How to Talk Like a Native Speaker | Marc Green | TEDxHeidelberg

Summary

В этой увлекательной речи рассказчик делится своими воспоминаниями о путешествии в Москву в подростковом возрасте. Он описывает свой забавный опыт самостоятельного исследования московского метро и проблемы с пониманием русского языка. Эта поездка вдохновила его на изучение нескольких иностранных языков и стремление достичь уровня, близкого к носителю языка. Оратор объясняет три ключевых аспекта для достижения этой цели: устранение акцента, использование разговорной речи и усвоение культурных особенностей. Он подчеркивает важность полного погружения в языковую среду и правильного настроя для того, чтобы стать почти таким же, как носитель языка.

Takeaways

• 😀 Для достижения уровня носителя языка важно работать над устранением акцента, используя технику 'идеального предложения'.
• 🗣 Необходимо изучать и использовать местный разговорный язык, характерные выражения и идиомы, которыми пользуются носители языка.
• 🤲 Следует перенимать культурные особенности, жесты и привычки носителей языка для более естественного общения.
• 🌍 Полное погружение в языковую среду, общение с носителями языка и прослушивание аудиоматериалов критически важны для развития навыков.
• 🎶 Изучение песен на иностранном языке помогает улучшить произношение и усвоить идиоматические выражения.
• 🧠 Правильный настрой и вера в то, что вы можете говорить как носитель языка, играют ключевую роль в достижении этого уровня владения.
• 👶 Изучение языка с раннего возраста может способствовать развитию двуязычия и смене языковой идентичности.
• 🧑‍🏫 Взаимодействие с носителями языка, будь то романтические отношения, коллеги или просто друзья, крайне полезно.
• 🎥 Просмотр фильмов и телепередач, а также имитация героев помогают усвоить разговорный язык и культурные особенности.
• 🔑 Работа над произношением - ключ к достижению уровня носителя языка, даже на начальных этапах изучения языка.

Q & A

В каком возрасте автор отправился в путешествие в Советский Союз?

Автору было 15 лет во время путешествия в Советский Союз в 1987 году.

Что случилось, когда автор и его друг сбежали от группы?

Они отправились исследовать московское метро, но автор по ошибке записал на бумажке слово «Выход» вместо названия станции, из-за чего они заблудились.

Какой опыт автор вынес из этого приключения?

Это научило его важности понимания местного языка во время путешествий и побудило выучить еще четыре языка в последующие годы.

Что, по мнению автора, означает быть полностью владеющим иностранным языком?

По его мнению, это означает, что более 50% «колоды карт» языка открыто для вас, и язык становится частью вашего подсознания, так что вы не забудете его, даже если не будете использовать в течение длительного времени.

На что нужно обратить внимание при изучении языка для достижения уровня носителя языка?

Автор выделяет три ключевых момента: работа над устранением акцента, использование выражений, которыми пользуются местные жители, и принятие культурных особенностей.

Какой совет дает автор для улучшения произношения?

Он рекомендует технику «идеального предложения», когда вы повторяете предложение из книги до тех пор, пока носитель языка не скажет, что не слышит акцента.

Почему важно изучать сленг и выражения, которыми пользуются местные жители?

Потому что речь местных жителей часто сильно отличается от того, что вы найдете в учебниках, и для общения с носителями языка необходимо знать именно разговорные выражения.

Как можно усвоить культурные особенности при изучении языка?

Автор рекомендует внимательно наблюдать за жестами, интонациями и выражениями носителей языка и стараться их воспринять и имитировать.

Какой совет дает автор для достижения уровня носителя языка?

Он советует как можно больше погружаться в языковую среду, общаться с носителями языка и верить в то, что если вы будете говорить, выражаться и вести себя как носитель, то сможете достичь его уровня.

Каким образом автор смог преодолеть свой страх перед русским языком?

Он женился на русской девушке, и теперь его дети разговаривают с ним на русском языке каждый день.

Outlines

00:00

🌍 Приключение в Москве

История начинается в 1987 году, когда автор и его друг, находясь в Москве, решили ночью исследовать город, уклонившись от официальной программы. Они использовали метро, что оказалось увлекательным, но странным опытом из-за отличающейся атмосферы и культуры. Однако, пытаясь вернуться в отель, они ошибочно направлялись к выходу из-за неправильного понимания русского слова, что привело к забавной ситуации с таксистом, который запросил оплату в долларах. В итоге, они случайно обнаружили отель, что стало для автора значимым опытом.

