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Steve's Language Learning Tips, How Do I Maintain My Languages?

How Do I Maintain My Languages?

Maintaining our languages.

Hey, Steve Kaufmann here and this evening, I'm going to talk about maintaining our languages. Now. Uh, I often get asked the question, how do I maintain my languages? You know, I learn so many languages, uh, more or less up to 21. I don't know them all equally well, obviously. Uh, how do I maintain them? So that's what I'm going to talk about.

Uh, please subscribe to my channel if you like these videos, uh, click on the bell to get notifications and please do come and join me at LingQ. So the question I get often, I get asked very often is how do I maintain my languages? I guess the simple answer is that I don't, I don't really think about it. I don't worry about it.

I know that I have, you know, lost a lot in languages, you know, my weaker languages, you know, maybe the top 10 or 12, like I don't lose that much, but, uh, you know, Romanian check Greek, Polish, Korean, you know, uh, I've fallen off quite a bit. Uh, this evening my wife was watching a movie on Netflix and it was in Polish.

So I thought I'd go and see what I could understand. Very difficult. Some bits of conversation I could pick up, especially if they were speaking sort of more formally, uh, you know, there was a scene where this guy was talking to a lawyer and there I can understand more of it, but when it's just the quick, casual, back and forth, very difficult.

And certainly I'm nowhere near as good at, not that I ever was very good, but nowhere near as good as I was. So then the question... and the same can be said, obviously for Romanian, speaking of Romanian when I was in Romania, but now no way, uh, I noticed my Turkish is falling off my Persian for sure. Uh, Greek.

Okay. So then the question is, well, why bother? Why, you know, invest so much effort and time in learning these languages when inevitably when you can't, you don't have enough time to, to maintain them to, to continue to improve in them and they, they do decline. Why bother? So it suddenly dawned on me that every one of these languages that I have, you know, put a lot of effort into, they're like an investment.

They're like a field somewhere that I have sewn, uh, with, with seed, you know, and I kind of leave it there. And any one of these, any of these investments or any of these, you know, little treasures that I have, I can go there whenever I want to, and kind of fertilize it and water it and bring it back to life.

And, you know, I know from experience that when I go back to a language that I put a lot of effort into, then I don't start obviously at the beginning. And in fact, as I go over some of the material that I did before I end up very quickly, you know, further ahead and, and whatever we forget and relearn in a way we learned it better.

And so to me, I have Polish there and one day I hope to have the opportunity to go back to Polish and it might be before a trip to Poland. But I've, I've planted that out there. That's something that I have that's, that's, uh, you know, an investment that I've made. That's an asset that I have, and the same is true of Greek and Romanian, any of these languages.

So I don't really worry about maintaining them so much. It's rather a matter of if I feel I'm going to be able to use them and enjoy them for a period of months or whatever, or in preparation for a trip. Then I'll be able to go back to them. And the fact that the casual encounter, if I run into someone who's Polish speaking, or Czech speaking, or Greeks, speaking and I struggle and can't really say much.

Yeah. That's unfortunately that's a consequence of learning so many languages, not being able to maintain them all at sort of a, an immediately usable level. But on the, on the positive side, these are assets that I have that I can go back to whenever I need them or want to. So I just thought of that in, in light of having, you know, watched this Polish movie and realized how much my Polish has slipped, but not really feeling badly about it because I still have that Polish that I can go back to.

So thank you for listening bye for now. Oh, and I almost forgot on Tuesday at 10:00 AM pacific standard time, Vancouver time, I'm having an Arabic language live stream. So if you're interested, please come check the description box for, you know, how to find it. We're only gonna have it's all going to be in Arabic.

(Arabic) okay. Bye-bye

How Do I Maintain My Languages? Wie pflege ich meine Sprachen? ¿Cómo mantengo mis lenguas? Comment entretenir mes langues ? Come posso mantenere le mie lingue? 語学力を維持するには? 언어를 어떻게 유지하나요? Como é que faço a manutenção das minhas línguas? Как мне поддерживать свои языки? Hur underhåller jag mina språk? Dillerimin Bakımını Nasıl Yaparım? Як я можу підтримувати свою мову? 我如何保持我的语言? 我如何保持我的語言?

Maintaining our languages. Manter as nossas línguas.

Hey, Steve Kaufmann here and this evening, I'm going to talk about maintaining our languages. Now. Agora. Uh, I often get asked the question, how do I maintain my languages? Perguntam-me muitas vezes: "Como é que faço a manutenção das minhas línguas? You know, I learn so many languages, uh, more or less up to 21. Sabes, eu aprendo muitas línguas, mais ou menos até 21. I don't know them all equally well, obviously. É óbvio que não os conheço todos igualmente bem. Uh, how do I maintain them? Como é que os mantenho? So that's what I'm going to talk about. É sobre isso que vou falar.

Uh, please subscribe to my channel if you like these videos, uh, click on the bell to get notifications and please do come and join me at LingQ. Por favor, subscrevam o meu canal se gostarem destes vídeos, cliquem no sino para receberem notificações e juntem-se a mim no LingQ. So the question I get often, I get asked very often is how do I maintain my languages? Por isso, a pergunta que me fazem muitas vezes é: como é que mantenho as minhas línguas? I guess the simple answer is that I don't, I don't really think about it. Acho que a resposta simples é que não, não penso nisso. I don't worry about it. Não me preocupo com isso.

