00:00:00
There are people who think in general
00:00:01
that you get fluent by speaking and this
00:00:03
is actually not true. You get fluent by
00:00:05
first getting the language in you and
00:00:06
then you refine your language skills by
00:00:08
speaking. I will go back to Japanese
00:00:10
with a vengeance. If you take notes, it
00:00:12
will make you pay much more attention
00:00:14
and attention is the first step towards
00:00:16
retention. Absolutely right on the
00:00:18
money. I really like the fact he's
00:00:19
talking about declarative versus
00:00:21
procedural memory. A few days ago, I
00:00:23
came across a super duper cool video by
00:00:25
Spencer, a fellow language learner who
00:00:27
tells a story of how he went from being
00:00:30
lost and frustrated using all the usual
00:00:32
methods that do not work to finally
00:00:34
figuring out how to learn a language in
00:00:36
a way that actually makes sense. I was
00:00:38
doing Dualingo every day and still
00:00:40
couldn't speak. I've been in the
00:00:41
language learning world for over three
00:00:43
decades. I've learned 14 languages,
00:00:45
worked as a language coach, a content
00:00:47
creator, and now I run my own Smart
00:00:49
Language Learning Academy. And yet every
00:00:52
now and then I see a video that reminds
00:00:54
me why so many adult learners are still
00:00:57
stuck. It's not because they're lazy or
00:00:58
untalented, but because they do not know
00:01:01
what works. This video lays it out
00:01:02
beautifully, and I wanted to react to
00:01:04
it, not just to highlight what Spencer
00:01:06
got so right, but also to share my own
00:01:08
perspective as someone who's been deep
00:01:10
in the space for years. I'll break down
00:01:12
what works, why it works, and how you
00:01:14
can use these insights to upgrade your
00:01:17
language learning strategy today.
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Whether you're a total beginner or
00:01:20
trying to get from B2 to C1, this one is
00:01:22
for you. Let's dive right in. What if
00:01:25
everything you've been taught about
00:01:26
learning a language is completely
00:01:29
backwards? Today, I can use Chinese to
00:01:31
navigate complex business discussions
00:01:33
and I did it using a method so
00:01:35
counterintuitive that experts might even
00:01:38
call it lazy. I used to first of all, he
00:01:41
said, "What if you're learning languages
00:01:43
backwards?" Unfortunately, most people
00:01:46
are learning languages backwards across
00:01:49
the globe. Be that person with
00:01:50
color-coded notebooks, subscription
00:01:52
applications, and weekend study
00:01:54
intensives. I would block out 2 to three
00:01:57
hours for rigorous daily study sessions,
00:01:59
determined to master Mandarin through
00:02:02
sheer discipline and willpower. But 6
00:02:04
months in, despite my dedication, I
00:02:06
could barely string basic sentences
00:02:08
together. The pronunciation felt
00:02:10
unnatural. The vocabulary wouldn't
00:02:12
stick. And worst of all, maybe I started
00:02:14
translating everything in my head before
00:02:16
I actually started speaking. And this
00:02:17
this kind of reminds me of the first
00:02:19
time I talked to Saiako, my Japanese
00:02:21
instructor. I've been learning Japanese
00:02:23
for a year and a half or something like
00:02:24
that. And I've been making all the
00:02:26
possum mistakes a man can make when it
00:02:29
comes to learning Japanese or foreign
00:02:31
languages for that matter. And I
00:02:33
remember that every conversation was a
00:02:35
tragedy. It took me like 30 seconds to
00:02:38
come up with a sentence. The reason why
00:02:40
in retrospect is because I had
00:02:41
approached language learning wrong. I
00:02:43
think this guy is right on the money
00:02:46
when it comes to the fact that we learn
00:02:49
backwards and we are actually wired to
00:02:52
learn foreign languages. We just need to
00:02:54
find a way to absorb them naturally. In
00:02:58
retrospect and and mind you, I will go
00:03:00
back to Japanese. I will go back to
00:03:02
Japanese with a vengeance because now I
00:03:04
know how to approach it. If I had done
00:03:06
the right things, things would have been
00:03:08
quite different. We lack sometimes
00:03:10
patience. We want to speak as fast as
00:03:12
possible, but the reality is language
00:03:14
learning takes time and we are way
00:03:17
better off absorbing the language in a
00:03:19
natural way like this person is about to
00:03:21
explain and uh and then the magic
00:03:23
happens. This of course would create
00:03:25
that awkward delay that would make
00:03:27
conversations painful to have and
00:03:29
probably painful to listen to. No,
00:03:31
that's exactly my case for Japanese.
