Learn Languages Fast By Learning Slow

CC subtitles available in multiple languages.

We need to be patient when learning languages. We will learn and forget, learn and forget over and over again. This isn’t a sign of failure but rather the natural way we learn new things. Relax into it and you will be successful.

0:00 To succeed in language learning you MUST be patient.
1:42 How to relax into language learning.
2:26 This may upset some people!
3:30 My European trip so far: highlights from Denmark.

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My Podcast:

#languagelearning #languages #polyglot

[Thelinguist]

How do you practice slow learning when it comes to languages?

[johannesvondundalk]

As a retired translator, I can say that he is 100% on the money. Use the language and DO NOT be afraid to make mistakes. Learning a language is the most natural thing in the world, but remember that language changes constantly, so one never really "learns" a language. It is a lifelong process, even in our mother language.

[aldarie]

As someone who fell prey to the “learn a language in 3 months” thing—and who then wasted 7+ years being burnt out on language learning and feeling like a failure—I can say: Take this man’s advice. I wish someone had told me back then that the best thing to do was just take it slow and steady, making small gains each day, and not concentrating too much on results. If I’d adopted that attitude seven years ago, I’m pretty sure I’d be fluent in my target language now. As it is, I’ve lost a lot of time! Going slower would have been much faster. And more enjoyable. Go figure!

[intptointp]

Yup.

I would almost suggest that letting go of the metric of "fast or slow" enables direct noticing, which is actually the fastest way to learn.

The analogy that comes to mind is riding a bike.

If you attempt to ride a bike while constantly measuring your "ability to move straight" and "the number of degrees you turn the handlebars", then you will be so focused on such artificial metrics that you can never get a feel for the flow of the ride.

The flow of the ride will account for ALL of that. You don't have to ever consciously pay attention to how much to turn the handlebars. After you know how to ride, it will be obvious how much to turn.

To consciously overfocus on how much to do these things just gets in the way.

You learn how to bike the fastest by letting go of "needing to learn fast", and instead, feeling the bike directly and completely.

In the same way, you learn a language the fastest by letting go of needing to learn fast and instead, directly experiencing the language immersively.

[justinwr]

Finding LingQ, Krashen's ideas, and your channel has been some of the most impactful things in my life. I thnk I've always been passionate about language learning, I just never knew how to go about it. Almost to 5k known words in Spanish now, and loving the process.

[haesal]

Thank you so much! I've been feeling so stressed with my language journey lately because people think I'm more fluent than I actually am. I have been learning Korean for 4 years but don't feel even remotely close to fluent yet due to the fact that I get too shy and find it difficult to speak to native speakers when I come across them. I want to be able to speak at a near native level someday but it takes time and patience. :)

[CreditFast]

LingQ is helping me. Polish is a language I learned as a child to understand fluently as a second language only when people are talking about everyday life. I always had a lot of trouble speaking the words. The last three months I have been studying Polish to increase my level. What gave me a boost was LingQ which I have been using the last two weeks. Learning to understand the written text especially through the sixty short stories has helped me learn the language better. I noticed that I can more easily watch Polish Youtube videos and understand a more complicated level than I would have last year without heavily relying on English subtitles. I just keep reading stories with the same words I didn’t understand before and I am slowly remembering them. I do not have the best memory so I’m not forcing myself to memorize vocabulary. I use other language learning resources to give me different aspects of learning Polish which is indeed one of the hardest languages in the world to learn. I’m not pushing myself and this more relaxed way is helping me. I hope you enjoy Poland. I am sure you’ll enjoy Krakow as much as Warsaw. I have been there four times. I can’t wait to go back because this time I’ll be able to have conversations with my relatives and not just listen. Thank you for all your help in my language learning journey. I also can get by in German and Spanish when I visit those countries and I plan to learn them better after learning Polish using LingQ. This will then make me officially a polyglot!

[educatethechildren]

I come back to this idea time and time again. There’s a graphic I’ve saved to my camera roll for encouragement and as a reminder: someone saying “I’ve been studying for a year and I have only an eight-year-old’s grasp of the language” and the answer is: “how long do you think it took the eight-year-old?”

[Christian-vebs]

I use to have a teacher who would say "The slower you take to learn something, the faster you will master it."

[laudermarauder]

Thank you for this relaxing video, and for arranging translation into 33 languages!

[АртурБриджес]

До зустрічі завтра! Дякую за ваші відео.
I listen your content as material for comprihensible imput. And also i apply all of your advices for my learning system.

[ser]

I really appreciate the level of honesty in the teaching. I would feel guilty as to why I didn’t learn the language by the end of the book. What’s wrong with me? Now, I learn slowly, but I am remembering. Learning.

[Sam-shushu]

I actually like this video format a lot! and i like how candid you are about forgetting and getting interference

[valentina_fantasy]

Dear Steve, hello! Many thanks for your video! I admire your determination and power of will. You are doing a great thing. Your true enthusiasm is extremely inspiring, truly motivating! Many thanks indeed for mini-stories in LingQ. I am learning Turkish and German listening to them. BRAVO!!!!

[Bartx]

I think switching between languages is a skill in its own. If you don’t do it often it takes effort to “switch gears”. That being said LingQ is the only tool I’ve really stuck with over the years and the most useful I think (for me at least).

[FreelanceTranslatorTips]

Timeless advice. In a way this is just as important as (if not more important than) the specific method you use. Slow repetition, and not seeking instant gratification, compounding your knowledge over time. Thank you for this!

[JM__]

Muchas gracias por todo el esfuerzo en traernos videos aun cuando está de viaje! Muchos éxitos allá en Polonia!

[kerim.peardon]

What you said at the end resonated with me. I tried ordering something at my local Mexican restaurant . . . in Polish. Then, for a couple of seconds, I couldn't remember the word for "yes" in either Spanish or *English*.

Mind you, I haven't studied any Spanish in over a decade. But sometimes when my mind goes to reach for a Polish word, a Spanish word I haven't seen since high school 25 years ago will pop out instead . . . unless I'm trying to order in Spanish, at which point only Polish comes out.

[SiParpi]

I’ve been a long time subscriber to LingQ and didn’t really get a sense of how to use it best until recently. I think to some degree I have finally pushed hard enough with the mini stories and kept reading for a couple hours every day until I can finally enjoy some basic stuff. I literally just started to scan in books I want to read and I have made such progress. This is the best app for language learning. You’ve made a lifetime subscriber. I’m so excited to read this afternoon I can’t describe it. Thank you so much Mr. Kauffman

[javierhenriquez]

That's so true. Impatience is such a strong feeling..