How I Learn To Speak Foreign Languages Without Talking To People | Polyglot Language Learning Tips
Summary
TLDRIn this video, the speaker shares insights into their unique approach to language learning, focusing on developing speaking skills without regular interaction with native speakers. They emphasize the importance of independence in learning, the value of self-practice through repetition and manipulation of sentences, and the power of 'thinking out loud' in the target language. The speaker also highlights the significance of expressing emotions and opinions to prepare for authentic conversations, ultimately building a strong foundation for speaking proficiency.
Takeaways
- 😀 The speaker loves coffee and has made a perfect cup, setting a positive tone for the video.
- 🗣 The speaker acknowledges not practicing speaking with native speakers or using online tutors, which is contrary to common advice.
- 🤔 The speaker explains that they develop speaking skills independently, which raises the question of how they achieve fluency without regular conversation practice.
- 📚 The speaker believes in self-learning to a basic level of fluency before engaging with native speakers organically.
- 🌐 The speaker's approach to language learning involves a lot of independent practice and repetition of phrases out loud from day one.
- 🔄 The speaker emphasizes the importance of manipulating example sentences early in the learning process to create new sentences.
- 🎯 The speaker uses substitution exercises to become comfortable with expressing a variety of thoughts with a limited vocabulary.
- 🤓 The speaker practices 'thinking out loud' in the target language, comparing it to internal monologue to normalize the idea.
- 🎭 The speaker suggests engaging with emotional and opinionated content, such as favorite books or movies, to simulate authentic conversations.
- 📝 The speaker recommends writing down unknown words or expressions encountered during self-practice and actively learning them.
- 💪 The speaker concludes that this method of independent practice leads to a strong foundation in speaking, making one ready for real-life interactions when opportunities arise.
Q & A
What does the speaker usually do when learning a new language?
-The speaker typically doesn't engage in speaking with native speakers or use online tutors or language exchange partners. Instead, they develop their speaking skills independently.
Why does the speaker avoid actively seeking native speakers to practice speaking?
-The speaker feels that native speakers are often in a foreign country to learn a new language, and they prefer to help them with their language goals rather than practice their own.
What was the speaker's experience with Japanese exchange students at the university?
-The speaker observed that many students aggressively sought out Japanese exchange students to practice speaking Japanese, but most of them were not even able to have a proper conversation in Japanese.
How does the speaker develop basic fluency in a language?
-The speaker develops basic fluency by practicing independently, focusing on being able to express ideas freely, even with mistakes, and finding ways to communicate when stuck.
What is the speaker's approach to learning and practicing language skills?
-The speaker practices by repeating and manipulating example sentences, engaging in substitution exercises, and thinking out loud in the language they are learning.
How does the speaker use dialogues in textbooks or apps for practice?
-The speaker goes through the dialogues, repeating them and then changing the characters' lines to manipulate the story and practice producing their own sentences.
What is the speaker's method for dealing with words or expressions they don't know while practicing?
-The speaker writes down unknown words or expressions and makes it their mission to find out how to say them naturally, then incorporates them into future practice.
Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of emotion and opinion in practicing speaking skills?
-The speaker believes that engaging with emotional and opinionated content helps mimic real conversations and allows for deeper practice, as it encourages the expression of thoughts and feelings.
How does the speaker use their favorite book, movie, or TV show to practice speaking?
-The speaker watches parts of their favorite content and thinks about their opinions and feelings regarding the story, then practices retelling the story or discussing it from different perspectives.
What benefits does the speaker find in practicing speaking skills alone?
-The speaker finds that practicing alone is liberating, safe for making mistakes, and allows for genuine and authentic interaction preparation without the need for a tutor or exchange partner.
What is the speaker's advice for those who feel uncomfortable talking to themselves in a new language?
-The speaker suggests starting by thinking out loud in one's native language and then gradually transitioning to the new language to get comfortable with the idea.
Outlines
😀 Embracing Independent Language Learning
The speaker begins by sharing their love for coffee and addressing a common question about their language learning approach. They explain that they don't actively seek out speaking practice with native speakers or use online tutors, but instead focus on developing basic fluency independently. They recount an experience at university where they chose not to practice Japanese with exchange students, respecting their primary goal of learning English. The speaker emphasizes the importance of being ready for genuine conversations when opportunities arise organically.
🗣️ Developing Speaking Skills Solo
The speaker discusses their method of developing speaking skills without interaction. They mention the importance of repeating phrases out loud to practice pronunciation and intonation. They also describe manipulating example sentences to create variations and practicing dialogues by changing character lines. The speaker stresses the value of being able to express oneself freely, even with mistakes, and the patience required to wait for authentic conversation opportunities.
