How Latter-Day Saint Missionaries Learn Languages Fast

🤿 In this video, I take a deep dive into one of the most intense (and SHORT!) language training programs in the world: the full-immersion experience at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah (and various other MTCs around the globe).

I generally avoid talking politics and religion in polite company, but I was curious to learn more about how missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints learn languages so quickly and what lessons the rest of us can apply in our own language learning adventures.

‼️Important: All commentary in the video is about language learning, NOT religion. Please be respectful and keep that in mind when leaving any comments below.

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✍🏼 BLOG VERSION:
Read more about this amazing process here!

📺 WATCH NEXT:

This Mormon Missionary Learned AMAZING Korean. Here's How.

How to learn a new language with stories:

Michel Thomas Method: Behind the Scenes of a Live 4-Day Recording to Learn Korean:

How This Guy Learned Fluent Japanese by Age 21 | Method Breakdown @Matt vs. Japan:

How This Guy Learned Fluent Chinese by Age 21 | Method Breakdown @Xiaomanyc 小马在纽约:

✍🏼 BLOG VERSION:

Prefer reading? Check out a blog post version of this video here:

⏱ TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Intro
01:22 - The School
02:33 - The Letter
06:50 - The Daily Routine
08:26 - The Method
13:24 - The Practice
17:33 - The Mission
18:42 - The Partner

📰 VIDEOS & PHOTOS USED:

Watch Latter-day Saints Speak 50+ Languages:

Process of a Latter-day Saint Mission Call:

Missionary Training Centers of the World:

Preparing to serve in Estonia, MTC, etc.:

Peace in Christ (Sung by Missionaries in 21 Languages) 2020:

Provo Missionary Training Center Tour:

Mormon missionaries learn Tagalog at Missionary Training Center:

My favorite part of the MTC: Role-playing:

Learning to speak Tagalog

Mormon missionaries in Australia: a day in the life

[VietnamMeetsDustin]

Great Video! I had a Mormon friend back in High School. If I remember correctly, he was sent to Pakistan or some country nearby. Came back speaking 3 or 4 languages and now works for the US government.

[sandwichbreath]

That's so wild. Next time a Mormon greets me in the street, instead of a polite "no thank you, ", I think I'm gonna end up talking to them about language learning instead, haha.

[johnmurdock]

I did 20 years in the Texas penitentiary system. I am half white, half Mexican. I was part of a hispanic "group". A lot of my homeboys were from Mexico or Central America. I decided to learn Spanish. With a dictionary, verb book, and very basic conversation book I learned fluent Spanish. I told all of my homeboys to only speak to me in Spanish and I learned very quickly!

[TimmyCherry]

While at the MTC I met a missionary from Hungary. He had been assigned to Germany and had to learn the German language. Problem was, the church had no program to teach German to a Hungarian speaker, so he was sent to the Utah MTC to study English for two months so that he could learn English well enough to learn German in a class of English speakers. I liked that guy...

[joelthomastr]

Professionalism 100%. By the end of the video I've still got no idea about your personal religious beliefs or your opinion of Mormonism itself. Well done!

[atyoursix]

When I was 7 years old, 2 mormon fellas came to my school in brazil.. I knew some words in english, when I said the words to them, they said: You have an incredible intelligence, keep on the good job..

today I speak seven languages and sometimes I catch myself remembering about those 2 guys I will never meet again in my life, but gave me the best energy to become a polyglot, even tho im not even close to be a religious person

[atravismoore]

I served in Japan—11 weeks in the mtc. I was comfortable with the language in 6 months and confident at 1.5 years. My last 6 months were the most effective. Now, 12 years later I just got a job for a company based in Tokyo and will be moving there this winter.

[RY]

I've actually met one of these missionaries when I was very little, I remember I was out and about with my mom who didn't speak much English at the time when we ran into a missionary packing up his stand, and he started chatting with my mom, but after realizing that her English wasn't too great he immediately switched to flawless Chinese - she was absolutely shocked that a white guy in suburban Canada could speak fluent Chinese!