00:03:33
painful to have and painful to listen to
00:03:35
because I used to listen to the
00:03:37
recordings later and I told myself, "Oh
00:03:39
my god, as chief operating officer of a
00:03:43
growing e-commerce company, I am
00:03:45
obsessed with efficiency." And I am
00:03:48
obsessed with efficiency as well, but I
00:03:50
don't have the same job as this guy. So,
00:03:53
one day it hit me. What if my approach
00:03:55
to learning languages was fundamentally
00:03:58
inefficient? I mean, what if all of this
00:04:00
structured studying was actually the
00:04:02
problem and not the solution? I I like
00:04:05
the way he asked this question. Uh, but
00:04:08
although to be fair, I don't think that
00:04:10
structured study is bad in and of
00:04:12
itself. I think it might be good, it
00:04:14
could be good, but it really depends on
00:04:16
how you spend your time in general, what
00:04:18
activities you engage in. This question
00:04:21
sent me down a neural linguistic rabbit
00:04:23
hole that I became obsessed with, and it
00:04:25
ended up totally changing the way I
00:04:27
approached studying languages. I'm
00:04:28
about. Sounds exciting. Let's see what
00:04:30
what this guy has to say to share
00:04:32
something with you that might sound
00:04:33
ridiculous at first. But I promise you,
00:04:35
it's backed by cuttingedge brain
00:04:37
linguistic science that has helped
00:04:38
thousands of learners who might be stuck
00:04:40
just like you finally have a
00:04:42
breakthrough. I call it the neurological
00:04:44
alignment method. Although, wow, this
00:04:46
sounds pretty cool. I wish I could have
00:04:48
come up with something like that. Lot of
00:04:50
my friends just call it the lazy way of
00:04:51
mastering languages. It's designed to
00:04:53
work in harmony with your brain's
00:04:55
natural processes rather than just
00:04:57
fighting against them. Now, before I
00:04:58
explain the core techniques, you need to
00:05:00
first understand why the traditional
00:05:01
methods simply don't work. Our brains
00:05:03
actually aren't designed to learn
00:05:05
languages by memorizing grammar rules or
00:05:07
studying vocabulary lists. Think for a
00:05:09
second about how you learned your native
00:05:11
tongue. Did anyone drill you on
00:05:12
conjugation tables as a toddler? Of
00:05:14
course not. You absorbed language
00:05:16
naturally through meaningful contexts
00:05:18
that had some relevance to you and your
00:05:20
life. Now, neuroscience reveals that
00:05:22
languages are stored in your memory in
00:05:24
the procedural. I really like this. I
00:05:26
really like the fact that he's talking
00:05:27
about procedural memory. Something that
00:05:29
not a lot of people talk about. Let's
00:05:31
see what he has to say and then we're
00:05:33
going to delve into it. Part of the
00:05:34
brain. And it turns out that this is the
00:05:36
same neurological system that helps us
00:05:37
with riding a bike or with typing on a
00:05:39
keyboard. Now, traditional studying
00:05:41
methods when it comes to learning a
00:05:42
language targets what's called
00:05:44
declarative memory. Now, it's really
00:05:46
great for memorizing facts or figures or
00:05:48
something like that, but it's absolutely
00:05:49
terrible when it comes to helping you
00:05:51
develop an automatic skill. So, what's
00:05:53
the alternative? something absolutely
00:05:56
right on the money. I really like the
00:05:58
fact he's talking about declarative
00:05:59
versus procedural memory. When we learn
00:06:01
our own native language, we primarily
00:06:03
learn it through procedural memory.
