i didn't start learning a second language till i was 28 years old i'm 35 now and i speak spanish french mandarin and arabic and i speak them all more or less fluently but look i'm not some kind of savant i've simply discovered an effective method that's helped me learn languages quickly it's free it's straightforward and believe it or not it's enjoyable and in this video i want to share with you there's an unbelievable amount of bad information out there when it comes to language learning especially on youtube i'm sure you've seen videos with titles like
learn a language in three months learn a language in two weeks learn a language while you're on the john here's the reality those videos are not real they're click bait full stop i'm gonna speak to you honestly about language learning because in my opinion false expectations are deadly so please hear this real progress takes time at a bare minimum it's probably going to take you at least six months to feel comfortable speaking a new language and that's if it's relatively close to a language you already know say english to spanish if it's a more distant
language say english to japanese you should be prepared to spend at least two years studying consistently before you really feel natural expressing yourself in a variety of different situations and for what it's worth that's how i define the term fluency being able to understand other people and express yourself comfortably in virtually any context so how do you get to that level well let's dive in we'll consider the language learning process in three stages beginner intermediate and advanced if you're new to a language and know little or nothing about it you're at the beginner stage and
your goal is pretty simple you want to get a handle on the basics of understanding and speaking simple sentences that's it so what qualifies as a simple sentence well that's on you to decide i'll talk more about specific resources you can use in a moment but it's important you know that this method doesn't have any specific boxes to check it's open-ended why because language is personal we all express ourselves in different ways and care about different things only you know what you need to learn to become fluent so when something doesn't make sense to you
seek out the answer the internet is filled with free tutorials for virtually every language on earth okay back to talking about the beginner stage at the outset you'll want to use some kind of structured guide that can provide a foundation for you to build on maybe that's a textbook with an audio companion maybe it's a website maybe it's an educational youtube series but stay away from apps like duolingo they're too easy and too slow whatever resource you choose make sure that you're listening and speaking a lot reading about a language will help you understand how
the pieces fit together but you want to practice actually using that language as soon as possible don't worry you can do this alone for now and you don't need perfect pronunciation just do your best okay great what else as you're studying make sure you write down useful vocabulary whenever you come across it words or even short phrases but do yourself a favor and type your notes don't write them by hand why well learning to write by hand is time consuming and in my opinion it's not particularly useful i mean how often do you write with
a pen and paper in your native language i'm guessing pretty rarely learning to type however will be very valuable to you when you reach a more advanced level we'll talk more about that later so download the appropriate keyboard install it and start using it so to recap as a beginner you want to one find a good learning resource two get a handle on the basics of making sentences and three type your notes and review them regularly you should be doing all of that for at least an hour every day okay level two intermediate once you
feel ready you can begin to incorporate what i call the walking technique into your study routine it's really the heart of this whole system and it'll help you improve drastically no matter what your level the idea is pretty straightforward i want you to find high quality listening material in your target language you can use a podcast or you can listen to youtube videos without looking at the screen the more natural and conversational the better so try to avoid things like audio books or news broadcasts ideally you'll be able to find an immersive series that's designed
for people who are learning your target language there are dozens of programs like this for german spanish mandarin etc once you've found some suitable listening material here's what i want you to do step one every day put on your headphones and listen to that program or video and as you do that i want you to simply walk around outside you can stroll around your neighborhood or maybe through a park and you'll listen to your target language as you do that step two as you're listening and walking i want you to quietly repeat any short phrases
that you understand don't stop the audio track just quietly say the phrase and try to match the speaker's pronunciation early on you might only catch 10 of what's being said that's absolutely fine you'll understand more with time just stick with it and stay relaxed as you walk and listen and speak if you have any experience with meditation you may notice that this exercise has some parallels and that's by design because staying relaxed while you learn is very important it helps new information reach your deep memory and it'll let your mind naturally adapt to hearing and
speaking a new language plus i find that studying at a desk usually kills my motivation after a few weeks but with this walking technique i don't have that problem i actually enjoy it and if you're someone who loves learning languages i think you will too now there is a third step to this exercise that you should add when you feel ready maybe that's right away maybe it takes a few months your call so as you listen you're obviously going to hear many many words and phrases that you don't understand but some of these words and
phrases will start to stick out you'll hear them more often and if people are using these words regularly they're probably pretty useful so you want to know what they mean well how do you find out my general recommendation would be to repeat the word or phrase into google translate now hold on i know that people hate on google translate they say it doesn't work it doesn't translate accurately and look five years ago i would have agreed but google translate is getting much smarter you can look up the research on this if you don't believe me
and frankly i'd say it's pretty effective at this point especially if you're looking up common vocabulary no it's not perfect but at the very least it'll keep a rough record of all your searches and you can double check the meanings later on with a native speaker more on that in just a moment okay we've covered the walking technique now let's talk about how you can reach a more advanced level where you feel truly fluent i'll cut right to the chase you need to talk with people in your target language but how can you do that
as efficiently as possible well the simplest way is to use a website like italki.com and pay a native speaker for an hour of their time over skype in my opinion that's money very well spent but there are free alternatives if you prefer you can for instance use an app like hellotalk to set up an unpaid language exchange with another student and of course you don't have to use the internet if you're able to practice with a native speaker in person a friend or a family member or even a paid tutor you'll likely progress even faster
but this is very important once you find a conversation partner who you like you must avoid using english as much as possible unless of course you're learning english i know it can feel uncomfortable and even exhausting to make an hour of conversation in an unfamiliar language but experiencing that kind of challenge will force your mind to improve quickly it's just like working out at the gym you need to push yourself if you want to get stronger and look there's no need to be afraid of making mistakes in fact they're helpful because when someone corrects you
you'll be that much less likely to make the same mistake in the future so keep experimenting and if you find yourself using the same phrases or talking about the same topics over and over try something new think of yourself as the t-rex from jurassic park always test your limits and stay on the lookout for that big breakthrough i hope you guys enjoyed this video leave a comment below and let me know how you like to learn languages and if you're not a subscriber to the channel please consider hitting that big red button it really means
a lot thanks for watching see you soon