[jonathanstout]

Former missionary here. Went Spanish speaking as 3 brothers and several in-laws. My wife is bilingual dual citizen and we speak Spanish at home to keep the language going for the kids. Worked for the government doing linguistic stuff. True gift of tongues

[jakepruett]

I learned Mandarin as a Mormon missionary and while I could understand 98% of what the teachers were saying to me at the end of (then) 12 weeks in the MTC, when I arrived in Taiwan I could understand maybe 2% of what actual native speakers were saying to me. Having the same conversations repeatedly helped me get back to 98% relatively quickly though.

[always_hiking]

What I saw and experienced, as a missionary, is that we don’t become fluent in X weeks but little by little as we practice in our given countries. The missionary training center is good for starting but fluency happens by immersion and daily study throughout an entire mission. Many people have no idea how organized the LDS Church is with their missionary program.

[ScottLowe]

Hey Olly! Former missionary here. I just wanted to say THANK YOU for this deep dive! Besides the excellent production and presentation, the video is obviously very well-researched. It was only 6 years ago that I was in the MTC, but it feels like a lifetime ago, and the memories of those first few weeks of the language learning process were pretty hazy and distant (I don't know how the guys you interviewed still had it so fresh in their minds with all the craziness of adjusting to missionary life!) BUT as I watched your video, memories of the process and my experience in the MTC came flooding back to me.

And as much as I appreciate the warm fuzzy feelings of nostalgia it gave me, I'm even happier about the fact that I can finally pass some of this knowledge on to my subscribers, as they've always been curious about how I learned Portuguese so quickly. I'll definitely credit your channel and this video whenever I get around to making my own.

Anyway, I appreciate all the effort that went into this project and look forward to checking out your other stuff. Mais um inscrito!

p.s. se quiser trocar uma ideia em português ou sobre o Brasil, ou quem sabe fazer algum tipo de collab, é só chamar! Tamo junto!

[cynthiacook]

This is why, during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake, there was no problem with translators. Some news media even went to BYU to see what languages they spoke. They couldn't believe the different languages there. If someone didn't know the language, they would get a friend who did.

[stevewhite]

Can confirm. They had me speaking Russian conversationally in 9 weeks and downright fluently in 4 months. It was insane.

[mangymako]

It’s true. Learned Russian in the MTC and was fluent and mistaken as Latvian in 6 months. My favorite part is we were all volunteers and completely driven to get it done. I could have gone home at any point.

I didn’t know how to buy bread until I got to the country. Only gospel. And when you have to figure out how to survive, you memorize words and phrases really quickly.

You have to dive into the deep end to learn a language fast. Be ready to mess up over and over and over again.

[travelingonline]

I was in Japan to learn Japanese for one year. But I experienced this immersion method. Nobody would speak to me in English or German and nobody would understand me if I spoke any other than Japanese. The lessons were not as intensive as described here but they insisted that we learn all texts in the lesson by heart and had to prove it by acting out the dialogues of the lesson as a final test after each chapter of the class book. After 3 months I could speak fluently for any normal small talk. After 1 year I passed the JLPT level 2.

[chaserock]

I was a Mormon missionary in the Philippines. The secret? Absolute immersion. Nothing more. Nothing less.

[coolbrotherf]

I think this really shows 1) how important immersion is for quick learning 2) how specific application allowed for easier comprehension and 3) pattern recognition and reinforcement allows people to recall language a lot better

[aldolopez]

It gets even better. Missionaries are assigned to Paraguay as a spanish speaking country only to find that we speak two languages. Spanish and the native language guarani, which in the country side is almost mandatory. Now you not only have to learn one language but two. And let me tell you, they've been doing it wonderfully as long as i remember. Thanks for your hard work on making this video. (I served in Chile myself, were my mission president encouraged us to learn English with our companions, thanks to that i can watch YouTube videos with no Spanish subs and comment to you now, cheers)

[cullencarlson]

Serving as a missionary was the most challenging and rewarding thing I've done in my life. I served in Fiji and learned the language. Being immersed in the language and culture the way I was has made it seem ingrained into my being so to speak. Give me two minutes speaking Fijian and it'll start flowing like I'm a native. Great video!