05:01

📚 Важность языка

Автор делится своим опытом о том, как важно знать местный язык во время путешествий. Этот опыт побудил его выучить еще четыре языка. Он обсуждает концепцию владения языком, сравнивая ее с колодой карт, которые постепенно раскрываются в процессе обучения. Основные моменты включают достижение базового уровня, состояние владения языком, когда язык становится частью подсознания, и мастерство, включающее глубокие знания в специализированных областях.

10:04

🗣 Погружение в культуру

Автор подчеркивает важность изучения произношения, использования местных выражений и адаптации культурных особенностей для достижения уровня носителя языка. Он предлагает методы для улучшения произношения и понимания локального сленга, а также подчеркивает значение культурной адаптации через активное взаимодействие с носителями языка и погружение в их культуру.

15:05

🌐 Путь к владению языком

В заключительной части автор делится советами о том, как достичь уровня носителя языка, не обязательно достигая академического мастерства. Он подчеркивает значимость произношения, использования телесериалов и фильмов для обучения, а также пения песен для улучшения активного словарного запаса. Автор делится личной историей о том, как ему удалось преодолеть страх русского языка, женившись на русской девушке, и завершает свою речь пожеланиями успеха в изучении языков на нескольких языках.

Keywords

💡Двуязычие

Двуязычие означает способность человека свободно говорить на двух языках. В видео рассказчик объясняет, что с детства говорил на английском с отцом и на немецком с матерью, что дало ему преимущество при изучении иностранных языков. Он упоминает, что двуязычие помогает развивать проблемно-решающие способности и может снизить риск болезни Альцгеймера.

💡Акцент

Акцент - это характерные особенности произношения, свойственные носителям одного языка при разговоре на другом языке. Рассказчик утверждает, что работа над устранением акцента - один из важнейших аспектов для достижения уровня, близкого к уровню носителя языка. Он описывает упражнение «идеальное предложение», которое помогает минимизировать акцент.

💡Разговорная речь

Разговорная речь отличается от письменного языка использованием идиом, сленга и выражений, характерных для носителей языка в повседневном общении. Рассказчик подчеркивает важность изучения разговорной лексики и выражений, которые часто отличаются от тех, что встречаются в учебниках. Он приводит примеры из французского языка.

💡Культурные особенности

Культурные особенности - это характерные черты, жесты, выражения и привычки, присущие носителям определенной культуры или языка. Рассказчик советует изучать и перенимать эти особенности, чтобы достичь уровня, близкого к уровню носителя. Он приводит примеры жестов и междометий, имеющих разные значения в разных культурах.

💡Погружение в языковую среду

Погружение в языковую среду означает максимальное взаимодействие с носителями языка и культуры, будь то проживание за границей, общение с соотечественниками или романтические отношения. Рассказчик подчеркивает важность такого погружения для успешного овладения языком на уровне, близком к уровню носителя.

💡Песни

Рассказчик рекомендует изучать тексты песен на изучаемом языке, поскольку они помогают улучшить произношение при исполнении, расширить словарный запас и лучше усвоить идиоматические выражения в контексте эмоциональных историй.

💡Правильный настрой

Правильный настрой - это убежденность в том, что звучание, манера выражаться и поведение, подобные носителям языка, приведут к достижению уровня, близкого к уровню носителя. Рассказчик подчеркивает важность такого настроя для успешного овладения языком.

💡Иерархия при изучении языка

Рассказчик описывает иерархию уровней владения языком: базовый, свободное владение, мастерство. Он объясняет, что для достижения уровня, близкого к носителю, не обязательно доходить до академического мастерства - достаточно свободно владеть языком и перенять культурные особенности.

💡Выучить новый язык

Овладеть новым языком - главная тема выступления. Рассказчик делится своим опытом и советами о том, как достичь уровня владения языком, максимально приближенного к уровню носителя, особо отмечая важность работы над произношением, изучения разговорной речи и культурных особенностей, а также погружения в языковую среду.

💡Мотивация

Мотивация - движущая сила для изучения языка. Рассказчик упоминает, что его собственным мотивирующим фактором стало неприятное происшествие в московском метро из-за незнания русского языка. Это побудило его выучить несколько иностранных языков, чтобы подобные ситуации больше не повторялись.

Highlights

The speaker's experience of getting lost in the Moscow metro as a teenager, writing down the Russian word for 'exit' instead of the station name, and struggling to find their way back to the hotel.

The importance of understanding the local language when traveling, which led the speaker to learn four additional languages fluently.

The speaker's analogy of learning a new language as turning over cards in a deck, with fluency reached when over 50% of the 'cards' are revealed.

