Hey guys! Welcome to another video here on the channel I'm here with my brand new friend Antoine How are you, Antoine? I'm going to ask him to introduce himself But for those who don't follow me here on the channel yet I'm Leticia and I have this channel here to talk about organization, studies, productivity, languages And many other things And today we're going to talk to this great polyglot here people , he speaks about 6 languages He's from Montréal, isn't he?
From Canada And we're going to have a chat with him To find out where all this came from What's this story and how he does it And something really cool This will be a Polyglot video So let's start in Portuguese, you'll see how he speaks portuguese really well And then we switch to english And then we switch to french And I'll try to venture a little into spanish and italian But look, don't judge me! It's going to be all right So let's start at the beginning (my grandfather used to say) Let's start at the beginning Introduce yourself! Name, age, country, preferred coffee type Anything!
So I'm Antoine I'm 28 years old (almost, in a month) Basically I was born in Montréal, I grew up in Vancouver And I live in Montréal I renew and I grew up bilingual I grew up with French and English and from the age of 14 I I started to learn Spanish and after that I went on adventures with many other languages I'm already in my sixth. . .
seventh language! So that's basically it I teach languages and I also learn languages every day I love languages I love everything to do with culture travel and sharing linguistic, cultural experiences and all that so that's it and I don't have a channel. .
. Ah, na I actually have a YouTube channel but I'm not very active but I have a language Instagram where I share my experience with the languages I speak and also advice and stuff if you're interested, I think Leticia will put my insta here later because it's complicated to explain now I'll put everything here! Links in description And tell me something So are you really bilingual?
Do you speak both languages very well, English and French? That's it! I speak, I write, I understand, I read.
. . I do n't know what else haha And actually I didn't know that this was a special thing in the beginning because a bilingual person is the reality of this person, all their lives, right?
It's only when people start asking about this subject that you realize that you're not like the others . It 's also interesting to see that the levels in both languages fluctuate, right Sometimes you feel a little more confident In French, sometimes in English, sometimes it depends. .
. For example, vocabulary at home All objects in the house, in the kitchen I know Better in French because my mother was always in the kitchen And she was always talking about the house in French So this vocabulary I know it in English, but it takes a little longer to get out of my mouth In French it's more natural And there are other things, for example marketing If I have to do a launch That's easier in English because I grew up in Vancouver And all the advertising , these things on the street are in English So I have it, automatically if I have to sell something like that, I'm not a very good salesman, but. .
But I have to sell it, I'll do it in English man, that's amazing! It's really cool for people who are from Brazil, right, to see a person who is really bilingual Who speaks both languages very naturally Because it's not a thing of our daily life Few Brazilian families are bilingual So to see that this is the normal for them is crazy! It's really cool to see this Are all Canadians here bilingual at this level?
Or most, or half, or nobody. . .
talk a little bit about it so, that's a good question because It's very likely. . .
Not likely, but it's very easy For Brazilians who watch this video later To think "ah, all Canadians are like him" No! Most Canadians are not like me. Neither in Québec, which is a French-speaking province, nor in the English-speaking parts!
There are many more people who speak only one language In Montreal, in the city where we are now Bilingualism and even trilingualism is very common but outside of Montreal, in Quebec It is very common for people to speak only French or also English But not so with as natural as it is here in Montreal In Vancouver where I grew up It's not very bilingual, it's not very multilingual And it's a very rare thing this kind of bilingualism So it's not uncommon for kids of immigrant parents But everyone who doesn't have immigrant parents in Vancouver, for example , they only speak English So it's a bit like that, if you don't have any connection with another country or culture You don't speak another language In my case I'm not from another place or another country But from another region of my own country My mother is from Québec, which is a francophone province And my father always spoke English to me So it's a little rare thing In Vancouver, I think also in Toronto In the big Canadian cities in general It's not like that, it's not that bilingual But Montreal yes, Montreal is a unique case in Canada I would say Montreal is "the island", the island in Canada is just it So guys, just so you can understand what we're talking about here He doesn't have a Brazilian mother, he doesn't have a father Brazilian He never… Have you ever been to Brazil? He has also never been to Brazil and he speaks Portuguese like that! That's really cool, you see a person like that .
Do you understand? You don't have an accent, got it? you speak beautifully like that You speak very well, your vocabulary is very good Do you see?
You are watching, right? you are understanding, right? Shall we switch to English now?
