves physical exercises or practices aimed at improving the body's functions or capabilities. In the context of language learning, it refers to the development of the muscles and sensory perceptions needed to produce and understand new sounds and languages.

💡Psycho-physiological state

Psycho-physiological state refers to the mental and physical condition of an individual, which can significantly impact their ability to learn and process information. The speaker emphasizes the importance of being in a positive, relaxed state to facilitate effective learning.

💡Language parent

A 'language parent' is a person who provides a supportive and understanding environment for language learners, similar to how parents interact with their children. They help the learner by offering comprehensible input, not correcting mistakes, and using known vocabulary to facilitate communication.

💡Direct connect

Direct connect is a learning strategy that involves associating new vocabulary and concepts with existing mental images and memories, rather than rote repetition. This method aims to create a more efficient and natural pathway for recalling and using new language elements.

Highlights

The central question of the talk: 'How can you speed up learning?'

The idea that school sometimes gets in the way of learning.

The personal journey of learning Chinese and achieving fluency in six months.

The historical context of 1981 when Chinese was considered very difficult for Westerners.

Applying psychological research to the learning process.

The belief that any adult can learn a second language to fluency within six months.

The history of human progress as expanding our limits, using the four-minute mile as an example.

The concept of modelling and applying successful principles to learn a language effectively.

Dispelling the myth that talent is necessary for language learning.

The myth that immersion alone is sufficient for language acquisition.

The four interconnected words crucial for learning: attention, meaning, relevance, and memory.

The importance of focusing on language content that is relevant to the learner.

Using language as a tool to communicate from day one, as children do.

The principle of acquiring language unconsciously through comprehensible input.

The significance of being in the right psycho-physiological state for effective learning.

The seven actions based on the five principles to achieve fluency in a second language.

The concept of 'brain soaking' and listening a lot to the language being learned.

The importance of getting the meaning first before the words in language learning.

Transcripts

Transcriber: TED Translators admin Reviewer: Allam Zedan

The people in the back, can you hear me clearly?

OK, good.

Have you ever held a question in mind

for so long that it becomes part of how you think?

Maybe even part of who you are as a person?

Well I've had a question in my mind for many, many years

and that is: How can you speed up learning?

Now, this is an interesting question

because if you speed up learning,

you can spend less time at school.

And if you learn really fast,

you probably wouldn't have to go to school at all.

Now, when I was young, school was sort of OK but...

I found quite often that school got in the way of learning

so I had this question in mind: How do you learn faster?

And this began when I was very, very young,

when I was 11 years old,

I wrote a letter to researchers in the Soviet Union, asking about hypnopaedia,

this is sleep-learning,

where you get a tape recorder, you put it beside your bed

and it turns on in the middle of the night

when you're sleeping,

and you're supposed to be learning from this.

A good idea, unfortunately it doesn't work.

But, hypnopaedia did open the doors to research in other areas

and we've had incredible discoveries about

learning that began with that first question.

I went on from there to become passionate about psychology

and I have been involved in psychology in many different ways

for the rest of my life up until this point.

In 1981, I took myself to China

and I decided that I was going to be native level in Chinese inside two years.

Now, you need to understand that in 1981, everybody thought

Chinese was really, really difficult

and that a Westerner could study for 10 years or more

and never really get very good at it.

And I also went in with a different idea

which was: taking all of the conclusions

from psychological research up to that point

and applying them to the learning process.

What was really cool was that in six months I was fluent in Mandarin Chinese

and it took a little bit longer to get up to native.

But I looked around and I saw all of these people from different countries

struggling terribly with Chinese,

I saw Chinese people struggling terribly to learn English and other languages,

and so my question got refined down to:

How can you help a normal adult

learn a new language quickly, easily and effectively?

Now this is a really, really important question in today's world.

We have massive challenges with environment,

we have massive challenges with social dislocation,

with wars, all sorts of things going on

and if we can't communicate,

we're really going to have difficulty solving these problems.

So we need to be able to speak each other's languages,

this is really, really important.

The question then is: How do you do that?

Well, it's actually really easy.

You look around for people who can already do it,

you look for situations where it's already working

and then you identify the principles and apply them.

It's called modelling and I've been looking at language learning

and modelling language learning for about 15 to 20 years now.

And my conclusion, my observation from this is

that any adult can learn a second language to fluency inside six months.

Now when I say this, most people think I'm crazy, this is not possible.

So let me remind everybody of the history of human progress,

it's all about expanding our limits.

In 1950, everybody believed that running one mile in four minutes was impossible,

and then Roger Bannister did it in 1956

and from there it's got shorter and shorter.

100 years ago everybody believed that heavy stuff doesn't fly.

Except it does and we all know this.

How does heavy stuff fly?

We reorganise the material using principles that we have learned

from observing nature, birds in this case.

And today we've gone even further...

We've gone even further, so you can fly a car.

You can buy one of these for a couple 100.000 US dollars.

We now have cars in the world that fly.

And there's a different way to fly which we've learned from squirrels.

So all you need to do is copy what a flying squirrel does,

build a suit called a wing suit and off you go, you can fly like a squirrel.

