Hello, everyone! I hope that you have all had a great week so far. For this week’s blog post, I wanted to talk to you about one of my favorite language YouTube channels: Lindsay Does Languages. Lindsay Williams is a British YouTuber and a full-time language blogger who has delved into language-learning for many years now. She has recently started a YouTube series called “Language Stories” and “Languages in Action” where she takes you on a journey to New York and its subway system, Havana, Montreal, el Salvador, and Mexico to show us many of the mysterious, yet innovative ways in which languages have been revived and preserved despite globalization and other factors that could do just the opposite—completely erase cultures and the knowledge, customs, and traditions that are associated with them.
Aside from these series, she also has many videos called “9 Reasons to learn (name of language.” I believe that these are some of her most popular videos, as she makes sure to talk with linguists and language experts before convincing us about the benefits of learning particular languages. I particularly love to watch these videos to learn some fun facts and to have a short history and cultural lesson along the way.
As she says on her website, “Lindsay Does Languages was born in 2012 as a local company in the heart of little old England offering private language tuition…Since then, Lindsay Does Languages has evolved to offering coaching packages and online courses both for language learners and online language tutors.” Her website is also an excellent language-learning resource for those who want to know about what they can do when they feel stuck in their progress, do not want where to start, or do not know what to do next.
She, along with Steve Leveene (mentioned in last week’s blog post about the podcast America the Bilingual), also grew up monolingually, but has become very fascinated by the ways that languages and cultures go hand in hand. She teaches, learns, and breathes everything related to languages. However, it is also important to keep in mind that she recognizes her own faults, as well as those of others, in this lifelong learning process. For those of you who can relate with them more-so than with me, since I grew up bilingually, I highly recommend that you check out both Lindsay’s YouTube channel and website. Let’s help spread the word about the ethnographic, linguistic, and cultural research and insights that she is giving to the world through podcast, videos, and documentary-type YouTube videos that deserve more views.
I have recently been thinking of possible topics for my next
post on this blog, and wanted to give some useful tips on a topic on which I
have briefly touched up: speaking multiple languages and how to go about
speaking them with ease. I recently watched the video that is down below by
Langfocus, one of my favorite polyglot YouTubers who not only posts videos about
language learning, but also about linguistics. Below, I will be giving you 3
tips that he gives in this video and will briefly expand on them to give you
some concrete and practical ways on how to not mix up all of the languages that
you speak. Make sure to read my previous posts about learning multiple
languages titled “How To Learn Multiple
Languages At A Time” in March 2016 and “Taking Classes in Multiple Languages:
My Experience and Advice” in April 2016.
Tip #1: Refine your pronunciation
Although pronunciation may not be many language learners’
number one priority, especially when they are starting to get comfortable in
another language, I believe that it is one of the most important aspects of a
language. Pronunciation is ultimately what distinguishes one language from
another, even languages that are very similar and belong to the same language
family (ex: Spanish and Italian that are both Romance languages). If you speak
many languages, whether they belong to the same language family, or are not
related to each other whatsoever, in order to fluidly and quickly switch from
one language to the next, you should be very comfortable saying the phonology
and words as a native speaker would. This does not mean that having accents is
bad, but should encourage you to continue perfecting your accent as much as
possible. Even though it may not sound feasible, it is possible to eventually
sound like a native speaker. In this case, practice makes perfect.
You may be asking yourself: “How do I refine my
pronunciation? How should I go about doing so?”.That is a very difficult question to answer,
because everyone has different methodologies to go about doing so. I, however,
will give you a few tips that have worked for me over the years. The first is
to speak as early and as often as you can. I have an entire post devoted to
this topic titled “Being Afraid of
Making Mistakes in Another Language” in January 2016, so feel free to check
it out for a more in-depth explanation about this. The more speakers (native
and non-native alike) with whom you interact and speak, the more chances are
that you will be kindly corrected if you ask them to do so, or if they want to
help you improve.
Just as a baby mimics his parents’ mouths and the sounds
that they make, you should do the same. By making mistakes, you will learn the
difference between two words whose spelling is similar, but whose pronunciation
is different, and will be able to distinguish right from wrong. Bad, or flawed
pronunciation could lead to accidentally insulting someone, or to a frustrating
miscommunication, so make sure to get as much exposure as possible. On the
other hand, if you ever find yourself in either of these situations, do not
panic, ask for clarification if possible, and laugh it off. Not saying
something correctly can, in most cases, lead to more good than harm, because
you are reminded about what you should have said differently. I also have an
entire post devoted to improving your accent called “How to Improve Your Accent in a Language” in April 2016.
Tip #2: 100% commitment
The next tip is just as important as the first. If you are
not 100% committed to each individual language, or have not put enough time
into your studies, you can easily become discouraged. Just as professional
athletes who want to eventual compete in the Olympics train for years, you
should have a positive mentality when tackling more than one language. You
should constantly remind yourself that you if you surpass a certain level, that
you will eventually be able to read a short chapter book, or effectively
communicate with your German friend. In other words, you should try to stay
motivated. Feel free to read my post titled “How to Stay Motivated When Learning a Language” in March 2016.