00:06:06
Basically, our processes go to what is
00:06:08
called the basic ganglia. And that's the
00:06:10
reason why it's so automatic to speak
00:06:12
your own native language or a language
00:06:14
you know well. When you reach a very
00:06:15
high level fluency, then everything
00:06:17
becomes automatic. One word leads to the
00:06:19
other. This is because the brain doesn't
00:06:21
make much effort because again there's
00:06:24
another part. It's not the prefrontal
00:06:25
cortex but rather the basal ganglia that
00:06:28
manage the process. And the problem with
00:06:31
language learning instruction and
00:06:32
education is that it's based upon the
00:06:34
premise that we learn through
00:06:36
memorization. We learn by picking up
00:06:37
words by learning by memorizing these
00:06:39
words by learning trying to figure out
00:06:41
grammar rules and applying them. It does
00:06:43
not work this way. Primarily language
00:06:46
learning is a skill that you develop and
00:06:48
I would say that it's 80 to 95% a skill
00:06:52
that is stored in the procedural memory.
00:06:54
It's implicit, it's subconscious and 10%
00:06:56
is actually conscious and it's you know
00:06:59
managed by the declarative memory. I
00:07:01
believe though that you have to learn
00:07:03
how to combine the two because
00:07:05
declarative memory also has a role an
00:07:08
important role in language learning. But
00:07:09
the problem is you have to really flip
00:07:12
the table so to speak. Can you say flip
00:07:14
the table? I'm not sure. Anyway, you get
00:07:16
the you get the point. You have to
00:07:17
change your perspective so that you
00:07:19
basically um you know base your language
00:07:23
learning strategies on procedural memory
00:07:25
on learning it as a skill on learning it
00:07:27
organically. You don't learn just words
00:07:29
or grammar rules and then you do
00:07:32
exercises and then you do uh grammar
00:07:34
drills or pronunciation drills and then
00:07:36
you try to put everything together. It
00:07:38
does not work that way. You have to
00:07:40
learn it holistically. Learn and
00:07:41
approach it holistically. So, this guy
00:07:43
is right on the money. Something so
00:07:46
enjoyable, you're going to question
00:07:47
whether or not it's actually effective.
00:07:49
Something you're probably already doing
00:07:51
every single day without truly realizing
00:07:53
its potential. Television. Tada. This
00:07:57
kind of reminds me before he continues
00:07:59
about the fact that I basically
00:08:01
improved, massively improved French by
00:08:03
watching television. I still remember at
00:08:05
the age of the ripe age of 14 or 15, I
00:08:09
don't remember exactly, I started
00:08:10
watching FD. So I realized that from
00:08:13
Italy, my my own native country, I could
00:08:16
watch French television. I could watch
00:08:17
it with subtitles. So I remember that I
00:08:19
started watching television and I
00:08:21
stumbled upon this cult movie, this
00:08:22
French cult movie which is called Lapum.
00:08:24
And I fell in love with this beautiful
00:08:26
French actress Sufi Maso. And once I
00:08:28
fell in love with Sufi Maso, then I also
00:08:31
fell in love with French. I started
00:08:33
watching shows every single night and
00:08:36
taking notes because I could actually
00:08:38
see the subtitles. could see the words
00:08:40
and not just listen to them. So,
00:08:42
television can be very very efficient
00:08:45
cuz you're doing something that is fun
00:08:47
and you're learning a bunch out of it
00:08:49
and from it. Yes, really. But not just
00:08:51
any another nice title, passive watching
00:08:55
whatever the heck happens to be on the
00:08:56
television. This is a strategic visual
00:08:59
approach to taking regular entertainment
00:09:01
and transforming it into the most
00:09:03
powerful of language acquisition tools.