Now most people, a lot of people, I wouldn't say everybody

but a lot of people think they can't draw.

However there are some key principles, five principles, that you can apply

to learning to draw and you can actually learn to draw in five days.

So, if you draw like this, you learn these principles for five days

and apply them and after five days you can draw something like this.

Now I know this is true because that was my first drawing

and after five days of applying these principles that was what I was able to do.

And I looked at this and I went:

"Wow, so that's how I look like when I'm concentrating so intensely

that my brain is exploding."

So, anybody can learn to draw in five days

and in the same way, with the same logic,

anybody can learn a second language in six months.

How? There are five principles and seven actions.

There may be a few more but these are absolutely core.

And before I get into those I just want to talk about two myths,

I want to dispel two myths.

The first is that you need talent.

Let me tell you about Zoe.

Zoe came from Australia, went to Holland, was trying to learn Dutch,

struggling extremely, extremely... a great deal

and finally people were saying: "You're completely useless,"

"you're not talented," "give up," "you're a waste of time"

and she was very, very depressed.

And then she came across these five principles,

she moved to Brazil and she applied them

and in six months she was fluent in Portuguese,

so talent doesn't matter.

People also think that immersion in a new country is the way to learn a language.

But look around Hong Kong, look at all the westerners

who've been here for 10 years, who don't speak a word of Chinese.

Look at all the Chinese living in America, Britain, Australia, Canada

have been there 10, 20 years and they don't speak any English.

Immersion per se does not work.

Why? Because a drowning man cannot learn to swim.

When you don't speak a language, you're like a baby.

And if you drop yourself into a context

which is all adults talking about stuff over your head, you won't learn.

So, what are the five principles that you need to pay attention to?

First: the four words,

attention, meaning, relevance and memory,

and these interconnect in very, very important ways.

Especially when you're talking about learning.

Come with me on a journey through a forest.

You go on a walk through a forest

and you see something like this... Little marks on a tree,

maybe you pay attention, maybe you don't.

You go another 50 metres and you see this...

You should be paying attention.

Another 50 metres, if you haven't been paying attention, you see this...

And at this point, you're paying attention.

And you've just learned that this... is important,

it's relevant because it means this,

and anything that is related, any information related to your survival

is stuff that you're going to pay attention to

and therefore you're going to remember it.

If it's related to your personal goals,

then you're going to pay attention to it.

If it's relevant, you're going to remember it.

So, the first rule, first principle for learning a language

is focus on language content that is relevant to you.

Which brings us to tools.

We master tools by using tools and we learn tools the fastest

when they are relevant to us.

So let me share a story.

A keyboard is a tool.

Typing Chinese a certain way, there are methods for this. That's a tool.

I had a colleague many years ago

who went to night school; Tuesday night, Thursday night,

two hours each time, practicing at home,

she spent nine months, and she did not learn to type Chinese.

And one night we had a crisis.

We had 48 hours to deliver a training manual in Chinese.

And she got the job, and I can guarantee you

in 48 hours, she learned to type Chinese

because it was relevant, it was meaningful, it was important,

she was using a tool to create value.

So the second principle for learning a language is to use your language

as a tool to communicate right from day one.

As a kid does.

When I first arrived in China, I didn't speak a word of Chinese,

and on my second week, I got to take a train ride overnight.

I spent eight hours sitting in the dining car

talking to one of the guards on the train,

he took an interest in me for some reason,

and we just chatted all night in Chinese

and he was drawing pictures and making movements with his hands

and facial expressions and piece by piece by piece

I understood more and more.

But what was really cool, was two weeks later,

when people were talking Chinese around me,

I was understanding some of this

and I hadn't even made any effort to learn that.

What had happened, I'd absorbed it that night on the train,

which brings us to the third principle.

When you first understand the message,

then you will acquire the language unconsciously.

And this is really, really well documented now,

it's something called comprehensible input.

There's 20 or 30 years of research on this,

Stephen Krashen, a leader in the field,

has published all sorts of these different studies

and this is just from one of them.

The purple bars show the scores on different tests for language.

The purple people were people who had learned by grammar and formal study,

the green ones are the ones who learned by comprehensible input.

So, comprehension works. Comprehension is key

and language learning is not about accumulating lots of knowledge.

In many, many ways it's about physiological training.

A woman I know from Taiwan did great in English at school,

she got A grades all the way through,

went through college, A grades, went to the US

and found she couldn't understand what people were saying.

And people started asking her: "Are you deaf?"

And she was. English deaf.

Because we have filters in our brain that filter in

the sounds that we are familiar with

and they filter out the sounds of languages that we're not.

And if you can't hear it, you won't understand it,

if you can't understand it, you're not going to learn it.

So you actually have to be able to hear these sounds.

And there are ways to do that but it's physiological training.

Speaking takes muscle.

You've got 43 muscles in your face,

you have to coordinate those in a way

that you make sounds that other people will understand.

If you've ever done a new sport for a couple of days,

and you know how your body feels? Hurts?

If your face is hurting, you're doing it right.

And the final principle is state. Psycho-physiological state.

