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Steve's Language Learning Tips, A Language Is Like a Lump Of...

A Language Is Like a Lump Of...

All right, well, we're no longer right in the old city of Kraków.

We took the tram, which is over there, and we came across the Vistula River

and we're looking at, uh, Kazimierz, if I have it correctly, which is

where the Jewish ghetto is located, and we're gonna be walking, we're

taking a walking tour this afternoon.

And what's interesting about this is, you know, you form an impression of

a city because for the first three days we stayed in the old city.

We thought this is Kraków, uh, inside the walls of the old city.

And then we begin to realize that Kraków is actually much larger.

And of course it's much larger because the central part of Kraków within the

city walls is actually quite small.

So here's another part, Kazimierz.

And I, I think there's more and more to this city, and again, I bring everything

back to language learning, right?

But so I think of it, you know, when you're learning a language, you've got

the big picture, the whole language, which you gradually get bits and pieces

of and where whatever part of it you have, you think that's the language.

But of course the language is always much larger.

And, you know, visiting Kraków here, I bought a book, which is

Historia Krakowa dla kazdego.

So it describes the history of Kraków.

It explains the different parts of Kraków in Polish.

So this is good for my overall Polish language, getting the language in me.

I understand 60, 70, 80, 90% of what I read.

I don't worry about what I don't understand.

I'm still getting the language in me.

I'm getting an impression of Kraków.

I also bought a book on learning polish for Ukrainians, and I'm going through this

and I'm picking up the bits and pieces of grammar that I have looked at before.

And every time you look at the grammar, it's just a, an ingredient.

And I kind of see the whole process of language learning is...

it's almost like you're, you're mixing a dough and the dough gets bigger and bigger

as you throw more ingredients into it.

The, the ingredients are the words and the phrases that you pick up as you're

reading and you're listening and maybe you're talking to people and sometimes

I, when I talk to people in Polish, I can't quite manage, and we go back

to English, but it doesn't matter.

They're all bits and pieces that are fed into this big dough.

And then the visit with the bits and pieces, the visit to the

grammar, where I don't necessarily remember it, but it is contributing.

It's contributing to solidifying my grasp on this overall picture of the language.

And the same way here, we're gonna travel to different parts of Kraków.

We're gonna talk to people, take the tram, which is a great experience.

I love taking a local transit when I'm traveling.

And then we're gonna have a walking tour, which will be in English.

But this evening we might speak some Polish, and every so often I

consult my grammar book, which has the advantage of being in Ukrainian.

So I'm looking at the differences between Polish and Ukrainian.

And then tomorrow we're taking the train back to Warsaw and we have a meetup.

And, um, there we are gonna, I'm gonna speak Polish, uh,

How do you say?

And, uh,

So the important thing is to, in my conversation, I will make lots

of mistakes, but it's another engagement with the language.

I will hear what people are saying.

If I have to think about whether this is correct, is it a Ukrainian

word or a Russian word or a Czech word or a Polish word?

Is it correct?

Is it the correct tense?

I won't be able to speak, but if I can start speaking and listening

to people, it's further input.

It's further, further involvement with the language and gradually slowly, as I

said the other day, the language, if you get enough opportunity, you will improve.

And I have enough of a hold on Polish now I can read this book and

understand most of it that if I were to spend two months in Poland, I

would be speaking quite comfortably.

But of course here with, uh, five days exposure, I can't speak very comfortably,

but you'll have a chance to hear me at our meetup on Thursday afternoon.

June the first in front of the Puro Hotel in Warsaw.

Bye For now.

So here we are in the square, in Warsaw.

Uh, we just went for a walk to get over our, having spent so much time eating on

a plane and uh, in behind us we have, we walked a fair distance to get here and

you can see the whole thing behind us.

I can show you there what it looks like.

The old town.

The old town.

So now we are going to proceed into the old town.

I spent two months listening and reading, working up my vocabulary.

I even worked on the plane on my iPad with my history of Poland and

I've got my vocabulary up to where I even decided to buy some paper books.

One is, uh, Help Yourself book and the other is a history or the

Life of Chopin, all in Polish.

I'm gonna read them, it's gonna help me, but trying to speak has been difficult.

I struggled with my taxi driver.

I struggled on the plane with the stewardess.

And didn't quite get there, but we'll see.

Couple of days I should improve.

A Language Is Like a Lump Of... Eine Sprache ist wie ein Klumpen... Μια γλώσσα είναι σαν ένα κομμάτι... A Language Is Like a Lump Of... Una lengua es como un trozo de... Une langue est comme un morceau de... Una lingua è come un grumo di... 言語は塊のようなもの... 언어는 한 덩어리와 같습니다... Kalba yra tarsi gabalas... Een taal is als een klomp... Język jest jak... Uma língua é como um pedaço de... Язык подобен куску... Ett språk är som en klump av... Bir Dil Bir Yumru Gibidir... Мова - як грудка... 语言就像一团... 語言就像一團...

