Steve Kaufmann: My Method for Learning Languages from Scratch

I speak 20 languages. Here’s my language learning strategy.

Video Timeline:
0:03 How do you start learning a language from scratch?
2:16 How can you listen if you don’t know the words?
2:50 Listening and reading go together.
3:43 Learning Challenge keeps you focused.
4:27 Reviewing words and phrases.
4:48 Get to interesting content as soon as you can.
6:53 Notice key words.
7:48 Learning timeline.
8:30 How often is it enough to speak a language?
9:07 How much time would it take me to get conversational from scratch?

[Thelinguist]

My Language Learning Resource:

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FREE Language Learning Resources
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Social Media

[EduardoAlmeida-rgqu]

When I tried to learn french from scratch, I tried first to watch videos made for kids. The children are not born knowing their mother language, they learn from the process of contact. So, I've noticed the media produced to them is used not only to entertain them, but also to teach them their mother language. Here I am, I've learned basic french watching some peppa pig

[Shrimp]

Notes:
- expect 6 month initial ass-to-the-gas studying period
- 2:36 listen to simple 30 sec content with transcript (looking up words)
- 3:35 make sure you can see the word youre hearing
- 3:49 listen to the same content multiple times
- 4:38 flashcards, closed tests, multiple choice
- 5:02 move on to content that aligns with your interests
- 5:44 don't worry about learning the first 1000 words lists, they will show up anyway.
- 6:36 after consuming content and studying, 3 months later will see great progress.
- 7:07 keep track of key words and phrases
- 7:25 may find more focus to listen while doing mindless chores
- 7:51 speaking timeline, 3 months of textbook work>3-5 months of content consumption>speaking and tutor feedback
- 8:34 1-2 times a week working on speaking practice for an hour (he's doing once a day for an hour)
- 9:22 speak within a year

[tobybromfield]

Finally you're saying 'please subscribe', yes yes yes! You deserve more subscribers and to reach out to a wider audience. Keep up the great videos!

[storylearning]

Amazing. That's basically all you ever need to know about language learning right there!

[abdullahislam]

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart" NELSON MANDELA
I really have great respect for you sir and for your efforts. Please keep uploading :)
Wishing you all the best

[objectivistathlete]

I gave LingQ a shot after struggling with Russian (despite knowing Polish) by doing grammar books, trying to memorize word lists on Memrise, etc. After doing the 90 day challenge, doing 100 LingQs a day and listening to Russian as much as I can (e.g. during my morning and evening commutes - about an hour of uninterrupted listening time), I feel I am pretty much fluent. With my language exchange partners, I can hold a conversation in Russian on a variety of interesting subjects, with the odd help of Google Translate or Yandex when I forget or don't know a word.

I gotta say that after these 90 days, I feel kinda addicted to language learning. Before, it was difficult for me to sit down and learn. Now, to the detriment of my wife, I often get annoyed when I can't spend time learning Russian. xD

Here's to another 90 days on LingQ and, hopefully, officially completing the B2 test successfully.

Thanks Steve!

[husnakefelioglu]

As a Turkish native speaker I would say yes English and Turkish are totally different languages. When I started learning English I was thinking I would never be able to speak or understand English. But the more I listen and read the more understand it. I think listening and reading are the keys of learning a language. I'm not that much perfect in English but it's okay for me now. Nowadays I'm trying to learning Spanish with the same method

[boattini]

Funny thing, as soon as I opened LinkQ to start my routine your video poped up.
Thank you for keeping sharing with us.

[juniorferreira]

thanks a lot .you are a inspiration for me and for thousands of people who want to learn a new language.greetings from brasil. um abraço.

[MoudBarthez]

first thank you. you are helping me a lot in my progress.
and secondly i'm a fluent Arabic speaker, when ever you are ready to learn this language|
i hope i could help you, whether by sending you contents or even practice speaking it :)

[fabianogama]

I'm learning French from scratch and I'm using exact the same method and LingQ is amazing for making it so easy. It is worth to pay every cent of it, at least for me. I also like to do a lot ot shadowing since the beginning because it helps me to improve both my hability to notice thing in the language and my listening skills besides of improving my pronunciation skills. Listening, reading and speaking, even if you I'm not talking to other people, creates more connections in my brain than only listening and reading and of course it's not even possible to compare how much more it is than just listening. And yes, I agree we don't need to be focused inthe most commng words because just because they are so common they will be appearing all the time anyway. The more you spend time focusing inthe most comong words, the more likely you are to get bored with the process of learning the language, while the more time you spend with interesting material the more like ly you are to get more and more motivated to learn that language.

[shivinunitholi]

Such insightful tips! I'm from Mumbai, India and among foreign languages, I'm currently learning German, Italian, Turkish and Persian.

Am gonna incorporate the techniques you've mentioned. Merci!

[fvazquez]

Thanks for the advise. The audiobooks work for me, I found that the more I listen to material which I consider interesting while reading the text at the same time, helps me retaining the words and phrases on my memory. Right now I'm learning french and I believe I understand most of what I read. Thanks Steve!!

[gessicacom_g]

I’ve been “marathoning” your videos, Steve, and they are sooo inspiring! Thanks to them I’ve decided to study harder and finally reach to the intermediate level in Finnish and German in 2021 (I have previously studied both - not so long ago). Wish me luck and thank you for all the precious content you share with us ✨

[ernestorevollar]

Steve you're a great polyglot 🥰, your advice can help me a lot with my English learning journey and also with any other language in the future. I know there's nothing to be afraid of and all I need to do is just enjoying the language learning and I think that listening and reading are the key to learning any language that I like.

[fAEtusDeletus]

Something very cool to try out, let's say you're primarily an English speaker, who wants to learn Russian. You pick your favourite English movie, for me it was Fight Club, and you look up the script of that movie, but in Russian(Бойцовский клуб) and you just read it and try to remember new words, where the stress marks lie etc. Give it a try! Plus, since you've seen the film, even if you don't know the words, you can presume what they mean. ;)

[elijahp]

Beautifully put, direct, no nonsense advice. Thanks a lot!

[andersongalvao]

Nice, Steve. I'm Brazilian, and I'm so motivated that I get the listening comprehension in English. I started some months ago.

[AlexPazini]

Obrigado pela dica Sr. Steve, gosto muito dos seus videos.