Change is the Only Constant in Language Learning Veränderung ist die einzige Konstante beim Sprachenlernen El cambio es la única constante en el aprendizaje de idiomas Le changement est la seule constante dans l'apprentissage des langues Il cambiamento è l'unica costante nell'apprendimento delle lingue 言語学習において不変なのは変化だけである 언어 학습에서 변화는 유일한 상수입니다 Zmiana jest jedyną stałą w nauce języków obcych A mudança é a única constante na aprendizagem de línguas Изменения - единственное постоянное явление в изучении языков Dil Öğreniminde Değişmeyen Tek Şey Değişimdir Зміни - єдина константа у вивченні мови 变化是语言学习中唯一不变的 變化是語言學習中唯一不變的

Today. I want to talk about changes that we often don't recognize

Hi there. Steve Kaufmann here, again, to talk about language learning. And, uh, today I want to talk about sort of constant change. En vandaag wil ik het hebben over een soort constante verandering. Change that we often don't recognize while we are in fact changing. 当我们实际上正在发生变化时，我们常常没有意识到这些变化。 Uh, but first of all, remember, if you like these videos about language learning, please subscribe, click on the bell, you'll get notifications and come and join me at link where, which is where I learned languages.

So, um, I want to review, first of all, my statistics today, today in Vancouver was not a sunny day. It rained rather heavily most of the day I couldn't go and play golf. Es regnete ziemlich stark den größten Teil des Tages, an dem ich nicht Golf spielen konnte. Het regende nogal hevig het grootste deel van de dag, ik kon niet gaan golfen. So I may as well, especially with COVID and so forth, stay home and really get into my Arabic. Por isso, mais vale, especialmente com a COVID-19 e assim por diante, ficar em casa e dedicar-me realmente ao árabe. 所以我也可以呆在家里，真正学习我的阿拉伯语，尤其是在新冠疫情等情况下。 And sometimes, you know, if you sort of just go at it for 10, 15 minutes, it's difficult and I'm tired of doing it. 有时，你知道，如果你只花 10、15 分钟，就会很困难，而且我厌倦了这样做。

But if you say I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it for three hours. Well, you get more and more sort of engaged in it. 嗯，你会越来越投入其中。 And I think you get, you can end up with a really good session, which is what I had today. E penso que se pode acabar por ter uma sessão muito boa, que foi o que tive hoje. 我认为你会得到一个非常好的会议，这就是我今天的会议。 So if you see my statistics there, uh, I added 169 new known words to my known words, total. 169.

So I'm now up to about 18,800 and something. My goal was to get to 20,000. I may not reach it, but I'm going to get pretty close. If I can continue to hit, you know, I got 14 days to go. Se eu conseguir continuar a bater, tenho 14 dias pela frente. If I can hit a hundred a day, I'll certainly make it. Als ik de honderd per dag kan halen, zal ik het zeker halen. I don't think I can hit a hundred a day, but we'll see what happens.

And I saved 200 new LingQs. That is words that were new to me, that I added to my database that hopefully will become known words at some point become, you know, status three and then eventually status four or known. São palavras que eram novas para mim, que adicionei à minha base de dados e que, espero, se tornem palavras conhecidas num dado momento, passando a ter, sabe, o estatuto três e depois, eventualmente, o estatuto quatro ou conhecido. And I read 5,889 words. So while reading this material and creating LingQs, I also read all those words.

So that was my activity today. Now this whole idea of change, you know, I was thinking as I was sitting there and going through these and I thought to myself, you know, I have no real sense that from the time I began, say one o'clock, until the time I stopped at, let's say, four o'clock I've no real sense that I improved during those three hours.

Uh, I have statistics telling me that I added these known words that I saved a bunch of words that I read a bunch of words. Um, I even listened quite a bit because I now have this new technique where I import the transcripts of my podcasts, timestamped use the import ebook function. 嗯，我什至听了很多，因为我现在有了这项新技术，可以导入播客的字幕，并使用导入电子书功能加上时间戳。 嗯，我甚至还听了不少，因为我现在有了一种新技术，可以导入播客的文字稿，并使用导入电子书功能打上时间戳。 Then I end up with the, uh, if I study in sentence mode, I get these chunks of text with the audio for that chunk.

So I begin by listening to the audio in Arabic. Así que empiezo escuchando el audio en árabe. I read it in English. I can connect the words. Besede lahko povežem. I understand a lot of it. Veliko tega razumem. And then I go through and I read it again. And I find that it's, it's a, it's a wonderful way to study it. E acho que é, é uma, é uma maneira maravilhosa de o estudar. It's really good. So I am listening as well. But the big thing was that I added these words to my known words total. Mas o mais importante foi o facto de ter acrescentado estas palavras ao meu total de palavras conhecidas.

So at least on paper, I achieved something, but I have no real sense that I've improved. Okay. But, and so then I thought of Heraclitus, his famous aphorism that you cannot step in the same river twice. Mas, então, pensei em Heráclito, no seu famoso aforismo de que não se pode pisar duas vezes no mesmo rio. So things are always changing. Just the fact that I spent three hours with my Arabic, my brain has changed. Now

I may not be aware of having changed, but then if I go back to when I started with Arabic, It was just noise to me and, and all the writing, the writing system was meaningless to me. And now I'm able to read, I'm able to hear and understand a lot. So there is this gradual almost imperceptible change. So this is, you know, Heraclitus that the only constant is change. Portanto, isto é, sabe, Heráclito diz que a única constante é a mudança. 因此，这就是赫拉克利特，唯一不变的就是变化。

Things are constantly changing and our brain is adapting to all of this stimulus. Slower than we would like, but it is constantly changing. And, and what is good too, is that having put that, you know, solid three hours in, I really got into it. And, and, uh, again, I always quote the, uh, French saying , if you give your self a chance to get into it, then it becomes more and more enjoyable to some extent. Y, de nuevo, siempre cito el dicho francés, si te das la oportunidad de meterte en ello, entonces se vuelve más y más agradable hasta cierto punto. E, mais uma vez, cito sempre o ditado francês: "Se nos dermos a oportunidade de entrar no jogo, ele torna-se, até certo ponto, cada vez mais agradável".

So I enjoyed it and, um... Uh, you know, the, the point that I want to make is as, as Manfred Spitzer  the German neuro scientist that I often quote says in his book on learning, he says the brain cannot do otherwise, then learn. The brain always learns, but the brain learns slowly. So again, we don't have the sense that we're learning.

We don't have the sense that we're progressing, but if we look back, we'll see that we have progressed. We hebben niet het gevoel dat we vooruitgang boeken, maar als we terugkijken, zullen we zien dat we vooruitgang hebben geboekt. Não temos a sensação de estarmos a progredir, mas se olharmos para trás, veremos que progredimos. And in fact, three hours of dedicated study. Pravzaprav tri ure posvečenega študija. I have changed. Spremenil sem se. I have changed my brain and as I continue in my Arabic learning, I will then change. Mudei o meu cérebro e, à medida que continuo a aprender árabe, continuarei a mudar. I will change more. And as I learn other languages, I will change more, but always, I won't be conscious.

It will be at that slow speed, but never, you never step in the same river twice. Anyway, I just wanted to give you those sort of my thoughts on the day and sort of update you on, on what I was doing in my 90-Day Challenge, which has only got two weeks to go. Okay, thanks for listening. Bye for now.