All right, well, we're no longer right in the old city of Kraków. Dobrá, už nejsme přímo ve starém městě Krakově. Nun gut, wir sind nicht mehr direkt in der Altstadt von Krakau. Bene, non siamo più nella città vecchia di Cracovia. もうクラクフの旧市街にはいない。 Muito bem, já não estamos na cidade velha de Cracóvia. Итак, мы больше не находимся в старом городе Кракова. Гаразд, ми вже не в старому місті Кракова.

We took the tram, which is over there, and we came across the Vistula River Jeli jsme tramvají, která je tamhle, a přejeli jsme řeku Vislu. Wir haben die Straßenbahn genommen, die dort drüben ist, und wir kamen über die Weichsel. We took the tram, which is over there, and we came across the Vistula River Tomamos el tranvía, que está allí, y cruzamos el río Vístula... トラムに乗って、ヴィスワ川を渡った。 Apanhámos o elétrico, que fica ali, e atravessámos o rio Vístula Мы сели на трамвай, который находится вон там, и пересекли реку Висла. Şuradaki tramvaya bindik ve Vistula Nehri'nin karşısına geçtik. Ми сіли на трамвай, який стоїть там, і переїхали через Віслу

and we're looking at, uh, Kazimierz, if I have it correctly, which is und wir schauen auf Kazimierz, wenn ich das richtig sehe, das ist 私たちが見ているのは、私の記憶が正しければ、カジミエシュだ。 e estamos a olhar para, uh, Kazimierz, se não me engano, que é и мы смотрим на Казимеж, если я правильно понял, который является

where the Jewish ghetto is located, and we're gonna be walking, we're wo sich das jüdische Ghetto befindet, und wir werden zu Fuß gehen, wir werden ユダヤ人ゲットーがあるところを歩くんだ。 onde se situa o gueto judeu, e nós vamos andar, vamos

taking a walking tour this afternoon. heute Nachmittag einen Rundgang machen. 今日の午後、ウォーキング・ツアーに参加する。 fazer um passeio a pé esta tarde.

And what's interesting about this is, you know, you form an impression of Und das Interessante daran ist, dass man sich ein Bild macht von そして、これに関して興味深いのは、あなたは次のような印象を抱いているということだ。 E o que é interessante sobre isto é que, sabe, forma-se uma impressão de И что интересно, вы формируете впечатление о І що цікаво в цьому, так це те, що, знаєте, ви формуєте враження про те, що

a city because for the first three days we stayed in the old city. eine Stadt, denn die ersten drei Tage blieben wir in der Altstadt. una ciudad porque los tres primeros días nos quedamos en el casco antiguo. город, потому что первые три дня мы жили в старом городе. Місто, тому що перші три дні ми жили в старому місті.

We thought this is Kraków, uh, inside the walls of the old city. Wir dachten, das ist Krakau, äh, innerhalb der Mauern der Altstadt. Pensámos que isto era Cracóvia, dentro das muralhas da cidade velha. Мы думали, что это Краков, внутри стен старого города.

And then we begin to realize that Kraków is actually much larger. Und dann wird uns klar, dass Krakau eigentlich viel größer ist. И тут мы начинаем понимать, что Краков на самом деле гораздо больше.

And of course it's much larger because the central part of Kraków within the Und natürlich ist sie viel größer, weil der zentrale Teil von Krakau innerhalb der E, claro, é muito maior porque a parte central de Cracóvia, dentro da И, конечно, он гораздо больше, потому что центральная часть Кракова в пределах

city walls is actually quite small. Stadtmauern ist eigentlich recht klein. As muralhas da cidade são, de facto, bastante pequenas. Городские стены на самом деле довольно маленькие.

So here's another part, Kazimierz. Hier ist also ein weiterer Teil, Kazimierz.

And I, I think there's more and more to this city, and again, I bring everything Und ich denke, es gibt immer mehr in dieser Stadt, und noch einmal, ich bringe alles Y yo, creo que cada vez hay más en esta ciudad, y de nuevo, traigo todo І я, я думаю, що в цьому місті є все більше і більше, і знову ж таки, я приношу все

back to language learning, right? zurück zum Sprachenlernen, richtig? повернемося до вивчення мови, так?

