Hello, everyone and welcome back to my page! After taking a few months off of blogging, I decided to post a language Q&A answering some of your most common questions. If you want to get to know me and learn more about my polyglot identity, then make sure to watch this video. Below are the questions that I answered and the time frames in which I answer each question, so that you can skip over to a particular question if that's what you want to do; however, I highly encourage you to watch the entire video if you think that these questions are of interest to you.
DEUTSCH: Wie geht’s? [1:19-1:44- Deutsch] [1:45-1:59 - English]
ESPAÑOL: Como comienzas a aprender un nuevo idioma? Tienes algun
recurso que nos recomiendas? [2:00-5:11- Español] [5:12-7:37- English]
ENGLISH:Does learning one language make it harder
to learn and/or remember another language? For example, Latin makes it easier
to learn the Romance languages because of some similar vocabulary, but are
there languages that have the opposite effect because of different vocabulary
or rules? [7:38-12:22]
ENGLISH: How do you effectively approach getting
back into using a language you haven’t studied in a while? [12:23-15:51]
ENGLISH: How do you keep all of the languages and
different grammatical rules straight in your head? [15:52-18:14]
ENGLISH:When you are abroad and you are focused on
the language of the country that you are in, do you find it harder to remember the
other languages that you do not have to use and are not your primary language(s)? [18:15-20:37]
ENGLISH:Which language did you find most difficult
to learn, and why? [20:38-22:01]
ENGLISH: What are the language(s) you would like to
learn next? [22:02-25:28]
Thank you so much for reading this post. I hope that you enjoyed reading it! Don't forget to follow me on all of my social media accounts to be notified every time I post on this language blog and to keep up with my language studies and travels abroad on my Instagram page and to see interesting content about foreign language learning, multilingualism, and anything I like in other languages on my Facebook page.
Hello, everyone and
welcome back to my blog! Today is a very special day, as it marks 2 years of
having started this language-learning blog. I am overwhelmed by the amount of
lovely comments and words of encouragement I have received over the years- it
truly makes writing for you so special and rewarding. I am humbled to have such
an amazing support system and hope to make all of you even prouder this
upcoming year.
As you may have
read in my first post of the year, this year holds many challenges, yet
exciting adventures abroad. On Sunday, I embark on my third study-abroad
journey in Yaoundé, Cameroon, where I hope to learn more about what makes
Cameroon so linguistically and culturally unique. With over 200 languages
spoken and French being one of its official national languages (the language I
will be speaking and studying in while I am there), I am sure that I will be
filled with many fun linguistic experiences that I cannot wait to share with
you.
That being said,
for this week’s post, I thought that I would share what my favorite
language-learning podcast is: America the Bilingual, a podcast that is “part of
the Lead with Languages campaign of ACTFL- The American Council on the Teaching
of Foreign Languages” written by Steve Leveen and its Mexican and bilingual
producer, Fernando Hernández. In 2017 alone, 20 episodes were launched that are
usually anywhere between 10-30 minutes long. In my opinion, every second and
minute is filled with many interesting anecdotes and personal stories of how
learning languages, or being reluctant to learn them has positively, or
negatively impacted monolingual, bilingual, and multilingual individuals’
lives.
This upcoming
year will mark its second year of being on air, so there is currently only a
minosode available in 2018, as far as I am concerned; however, Steve has
mentioned just how thrilled he is to launch their new episodes very soon. A few
of the episodes’ titles are: “The Lamp of empathy”, “With a little help from
his friends- and good French wine”, “Just call me Anna”, and “Mother Tongue”,
which instantly pull you in as a listener. I personally find this podcast in
particular to not only be worth your time, but to also be very informative. You
can learn anything from the cognitive, personal, and professional benefits of
acquiring a second language as a native speaker, or as an adult, of studying
abroad in high-school, or college, and of what kinds of career possibilities you
can have as a linguistically capable and informed global citizen. This podcast
does not just spew out facts giving you the number of speakers of x language,
or of y language, but rather takes the time to recount real human experiences
of the beauties, mysteries, confusion, and frustration that comes with having
multiple identities and personalities. It talks about our well-known eureka
moments when something finally clicks in another language and why languages are
not meant to be subjects, but rather tools with which we can more easily
navigate the complexities of the 21st century.
It also has the goal
to inform educators, learners, families, parents, and friends about why we
should invest in our children’s language education starting at a very young age
and what we can do to “reverse” that if we started “too late.” Ultimately, it
is a podcast that does not give you fluffy details to make it sound more easy
than it is- it speaks of the truth, of what people actually experience when
they are in their home countries and abroad. It will move you. It will inspire
you and it will hopefully make you want to pick up a language that has been
stored in some part of your brain, but has been out of use for years. To attest to this, I have listened to 16/20 episodes in just a matter of two weeks and will continue to listen to all of its episodes as long as it continues to air. As Steve
Leveene always says, you do have hope and can make it, even as a recovered
monolingual. Here is its link to download it on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/america-the-bilingual/id1219082864?mt=2
Have you ever wondered what polyglots do in
order to learn many languages more efficiently? Have you ever been discouraged
and have told yourself that you are simply “not as smart”, or “cannot retain”
as much as polyglots can? If you have answered yes to either of those
questions, I hope that you realize that anyone, and I do mean anyone, can learn
as many languages as he/she proposes as long as effective methods are used and good
time management skills are implemented into the language-learning process. For
anyone who has ever told me that I am simply smarter, or better at
language-learning than others, I want you to know that I have studied just as
hard if not harder than others who have gotten the same results. I have put
hundreds of hours of self-study in my spare moments throughout the year, which
I will admit are far and few. Either way, I will share 5 secrets that,
according to Lydia Machová, are why poyglots
are generally more sucessful than other language learners.