The benefits of being a native speaker, including having multiple identities, increased problem-solving ability, and resistance to Alzheimer's disease.

Three areas to focus on to achieve native-like fluency: eliminating accent, using local expressions and verbs, and adopting cultural traits.

The 'perfect-sentence' technique for improving pronunciation by repeatedly practicing a sentence until a native speaker cannot detect an accent.

The importance of learning colloquial expressions and words used by locals, which are often different from textbook vocabulary.

Examples of cultural traits to internalize, such as gestures, exclamations of pain/surprise, and affirmative expressions.

The recommendation to fully immerse oneself in the culture through living abroad, interacting with natives, watching TV shows/movies, and learning song lyrics.

The mindset of believing that sounding, expressing oneself, and acting like a native will help achieve native-like fluency.

The emphasis on working on pronunciation from the beginning, as it aids the learning process and is key to reaching native-like status.

The speaker's humorous anecdote about overcoming his fear of Russian by marrying a Russian woman and having children who speak Russian to him daily.

The speaker's multilingual closing remarks, wishing the audience success in their language studies in Spanish, French, Hebrew, Yiddish, and Russian.

The speaker's aim of developing a 'native speaker' level of fluency, beyond just communication skills, to fully integrate into the culture.

The idea that reaching academic 'mastery' level is not necessary for attaining native-like fluency, as many native speakers do not have specialized vocabulary or in-depth knowledge.

Transcripts

Translator: Phuong Cao Reviewer: Leonardo Silva

My story starts in Moscow.

I was 15 years old.

My best friend and I, we were part of a group of Westerners,

visiting the Soviet Union.

This was in 1987,

a few years before the fall of the communist regime.

We were given an official tour guide who was assigned to us.

And the tour would start in the morning,

and we were checked in to our hotel rooms for the night.

My friend said to me, ''Let's go outside and look at the city.''

I thought it was a great idea.

Dumb idea.

So we grabbed our coats, and we snuck out past security and into the street.

We found the entrance to the metro.

The Moscow underground transportation system is the deepest one in the world.

The ride down the escalator took a full minute.

Once we were down there, my friend headed right to an open train,

and I pulled him back and said, "Wait!

Let's write down the name of the station so we can find our way back."

So I had a notepad, and I took a notepad,

and I wrote down the letters of the station,

and we hopped down the train and went on train hopping.

And that was fun because -

Well, actually, it was weird.

There were a lot of people, probably all coming home from work.

They were all dressed in brown and gray clothes,

and it looked very, very different from what we were used to at home.

But the stations were lovely.

There were stations with statues, with paintings on the wall,

and glass displays.

It was really like museums.

We would never have expected that.

And everything was perfectly clean.

Well,

what was weird though is that the people - nobody seemed to speak,

and everyone seemed to be looking at us and it kind of weirded us out.

So after about 20-30 minutes,

we'd had enough and we wanted to go home.

I showed my note to someone and they directed me over there.

Then over there, I showed my note to another person,

and they directed us to the other way.

And then a third person directed us sideways.

That was a little confusing.

Aw, then I saw it.

Over the stairs, the sign.

It turned out I had written down the Russian word for "Exit."

(Laughter)

So we headed upstairs and we found a taxi.

That was great.

And we told the driver, you know, "Intourist Hotel,"

and then he was willing to take us.

And I remember sitting next to the driver, handing him 50 rubles.

And he looked at me and he said,

(Russian) No, dollar!

(Laughter)

Fifty dollars?

That was like I don't know 20 times that amount or something.

That was not an option for us.

So we had to get out of the taxi,

and he drove away, leaving us standing there.

It was a cold night,

and you know everything was strange for us,

and we were teenagers,

and we were pretty nervous, didn't know what to do.

Well, we started walking.

We walked to the end of the block.

We turned the corner.

And 200 yards in front of us, the Intourist Hotel.

(Laughter)

Well, this experience affected me in two ways.

The first is that anytime after this trip that I would hear anyone speak Russian,

I was just cringe.

(Laughter)

And the second one is that it taught me the importance

of understanding the local language when you're traveling.

And it actually led to me learning another four languages fluently

over the following years.

Now, before I go on, I'd like to know in the audience -

Can we have a little bit of light maybe in the audience?

I'd just like to know who's -

By a show of hands, who is not a native English speaker?

It must be 99%.

(Laughter)

Anyone who doesn't speak English, stand up!

(Laughter)

Alright, so I can assume

all of you have, you know, gone through the process of learning a language.