But so I think of it, you know, when you're learning a language, you've got Ale myslím si, že když se učíte nějaký jazyk, musíte si ho Aber ich denke, wenn man eine Sprache lernt, dann muss man Mas penso que, quando se está a aprender uma língua, é preciso

the big picture, the whole language, which you gradually get bits and pieces das große Ganze, die gesamte Sprache, die man nach und nach stückchenweise erhält el panorama general, la lengua entera, de la que poco a poco se van obteniendo fragmentos o quadro geral, a língua inteira, que gradualmente se vai adquirindo aos bocadinhos общую картину, весь язык, который вы постепенно получаете по кусочкам. загальну картину, цілу мову, яку ви поступово отримуєте по шматочках

of and where whatever part of it you have, you think that's the language. und wo immer man einen Teil davon hat, denkt man, dass das die Sprache ist. e onde, qualquer que seja a parte que se tenha, se pensa que é essa a língua. і де яка б частина її не була, ви вважаєте, що це і є мова.

But of course the language is always much larger. Aber natürlich ist die Sprache immer viel größer.

And, you know, visiting Kraków here, I bought a book, which is

Historia Krakowa dla kazdego.

So it describes the history of Kraków.

It explains the different parts of Kraków in Polish.

So this is good for my overall Polish language, getting the language in me. Así que esto es bueno para mi polaco en general, para meter el idioma dentro de mí. Isto é bom para a minha língua polaca em geral, para que a língua entre em mim.

I understand 60, 70, 80, 90% of what I read.

I don't worry about what I don't understand. No me preocupa lo que no entiendo.

I'm still getting the language in me. Ainda estou a aprender a língua. Язык все еще во мне. Я все ще вивчаю мову.

I'm getting an impression of Kraków. У меня сложилось впечатление о Кракове.

I also bought a book on learning polish for Ukrainians, and I'm going through this Také jsem si koupil knihu o učení polštiny pro Ukrajince a procházím si ji. I also bought a book on learning polish for Ukrainians, and I'm going through this Comprei também um livro sobre a aprendizagem do polaco para ucranianos e estou a passar por isto Я також купила книгу про вивчення польської мови для українців, і я проходжу через це

and I'm picking up the bits and pieces of grammar that I have looked at before. and I'm picking up the bits and pieces of grammar that I have looked at before. y estoy retomando los trozos de gramática que he mirado antes. e estou a apanhar os pedaços de gramática que já tinha visto antes. і я підбираю шматочки граматики, які я вже бачив раніше.

And every time you look at the grammar, it's just a, an ingredient. И каждый раз, когда вы смотрите на грамматику, это просто ингредиент.

And I kind of see the whole process of language learning is...

it's almost like you're, you're mixing a dough and the dough gets bigger and bigger це майже як ти, ти місиш тісто, а воно стає все більшим і більшим

as you throw more ingredients into it.

The, the ingredients are the words and the phrases that you pick up as you're Los ingredientes son las palabras y las frases que aprendes a medida que avanzas.

reading and you're listening and maybe you're talking to people and sometimes reading and you're listening and maybe you're talking to people and sometimes

I, when I talk to people in Polish, I can't quite manage, and we go back Já, když mluvím s lidmi polsky, tak to nezvládám a vracíme se zpátky. I, when I talk to people in Polish, I can't quite manage, and we go back Yo, cuando hablo con la gente en polaco, no me apaño, y volvemos Eu, quando falo com as pessoas em polaco, não consigo, e voltamos

to English, but it doesn't matter. на англійську, але це не має значення.

They're all bits and pieces that are fed into this big dough. They're all bits and pieces that are fed into this big dough. São todos pedaços e peças que são introduzidos nesta grande massa. Це все шматочки, які вливаються в це велике тісто.

And then the visit with the bits and pieces, the visit to the

grammar, where I don't necessarily remember it, but it is contributing.

It's contributing to solidifying my grasp on this overall picture of the language. Přispívá to k upevnění mého chápání tohoto celkového obrazu jazyka. Это способствует укреплению моего понимания общей картины языка. Це сприяє зміцненню мого розуміння загальної картини мови.

And the same way here, we're gonna travel to different parts of Kraków. Так само і тут, ми будемо подорожувати різними частинами Кракова.

We're gonna talk to people, take the tram, which is a great experience. Ми будемо розмовляти з людьми, їздити на трамваї, що є чудовим досвідом.

I love taking a local transit when I'm traveling. Я люблю користуватися місцевим транспортом, коли подорожую.

And then we're gonna have a walking tour, which will be in English. A pak nás čeká pěší prohlídka, která bude v angličtině. E depois vamos fazer uma visita guiada, que será feita em inglês.