🎯 Enhancing Language Proficiency Through Self-Talk
The speaker explains how they enhance their language skills by talking to themselves, comparing it to thinking out loud. They suggest starting with simple tasks like describing surroundings and daily activities before moving on to more complex topics. The speaker highlights the importance of incorporating emotion and opinion into self-talk to simulate real conversations. They recommend using favorite stories or content to practice expressing opinions and emotions in the target language.
📚 Independent Speaking Practice with Familiar Content
The speaker continues to elaborate on their self-talk method, emphasizing the use of familiar content like TV shows, movies, or books to practice language skills. They suggest watching an episode or part of a story and then thinking about it in the target language, considering different perspectives and opinions. This method allows for safe practice without fear of mistakes, and the speaker encourages recording oneself to identify and correct errors.
🌟 Self-Developed Speaking Skills for Authentic Interactions
In the final paragraph, the speaker reflects on the effectiveness of their self-talk method for developing speaking skills. They express confidence in their ability to engage in authentic interactions when opportunities arise, without the need for tutors or language exchange partners. The speaker concludes by encouraging others to consider this method, emphasizing its liberating aspect and the empowerment it provides in language learning.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Fluency
💡Independent Learning
💡Repetition
💡Manipulation of Sentences
💡Substitution Exercises
💡Dialogues
💡Thinking Out Loud
💡Emotion
💡Opinion
💡Authentic Interactions
Highlights
The speaker enjoys coffee and has perfected the art of making a well-balanced cup.
Despite not actively seeking out native speakers, the speaker has developed strong speaking skills in multiple languages.
The speaker prefers to develop language skills independently rather than through language exchange or tutors.
Fluency is viewed as a spectrum with many levels, and the speaker focuses on basic fluency first.
The speaker's approach to language learning involves constant repetition of phrases and sentences out loud from the beginning.
Manipulating example sentences to create new meanings is a powerful method for developing speaking skills.
The speaker emphasizes the importance of practicing with genuine emotions and opinions to enhance language skills.
The speaker uses content they are emotionally attached to, such as favorite books or TV shows, to practice language skills.
Thinking out loud in the target language is a recommended method for independent language practice.
The speaker suggests reframing talking to oneself as 'thinking out loud' to make it more comfortable.
Engaging in self-discussion about stories or events can mimic real conversations and improve language fluency.
The speaker highlights the importance of recording oneself to catch and correct mistakes.
When opportunities to speak arise organically, the speaker is prepared to engage in authentic conversations.
The speaker's method allows for the development of speaking skills without the need for a tutor or language exchange partner.
The speaker encourages patience and the enjoyment of the language learning process, even when practicing alone.
The video concludes with the speaker expressing hope that the shared methods are helpful and liberating for viewers.
Transcripts
[Music]
hey everybody
happy wednesday good news i have got
just the most splendid cup of coffee
today i pulled the perfect shot
so well balanced have i ever told you
how much i love coffee
ah so over the years and especially over
the last few months
so many people have noticed and pointed
out in the comments
how when i learn languages i actually
don't
do a lot of speaking to native speakers
i don't
go out there and aggressively you know
create opportunities to speak i don't
usually use online tutors or
you know fine language exchange partners
it's just not something i do a lot of
right and so many of you have
rightly pointed this out and asked so
how do you
develop these speaking skills in
different languages
if you're not practicing talking to
people
on a regular basis and so i thought this
would be a really cool video to talk
about
you know why i typically don't
do that a lot until later on and of
course more importantly
talk about how how i still develop
pretty strong speaking skills mostly by
myself
so that later on when the opportunities
come organically
i'm ready and i can really engage in
some fantastic conversations with native
speakers and just other
people who speak the language that's all
coming up of course if you enjoy this
video please do give it a like and
consider subscribing
and i also have a patreon page where i'm
posting a lot of exclusive content so
if you're into that check it out link in
the description
[Music]
okay so first of all i want to really
quickly explain that
you know speaking to native speakers or
other people who speak the language it's
not something that
i avoid right so i don't actively or
deliberately
avoid speaking to people it's just that
i don't
you know create those opportunities
myself i don't book
online tutors i don't use apps that
can help me find exchange partners and
the primary reason for this is honestly
that i've always just
found that i can be really independent
when it comes to developing
that kind of really basic level of
fluency i always talk about how for me
fluency is a really wide spectrum and
there are many many levels of fluency
so when i say that like really basic
level i'm talking about
getting to the point where you can
freely express yourself right
there'll be mistakes you're going to get
stuck sometimes but you can express your
ideas
you can talk to people and if you get
stuck
you can typically find a way to still
express your idea
one way or another and so yeah when i
was learning japanese there was an
interesting situation where i was a
student at
university i was learning japanese and
we had like
five exchange students from japan
and what happened back then is that like
