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  • Language.

  • It's a pretty cool thing, quite useful.

  • I can still remember back when I was a toddler, about 2 years old learning my first language,

  • English.

  • My Mom taught me how the order in English is subject verb object, and helped me make

  • flashcards so I could memorize vocabulary and helped me for hours and hours to get the

  • different verb tenses right.

  • Fast forward several years and In college I came over to Japan on a foreign exchange

  • program where I would learn another language.

  • About two years after arriving in the country, I took and passed the highest level of the

  • Japanese Language Proficiency Test.

  • To be fair, I did live in the country, but the concepts I'll discuss in this video

  • will be effective even if you don't have access to native speakers.

  • Lately there are all kinds of great resources and techniques on language learning.

  • In particular, spaced-repetition system-based virtual flashcard programs like Anki are popular

  • and very useful, butis that really the most efficient way to sink language into our

  • brains so it can be used on the fly?

  • After all, how many parents have to give their child a deck of flashcards for review to help

  • their kids reach fluency in their mother tongue?

  • Of course I was kidding earlier and I learned English through magic like every other baby.

  • In this video I'd like to discuss four not too often discussed points that I think are

  • important when it comes to language learning.

  • Acquiring language efficiently through context Two is Maximizing input

  • Three is Practicing your listening and pronunciation at the same time

  • And four is Making sure the experience of learning is positive

  • First allow me to take a moment to demonstrate something, so just listen for now.

  • If you already speak Japanese, it might be harder to get my point, but hopefully you'll

  • still see what I mean.

  • Timu o shoukai shiyou.

  • Timu wa neko janakute kaeru janakute hito da.

  • Hito no karada ha ironna bubun ga aru.

  • Tatoeba atama, mune, ude, ashi ga aru.

  • Ok, so Just listening to me, how much Japanese did you learn from this?

  • Maybe 0%.

  • What if I repeated it or spoke slower, would you learn more Japanese?

  • Most likely not.

  • Let's try it one more time, but pay attention to the screen.

  • Timu o shoukai shiyou.

  • Timu wa nekojanakute kaeru janakute hito da.

  • Hito no karada ha ironna bubun ga aru.

  • Tatoeba atama, mune, ude, ashi ga aru.

  • Mushi ja nai kara me wa mutsu toka janakute futatsu ga aru.

  • Ude mo futatsu, Ashi mo futatsu, Mimi mo futatsu ga aru.

  • How about now, maybe 10%, 20% or even just one word?

  • This is the simple difference between acquiring language and not.

  • What I'm trying to demonstrate is the concept of comprehensible input, as did second language

  • acquisition scholar Stephen Krashen did in this lecture of his.

  • "das ist meine Hand. fristenzidast hand(??)"

  • "In my opinion, we all acquire language the same way."

  • We acquire language in one way and one way only, when we understand messages, or when

  • we understand what we read.

  • We call this comprehensible input.

  • We've tried everything else, we've tried grammar teaching, drills and exercises, computers,

  • but the only thing that seems to count is getting messages you understand, comprehensible

  • input.

  • So anything that helps make input comprehensible - pictures, knowledge of the world, realia,

  • helps language acquisition."

  • In the 1970s and 80s Krashen put forward a group of hypotheses about language learning.

  • The first claim of his we'0ll look at is that there is acquisition and learning and

  • Krashen says improvement in language ability is only dependent on acquisition and not learning.

  • The difference between acquisition and learning is tricky but it's kind of like the difference

  • between getting a joke and having someone explain the precise reasons why that joke should be funny.

  • For example, a horse walks into a bar and the bartender says...

  • "Hey, why the long face?"

  • Or a whale walks into a bar and the whale saysWoo...oooo...woooo”.

  • If you thought this was funny, you didn't have to consciously work out why it was funny.

  • the processing was done on a subconscious level.

  • In Krashen's book Principles and Practice in Second Language acquisition, he saysAcquisition

  • of language is a natural, intuitive, and subconscious process of which individuals need not be aware.”

  • Similarly, you can learn words by having someone tell youThe Japanese word for Persimmon

  • is kaki.”

