The True JOY of Language Learning!

Today I just want to talk about what a delightful companion languages have been to me through all the good and the hard times :)

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[LionelJunior]

It's good to hear from you! Language learning has allowed me to travel and meet people with different cultures. My girlfriend is Catalan, some of my best friends are in the USA and I now am a French living in Barcelona, Spain. Languages man!!! That's the real deal :)

[DennisSmdFreefightTrainer]

Language learning is so much about motivation and you deliver tones and tones of it!! Love your videos

[Thesista]

Two months ago when my mum passed away, language learning kept me sane and helped me to go through such hard times.

Nice to see you back as always ☺️

[justnoticing]

Hi Robin, I don't know whether you will see this comment as this video is from a while back. I have been watching your videos every day for thee last few months and have gained so much from your insights. This one in particular hit a chord. I have been studying Italian for more than 10 years at my u3a and have reached an advanced intermediate level, but due to the lockdown I have been enjoying learning by myself through podcasts, videos, reading and using many of your suggestions. I purchased your book and am slowly reading it as well. I have a private conversation teacher and recently I was seeing quite an improvement in my ability to speak, but in the last few days I have felt discouraged and have been making silly mistakes and finding the language difficult. This has happened before. I think it can be due to overload, and other factors in life that can cause you to be fatigued etc. I know that this will pass but your video has given me a real boost. Another thing that resonated with me is your comment about how you feel that your language learning is a great companion and comfort in the tough times. This is also my experience. Studying Italian gives me such joy everyday and I cannot get enough of it. I just have to learn to do it more efficiently and not waste so much time on apps such as Duolingo that do not reap the greatest rewards. Thank you for sharing this journey with us.

[eddykohlmann]

Learning languages has always added an extra dimension to my life experiences. Even when others around you think you don't need to know those languages. There's always a use for them. Whether it's for work or just having a laugh. Btw Solsidan is quite funny.

[yrli]

I'm also having a very low time now, and I'm grateful for watching this video, which reinforces my determination of learning French. Thank you, Robin!

[irenemcnamara]

You have given me a new idea. Since I don't speak the languages I know very much, my goal is to speak them. Doesn't sound like much but it is. On Monday, I am going to sit down with a cup of coffee and make up some dialogues. So on Monday my focus will be on getting acquainted. On Tuesday, I will have a different focus, say travel at an airport. Hopefully I will make it through the week. Considering that I am studying several languages, I should keep pretty busy.

[sharonoddlyenough]

I am learning Swedish and I am finding it delightful, too.

[samanthasisemore]

About 3 years ago I was just getting sober from a slew of hard drugs and risqué behaviors and I was finally happy with my [existence] but I was bored and I was so upset seeing that I was 22 years old and I had no passion for anything. All my friends that I grew up with were graduating college, these friends that always copied off me growing up, saying I was the smartest but objectively the nonconformist of the group. I wanted to find something I was passionate about and it just wasn’t happening, then one day, I discovered this Icelandic musician and thought it was just really cool. I looked into the Icelandic language and decided it was just a little too daunting of a task for me and decided to study Norwegian. After only 3 days I found myself deeply immersed and so happy. I finally found my passion. Languages helped me stay sober and gave me something to keep my mind off the drugs. One my one year of sobriety I actually landed in Denmark and got to put some of my hard work to use. I don’t know why I didn’t think to study languages sooner seeing as how I absolutely loved languages as a child as young as 5, begging my parents for books in French, how I almost fluently spoke Spanish in 2 months when we moved to Costa Rica when I was 14, and how at 16 I took Mandarin in school and spoke at a B2 level by the end of the school year. I love your channel and I am so happy to see someone else who sees language learning almost like a friend and not just a thing. You rock!

Edit: Now I’m working on Korean and couldn’t be more thrilled at my progress! (Pimsleur plug lol)

[bijayarashmijena]

I watch your videos everyday cos I'm new subscriber of your channel in fact I get lot of motivates from you ...I'm a English learner I really really love literally I'm hooked on this language however sometimes I feel blank, frustration etc and sometimes I feel happy..
like all this kinda stuffs happen with me ...I would say this language changed my life a lot ....I'm literally big fan of yours ...thank you much ... lots of love from India ❤️❤️❤️

[sutefanarintonaviewofunder]

One thing most don’t quite understand is connections. Not on the people, culture level, yet the source.

The source is the language that connects. We are all related. We are all here; speaking, thinking an learning.

Mostly, my own self interest, how can I use this. The more complex something is, supplemental ways, can use.

To do the same thing “hence, the greater comprehension “.

An the spirit that surrounds the language. Which is the connection.

[VerbaleMondo]

What a like about your vids it's that you talk not as a TV presenter but rather as mate you're having a chat with. I feel that you talk to the camera as if it was your best friend.

Amazing videos lad! 😀 Keep the good work up! Cheers.

[ooousuario]

You're probably never gonna read this comment...Anyway, I want to share) So my second time teaching English in Vietnam a few years ago was a very tough period for me, I felt so vulnerable and insecure and just not myself. I didn't want to learn Vietnamese, I just hated the idea. But at some point I started learning Turkish. It was also the time when I tried to resuscitate my French. Some of the most peaceful moments of my Vietnamese life were connected to learning Turkish and French. The mornings when I would watch Shrek in French while still in bed.... Copying Turkish songs' lyrics in pretty Vietnamese copybooks.... Language learning routine is not only joyful, it is what keeps you sane. It kept me sane.