every person it seemed in the whole
japanese department
was like i would say aggressively
trying to like find these five japanese
exchange students
all the time and like trying to practice
japanese with them
and i always felt weird about that
because in my opinion you know
these people came here to learn english
they're here to practice
english it's a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity they're students here for a
whole year
it's really special and so if i meet one
of these people
organically i'm more inclined to
try to help them with their english or
just talk to them as a normal person in
english
right i'm not gonna try to force them to
speak japanese with me
and the funny thing is that most people
in the japanese department at my
university
basically nobody could even converse in
japanese
and so on one hand it's like you're
aggressively trying to find these
five people who can speak japanese but
then
you're not even able to have a proper
conversation with them anyway
and so i just made a decision at the
time
that i i would just try to develop those
skills by myself
and i i knew that once my japanese
became
pretty good and i was conversational i
knew that those opportunities would come
and when they did i'd be ready i'd be
able to actually
engage and that actually did happen
later on in my university years
i kind of ended up being the guy that
you know exchange students would
come to when they needed help and when
they were just exhausted of speaking
english and they wanted someone
that could speak japanese with them and
who they could express themselves
naturally with and we had some wonderful
conversations
and we really bonded over you know
discussing the struggles of living
abroad things like that
so that's when it all started and the
same thing happened in french italian
basically every language i've learned
i've always just developed my speaking
skills pretty independently
and because again the thing that i
really look forward to
when it comes to speaking to other
people in a foreign language
i look forward to those really genuine
authentic
moments of again like discussion and
like bonding over sharing experiences
and
you know all these things that really
happen later on right they really happen
once you at least have the ability to
engage and converse with somebody and so
yeah i that's what i look forward to and
i just have a lot of patience for
that happening and prior to that
i'm pretty content talking to myself
practicing on my own
and building up those skills and it's
kind of a thing that like i said i look
forward to it because i know
the i'm gonna be ready one day when i
get the chance
but again if i get opportunities that
organically just pop up i'm more than
happy
to speak with people it's just not
something that i aggressively go after
so let's talk a little bit about
how i personally do this right how do i
go about developing speaking skills
without actually talking to a person
well the first thing is and this is
going to seem kind of obvious but
i am constantly constantly repeating
things
out loud from basically day one so if
i'm doing an
app if i'm doing a textbook that's got
like audio
whatever it is if there's an example
sentence or a dialogue
anything i am just constantly repeating
the language and really trying my best
to focus on
you know pronunciation rhythm intonation
even things like tonality even
things like emotion right like is
someone
angry in the dialogue are they upset are
they happy
i want to really try to mimic all these
things
but the next thing i do and this is
where it starts to become very powerful
for
developing speaking skills is that very
early i
start to manipulate those example
sentences and so
if the sentence is you know i
would like to have lunch then i'll do my
best
to first of all repeat that sentence but
then
to change it right so i would like to
eat dinner or
i don't want to eat dinner because i
already ate
right like anything i can do right to me
it's an
opportunity to just practice whatever
i have and it can be just changing the
verb tense it could be
using the passive voice if i know how to
do that i'm just
constantly repeating and manipulating
sentences as much as i can very early on
and so even that starts to give me
this comfort in
producing my own sentences now of course
then we start to get into dialogues
right so maybe there are dialogues in a
textbook or an app and stuff
same thing i'll try to go through the
dialogue but then maybe i'll try to do
it a second time
but i'll try to change one of the
characters lines right i'll try to just
substitute myself
in and do things like that right see if
i can completely change the story
so that's a very basic thing that i do
early on but i do think it's very
powerful and that starts me on this
journey of becoming an independent
conversationalist
in a language about speaking to people
now the next thing i do
is i do actually engage in
sort of drills right for substitution
exercises right so
i will always try to become very
comfortable
saying a lot of things with a little bit
of language right so
in the beginning i'm not trying to learn
a thousand verbs a thousand
nouns or ten thousand this or whatever
honestly
it's amazing how much you can say
we have a pretty small list of nouns
verbs adjectives conjunctions whatever
like
it's kind of incredible because if you
learn how to say
i want to eat and then if you learn to
say i want to go
and if you learn a few words like
restaurant but
afterwards already like it's a pretty
small selection of words
all of a sudden you can say well i want
to go and eat at the restaurant but
i already ate a couple of hours ago so
i'll eat later
like there's not a lot of complexity
there and i find that what takes a long
time for many people
is people get very good at saying very
very short sentences very very short
phrases because typically that's what
you're
seeing in these apps and these textbooks
and these courses
very often people struggle with saying
longer more complex sentences but again
very often the individual pieces of
those sentences
are quite simplistic but you just need
a good amount of these sort of connector
words or conjunctions or
different things like this and i find