00:09:05
Now, I'm just going to say it. This
00:09:06
isn't about zoning out to foreign films
00:09:08
with your native tongue subtitles on the
00:09:10
TV. It's about creating a deliberate
00:09:12
experience that mimics how your brain
00:09:14
naturally acquires a language. So, in
00:09:16
that sense, I guess you could call it
00:09:18
strategic entertainment immersion. Love
00:09:20
it. The magic happens because visual
00:09:22
storytelling provides rich contextual
00:09:24
cues that help your brain naturally map
00:09:26
meaning to new sounds and patterns. Your
00:09:28
neurological language centers activate
00:09:30
automatically when meaning is clear,
00:09:32
even without understanding every single
00:09:34
word. I transformed my Mandarin speaking
00:09:37
and listening ability just by watching a
00:09:39
couple of hours of TV every single day.
00:09:41
Which, by the way, I already did before.
00:09:43
It just wasn't in Mandarin. And again,
00:09:44
this wasn't a replacement for studying.
00:09:47
This was studying. This, you know, come
00:09:49
to think of it, think about all the TV
00:09:51
shows and the documentaries and the
00:09:53
movies you watch in your own native
00:09:54
language. And then when you start
00:09:56
watching in a foreign language, then it
00:09:58
becomes a rewarding experience. And
00:09:59
also, you learn a bunch from it. I
00:10:02
remember that back in back in school
00:10:03
going back to when I was learning French
00:10:05
and and the same thing happened in
00:10:07
English in parallel. my schoolmates
00:10:08
started asking how does he speak English
00:10:11
so well so suddenly and or or French for
00:10:14
that matter and uh the reason is that I
00:10:16
had started watching a lot of movies and
00:10:19
movies contain the kind of language that
00:10:21
you really need in order to speak
00:10:23
naturally with other native speakers
00:10:24
because this is how actually the
00:10:26
language is being used and also you
00:10:28
understand the you know you you get
00:10:29
exposed to the gesture to pragmatics how
00:10:32
people use the language in certain
00:10:33
situations how they react to certain
00:10:35
circumstances so it's absolutely amazing
00:10:37
Of course, in order to watch television
00:10:39
and enjoy it, you have to do a bunch of
00:10:40
things before and uh you have to get to
00:10:42
a point where you can enjoy the show
00:10:44
without stopping every time and looking
00:10:45
up words, but that's that's a different
00:10:47
matter. This was my primary study method
00:10:49
and the results were astonishing. The
00:10:51
content selection is critical and has to
00:10:54
follow the comprehension 8020 rule.
00:10:56
Start with content that you understand
00:10:57
about 80% of either through the visuals
00:11:00
on the screen, the context that's
00:11:01
provided to you, or something to do with
00:11:03
the motions maybe that the person is
00:11:04
using on screen. This creates the
00:11:06
perfect zone where your brain is able to
00:11:08
infer meaning without getting
00:11:09
frustrated. What he's talking about is
00:11:11
basically the goldilog zone or the zone
00:11:13
of proximal development. This is a very
00:11:15
important concept in cognitive uh
00:11:17
development or cognitive theory and also
00:11:19
in linguistics. It basically means that
00:11:21
you have to find yourself in the optimal
00:11:23
zone where something is not too easy
00:11:26
otherwise you don't learn much out of it
00:11:27
and you get bored and something is not
00:11:29
too complicated otherwise you get very
00:11:30
discouraged. Think about things you
00:11:33
could you have probably stumbled upon
00:11:34
like reading a book when you're still
00:11:36
not ready to read a book and then you
00:11:37
read a page or a couple of pages you
00:11:39
struggle through and you tell yourself
00:11:40
what the heck this is too difficult or
00:11:43
talking about movies. You watch a movie
00:11:45
and you basically understand very little
00:11:47
because you're not ready for it. So you
00:11:50
have to get to a point where you can
00:11:51
enjoy the movies and you have to do it
00:11:53
by using scaffolding or scaffolding or I
00:11:55
don't know. I I I never get this one
00:11:57
right but you you get the idea. The
00:11:58
scaffolding is basically using the