When having to speak more than one language at a time, or
instantly, you should close the door behind you. Whichever language you were
speaking before is no longer as relevant as the language that you are now
speaking. You should make a conscious effort to tell yourself “Now it is time
to speak (language).” By doing so, you are mentally preparing yourself for what
is next, and do not become as frazzled trying to make do with the few words
that you can remember in the next language. This helps you turn on a signal in
your brain that will make it easier for you to effectively communicate in
another language.
3 Tip #3: Imagine scenes that remind you of that language
The third tip that he gives is by far the most abstract, and
is the hardest to explain how to do, but I will try my best to give you a
detailed explanation of this type of scenario. One of the most effective methods
to not only learn vocabulary and improve your pronunciation in another language
is by imagining scenes that remind you of that language. I have already watched
countless videos of polyglots who have used this method, and who have learned
much faster than the majority of their acquaintances by doing so. Associating
scenes with a language is a great way to think about cultural nuances and norms
that are different and that distinguish a language from another one.
The most classic example that he uses, and that I have heard
many times, is imagining a café in Paris when speaking French. You usually
picture the pouring of a coffee, and eating a fresh baked baguette. Many locals
go to cafes with other friends, or alone and work on their laptops. Those who
go with friends tend to discuss how their families are, and how their jobs are
going, just to name a few common topics of conversation. If you personally have
been to Paris, you may remember the voice of your waiter at the café, and you
may distinctly remember his Parisian accent and talking to you so quickly that
you had to ask for clarification. Whichever scene you can vividly envision will
help you to be in the mindset of a local. In other words, you will no longer be,
say, your American-self, but rather your French-self.
As I mentioned in my post “Personality Changes When Speaking Multiple Language” in February 2016,
you become a new you for every language that you speak. You cannot roll
your tongue the same way that you do in Spanish as you do for English, and you
should pay attention to how you use your throat to pronounce words in an
authentic French-sounding way. Getting in the zone and taking control of your
perception can make you more excited to be a new you and pay attention to the
world around you through new lenses. Your world perception can change
remarkably by being culturally aware and willing to pay attention to different
languages’ nuances.
I hope that all of you language-lovers found this post
helpful in some way, and that you learned a few tips that could help you be a
little less anxious speaking multiple languages.
Have you
ever struggled finding authentic learning material for your target language, or
have spent countless hours trying to find material worth using? If you answered
yes, then I would strongly recommend checking out the YouTube channel called
Easy Languages, which is currently produced in over 30 languages. What is great
about each language is that you learn it from the streets, allowing you to hear
natives speak at their normal pace about whatever is on their mind. Instead of
simply watching a 4-minute video completely in Russian when you are a beginner,
English subtitles and a transliteration are provided as the host asks a
question to people on the street. Thanks to this method of language-learning,
you slowly start to associate sounds with words and words with meanings.
Before
finding this YouTube channel, I had spent more hours than I am willing to admit
trying to find a free resource that was more challenging than a textbook, but
still understandable for Russian. Since I have only been taking it for two
semesters, I wanted to find a YouTube channel whose goal was to find native
speakers without translating everything that was being said.
I
recently started seriously and religiously watching Easy Russian, but have
found it to be extremely effective. The main reason why I like using it over
other channels is, because each episode is based on just one question, such as
"what makes you happy?", which allows you to focus your full
attention on a specific topic, or to use thematic vocabulary. Instead of being
all over the place, I can learn words such as "любовь" (love), or
"жизнь" (life). Not only are these words useful and are used in
everyday conversations, but I can also associate words in specific phrases, or
in idiomatic expressions. In other words, you can slowly start expanding your
vocabulary by associating words with meanings instead of learning words by
themselves without any context on how they can be used, as you would typically
do in high-school.
How I recommend using Easy
Languages:
As I have
already mentioned many times, what is most important is consistency and quality
versus quantity when studying a language. Since Russian is the furthest removed
from my native languages, it makes sense to spend the most amount of time on
it, so that I can continue picking up its rhythms, its sounds, and its
pronunciation. Since each episode is approximately 4 minutes, I would recommend
watching it more than once.
When you
watch it for the first time, make sure to write down any important, or
unfamiliar words or phrases on a piece of paper, or in a notebook (the more
organized you are, the faster you will eventually progress). After being
satisfied with a good-sized list, re-watch it as many times as you feel
necessary. Make sure to read the English subtitles, and transliterations as
little as possible each time that you watch it, and try to focus on
understanding entire phrases instead of individual words (ex: the ones that you
wrote down that were new to you).
Remember
that this channel can be used for any level. Whether you have no prior
knowledge of your target language, or are close to native-sounding, you are
bound to learn something new, considering that there is always room for
improvement. I hope that you found this post helpful. Feel free to let me know
what you think about it in the comments down below.