that a lot of it it's just
simply practice but i find that the best
way to do that for me
is first of all to be outputting these
things and to kind of drill them
right and so i'll say i'll just try to
see how many different ways can i
manipulate
a single sentence how many words can i
substitute in
so i do a lot of that but to be honest
all this is really just
in preparation for what really starts to
get interesting which is when i do begin
speaking to myself now the first thing i
want to do here is i would like to
reframe this
many people are uncomfortable with the
idea
of talking to themselves but if you
think about it it's not that different
than when you think to yourself right
when you're thinking to yourself it's
very similar to
talking to yourself it's just your
inside voice
so what i like to think of it as is
thinking out loud right that's all it is
i'm gonna start
thinking out loud in the language i'm
learning
and i find that this framing is a lot
more comfortable for people because
we think to ourselves every single day
all the time right and so it's a much
more familiar
idea so one thing you can do if this is
still a bit uncomfortable
is try it in your native language so you
could start by
just thinking out loud in english for
example if you're an english speaker
like me
and then try to do the same thing in
french or japanese whatever language
you're learning
it's a good exercise to just get
comfortable
with the idea of thinking out loud in a
new language
but there's a lot more to it than this
so the first level for me
is pretty basic stuff it's describing my
surroundings how did my day go
things like this but i want to focus
more on what's after that because many
people that tell you to talk to yourself
that's where they stop right but there's
a secret
key in my opinion or there are two keys
one is emotion
and one is opinion and they of course
these two things are
deeply intertwined what i like to do
is i'll take anything that i have an
emotional attachment to
in terms of content right so this could
be a tv show
that's in english it doesn't have to be
in a foreign language
it could be a book it could be a video
game anything it could be a current
event
happening in your country's you know
political system whatever it is but i
find that stories are best
because they tend to have this rich
context built up around them so what i
like to do
is i'll take my favorite book my
favorite movie my favorite tv show
and i'll watch either a whole episode or
just even a piece of an episode
and i'll start to think about okay
what's my opinion
how do i feel what do i think is the
point of this episode because
most tv shows most movies most books
they have a message right they're trying
to tell you something so
what is that and i find that this is an
incredibly powerful way to start
actually getting speaking practice with
myself as i start to think about
okay so how would i tell this
episode how would i tell this story from
the perspective of a different character
you know how would i get inside the head
of
you know this other person and what
would their perspective be
and so you know many things start with
i think that you know and you start just
basically expressing your opinion on
things that have happened and you use
this idea of manipulation right and so
you manipulate the story you change the
perspective you
you know honestly it's quite remarkable
how deeply you can get into a discussion
with yourself when you start
not just making it very boring like well
my day was good
i went to school i ate lunch no
as soon as you can i would move on from
that and i would
start engaging with genuine
thoughtful discussion about what do you
think what do you feel right or again
how did that person feel how would she
have felt
if the story were told from her
perspective
it's kind of incredible and you'll find
that this
very closely mimics those types of
conversations that you would like to
have with a person one day
because a lot of what we do is we tell
stories we express our opinions
we connect with people on an emotional
level we maybe someone tells us a story
and then we say
we tell a story from our own lives that
is similar
right you can get a lot of that practice
and it's great because you can do so by
engaging with content you love
like i said it could be tv show movie
drama in your native language
or in a language you're learning it
doesn't matter um
and yeah i just find this to be really
really powerful
and like i said this helps me to become
a very independent speaker
and so what happens is inevitably i come
across
words i don't know how to say i come
across expressions or
things that i'm not sure how to express
and so i write those things down
and i make it my mission to find out how
can i say those in a natural way
and then i come back the next time more
prepared
and i really like this because it's a
completely
safe space i'm not scared of making
mistakes because
it's just me no one else is around right
i can even record myself
and then listen back to it i always hear
a lot of my own mistakes and it's really
powerful for helping
not make the same mistake again there's
just so much you can do here there's so
much you can do
and it's quite enjoyable and i don't
know i just find that
this has been so powerful and effective
for me
and so yeah i can usually always develop
a decent enough speaking
level so that when i do encounter people
in real life
and i start to get all these
opportunities i'm ready and then that's
when my speaking skills really
start to grow okay everybody i hope that
was helpful
it's kind of a strange topic i don't
know i feel like people don't
talk about it very much and i feel like
people are often hesitant
to engage in this but to me it's so
liberating to know that i can get a
tutor right i can go and find an
exchange partner
i don't necessarily need to and i can
develop some really really powerful
speaking skills by myself
so that one day when i decide it's time
i can go out and find
all kinds of opportunities to speak and
actually have really genuine authentic
interactions hope you have a wonderful
wednesday and i'll see you back here on
[Music]
friday
[Music]
you
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