00:12:00
knowledge you have in order to take a
00:12:02
step further and understand more and
00:12:04
more about not understanding the
00:12:06
peripheral things. For example, begin
00:12:08
especially with content designed for
00:12:10
either beginners or for children. Mini
00:12:12
stories with repetitive structures,
00:12:14
simplified news programs for language
00:12:16
learners or children's shows with very
00:12:18
visual storytelling. Then after that you
00:12:20
can gra that's an excellent point. I
00:12:22
always use as aimile or teach yourself
00:12:25
which is a book that you can use. It has
00:12:27
you know uh bilingual dialogues and then
00:12:29
it also has some grammar notes that
00:12:31
explain the obscure points or the points
00:12:32
that you will not understand just by
00:12:34
comparing the version in the two
00:12:36
languages the dialogue in the in the two
00:12:38
languages your target language and your
00:12:39
native language. But the reality is that
00:12:41
nowadays you have a delusion of a wealth
00:12:44
of resources visual resources that you
00:12:46
can use. You can go to YouTube and let's
00:12:48
say that you're learning Spanish and you
00:12:50
can watch, for example, YouTube videos
00:12:53
uh for Spanish beginners where the
00:12:56
person speaks very slowly and explains
00:12:58
everything on screen so you can see what
00:13:00
he's pointing at. You can see the
00:13:01
actions he's he's doing and you can
00:13:03
learn from it. Plus, you have subtitles
00:13:05
in in the two languages. So, you have
00:13:07
everything you need in order to start
00:13:08
learning a language from scratch just by
00:13:10
using visual stuff. I prefer using
00:13:13
asimil and teach yourself. But again, to
00:13:16
each his own. But the point is you have
00:13:18
to start from the beginning. You if you
00:13:20
start from scratch, you have to build
00:13:22
that knowledge until you get to the
00:13:24
point where you can enjoy a TV show or a
00:13:26
documentary or a movie. So he's he's
00:13:29
explaining exactly what I was talking
00:13:30
about before. In order to enjoy movies,
00:13:32
you have to first put in the work and
00:13:34
gradually progress to the following:
00:13:36
teen dramas with straightforward plots,
00:13:38
documentary series on already familiar
00:13:40
topics, or competition shows where
00:13:42
actions are clearly tied to dialogue.
00:13:44
For example, for I I think the main
00:13:46
point is to find stuff you like. You
00:13:47
know, teen dramas, that's fine. You can
00:13:49
also use reading graded readers and you
00:13:51
can listen to them. It's not necessarily
00:13:53
visual stuff, but the point is find
00:13:56
things that are progressively more
00:13:57
difficult, but not as difficult as you
00:14:00
know normal movies and stuff that you
00:14:03
enjoy. And the other another important
00:14:05
point is to my suggestion is maybe to
00:14:08
watch things that you're familiar with.
00:14:10
You've watched it in your own native
00:14:11
language and then you know the story. or
00:14:13
you're familiar with it. So, it's way
00:14:15
easier to understand the concept and the
00:14:17
content. For me, with Mandarin, I
00:14:19
started with very basic content aimed at
00:14:21
beginners and eventually I was able to
00:14:23
graduate to more complex content that
00:14:25
actually aligned with my personal
00:14:27
interests. Now, there are two that's
00:14:28
exactly the the point I was making
00:14:30
before. Two ways to implement this
00:14:32
technique. Active immersion and passive
00:14:34
immersion. Active viewing, as you can
00:14:35
probably guess, means giving your
00:14:37
complete undivided attention to the
00:14:39
content. I'm talking about no phone
00:14:41
scrolling, no multitasking, no
00:14:43
distractions from other devices or
00:14:45
notifications, full mental engagement on
00:14:47
what you're studying. Now, passive
00:14:49
immersion is also very valuable, but
00:14:51
solves a different neurological purpose.
00:14:53
This is where you allow content to play
00:14:54
in the background while you're working
00:14:56
out or cooking or commuting or doing any
00:14:58
other activity. This allows your brain
00:14:59
to continue to process the patterns of
00:15:01
the language, although subconsciously.