Let's talk a little bit now in English For those who don't speak English, there will be subtitles here Now talking about your experience living across Canada You've been in Vancouver for 20 years And now you're in Montreal for eight, right? What is the biggest difference between these two cities? Vancouver and Montreal Yes, of course, this is a good thing to know For you Brazilians interested in immigrating Or living in Canada for a while.
. . So Montreal and Vancouver are two wonderful cities I recommend both if you are interested in come to Canada But they are quite different it's good to know what the differences are, right?
Montreal is certainly a very dynamic city mainly culturally Because there are so many different cultures in this city, and that is wonderful And with that comes many opportunities to practice different languages If you are interested in becoming a polyglot, for example Which is one of the reasons why I love this city Like in one day you can practice all your languages If you like to, you know, practice languages! You can also taste food from all over the world In Vancouver we also have multiculturalism And also different cultures But it is a little less varied, it has a little less diversity In the sense that most of the immigration from Vancouver is Asian So you have a lot of different immigrants but the majority being from the same continent Most of them come from China, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines So it's still super cool, but it won't be like Montreal Here you'll see a lot of people from Asia, Europe, South America It's a little more diverse I would say, which is cool And you definitely get the impression here that people here value Bilingualism, multilingualism, people who value It's almost a requirement actually If you want to immigrate to Montreal, if you want to have a good experience here And have great job opportunities You almost automatically have to be bilingual This is almost a pattern, if you are a bilingual person you are not special here in Montreal My God, I was going to say that! When I arrived I saw so many people speaking English and French so well And they are also always trying to learn new things I saw so many people in the subway studying Mandarin, whatever Have you seen them?
They are everywhere! Yes, it's definitely a place where people learn languages and it's cool so in Vancouver there's a little less passion for languages But what's coolest there are the natural landscapes So in Vancouver you have wonderful mountains That are right next door from the sea, so you have the sea here and the mountains right next to it and then a big city So you have a mix of nature, city and a little bit of the beach lifestyle So you know, right? It's not like a river!
But you still have really nice beaches So if you want to be in Canada but it's not too far from your beach lifestyle in Brazil maybe this is a good place to go And a big shock (not culture shock) but a shock in Canada for Brazilians is always the weather The weather in Montreal is very extreme So in the summer it is very hot humid actually OH yes! This I know! It's HOT, huh And in the winter it's so hot, extremely cold So Vancouver has a little less of that extreme weather In the summer it's beautiful and hot but it's not that hot it's hot but not HOT HOT And in the winter it rains a lot, it doesn't snow so much but it rains a lot a long cloudy and rainy winter but it doesn't get that cold compared to Montreal so that's a big difference too Yeah and what you said about multiculturalism I completely agree with that Because I've been to Montreal, I've been in Toronto And I saw that people have more contacts with culture, languages, literature.
. . People here are more human, they like humanities subjects more So I think it's a good topic, to talk to you about it Because for example, I'm not the type of person who cares much for big landscapes I like to have more contact with people and have deep conversations So I really like this city, I have the feeling that I feel at home here i Not the place I chose to live, because now I'm living in Ottawa But I love being here, the vice here is really good And also we were talking about the experience of being here with friends vs without friends It's a very different experience I think Mainly in winter, winter will be is much bigger without friends, you can trust!
oh yes, my God! And do you think people here welcome you when you speak the language better? do you think it works like that?
Like, if you know the language, will people be friends with you more or not? Yes! I actually had this conversation with other Brazilians and I said it wasn't a smart move to move to, say, Montréal Speaking only Portuguese, and then having to learn English and French It's going to be heavy!
I mean, several Brazilians have already done this and have been successful in learning both languages . But it's a lot more pressure because you feel like you have to. .
. it's a race! You have to learn both languages as quickly as possible so you can have some way of interacting with people So I would say learn at least 1 of Canada's official languages Both English and French before you move and then you will only have one language to learn So this is a tip I would give to people So definitely speaking both languages I think it gives you a whole experience If you only speak English you will be limited and speaking only French you will also be limited to a certain extent way But I definitely and obviously think that with French you win the hearts of Montréal people by speaking French You know French is a minority language in North America So people from Québec or other parts of Canada who speak French New Brunswick too It 's a big community There are Franco-Ontarians in Ontario too When you speak French they really appreciate it because You're interested in their culture even if you're not the biggest culture in Canada So I would say so people appreciate it And it makes people smile if you can learn their language That!