  • On the other hand, what's necessary for acquisition is sufficient comprehensible input.

  • Something like this: Ringo o taberu.

  • So, even though you might not know any of the words I just said, you could comprehend

  • the pictures I supplied, and based on that context, you could acquire the meaning of

  • Ringo and Taberu.

  • When I provide you with another example, Biiru o nomu, you may have deduced something about

  • Japanese grammar as well.

  • That's right, the verb comes at the end.

  • The point is, you have this massive pattern recognition device jammed into your head and

  • when you understand the meaning of the message, your brain will naturally pick out vocabulary

  • and deconstruct grammar patterns based on the context - and this is not something you

  • actively and consciously perform.

  • Okaikei senroppyaku nanajyuu hachien ni narimasu.

  • Kane aru Kara! Kane Nee yo...

  • This leads me to one of the most helpful things - simply watching television series without

  • English subtitles with focused attention even though I couldn't understand most of it.

  • "And today, I wanna talk about dictionaries.

  • You can look up the word 'get' in the dictionary and you get 8 or 9 different definitions...

  • and you can read that, close the dictionary and you won't remember much of what was there.

  • Before I went to Vietnam, I got this phrasebook and dictionary.

  • I came away able to use one word.

  • Kaman, which means thank you.

  • Nothing else stuck, zero.

  • This was essentially useless."

  • A bit later on, I tried my hand at plenty of books but refrained from looking up every word.

  • This is a really simple but important concept, how many new words, phrases and grammar structures

  • can you feed your brain when you're looking up every word as you read a book?

  • You'd take about half an hour to get through one page.

  • For the same amount of time, a television show can blast you with far more words, phrases

  • and grammar.

  • A book can too if you're not so trigger happy with the dictionary.

  • And, it might not feel like it, but these bits of cloudy information can stick in your

  • head at the subconscious level just waiting for the right context to reveal their meaning.

  • Engineering Professor Barbara Oakley explains here that we have two modes of thinking - the

  • focused mode and the diffuse mode.

  • The focused mode is where you're racking your brain trying to use your focused awareness

  • to figure something out, whether it be a math problem or what's going on in a TV show in a foreign language.

  • The diffuse mode works in the background where you're relaxed and not straining on one

  • thing, it can see the big picture and make connections.

  • This is thought to be why people so often get ideas in the shower - you're relaxed,

  • probably not focused on anything in particular, so your subconscious starts turning its pattern

  • recognition gears to give you insights your conscious mind couldn't see.

  • You might not have any luck picking up many words or phrases while watching or reading

  • something, but when you go off and do something else, your brain relaxes into the much more

  • flexible diffuse mode and uses its powers of pattern recognition to piece out some meaning

  • from the heaps of language information you were just exposed to.

  • Now I'm not saying that the fastest way to become fluent in a language is to never

  • open a dictionary, but you'll want to invest a majority of your time on inputting a bunch

  • of content into your head from media, books or just paying attention to people around you.

  • Earlier we saw that according to Krashen, acquisition, but not learning can trigger

  • improvement in a language.

  • But, it seems deliberatelearningcan trigger languageacquisition” - for example

  • let's say you had watched this before: "omae, ore no keeki kuttaro."

  • "iya" and you knew that "ore no keeki" just means

  • my cake,” but for the life of you couldn't figure out what kuttaro means.

  • You were guessing it means steal.

  • Then you learn from a textbook or dictionary that kuu is a very casual way to say eat!

  • Then it all clicks, you realize kutta would be the past tense of this verb and you figure

  • kuttaro must be the same as kutta darou.

  • Now you've acquired a new word and a new colloquialism and put all the pieces together

  • to fully understand what this guy was saying.

  • "Omae, ore no keeki kuttaro."

  • "iya."

  • This is theAha!” moment indicative of new language acquisition - similar to a joke,

  • it just happens at the subconscious level.

  • Another key to this is watching television without English subtitles.

  • A study from Barcelona looking at Spanish speakers trying to learn English found that

  • the worst way to learn was by putting Spanish subtitles on an English movie.

  • This resulted in 0% improvement in their English ability.