00:15:03
And just a quick, this is wonderful. Two
00:15:06
main points here I wanted to address.
00:15:08
The first one is about active
00:15:09
engagement. My suggestion, this is what
00:15:11
has been working for me. It works
00:15:13
wonders. But again, it depends on
00:15:15
whether you have the drive to do it is
00:15:17
to just watch something and take notes.
00:15:20
If you take notes, it will pay make you
00:15:22
pay much more attention and attention is
00:15:24
the first step towards retention. This
00:15:26
is not just to learn new words, but also
00:15:29
really to pay attention to engage with
00:15:31
the process. Just the fact that you're
00:15:33
using your hand, paper, you have
00:15:34
something here concrete and not digital
00:15:37
is great. So, the combination of
00:15:38
watching something and at the same time
00:15:39
taking notes, maybe you can stop easily,
00:15:41
stop with your left hand and write with
00:15:43
your right hand if you're right-handed,
00:15:44
of course, otherwise you do the
00:15:45
opposite. Really makes you lock in the
00:15:48
content. And this is really important
00:15:50
because um most people just watch things
00:15:52
thinking, oh, I just, you know, immerse
00:15:54
myself in in the stuff and I'm just
00:15:56
going to learn as a consequence of that.
00:15:57
Unfortunately, it does not work that
00:15:59
way. So, that's the first point. You
00:16:01
have to spend some time doing things
00:16:04
deliberately and engaging proactively
00:16:07
engaging with the content because the
00:16:09
level of attention uh doubles triples
00:16:11
and then the level of retention doubles
00:16:13
and triples as a consequence of that.
00:16:15
And the second very important point is
00:16:17
that then you also need to listen to
00:16:19
something in the background because if
00:16:21
you listen to something in the
00:16:22
background and possibly something you've
00:16:24
gone through before in an active way
00:16:26
then your brain learns even better. It's
00:16:29
a combination of these two things. This
00:16:30
is what I've been doing for example very
00:16:32
successfully with Greek and I talk about
00:16:34
it in the overcoming the intermediate
00:16:36
plateau course. It's a a technique
00:16:37
called listen to review and students
00:16:40
love it that solves a problem of
00:16:42
actually having to review words because
00:16:44
if say in a week you do two podcasts
00:16:48
let's say you go through two podcasts or
00:16:49
two videos for that matter and then you
00:16:51
dissect them you take notes etc. Then
00:16:54
the following week if you listen to them
00:16:56
in the background either it's a video
00:16:57
that you play on YouTube if you have
00:16:58
YouTube premium you can play it in the
00:17:00
background or you just listen to it and
00:17:02
what happens is that your brain picks up
00:17:04
these words automatically. Oh I listen
00:17:07
to these words again and your skills get
00:17:10
better and better. So this is actually
00:17:12
amazing because it's a combination of
00:17:14
engagement you know a couple of times a
00:17:17
week and then it's all passive stuff
00:17:19
that you listen to in the background and
00:17:21
these two things work in conjunction.
00:17:23
So, this guy is is right on the money.
00:17:25
Just a quick note, sorry, it doesn't
00:17:27
work while you're sleeping. Anyway, the
00:17:29
real breakthrough came for me when I
00:17:30
combined these two approaches. I would
00:17:32
actively watch new content and then
00:17:34
replay it several times while doing
00:17:37
other things. This repeated exposure
00:17:39
cemented the patterns of the language in
00:17:41
my brain without needing to add extra
00:17:43
time to studying. Now, here's where my
00:17:45
that's exactly what I was saying before.
00:17:47
I've been doing this for Greek. I've
00:17:48
been doing it for other languages. My
00:17:49
students have been doing it in their own
00:17:51
target languages. it works like a charm.