Even if you don't keep the whole conversation in French but if you give a "Bonjour" instead of a "Hello" They will treat you differently, I feel I agree! Just to show that you respect their culture… And to show that you know a few words, that takes you far Yes! And just the fact that you're trying to talk to them in their native language I feel like it's different It's the same thing here when a gringo goes to Brazil and tries to speak Portuguese with us Even if you know English and you'll continue the conversation in English Even if that happens, you'll appreciate that this person tries to speak Portuguese with you if the person says "Oi, tudo bem?
" so I think it's cool, you're going to be very welcome. That's a really cool thing. Now I want you to pay attention to something I'm going to ask you a question we're going to keep talking, but now we're going to change to French I want you to pay attention to our accent, how different it is Antoine speaks the French that it's regional in Québec so a lot of people call it "Quebecois" I speak French, which is really French, Paris, understand?
So it's funny to see how it's different… And there will be words in this conversation That will be different too So it's going to be super cool, I'm loving this video! You have no idea, I'm like *aaaa* Okay so. .
. Let me change my mind a little bit now haha OK, now let's talk about the linguistic process of learning a foreign language How many languages do you speak? How did you learn them?
Let's talk a little about that now! OK, that's fine with me! I speak six languages At different levels, but six languages I can communicate in And have conversations like the one we're having now And now I'm learning my set language, which is the hardest language It's my father's language, my father comes from Ethiopia So it's a Semitic language, like Arabic So it's really much more complicated than Portuguese Portuguese is a Romance language like French and Spanish So that's it, my new challenge But one thing I find every time the easier it is that The more you learn languages, the more you gain experience and test different things You make mistakes and learn from those mistakes I think this is super important And recognize "what were my difficulties?
" What is most difficult for me? In my case it's grammar I'm convinced that's it The pronunciation is not my problem, but the grammar… Especially with Amharic, my father's language I have to pay attention to the grammar But what do I do to learn my languages? Something I've been doing for a long time I use my languages a lot to make friends And that's what helped me.
If we talk about Portuguese, for example I've never had Portuguese classes with teachers Never ever? ? No!
Never ever? No! Folks, shocked!
"Choquée" I learned only from Brazilians I spoke Spanish and I started to speak to them only adapting my Spanish I was trying to speak Spanish with a rhythm a little more Portuguese with an accent. . .
I guessed the words I guessed the words and half the time it worked, the other half it didn't But my Brazilian friends told me "no Antoine, that's not Portuguese" You are creating, it's a new language But as we say in French "trying and learning" Actually in Portuguese , I studied everything I knew about Spanish I kind of transposed it to Portuguese And it worked at first, there were a little comical moments But it worked and that's what I say to people, you have to play I made a lot of mistakes and I was right I accepted that I made mistakes I've already done so many language exchanges, I don't even know how many people I've done it with For Portuguese, for Danish, for Italian… So, the "linguistic exchanges" I think is great Vo You learn each other's language, the other learns your language And you have an opportunity to finally make friends Sometimes it doesn't work because we can't be friends with everyone But often it works and it's like a bonus actually You learn a language for because of that person and you gain a friend on top of that And now I have friends waiting for me in Brazil, Denmark, Italy… All over the world (there's an ambulance there) sand everywhere now And what I say is: no I'm afraid of making mistakes and I'm not afraid of talking to people And every opportunity you have to use the language, use it I had Spanish classes in elementary school, but after Spanish classes And also after my homework No it ended there, I talked to the people who worked cleaning the school They were people from Central America and I talked to these people I talked to people when I went to Mexican restaurants. . .
everyone! With Brazilians in Montreal, here I once heard Brazilians on a balcony in their apartment And I'm not ashamed I said "hi, Brazilians, right? I speak Portuguese!
" So, I think that when we want to, we can When we really want to haha/ I'm a little intense, but… But that contributed to your speaking so well, because you speak too well! I would say it's not easy for you to get out of your comfort zone on top of that Because when you learn a language, to practice you have to be bold I need to talk to people, you can't be afraid That's super nice of you, you talk with anyone No matter what, just talk! This is super cool And tell me something… Listen, y'all listen, huh!
He speaks Spanish, he speaks Portuguese super well as you saw English and French as his mother tongue, right? The mother tongues (and with an S at the end) And you speak Danish, right? And what else?
Italian! Guys I'll say something, I tried to learn Italian. .
. I 'm still trying, I didn't give up But it's also a matter of having the habit of speaking, studying etc. speak here anyway So what am I going to do, I'm going to try to speak Italian But that's not going to be my Top1 language here So I'm going to try to ask things and say things (and I'll speak English if I forget a word) And you can speak Italian however you want, OK?