[jacmorales]

Thank you for sharing, it is very encouraging. Just like you I am going through a difficult time in my life, but learning and discovering a new language gives me a "high" to keep going in life. I am learning Russian( my fifth language) and it is hard and sometimes tedious. But the more I study and learn the more I love it. Russian language is like that shy friend from school who wants to talk to you but he can't but when you try to approach him he runs away but you tell him, I just want to know you and hang out with you. After some time you get to know him and realized how precious he is. That is my experience with Russian the harder it gets the more curious I get and I am discovering a world full of wonders and delights. (sounds corny but that is the way I fell)

[KevinPandaBoyReacts]

I'm rapidly approaching my fifth year in Japan, so a nice time to kick back and reflect on my language learning journey. I think I'm in a really good place regarding my language learning quest; I'm in that sweet spot where I can really just enjoy learning a language. Whilst knowing there's still a lot more to learn, I don't feel in a hurry to get somewhere, yet I'm hungry enough to keep moving forward at a pace that just suits me.

I used to get a bit stressed out about my progress with Japanese. In hindsight, I kind of understand why I was stressed ... but it was a door I had to go through rather than something that would make sense if it was just explained. Put it this way, I was 45 years old when I moved to Japan ... and I'd often encountered dream killing nay-sayers in London ... folks who would say, "Oh, you'll never get a job in Japan ... they only want to hire young people" ... or some kind of negative in regards my aspiration. Anyway, my thought was that I'd just learn the language and see if I could move to Japan ... and as things turned out ... a few months later, I'd moved to Japan and was able to enjoy some pretty basic conversations in Japanese. In some ways, it felt like speaking Japanese was like wearing a badge that entitled me to live in Japan ... because I guess if I was to listen to the envious trolls, this was a life I didn't deserve to be living ... so damn it ... the trolls would be majorly miffed if they could see me now!

Roll the clock forward a couple of years ... and I think the intermediate stages of language learning can drain your enthusiasm ... there's wonderful moments where you accomplish something you couldn't do without having the language in you ... yay ... and then the very next moment, you find yourself crying over your own inability in the language. But then, recently, I've just started feeling really comfortable with myself in the language ... gone are the feelings of sucking badly ... I've stopped listening to the imaginary trolls inside my head ... you know the ones that say, "You should be better at this language by now shouldn't you?" ... hmm ... or you know the voice I really really hate ... the snobby one that says, "You don't deserve to speak this language .... " ... the elitist language troll who quickly wants to stomp on you for having the gaul to dream of getting really good at a language.

Do you remember that Jeremy Paxman interview with Russell Brand ... I always remember those line about having the right to express one's political opinion ... "If we can engage that feeling and change things, why wouldn’t we? Why is that naive? Why is that not my right because I’m an actor? I mean I’ve taken the right. I don’t need the right from you. I don’t need the right from anybody. I’m taking it.

Well, okay ... take out the word "actor" and replace it with "language learner" ... and that's where I'm at ... I don't need permission from anyone to learn a language. So that's where I find myself ... a happy place ... comfortable within my own skin, comfortable enough with my own pace of learning and most importantly, not scared of the trolls ... after all, most of the trolls are illusions created by own insecurities during the vulnerable times.

[Eric-leuu]

Robin - Nice video. i lived in Japan for about 3 years and language learning was not a priority for me (shocking, I know). However, it all worked out in the end and now I've been studying Japanese for 9 months (approx. 300 hours) and it's been going well. I'm fortunate enough to work at Steve Kaufmann's company, LingQ, so being surrounded by language learning has been a huge help. I checked out some of your Japanese videos and I'm impressed, you're Japanese is spot on.

Learning a new language has taught me about patience and I feel more productive these days. My biggest gripe about language learning is how it's taught in schools and how some apps/YouTubers out there say it only takes 3 months to be fluent...this gives potential learners a false impression and actually ends up discouraging them when they realize they aren't fluent after 3 months, in my opinion.

Anyways, keep up the vids.

[LincolnClay]

I'm going to try asking this question again since you didn't reply to me on your last video! Robin, do you still recommend the 3 month Babbel subscription? I want to start learning Spanish but I'm not sure whether to go for the 3 month or 6 month? Do you think that an hour a day is enough to complete all the Spanish courses in 3 months? Gracias

[cloeye]

Loved your video my friend it rocked! As always. Hope things get better for you personally and professionally really sad. I will keep you in my prayers. I am doing a Mango Learning sprint where I learned a series of different languages within a week to two weeks. Starting with hindi for which I will be done learning level one today as a matter fact. I posted a video on Facebook about it I olly’s language mastermind page. Tomorrow I will start with Icelandic for two weeks. I want to see if I can get to upper beginner level and Icelandic after studying all 95 lessons within the Mango course itself. Afterwords, I will study Swahili, Irish and then I will It off with modern Greek for the end of the summer.I want to see how much I care insane by doing these different language sprints I only plan on getting to a beginner to upper beginner level and is languages and then going back to my daily schedule programming of improving my French, Dutch and Italian by reading and next year I plan on studying Japanese and Egyptian Arabic for a whole year. Which would bring me up to 16 Thai and Turkish. While getting myself prepared to launch my language festival online next July.

[Enoc]

What if the event in your life takes away the interest of absolutely everything and you can’t bring yourself to even try to learn the new language, let alone to try and get better in life