Anybody who speaks three or more languages?

Wow, that's maybe 70%.

Four or more languages, anyone?

That's still quite a bit.

Anyone speak five or more languages?

Wow, come see me during the break.

(Laughter)

To me, learning a language is...

For me, it's like a deck of playing cards lying faced down on the table.

As you start learning and understanding, the cards start opening up for you.

Now there's no standard way of classifying this.

But as you learn, you reach certain milestones.

And the first one would be when about 25% of the cards are turned up,

you reach like a basic level.

At this level, you have a base vocabulary, some grammar,

and you're able to have maybe very simple conversations

and communicate a little bit.

And your study goes on until you reach this magical point of fluency,

what we call being fluent in the language.

Now what does it mean, being fluent in a language?

It means that you've turned up more than 50% of the cards in the deck,

and that is the point where you have -

where the language becomes part of your subconscious

so that even if you don't use it anymore for 10 years or longer,

you will not forget it.

You can get back into it within a very, very short time.

So this is a level where you're comfortable thinking in a language,

and comfortable communicating in a language.

Now, some people go on and, you know, reach like a mastery level.

By that time, you know classic literature in the other language

and have maybe in-depth knowledge of specialized fields.

That's often the point taken in academia.

For me, when I learned my first foreign language,

I had a head start

because I was born to a German-speaking mother and an American father.

Now, when I was a baby, I didn't really understand

that what my parents were speaking to me were two separate languages.

But by the time I was two years old, I had figured it all out.

Women speak only German.

(Laughter)

Men only speak English.

(Laughter)

Imagine the fun my parents had when they introduced me to couples.

(Laughter)

Being a bilingual was actually pretty helpful in learning my first language.

It definitely helped.

If you're -

But it also gave me something else.

It gave me two identities and the ability to switch between them.

When you're a native speaker of more than one language,

then your personality, your humor, your value system,

they change as you switch languages.

This can have huge advantages.

I mean, some studies have shown an increased problem-solving ability

or even a higher resistance to Alzheimer's disease.

But what I'm almost interested in

is that it's actually given me a lot of social benefits.

When you're a native speaker,

then you feel at home among native speakers or in a culture,

and also native speakers accept you as one of theirs.

Now is this only relevant to native speakers?

And that's the big question.

But wouldn't it be cool

if a person learning a foreign language could actually develop another identity

and actually enjoy the social benefits of a native speaker

that go beyond communication skills?

Well, that's what happened to me.

I was able to do that,

and I want to show you from my experience how I think this can be achieved.

So if we say this green area here is the level of the native speaker,

the first thing to note is that on your way to reaching fluency,

there is not really any shortcut.

There are some methods that you can use such as the Burrito Principle

where you identify 20% of the most effective materials to study.

There are some apps, like stuff for time-spaced learning,

that increase vocabulary retention.

They save a little time,

but in the end, there's no way around working with the material, practicing it,

until you reach the fluency level.

But the second thing to note

is that going from fluency to mastery is a much slower process,

and it requires proportionally more effort.

That's why most people - they just stop at fluency.

They know how to speak English, good enough,

and they don't even attempt to venture on,

and I can understand it.

But the good news is,

to get the benefits of a native speaker, at a native-speaker level,

you don't have to go through mastery in the academic sense.

In fact, you can skip this step altogether.

So if you think about it,

there are many native speakers do not have an in-depth knowledge

of specialized fields or sophisticated vocabulary.

So, that's not really what is required.

So how do you do it? What is required?

Well,

I want to give you three areas to focus on

when you're learning and interacting with native speakers.

The first is: work on eliminating your accent.

I'm aware I said eliminating.

It should be at least minimizing it.

This is, in my opinion, the most overlooked aspect

of language learning today,

but it's also the most important one

to reach what I call a native-speaker level or a speaker-like level.

If you communicate without an accent or almost without an accent,

this changes how natives behave towards you unconsciously,

and it also gives you an ability to adapt to a new self-image.

The best way that I've found -

the best exercise I've found to improve your pronunciation

is what I call the perfect-sentence technique.

What you do is you find a native speaker to help you,

and you take a book in the foreign language,

you open it at a random page,

and you read the first sentence.

Then, you ask a native speaker to rate you

on obvious accent, slight accent, no accent.

Then the native speaker will read this sentence back to you.

You have to listen carefully and then you repeat.

And you repeat this process over and over until the native speaker tells you

that he can no longer hear an accent when you read the sentence.

Now, I realize it can take a very long time

even just to get one sentence right.