  • Watching with no subtitles provided a 7% improvement, but watching the show in English, with English

  • subtitles provided a 17% improvement.

  • Now You might be thinking how are you ever going to learn anything if you do all this

  • input without any any speaking practice?

  • This is where another part of Krashen's theory comes in.

  • "And this may come as a bit of a surprise to some of you.

  • Certainly came as a surprise to me.

  • Talking is not practicing.

  • It means if you want to improve your spanish, it will not help you to speak Spanish outloud

  • in the car as you drive to work in the morning.

  • I used to think those things help, now I think they don't."

  • You don't technically have to open your mouth to acquire the language.

  • This was demonstrated in 1962 when E. Lenneberg described the case of a boy who could not

  • speak due to congenital dysarthria.

  • When Lenneberg tested the boy, he found that the child was able to understand spoken English

  • perfectly.

  • With that said, ...you should open your mouth at some point.

  • Pronunciation is of course very important.

  • But pronunciation ishard.

  • Some noises in the language you'll notice you just can't make because you never have before

  • "That's not tool bro.

  • That's n...

  • That's not tool bro."

  • This brings me to a technique called Shadowing: What you do is basically listen to some audio

  • of a native speaker talking and you just mimic their pronunciation and intonation.

  • Not every word though - depending on your level it could be two syllables at a time,

  • three at a time or two words at a time and so on.

  • Shadowing is generally thought of as an advanced technique you should use to master intonation

  • and polish up your accent.

  • But, even from Day 1 it can be a super efficient way for improving your pronunciation and at

  • the same time your ability to recognize phonemes in natural language.

  • That is to hear natural language.

  • And being able to hear natural language is important.

  • Because when people speak naturally, there are certain phrases where their speech gets

  • run together.

  • LikeWhat are you doingbecomes “W't'ya'doin'”

  • Watch how in this scene, Abe Hiroshi turns tokoro ga kou yatte into "tocolocuerte" "tocolocuerte..."

  • A 2015 study from Japan looking at two groups of English learners found that indeed, shadowing

  • made a statistically significant improvement in phoneme perception for both groups.

  • Look in the description for some tips on shadowing so you can get more out of it without frustrating

  • yourself into hating the language.

  • So That's it - Three things.

  • Focus on learning from context, Load up on the input and get plenty of content in the

  • target language and you can use the same audio source to practice listening to natural speech

  • and pronunciation.

  • I realize this leaves many questions regarding language learning and that this there's

  • tons of useful techniques and approaches for learning a language that I haven't addressed

  • here.

  • So please leave a comment if you have any questions and and check the description for

  • more information .

Language.

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it

B1 US language acquisition learning input dictionary subconscious

How to Learn a Language: INPUT (Why most methods don't work)

  • 322 9
    Samuel posted on 2018/09/18
Video vocabulary

Keywords

pronunciation

US /prəˌnʌnsiˈeʃən/

UK /prəˌnʌnsiˈeɪʃn/

  • noun
  • How a word is said; how a word sounds
  • A representation of how a word is spoken, often using phonetic symbols.
  • A particular way of pronouncing words, often associated with a region or social group.
  • other
  • The way in which a word or language is spoken.
  • The manner in which someone utters a word.
  • A particular way of pronouncing words, often associated with a region or group.
  • other
  • A representation of how a word is spoken, often using phonetic symbols.
  • A particular way of pronouncing words, especially one that is characteristic of a region or group.
context

US /ˈkɑnˌtɛkst/

UK /ˈkɒntekst/

  • noun
  • Set of facts surrounding a person or event
  • The parts of something written or spoken that immediately precede and follow a word or passage and clarify its meaning.
  • The circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.
figure