00:17:53
Approach becomes truly controversial. I
00:17:56
recommend minimal speaking, that means
00:17:58
minimal output practice until you've
00:18:00
accumulated about 300 or so hours of
00:18:03
quality input time. Now, I know this
00:18:06
flies in the face of conventional wisdom
00:18:08
that says you need to start speaking
00:18:09
from day one. Your brain needs to build
00:18:11
strong recognition. So, uh he says flies
00:18:14
in the face of of of common sense.
00:18:16
Actually for those who know you know CI
00:18:18
comprehensive the comprehensive input
00:18:20
hypothesis it's pretty clear that you
00:18:22
have to put in a lot of uh language in
00:18:24
you to get massive input exposure to the
00:18:27
language before you speak. But again
00:18:30
there are people think in general that
00:18:31
you get fluent by speaking and this is
00:18:33
actually not true. You get fluent by
00:18:35
first getting the language in you and
00:18:37
then you refine your language skills by
00:18:39
speaking. And I also like here the fact
00:18:41
that he's showing broka in verik or
00:18:43
broka because he was French. It's a
00:18:45
really uh important part of language
00:18:47
learning. Broka is the area that manages
00:18:51
speaking production while venika is
00:18:54
understanding. So if you have the
00:18:55
so-called broka's aphasia or venikas
00:18:57
aphasas, a lot of interesting things
00:18:59
happen. For example, you can speak
00:19:01
without making sense or you have a a
00:19:04
hard a hard time speaking if one of or
00:19:06
both areas are impacted for uh medical
00:19:09
reasons. Anyway, I I like the fact that
00:19:11
these patterns before production becomes
00:19:14
natural. And when you finally actually
00:19:16
start speaking, you'll find that the
00:19:17
words flow from your mouth a lot better
00:19:19
than you expected because these patterns
00:19:21
have been cemented in your neurological
00:19:23
pathways. And absolutely correct. I
00:19:25
don't know if it ever happened to you
00:19:26
that you've been, you know, doing a lot
00:19:28
of input and all of a sudden you just,
00:19:30
you know, words come to the four and
00:19:32
that you were not aware of. Oh, how how
00:19:34
do I know this word and why did it come
00:19:36
to the four right now? This is has been
00:19:38
happening for example to an Italian an
00:19:41
English student of mine who has been
00:19:42
learning Italian. He was using all the
00:19:45
backwards strategies before we started
00:19:48
working together. And then once we
00:19:50
started working together, it's a very
00:19:51
heavy inputbased approach. Then things
00:19:54
started, you know, uh warming up for him
00:19:56
and how more more words and expressions
00:19:58
come to his mind and his way of learning
00:20:01
Italian and speaking Italian and
00:20:03
listening to Italian, etc. has
00:20:05
completely changed. And yes, while
00:20:06
outputting the first time, it might feel
00:20:08
a little slow and clunky. Very rapidly,
00:20:11
you're going to realize that there's no
00:20:13
awkward translation, no struggling to
00:20:15
recall grammar rules, just fluid
00:20:17
communication. That's absolutely true
00:20:19
because once again, it's implicit
00:20:22
subconscious and once it's a
00:20:24
subconscious process, then activating it
00:20:26
is way easier than just like trying to
00:20:28
pick up words and grammar grammar rules
00:20:30
and then trying to put them together.
00:20:31
So, it's a matter of being patient. And
00:20:33
it's a matter of exposing yourself to
00:20:34
the language in a in a deliberate way,
00:20:36
in a proactive way, in a passive way,
00:20:38
and then the magic is going to happen.
