Learn Languages with Steve Kaufmann

Reading is powerful. When I have read a whole paper book from cover to cover, without a dictionary or the iPad, I consider that to be a major milestone.

Listening comprehension is the core skill that leads us to speaking and reading better. It leads us to a better sense of the language.

Once you're past the first "discovery" period in a language, you hit the plateau. You feel you're not progressing. You need to vary things up, in order to keep going. One approach is speed LingQing.

Some people say you should try to learn 10 words a day and make sure you can use them, really nail them down. I've never found that effective. Here is how I learn vocabulary.

Make sure you have a tutor who has the imagination, the wherewithal and the resourcefulness to keep the conversation going when there’s a lull. A tutor who comes up with a new subject, a new question, something to keep the conversation going. This is key.

As you are progressing in your target language there will be lots of times when you are not going to understand. To reach your goals you need to accept this and keep moving forward.

Enthusiasm is such an important factor in language learning, and there are few more enthusiastic than YouTuber Rupa Sensei. I caught up with Rupa to find out how and why he is inspiring English learners.

Though I am an input-based language learner I want to output better. That’s why I am embarking on a three month challenge of increased Persian study. Here’s what I will do to step up my Persian.

There are two stages in language learning: the initial intense study of a limited number of words, and the later more extensive approach to learning in order to acquire the up to 10,000 words needed to function at a professional level. These two stages make up the upside down hockey stick.

It’s easy to get caught up in the negative as a first time language learner: I keep forgetting the words, I can’t speak, I’m just not getting it. You need to maintain a positive attitude and believe you will get there. Keep on putting in the time and you will improve.

I began learning Arabic in early 2018. In this video, I discuss what my learning strategy was at the beginning of my Arabic journey and how it has changed over the years.

My seventh and final video in my series on language learning goals is on culture. I leave culture until last so I can explore it in the target language. It makes the exercise more meaningful.

Of course there are objective factors when it comes to being a successful language learner, but there are some subjective factors too. In this video I discuss the characteristics I believe set language learners up for success.

As well as enjoying the process, learning another language means I get to discover a new culture and people. What is your “why”?

Writing is an effective way to improve language skills. You have time to look things up: words, verb and noun forms, conjugations, declensions, phrases, etc. You have more time to work on your output than when you’re engaged in an oral conversation.

Learning is about much more than schools. This is especially true for language learning. A major ingredient for success is enthusiasm, on the part of the learner and the teacher. My chat with Alberto of Italiano Automatico.

Language learning is not about performing or being judged. It's about communicating, understanding, expressing our thoughts and ideas and feelings, however imperfectly, in the language we're learning.

Grammar or correct usage is usually the first goal of language instruction. For me it’s the fifth goal, after acquiring words, reading, listening, and speaking with mistakes. It’s only then that I focus more on grammar.

Vocabulary growth is key to acquiring a language. In this video I show I do this. Spoiler, I'm not a big user of flash cards. I learn words in context, or occasionally using lists.

Compelling input is increasingly recognized as the sine qua non of language learning. So where does grammar instruction or grammar learning fit in? Olly and Steve discuss this.

Olly Richards of storytelling.com and I compare notes on the technology we use to set up for our videos. Language learning has become more easier through technology, but making videos for YouTube has become more technically demanding.

The goal of language learning, for most people, is speaking. But, for me, it isn't the first goal. A strong passive vocabulary, good reading skills, and good listening comprehension are earlier goals that enable to become a good speaker of the language.

Though listening is the third goal in my hierarchy of language learning goals, in many ways it is the most important. Listening is easy to do and it is the best preparation for speaking.

Ukrainian was my third Slavic language after Russian and Czech. Relationships between languages of the same language family are interesting. Discovering the individual histories and cultures behind these languages is a major motivator.

Reading helps enormously in acquiring new words, and in achieving some level of comprehension for what you hear in a new language. It is harder to for me remember words just by hearing them. Seeing the words written gives them form, definition.

The number one goal in language learning is to acquire words. The number of words you know is the simplest measure of your knowledge of any language. We acquire words mostly incidentally, not deliberately. That is at the core of LingQ.