But I promise you

if you are persistent, and if you patiently work on this,

you'll be amazed by what happens to your accent.

The second area to focus on is using verbs and expressions that locals use.

Now, we all know the situation that vocabulary can be region-specific.

Like, in the US, you use "stand in line."

In the UK, you "queue."

That's all good.

But sometimes, the spoken word is so different,

the speech is so different from what you get in textbooks,

that the books are almost useless if you want to converse with natives.

I want to give you an example.

In the French language, there are words like "le travail,"

which is "my work."

A French person talking to his friend would probably say "mon boulot,"

which is a completely different word.

The same for "the clothes," "le vestments,"

but you'll hear "le fringues."

Or money is "l'argent,"

but people say "le fric," "le sou," or many other expressions for this.

So, obviously I'm only scratching the surface here.

But here you actually have to learn all of these words and expressions one by one.

And of course, you have to interact with natives to do that.

But after you reach a critical mass that you're comfortable with,

it'll actually be easier when you encounter something new.

You'll just pick it up in one go, like native speakers would,

who hear words or expressions that they didn't know before.

The third area to work on is adopting cultural traits.

What do I mean by that?

So let me ask you:

what does this gesture mean to you?

Any Italians here?

(Laughter)

OK, now, depending on what culture you're from,

this could mean something rude,

or it could just mean it's something incredulous,

like, "Why did you do that?"

Or, "How could you?"

Or it could just be signaling food, "Give me food!"

Interesting!

In the Middle East,

this is just a standard way of signaling "Please, wait!"

So these kind of traits you have to internalize,

and sometimes, they're hard to spot,

and it takes a lot of active listening.

I want to give you a few more examples.

So imagine I am with three of my friends: an American, a German, and a Frenchman.

And, like, we're walking and maybe the American bumps his head,

and his initial reaction might be, "Ouch!"

That's how you say it in English.

But the German that, you know, gets, I don't know, elbowed in the crowd,

he would say, "Ow-ah!"

(Laughter)

And the French person might step on the nail and say, "Ay!"

(Laughter)

So this, of course, in your target language,

this is something you have to observe and also internalize,

and it has to become part of you.

If...

Again I'm with these three friends, and I sit with them,

and let's say I serve them tea,

and I ask the American, "Would you like a biscuit with your tea?"

And if he answers in the affirmative, he might say, "Uh-huh!"

And I can ask the German, "Do you know what tea this is?"

He'll say, ''Mm- hmm!''

And then I ask the Frenchman, "Do you like this?"

He'll say, "Hmm!"

(Laughter)

So these difference, they really require active listening.

So all of these three things that I told you

which is pronunciation,

and colloquial speech and adopting cultural traits,

they all require that you interact with natives as much as possible.

Ideally, you should fully immerse yourself in the culture.

Now if you have the chance to live abroad for a while, that will be great.

Or maybe live among natives in your hometown.

Perhaps just have a romantic relationship,

or even just spend time, you know, with co-workers.

So, romantic relationships, I could do a whole talk about that.

(Laughter)

That works really well for these things.

But yeah -

So this will be different for everybody, of course.

But even when you're not around natives, your learning must not stop.

Because what you can do is you can watch TV shows and films,

you can mimic the characters,

you can write down anything that you haven't heard of before,

and practice that.

I also want to encourage you to learn the lyrics of songs.

Songs are really great because they tell stories.

And they not only help your pronunciation when you sing them,

but if they're emotional,

they can anchor these expressions into your active vocabulary.

And it's like speaking all day and really using the expressions unconsciously.

It's a great way.

So music, definitely.

The other thing you need to move towards native-speaker status

is the right mindset,

and a belief that if you sound like a native,

express yourself like a native,

talk like a native and act like a native,

you'll actually achieve a native-like level.

So if I could only leave you with one thing today,

it would be: work on your pronunciation.

Because pronunciation

helps any stage of the learning process,

even in the very beginning.

It'll speed up everything.

And it also is the key to reaching a native-speaker level,

or almost-native-speaker status.

So before I go,

I'd like to tell you how I was able to overcome my fear of the Russian language.

It was a very, very elegant solution.

I married a Russian girl.

(Laughter)

And I now have little kids in my home that speak Russian to me every day.

(Laughter)

So I want to thank you.

(Applause)

And before I go, I just want to wish you

(Spanish) A lot of success with your language studies.

(French) It was a pleasure to present for you today.

(Hebrew) I wish you lots of success with your studies.

(Yiddish) Thank you for listening.

Good luck to you all and...

(Russian) Thank you.

(Applause)