So I forgot all about Italian, but I'll try to speak Italian a little So you're Canadian and you live in Canada But do you want to live in another country? Yes I would very much like it! I believe that With my work, I'm an entrepreneur, I have a little more flexibility With the question of where I live, where I live And my plan let's say for the future is to live Three months in each country throughout the year So this year for example I will go to Italy, Spain and Denmark And I tried to do that, not the same countries every year But I take a trip of two or three months every year To live the experience of being in other countries And I believe that for me three months be a good period is a satisfying time Italian is still my last, not my last.
. . My second-to-last language So it's not the language I speak like Portuguese for example So yes, for me it's very important to travel and as we said first, For me it is also important to travel to live the experience Of living as a local, being a person who is not only a traveler, a tourist But also learned a little about the local culture Getting to know people, so for me this contact is very important.
with people I have always been this way with the study of languages, with travel There has always been this desire to meet other people With other ways of being, of talking of eating, all this is really very important to me Yes, we say that living in another country helps (ayuda is spanish right? ) "Aiuta" It helps a lot to practice Italian, the languages "extranjera" is spanish. .
. "straniere" Guys this is very funny We switched to spanish OK, we speak spanish now uhuu I have one very caribbean accent because (🇮🇹ho imparato) pfff I studied spanish with songs and (🇮🇹 non era). .
. I think this is Italian too. .
. "Italianol" I love it! I can't with my Spanish-speaking Italian, man I'm going to try to change to Spanish, but it's not an easy mission There will be some Italian words here too but for me I tell you this: 🇮🇹Uno due tre quattro cinque 🇪🇸six siete ocho nueve .
. . I do it like this!
A transition is a language I'm creating, you know? to learn just drag it up, kidding haha So let's go… I forgot the question I was going to ask Let me see if you're recording… Yeah, thank God OK, so we talk about Spanish like you learned Spanish? was it very difficult (🇮🇹 per te) for you to speak Spanish?
Was it easy? How did you go about learning Spanish? Let's say Spanish is not the most difficult language for people who speak French But what is true is that this was the language I studied the most Among all languages because it was the first foreign language So you know when I still don't have the habit of studying other languages Of course, it's a bit longer process And in my case I was lucky to have two phenomenal Spanish teachers Who gave me this desire, this passion for the language So yes, it was a little longer process, but a process that allowed me to get to know the language learning process And then start learning other languages like Portuguese, Danish and Italian So of course, Spanish for me was the key It all started with Spanish So for you the language that opened the door to languages , for the multilingual world it was Spanish For me it was French, so I have a great affection With the French language and with the French too Because they helped me a lot All this learning process nder French helped me a lot And showed me a new world, a new reality But I love how easy it is to change languages Why is it not easy to change languages when, for example When you speak two languages as mother tongues So it is a process of changing languages, and for aunt I believe it is a little more natural process Process of changing languages, switching between French, English But for example for me it is not so easy But for you to change Portuguese, French, English is natural ?
Well, it depends on the day! there are days that don't! there are days that this doesn't work Let's say that with time practicing so many languages About everything that a few days ago, Well, most days I speak more than two languages So I have this habit of, well, I speak Spanish in the morning In the afternoon I speak only French Before sleep I speak a little English So since you already have this rhythm of life It's normal for you to get to a point where You said it's not that complicated, but there are days it isn't That's something I really like to mention Is that our language fluency changes every day There are days when I can't even speak French or English or my mother tongue!
Anything! You have to accept that there are days when you are tired too . , it's something that kind of "floats" And it's important for you to know that, I always tell my students that "today you are having more difficulty expressing yourself but it's okay" "Tomorrow or next week you'll be able to" And also a big part of speaking a language is being bold, try to speak even when you can't Even if you don't know all the words, the phrases Now, I don't speak Spanish and Italian very well but I try no problem!
Why do you understand! Can you understand me And that's the purpose of a language, to communicate So don't try to speak perfectly because you won't Even my mother tongue I can't speak perfectly There are words I don't know and that's okay! ok we are not dictionaries!
So the act, trying to speak, even with mimes Trying to speak with your hands and etc. It can help you to communicate well And here the goal is to communicate, is for him to understand me well I know that many of you think I speak perfectly all the languages I speak Not exactly that, it doesn't happen that way I'm confident, I speak with confidence that people think I'm speaking perfectly Because I'm sure he speaks better than I do And you can already say that I already did 1000 mistakes here But I speak with such confidence that some of you think I (🇮🇹 parlo) speak perfectly That's what we said, trust is very important And also you shouldn't feel judged Because the truth is that most people won't judge you Most people will think "wow, that's cool" "that you can do better than most" no? Because there are people who don't even try And you without trying, so you're already taking a step That many won't take or don't even want to take Now I don't see it as something phenomenal It's the same thing with me and my portanhol from the beginning when before speak the portuguese that i speak nowadays i spoke a very crazy spanish , i don't even say!