If you're sad, angry, worried, upset, you're not going to learn. Period.

If you're happy, relaxed, in an Alpha brain state, curious,

you're going to learn really quickly,

and very specifically you need to be tolerant of ambiguity.

If you're one of those people who needs to understand 100 percent

every word you're hearing, you will go nuts,

because you'll be incredibly upset all the time, because you're not perfect.

If you're comfortable with getting some, not getting some,

just paying attention to what you do understand,

you're going to be fine, relaxed, and you'll be learning quickly.

So based on those five principles, what are the seven actions that you take?

Number one: Listen a lot.

I call it brain soaking.

You put yourself in a context

where you're hearing tons and tons and tons of a language

and it doesn't matter if you understand it or not.

You're listening to the rhythms, to patterns that repeat,

you're listening to things that stand out.

(Chinese) Pào nǎozi.

(English) So, just soak your brain in this.

The second action is that you get the meaning first,

even before you get the words.

You go: "Well how do I do that? I don't know the words!"

Well, you understand what these different postures mean.

Human communication is body language in many, many ways, so much body language.

From body language you can understand a lot of communication,

therefore, you're understanding, you're acquiring through comprehensible input.

And you can also use patterns that you already know.

If you're a Chinese speaker of Mandarin and Cantonese and you go to Vietnam,

you will understand 60 percent of what they say to you in daily conversation,

because Vietnamese is about 30 percent Mandarin, 30 percent Cantonese.

The third action: Start mixing.

You probably have never thought of this

but if you've got 10 verbs, 10 nouns and 10 adjectives,

you can say 1000 different things.

Language is a creative process.

What do babies do? OK, "me", "bath", "now".

OK, that's how they communicate.

So start mixing, get creative, have fun with it,

it doesn't have to be perfect, just has to work.

And when you're doing this, you focus on the core.

What does that mean?

Well, any language is high frequency content.

In English 1000 words covers 85 percent

of anything you're ever going to say in daily communication.

3000 words gives you 98 percent

of anything you're going to say in daily conversation.

You got 3000 words, you're speaking the language.

The rest is icing on the cake.

And when you're just beginning with a new language,

start with your tool box. Week number one,

in your new language you say things like:

"How do you say that?" "I don't understand,"

"repeat that please," "what does that mean?"

all in your target language.

You're using it as a tool, making it useful to you,

it's relevant to learn other things about the language.

By week two, you should be saying things like:

"me," "this," "you," "that," "give," you know, "hot,"

simple pronouns, simple nouns, simple verbs,

simple adjectives, communicating like a baby.

And by the third or fourth week, you're getting into "glue words."

"Although," "but," "therefore," these are logical transformers

that tie bits of a language together, allowing you to make more complex meaning.

At that point you're talking.

And when you're doing that, you should get yourself a language parent.

If you look at how children and parents interact,

you'll understand what this means.

When a child is speaking, it'll be using simple words, simple combinations,

sometimes quite strange, sometimes very strange pronunciation,

other people from outside the family don't understand it.

But the parents do.

And so the kid has a safe environment, gets confidence.

The parents talk to the children with body language

and with simple language they know the child understands.

So you have a comprehensible input environment that's safe,

we know it works; otherwise none of you would speak your mother tongue.

So you get yourself a language parent,

who's somebody interested in you as a person

who will communicate with you essentially as an equal,

but pay attention to help you understand the message.

There are four rules of a language parent.

Spouses are not very good at this, OK?

But the four rules are,

first of all, they will work hard to understand what you mean

even when you're way off beat.

Secondly, they will never correct your mistakes.

Thirdly, they will feed back their understanding of what you are saying

so that you can respond appropriately and get that feedback

and then they will use words that you know.

The sixth thing you have to do, is copy the face.

You got to get the muscles working right,

so you can sound in a way that people will understand you.

There's a couple of things you do.

One is that you hear how it feels, and feel how it sounds

which means you have a feedback loop operating in your face,

but ideally if you can look at a native speaker

and just observe how they use their face,

let your unconscious mind absorb the rules,

then you're going to be able to pick it up.

And if you can't get a native speaker to look at, you can use stuff like this...

(Female voice) Sing, song, king, stung, hung.

(Chris Lonsdale) And the final idea here, the final action you need to take

is something that I call "direct connect".

What does this mean? Well most people learning a second language

sort of take the mother tongue words and the target words and go over them

again and again in their mind to try and remember them. Really inefficient.

What you need to do is realise that

everything you know is an image inside your mind, it's feelings,

if you talk about fire, you can smell the smoke,

you can hear the crackling, you can see the flames,

so what you do, is you go into that imagery and all of that memory

and you come out with another pathway. So I call it "same box, different path".

You come out of that pathway and you build it over time,

you become more and more skilled at just connecting the new sounds

to those images that you already have, into that internal representation.

And over time you even become naturally good at that process,

that becomes unconscious.

So, there are five principles that you need to work with, seven actions,

if you do any of them, you're going to improve.

And remember these are things under your control as the learner.

Do them all and you're going to be fluent in a second language in six months.

Thank you.

(Applause)