My 7 language learning goals: 1. Acquire words. Passive vocabulary is the best measure of my potential in a language. 2. Read a lot. Reading is easier to understand than listening. I may read new material or re-read old material, but I read every day. 3. Listen everywhere. I listen every day, either repeatedly as a beginner, or more extensively as I progress in a language. 4. Speak when I have the chance. With enough input, I find it easier to speak and do so without worrying about how I do. 5. Focus on grammar at the right time. With enough exposure to the language, enough errors in speaking, I circle back to improve my usage. 6. Write as required. Writing is a great way to improve but how much I write depends on my needs. 7. Culture. My ultimate goal in learning a language is to connect with the culture and history of the language. I can start doing this at any time, but fid it most satisfying only after I have achieved a good level of comprehension and familiarity with the language.

Francesco’s story is typical. A passion for languages and a passion for the culture of his homeland, Italy, took him from his background in economics to creating an online presence helping people learn Italian via videos and podcasts.

Listening is the easiest language learning activity to do, anywhere, any time. To be effective, there should be some ability to understand at least some of what you hear.

When I was 17 I essentially spoke only one language, English. Today I speak 20 languages, six of them quite well, six fairly well, and the rest are work in progress. How did that happen?

We don't need to be perfect to communicate in a foreign language. John Cena doesn't speak perfect Mandarin Chinese, far from it, but he communicates effectively from the heart.

I love French for its history and cultural influence. For English speakers, or speaker of other Romance languages, the amount of familiar or recognizable vocabulary is a major advantage to learners, despite the occasional "false friend".

Will John of Goluremi Languages is an American polyglot and professional soccer player, who has played in many countries. He grew up in the "heartland" of America. He credits his mother for his interest in languages.

I hear people say their level in English isn’t good. Many have unrealistic expectations. English is an international language of communication. If you can communicate you’re doing just fine.

LingQ has been rewritten from scratch. Mark & I discuss new features which make it easier to learn languages and easier for the LingQ team to add additional functions and features to meet member requests.

Ancient Greece and Rome had an outsized influence on the culture of Europe, and even the world. We may call their languages dead today but they were living languages for much of recent history.

In language learning, the obsessive pursuit of perfection can be an obstacle to achieving a comfortable ability to communicate in the language.

Can we learn several languages at the same time? Are we better off to focus on one? It all depends on your goals and personal preferences. You will progress faster if you focus on one language, however you will give up the chance to explore other languages during that same period.

Daria teaches Russian and looks for learning material that is of interest to the learners. Learn Russian with Star Wars! More important than insisting on correct grammar, especially in the early stages.

When we start a new language, we're excited to discover new sounds, new words, new structures. Early there is a sense of achievement as what was just noise is starting to become meaningful. Certain words repeat often enough that we learn them. But after a few months, we start to feel we're stuck. It's the doldrums. What can be done?

The difficulty level of any language depends on the learner. How motivated is the learner to acquire a certain language? Is he or she confident of their ability to acquire the language? To a confident and motivated learner, no language is really difficult. In fact, the learning process becomes its own reward.

In acquiring a foreign language, reading is often underrated as a goal, and as a learning activity. When I learned Chinese, over 50 years ago, I did a lot more reading than I’m doing now in Arabic and Persian. Today I rely on the audio to help me read. In 2022 I plan to focus more on reading, even in sentence mode, but without the constant help of audio.

How To Learn Vocabulary by Steve Kaufmann

We often hear that speakers of certain languages have trouble losing their accents, speakers of English or Slavic languages, for example. Iryna sounds Mexican, both in English and Spanish, yet is a native speaker of Russian and Ukrainian. Best to avoid generalizations.

I started Standard Arabic, Persian & Turkish to better understand the region. Dropped Turkish to focus on reading Arabic script. Now I'm doing more colloquial Arabic. Things change.

I hitchhiked in Italy in the 60's, getting by with French and Spanish. In the '70s I got a Linguaphone Italian course. I avoided the exercises but listened over and over again, occasionally reviewing the grammar explanations. That was it until I discovered the power of audio books.

When I learn a language I'm curious about the culture. However, I first need to get a sense of the new language using subject matter familiar to me. More exotic details of the culture can wait. Unfortunately these are often included in beginner texts.

Many people need English for the workplace, including immigrants in English speaking countries. To learn the technical language mine the many publications, articles, YouTube videos, podcasts etc. from the Internet for the words and phrases you need to learn.

Shadowing is a language learning technique developed and popularized by polyglot Alexander Argüelles. The idea is to repeat what you hear while listening in order to improve pronunciation and speaking. I have not used this much in the past but want to give it another try.

I started learning German before the age of the Internet. I'd had some exposure as a young man, but during a month between jobs, in 1987, I really went at it. I found second hand German readers, and I went at then, massive comprehensible input.