Why You Can't Understand Sentences (Even Though You Know All the Words)

One of the most common problems I hear language learners report is “knowing all of the words in a sentence, but still not being able to understand what the sentence means as a whole”. This video is an in-depth exploration of exactly why this happens, and how to go about fixing it.

If you are a regular viewer of my content, you can probably guess what the solution is: immersion. But, in this video, I go into the actual mechanisms of HOW immersion helps you improve your ability to understand sentences. Hope you find it useful!

LINKS:

***MY LINKS***

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
0:18 - THE PROBLEM
0:50 - Not knowing a word's alternate meaning
2:55 - Failing to determine which meaning is relevant
4:59 - Grammar: sentences are more than just words
7:00 - Not knowing a grammar rule or structure
8:13 - Failing to determine what grammar is at play
10:52 - Not understanding the context
15:39 - THE SOLUTION
17:25 - The mechanism behind immersion
19:32 - How immersion helps you understand sentences
22:44 - Conclusion

MUSIC:
1. Fine Toothed Chrome - Sam Barsh
2. Exhibit - OBOY
3. The Night Sky - Falls
4. Smoke and Mirrors - Falls
5. Respect Old Arrangements - Sam Barsh
6. Borealis - Isaac Joel
7. Intermissa - Isaac Joel
8. Gotcha Like Nu - Alkemi$t
9. Beach Pink - Isaac Joel
10. Cafe Electrique - Falls
11. Sandal - OBOY

[mattvsjapan]

One of the most common problems I hear language learners report is “knowing all of the words in a sentence, but still not being able to understand what the sentence means as a whole”. This video is an in-depth exploration of exactly why this happens, and how to go about fixing it.

If you are a regular viewer of my content, you can probably guess what the solution is: immersion. But, in this video, I go into the actual mechanisms of HOW immersion helps you improve your ability to understand sentences. Hope you find it useful!

[TheMrgrafixable]

this man is singlehandedly transforming the way i study foreign languages

[aureliodecanton]

"Why You Can't Understand Sentences (Even Though You Know All the Words)" Exactly how I felt when I was reading my law school textbooks.

[DengueBurger]

I used to think *learning* language-learning instead of ACTUALLY learning the language was a waste of time until I started watching your videos. You’ve made my language-learning so much more efficient and conscious.

[furensuko]

When you said there are two possible meanings for "crack the window", I thought the other meaning was that the window was named crack lmao

[Rimmer]

Context can indeed change a lot.
Finnish - English
Kuusi palaa - Six pieces
Kuusi palaa - The christmas tree is on fire
Kuusi palaa - Your moon is returning

[AConnorDN]

I think one of the biggest anxieties, at least for me, with this language acquisition method is having faith that your brain will actually do what it's supposed to and gradually piece together the language automatically without having to put in time trying to memorize grammar rules and rack your brain trying to make sure you understand how they work. Its really good that you talk about how we dont really notice this process working since it happens so gradually. I do occasionally notice in my immersion that I can understand things that I didnt a few months ago, or sometimes even just a week or two ago, and that really helps me stay motivated to continue with this method.

[ijmfiwrekj]

crazy how little talk about linguistics there is in language classes, you're a life saver

[jackneals]

As a native English speaker... If I WERE learning English as a second language. I would definitely use THE SIMPONS for my immersion. Soooo many great episodes in that show. Haha, an absolute classic!

[talson]

7:50 exactly. I remember few years ago when I started learning English through novels. It was hard to figure out the meaning with the complex syntaxes they use in literature. It was frustrating. But eventually I became fluent, and I’m so damn proud of myself at this point learning various languages quickly and easily.

[giafrancesca]

My issue is that I read so slow that by the time I reach the end of a sentence I’ve forgotten the details of the clauses that came before 😅

[punikachi]

Matt is just on a completely different level to other language channels at this point. I don't know why you would waste your time listening to self-proclaimed 'polyglots' who can't even speak their languages properly and give useless (and sometimes harmful) advice.

Matt is the embodiment of what you get when you focus on one thing to an extremely high level. By doing this he has understood a wealth of things about the learning process which can't be discovered by people at a low level.

If you think about it, a polyglot who has 'learned' 10 languages doesn't really learn in depth. From 'learning' their 3rd language to their 6th language, they don't learn anything new about language learning itself, they just apply the same methods with the same mentality each time they 'learn' a new language. If you spend your time getting 10 languages all to roughly the same level, which is obviously not a very high level, you're not going to be pushing any boundaries or learning new things. You're essentially learning the same thing 10 times over.

Whereas focusing on one language for 10 years means you can obviously, first of all, achieve a native-like understanding of the language, but secondly you will have 10 years of experience of learning something to the highest possible level.

It's hard to convert my mentalese into actual words, but what I'm trying to say is that I'm not going to watch any other language learning channels anymore. I just don't see any point.

I really want to thank Matt. He is helping to change the way we think about language learning completely. Hopefully this new paradigm shift in our community will eventually affect the muggle world as well.

[radicala]

Football has Messi, Basketball has LeBron James and we language learners have Matt Vs Japan😤

[RonaldMcPaul]

Drink every time Matt says, "as a whole."

[givemeyourpanties]

I never knew that center embedding had a technical term. In German we got told to avoid writing "Schachtelsätze", and "Schachtel" basically means box. So if you box a sentence in another sentence and repeat the boxing process, it gets confusing quickly lol. Now I know it's also called center embedding!

Thanks for making these great videos!

[Milark]

Man your videos are so good now. The editor is really killing it. And the writing of the videos is also much more concise. Awesome work!

[danieldeoliveira]

The examples in English from the point of view of an English learner really help me gain a sense of perspective and makes things I struggle with in understanding French seem a lot more like manageable hurdles that I can be confident will become easier with time.

[vanitas-tize]

coming from someone who's second language is english, i will say that having fun while immersing yourself in your target language is really important. i remember being around 6 or 7 and just watching videos in english on youtube for fun, and even though i couldn't understand much and had no idea what i was doing, i had fun. at age 13 (i think?) someone suggested i watch certain anime, and so i did. don't know why or how but i really liked how japanese sounds (dumb reason haha, tho i didn't think much of it, thought i'd just give it a shot) and because i learnt english through immersion, i thought ''oh hey i'll do the same with japanese''. so here i am, a year later, enjoying anime without subs n watching japanese content and music and having hella fun :D

[lucminax]

Around 6 months of MIA here, getting started with stage 2 soon. Re-watching some of the stuff I used for immersion initially was actually amazing, the progress is really palpable. Thanks for all your work Matt

[portt]

omg the quality of your videos went 🔥🔥