00:20:41
After a few hundred hours of inputting
00:20:43
Mandarin into my brain, I was shocked to
00:20:45
find that my conversations were actually
00:20:47
surprisingly smooth. The right phrases
00:20:49
would kind of emerge naturally, and I
00:20:51
actually had pretty decent pronunciation
00:20:53
and tone for a non-native speaker. But
00:20:55
yes, because among other things, you do
00:20:57
not just learn vocab patterns or grammar
00:21:00
patterns. You also learn sound patterns
00:21:03
if you learn and approach a language
00:21:04
holistically. Please don't get me wrong,
00:21:06
I was not perfect by any stretch of the
00:21:08
imagination, but I was significantly
00:21:10
more comfortable and capable than I
00:21:12
expected to be. When I look back at my
00:21:14
language acquisition journey, I think
00:21:16
the biggest breakthrough came when I
00:21:18
stopped trying to force a language into
00:21:19
my brain and instead allowing it to just
00:21:21
enter naturally. And honestly, the
00:21:23
results speak for themselves. Lit. I
00:21:25
love it. You just have don't have to
00:21:27
force anything when it comes to language
00:21:28
learning. The problem is when you try to
00:21:30
force things and then you get frustrated
00:21:32
because things do not turn out to be the
00:21:34
way you wanted them to be. Language
00:21:35
learning is something you get familiar
00:21:36
with. It's not something you learn. I
00:21:38
know that this sounds counterintuit
00:21:40
intuitive because we're used to, you
00:21:41
know, navigating and functioning within
00:21:43
a system, an educational system or an
00:21:46
education system where we have to learn
00:21:48
things and then you have to produce
00:21:49
things. But language learning is about
00:21:51
exposing yourself to the language,
00:21:52
getting familiar with it, being becoming
00:21:54
part of you, and then you use it for
00:21:56
your for your own life, literally. So
00:21:59
there you have it. By working with your
00:22:01
neurological wiring, you find out that
00:22:02
things become remarkably easy and
00:22:04
enjoyable instead of having to struggle
00:22:06
and struggle and struggle. Now, you're
00:22:08
going to be surprised to hear that what
00:22:09
I love most about this method isn't just
00:22:11
that it works. it's that it transforms
00:22:13
language learning from this annoying
00:22:15
homework that's nagging you to do it to
00:22:17
something that you really enjoy and look
00:22:19
forward to at maybe the end of your day.
00:22:21
In this video I have called strategic
00:22:22
entertainment immersion isn't cutting
00:22:24
corners. It's actually the most direct
00:22:27
path to fluency in your target language.
00:22:29
And hey, 100% correct. When language
00:22:31
learning becomes its own reward, that's
00:22:33
when things really start taking off.
00:22:37
People ask me why I've been learning 14
00:22:38
languages. Why will I continue learning
00:22:40
languages for the rest of my life? The
00:22:42
answer is yes, because it's a reward in
00:22:44
and of itself. Every time I sit down and
00:22:47
I learn a language, it's pure joy.
00:22:50
Honestly, bravo, Spencer. This is the
00:22:52
kind of video I wish more learners would
00:22:54
watch. It's researchbacked, practical,
00:22:56
and gripping. It reflects my own journey
00:22:58
moving from language rookie to speaking
00:23:00
14 foreign languages with confidence.
00:23:02
And more importantly, it also shows what
00:23:05
is not for you. It is the outdated,
00:23:07
inefficient brain unfriendly methods
00:23:09
that make your attempts at learning any
00:23:10
foreign language derail. But if I have
00:23:12
to share myself one tip that changed
00:23:14
everything for me, it's this. Language
00:23:17
learning is not something you study.
00:23:19
It's not something you memorize or force
00:23:20
into you. It's something you slowly get
00:23:22
familiar with by doing stuff you like.
00:23:25
And that alone has profound implications
00:23:27
on how you go about it. I think this is
00:23:29
the power of this video. I left the link
00:23:30
to the original video in the description
00:23:32
box. And please check Spencer's channel.
00:23:34
There's a lot of good stuff waiting for
00:23:36
you. And if you resonated with this
00:23:38
video and with my two cents about it,
00:23:39
you're going to love something I created
00:23:41
just for you. It's my language
00:23:44
accelerator guide. A clear no fluff road
00:23:46
map to help you learn faster, smarter,
00:23:48
and with way less frustration than
00:23:50
whatever you're doing right now. You'll
00:23:52
find the link once again in the
00:23:54
description box or pin comment below.
00:23:56
Don't miss it. That is it for today,
00:23:58
folks. As always, happy language
00:24:01
learning and see you in the next