US /ˈfɪɡjɚ/

UK /ˈfiɡə/

  • verb
  • To appear in a game, play or event
  • To calculate how much something will cost
  • To understand or solve something.
  • To understand after thinking; work out
  • other
  • To consider, believe, or conclude.
  • To calculate or work out (a sum or amount).
  • noun
  • Your body shape
  • Numbers in a calculation
  • A diagram or illustrative drawing in a book or magazine.
  • Doll-like thing meant to represent a person
  • Picture or diagram giving information in a text
  • Person who is very important or famous
  • A set pattern of movements in ice skating.
  • Shape of a person seen indistinctly or in outline
  • Amount that is expressed in numbers
  • A person, especially one who is important or well-known.
  • A numerical amount or value expressed in numbers.
  • A statue or other representation of a person or animal.
  • An outline or shape, especially of a person or animal.
  • other
  • To conclude or expect; think.
content

US /ˈkɑnˌtɛnt/

UK /'kɒntent/

  • adjective
  • Willing to accept something; satisfied.
  • Being happy or satisfied
  • In a state of peaceful happiness.
  • In a state of peaceful happiness.
  • other
  • To be satisfied or willing to do something.
  • other
  • To make (someone) happy and satisfied.
  • To make (someone) happy and satisfied.
  • To satisfy (someone).
  • To make (someone) happy and satisfied.
  • other
  • Information made available by a website or other electronic medium.
  • Information made available by a website or other electronic medium.
  • The things that are to be found inside something.
  • The things that are to be found inside something.
  • The subject matter of a book, speech, etc.
  • other
  • Information or other material put out by an individual or organization via communications mediums.
  • The amount of a particular substance contained in something.
  • A state of peaceful happiness and satisfaction.
  • The things that are to be found inside something; the ideas, facts, or images that are contained in a book, article, speech, etc.
  • noun
  • Information in something, e.g. book or computer
trigger

US /ˈtrɪɡɚ/

UK /'trɪɡə(r)/

  • verb
  • To cause (an event or situation) to happen or exist.
  • To start a process off e.g. a memory
  • other
  • To cause something to begin or happen.
  • noun
  • A procedure that automatically executes in response to certain events on a particular table or view in a database.
  • A small device that releases a spring or catch and so sets off a mechanism, especially in a gun.
  • A pulse or signal that initiates an action or process in an electronic circuit.
  • An event or thing that causes something to happen.
  • A device on a fishing rod that releases the line.
  • Lever on a gun that you pull to fire
  • Something that causes a person to have a strong emotional reaction of fear, shock, anger, or anxiety.
  • Device that starts a process
  • other
  • To cause a sudden, involuntary reaction.
technique

US /tɛkˈnik/

UK /tekˈni:k/

  • noun
  • Way of doing by using special knowledge or skill
  • The manner and ability with which an artist employs the technical skills of a particular art or field of endeavor.
  • A way of doing something, especially a skilled one.
  • A skillful or efficient way of doing or achieving something.
  • The skill or ability to do something well.
demonstrate

US /ˈdɛmənˌstret/

UK /'demənstreɪt/

  • other
  • To explain or describe something clearly.
  • To show something clearly by giving proof or evidence.
  • verb
  • To display a feeling or ability openly
  • To protest about something often as a group
  • To prove or make clear by reasoning or evidence
  • To show how something works (e.g. product)
  • other
  • To take part in a public demonstration or protest.
pattern

US /ˈpætən/

UK /'pætn/

  • noun
  • An arrangement or sequence.
  • A consistent and recurring way of behaving.
  • Model to follow in making or doing something
  • Colors or shapes which are repeated on objects
  • A excellent example or model.
  • Regular repeated behavior
  • A model or guide for making something.
  • A regular or repeated way in which something happens or is done.
  • A set of paper shapes used as a guide for cutting cloth when making clothes.
  • verb
  • To copy the way something else is made
  • other
  • To use as a model or guide.
  • To decorate with a pattern.
concept

US /ˈkɑnˌsɛpt/

UK /'kɒnsept/

  • noun
  • Abstract idea of something or how it works
  • A plan or intention; a conception.
  • An abstract idea; a general notion.
  • An understanding or grasp of something.
description

US /dɪˈskrɪpʃən/

UK /dɪˈskrɪpʃn/

  • noun
  • Explanation of what something is like, looks like
  • A spoken or written account of a person, object, or event.
  • A summary of a computer program or file.
  • The act or method of describing
  • A summary of the qualities and features of a product or service
  • The type or nature of someone or something.