1. Polyglots do not wait for
languages to be taught to them and learn them themselves
What makes so many polyglots unique is that
they are generally very motivated and are dedicated to self-directed learning.
Instead of being passive, they are active in all aspects of their language
studies. For example, instead of waiting three years before they find native
Swahili language partners with whom to practice their Swahili conversational
skills, which may be hard to find depending on where they live, they may use
iTalki or other language-learning sites to pay online tutors to practice
talking to them. Instead of waiting to enroll in a beginner French class in the
city, which may be a far commute, they go to a nearby bookstore, buy a
French-learning book and start finding online resources to practice what they
have learned. The point being is that they do not let time, lack of resources,
or other factors get in the way from making progress and furthering their depth
of knowledge in other languages.
2. Polyglots have fun
This point may seem somewhat obvious to bring
up, but I believe that it is important to mention it. Too often do I hear my
peers say that they are bored with their language classes, or that they feel
like they are not progressing after months, semesters, or years of study in
another language. I will admit that I personally find learning grammar and
using textbooks to be boring, tedious, and oftentimes very frustrating, so,
instead, I find ways to integrate languages into my lifestyle (read below to
see what I mean). That way I enjoy the process and am motivated to continue
with studies.
3. Polyglots have a lot of contact
with the languages that they are learning
The expert in language-learning who is the
guest speaker in the video above says that she has met many people who have gone
to a lesson twice a week without ever reading a book in that language, or only
doing what their classes require them to do. To put it simply, there are many
language learners that make the mistake to not expose themselves to anything in
their languages, not even reading a book, and expect to become fluent in
another language by only going through the motions. I wish that doing so were
that easy, but unfortunately it is near impossible for that to happen.
The reason for which your college-level
language professor tells you “we always run out of time”, or “I wish that we
had more time to work on this” is because he/she knows that there is not enough
time to get in as much depth as he/she wishes in a paritcular topic in such a
short amount of time. At my university, the more advanced you are in a
language, the more that is expected of you, yet at the same time, the less
amount of class instruction you receive. Therefore, the most ambitious students
are the ones who listen to foreign music, read foreign books, and watch foreign
movies, not the ones who seem to know what they are doing, or who procrastinate
and try to mumble what seems to be a perfectly constructed sentence.
4. Polyglots do a little every day
Instead of setting unrealistic, big goals,
most polyglots take little steps every day and see progress in the long run. A
recommended amount of time to spend on a language is 15-25 minutes a day if you
are busy and cannot do more language study than that. By doing so, you are
constantly feeding and activating your brain to try to retain what you learned
three years ago, as well as what you reviewed the previous morning. By doing a
little at a time, you are more likely to retain information, you are engaging
with several aspects of a language (ex: reading, writing, or listening), and you
are training yourself to start thinking in that language, which is most of our
end goals. I have made the most amount of progress when I have done less, but
have been consistent and have followed a schedule (ex: by reviewing German
every other day) and have managed my time in a way that has made me be more
efficient in my studies. Remember the saying: “jack of all trades, master of none”?If so, that expression applies
to language learning a hundred percent.
5. Polyglots learn in a systematic
way
The last secret that we have is that we follow
a plan, as I mentioned above. Instead of saying that we are going to work on a
particular aspect of a language and putting it off by telling ourselves that we
will eventually do it, we do it. It is that simple. We try our best not to come
up with excuses, and if we find ourselves trapped and confused, we ask those
around us who have been able to do whatever it is that we want to do (ex: how
to pronounce certain kinds of words). We also prioritize what we believe is
most beneficial to us and practice on what we want to improve. As you can see
in all 5 tips, the general trend is that we follow a routine and have
self-discipline. Attitude is absolutely key.
If
you are interested in reading more about hyerpolyglotism and what that means,
feel free to read my posts:
~~“Tim Doner: The Hyperpolyglot That
Inspired Me” from 2/26/16
~~ “How To Learn Multiple Languages At A Time” from 3/23/16
~~“Taking Classes in Multiple Languages: My
Experience and Advice” from 4/17/16,
~~“How to Speak Multiple Languages Without Mixing Them Up” from
8/9/16.
There you go! These were just 5 methods of
many that polyglots use that most other language learners do not. I hope that
you became inspired to start implementing a few, or all of these methods in
your own studies. I wish you all the best of luck trying to better your
methodologies in your languages in this new year. Remember that a new year
means a new you. Which language goals do you want to set for yourself?