But this evening we might speak some Polish, and every so often I Mas esta noite podemos falar um pouco de polaco, e de vez em quando eu

consult my grammar book, which has the advantage of being in Ukrainian. consultar o meu livro de gramática, que tem a vantagem de estar em ucraniano. зверніться до мого підручника з граматики, перевагою якого є те, що він українською мовою.

So I'm looking at the differences between Polish and Ukrainian. Тож я дивлюся на відмінності між польською та українською мовами.

And then tomorrow we're taking the train back to Warsaw and we have a meetup. А завтра мы возвращаемся на поезде в Варшаву, и у нас будет встреча.

And, um, there we are gonna, I'm gonna speak Polish, uh, И, эм, там мы будем, я буду говорить по-польски, эм,

How do you say? Como é que se diz?

And, uh, E, uh,

So the important thing is to, in my conversation, I will make lots

of mistakes, but it's another engagement with the language. chyb, ale je to jiné zapojení do jazyka. de erros, mas é outro compromisso com a língua.

I will hear what people are saying. Vou ouvir o que as pessoas estão a dizer.

If I have to think about whether this is correct, is it a Ukrainian

word or a Russian word or a Czech word or a Polish word?

Is it correct?

Is it the correct tense? É o tempo verbal correto?

I won't be able to speak, but if I can start speaking and listening

to people, it's further input. para as pessoas, é mais um contributo.

It's further, further involvement with the language and gradually slowly, as I Es una mayor, mayor implicación con la lengua y poco a poco, lentamente, a medida que É mais, mais envolvimento com a língua e, gradualmente, lentamente, à medida que

said the other day, the language, if you get enough opportunity, you will improve.

And I have enough of a hold on Polish now I can read this book and E já tenho o suficiente de polaco para poder ler este livro e

understand most of it that if I were to spend two months in Poland, I

would be speaking quite comfortably. estaria a falar muito confortavelmente.

But of course here with, uh, five days exposure, I can't speak very comfortably, But of course here with, uh, five days exposure, I can't speak very comfortably,

but you'll have a chance to hear me at our meetup on Thursday afternoon.

June the first in front of the Puro Hotel in Warsaw. O primeiro de junho, em frente ao Hotel Puro, em Varsóvia. Першого червня перед готелем Puro у Варшаві.

Bye For now. Adeus por agora.

So here we are in the square, in Warsaw.

Uh, we just went for a walk to get over our, having spent so much time eating on Wir sind nur spazieren gegangen, um uns zu erholen, nachdem wir so viel Zeit mit Essen verbracht haben. Uh, sólo fuimos a dar un paseo para recuperarnos de nuestro, haber pasado tanto tiempo comiendo en Uh, fomos dar um passeio para nos recompormos, depois de termos passado tanto tempo a comer em Ми просто пішли прогулятися, щоб прийти до тями після того, як провели стільки часу за їжею.

a plane and uh, in behind us we have, we walked a fair distance to get here and ein Flugzeug und äh, hinter uns haben wir, wir sind eine ganze Strecke gelaufen, um hierher zu kommen und um avião e, atrás de nós, temos, andámos uma boa distância para chegar aqui e літак, а позаду нас, ми пройшли чималу відстань, щоб дістатися сюди, і

you can see the whole thing behind us. pode ver-se tudo atrás de nós. ви можете бачити все це позаду нас.

I can show you there what it looks like. Mohu vám tam ukázat, jak to vypadá. Posso mostrar-vos como é.

The old town.

The old town. A cidade velha.

So now we are going to proceed into the old town. Wir werden nun in die Altstadt gehen.

I spent two months listening and reading, working up my vocabulary.

I even worked on the plane on my iPad with my history of Poland and Até trabalhei no avião, no meu iPad, com a minha história da Polónia e Я навіть працював у літаку на своєму iPad з історією Польщі та

I've got my vocabulary up to where I even decided to buy some paper books. O meu vocabulário aumentou ao ponto de me decidir a comprar alguns livros em papel. Я поповнив свій словниковий запас настільки, що навіть вирішив купити кілька паперових книжок.

One is, uh, Help Yourself book and the other is a history or the Одна з них - це книга "Допоможи собі сам", а інша - історія або

Life of Chopin, all in Polish. Vida de Chopin, tudo em polaco. Життя Шопена, все польською мовою.

I'm gonna read them, it's gonna help me, but trying to speak has been difficult.

I struggled with my taxi driver. Ich habe mich mit meinem Taxifahrer gestritten. Tive dificuldades com o meu motorista de táxi.

I struggled on the plane with the stewardess. Ich habe mich im Flugzeug mit der Stewardess gestritten. No avião, debati-me com a hospedeira.

And didn't quite get there, but we'll see.

Couple of days I should improve. Daqui a uns dias devo melhorar.