But with this portanhol that was actually a complete mixture of I don't even know which language There comes a point that with this confidence, look where I could get This is the most important thing, what you also said about leaving Italian and coming back later Me with I studied Italian for a year when I was 16 And then when I started meeting some Brazilians I realized that I didn't know anyone from Italy But I knew all those Brazilians, so why was I studying Italian? So put it aside for 10 years I started studying it again a year ago And honestly I didn't know if I would go back to study it But I didn't care because I told myself I would do things according to my priorities And for several years I didn't need Italian I didn't feel that I had a bond with Italy And I in the past, already meeting some Italians On Instagram, I started to tell myself that there were these people who had These people who were very nice and who were from Italy Only these people gave me this motivation You know what, I think I'm ready to go back to Italian But you know what it is, I think it's something that's better to let go I always say that many of the languages I speak today in day I didn't choose, they chose me For example with Danish, I didn't think about learning Danish If you told me at age 12 that I would speak Danish The language of Denmark, I would say no why? What do I have to do with this country?
But after discovering the songs from Denmark Music in Danish that I liked I told myself that I wanted to understand the music I was listening to Simply with the music, just like a lot of people learn Korean Why do they like to watch Korean series or listen to K -pop It may even seem like an insignificant thing And soon you get to speak the language simply for that motivation Let's even say a little crazy and unlikely And a lot of people will think you had a girlfriend, a boyfriend Or that you want to immigrate. . .
No, also not The music! You like. .
. And also this side of letting your passion decide a little bit And not just saying "wow, that's too pragmatic" "that won't get me a job" "Or it won't get you I don't know what" Me I never saw it this way "Danish won't give me a job at the UN" I don't learn languages because I want to end up at the UN Phenomenal, if you end up at the UN, perfect! But it's not my plan, it was never my plan Do the things I like, and that's very important!
You have to find A way to do the things you like And also because doing the things you like makes you a happier person I have some very different tastes from my sister Because she likes to party and talk to different people I like it I study a lot, I really like studying What I did, I bought a notebook just to write things about countries, because I'm curious I'm curious, so do some research About countries write about them And she said to me "why are you studying it, you're not seeing it at school, why study more than you should? " I said "because I really like to study" So sometimes I do things that aren't in the plans There's no reason, but I like it Studying languages you need to like it too (Do you say it like that? ) To do well I believe this curiosity can also lead you very far With languages you have to be curious And that curiosity for me is everything too I was already 12 years old decorating all the capitals of the world All the countries of the world, the flags To know "this is the flag of Uruguay" "this It 's the flag of Senegal" You know, I really don't say that much But geography led me to study languages too Just curiosity about geography, about linguistics, about history Yes, so all this is connected And curiosity is very important ( It's still recording) This curiosity is very important, and yet you don't have to explain yourself to others If you like it, you like it and that's point You don't have to do it because someone thinks it's useful Do you know why?
Because many of the things that people don't see as useful In fact they are very useful yes For example what you do with countries, this curiosity Myself, when I talk to people from a country like… I don't know… Estonia And then I tell you are you from Tallinn? And people say "ah, do you know our capital? " Just because I know the country's capital, people feel like I already know something about their country.
I don't know much about Estonia, you know? But I know that Tallinn the capital of Estonia Already with this feat the people of Estonia believe that we have a bond And I think this thing is very important too That people feel what you have some interest Yes also because sometimes I feel that we are interested in specific countries But we forget that there are many other countries in the world And that there is much more to learn from all this And speaking languages also helps you to bond with people This is a very special connection For example today I am speaking four languages with he I'm feeling really good here Because I really like speaking languages, creating connections, knowing stories. .
. And making exchanges like this and having conversations like this one I love a lot And today is the best day hahah Let's end the video here because the cell phone is out of memory as usual I want to thank you for watching this video so far Follow our friend on his social networks, the links are in the description And that side has more dua s video suggestions If you want more videos like this, just comment below I hope you enjoyed it and that I didn't take a swipe at my accents Why is this guys, it's part A kiss for you, thank you Antoine And see you in the next one video!