I know that I have, you know, lost a lot in languages, you know, my weaker languages, you know, maybe the top 10 or 12, like I don't lose that much, but, uh, you know, Romanian check Greek, Polish, Korean, you know, uh, I've fallen off quite a bit. Sé que he, ya sabes, perdido mucho en idiomas, ya sabes, mis idiomas más débiles, ya sabes, tal vez los 10 o 12 primeros, como que no pierdo tanto, pero, eh, ya sabes, rumano comprobar griego, polaco, coreano, ya sabes, eh, he caído bastante. Sei que perdi muito em línguas, as minhas línguas mais fracas, talvez as 10 ou 12 primeiras, que não perco assim tanto, mas o romeno, o grego, o polaco, o coreano, etc., caíram bastante. Uh, this evening my wife was watching a movie on Netflix and it was in Polish. Esta noite, a minha mulher estava a ver um filme no Netflix e era em polaco.

So I thought I'd go and see what I could understand. Por isso, pensei em ir ver o que conseguia perceber. Very difficult. Muito difícil. Some bits of conversation I could pick up, especially if they were speaking sort of more formally, uh, you know, there was a scene where this guy was talking to a lawyer and there I can understand more of it, but when it's just the quick, casual, back and forth, very difficult. Algumas partes da conversa eu conseguia perceber, especialmente se estivessem a falar de uma forma mais formal, uh, sabe, havia uma cena em que este tipo estava a falar com um advogado e aí eu conseguia perceber mais, mas quando era apenas uma conversa rápida, casual, para trás e para a frente, era muito difícil.

And certainly I'm nowhere near as good at, not that I ever was very good, but nowhere near as good as I was. E, certamente, não sou nem de perto nem de longe tão bom, não que alguma vez tenha sido muito bom, mas nem de longe tão bom como era. So then the question... and the same can be said, obviously for Romanian, speaking of Romanian when I was in Romania, but now no way, uh, I noticed my Turkish is falling off my Persian for sure. Portanto, a questão... e o mesmo pode ser dito, obviamente, para o romeno, falando de romeno quando estava na Roménia, mas agora nem pensar, uh, reparei que o meu turco está a cair do meu persa, com certeza. Uh, Greek. Uh, grego.

Okay. Está bem. So then the question is, well, why bother? Então, a questão é: porquê incomodar-se? Why, you know,  invest so much effort and time in learning these languages when inevitably when you can't, you don't have enough time to, to maintain them to, to continue to improve in them and they, they do decline. Por qué, ya sabes, invertir tanto esfuerzo y tiempo en aprender estos idiomas cuando inevitablemente cuando no puedes, no tienes suficiente tiempo para, para mantenerlos para, para seguir mejorando en ellos y ellos, ellos declinan. Porquê investir tanto esforço e tempo na aprendizagem destas línguas quando, inevitavelmente, quando não se pode, não se tem tempo suficiente para, para as manter, para continuar a melhorar e elas, elas declinam. Why bother? Porquê incomodar-se? So it suddenly dawned on me that every one of these languages that I have, you know, put a lot of effort into, they're like an investment. Então, de repente, apercebi-me de que cada uma destas línguas em que me esforcei muito, é como um investimento.

They're like a field somewhere that I have sewn, uh, with, with seed, you know, and I kind of leave it there. それらは私がどこかで縫った畑のようなものです、ええと、種を使って、あなたが知っている、そして私はそれをそこに置いておくようなものです。 São como um campo algures que eu costurei, uh, com, com sementes, sabe, e deixo-o lá. And any one of these, any of these investments or any of these, you know, little treasures that I have, I can go there whenever I want to, and kind of fertilize it and water it and bring it back to life. E qualquer um destes investimentos ou qualquer um destes pequenos tesouros que tenho, posso ir lá sempre que quiser e fertilizá-lo, regá-lo e trazê-lo de volta à vida.

And, you know, I know from experience that when I go back to a language that I put a lot of effort into, then I don't start obviously at the beginning. E, sabe, sei por experiência própria que quando volto a uma língua em que me esforcei muito, não começo obviamente pelo princípio. And in fact, as I go over some of the material that I did before I end up very quickly, you know, further ahead and, and whatever we forget and relearn in a way we learned it better. Y de hecho, al repasar parte del material que hice antes termino muy rápidamente, ya sabes, más adelante y, y lo que olvidamos y reaprendemos de una manera lo aprendimos mejor. そして実際、私が非常に早く終わる前に私がしたいくつかの資料を調べていくと、あなたは知っています、さらに先に、そして私たちが忘れて、私たちがそれをよりよく学んだ方法で再学習するものは何でも。 E, de fato, ao repassar um pouco do material que fiz antes, acabo muito rapidamente, sabe, mais à frente e, e tudo o que esquecemos e reaprendemos de uma maneira que aprendemos melhor.

And so to me, I have Polish there and one day I hope to have the opportunity to go back to Polish and it might be before a trip to Poland. Así que para mí, tengo el polaco allí y algún día espero tener la oportunidad de volver al polaco y puede que sea antes de un viaje a Polonia. Por isso, para mim, o polaco está lá e um dia espero ter a oportunidade de voltar ao polaco, talvez antes de uma viagem à Polónia. But I've, I've planted that out there. Mas eu, eu plantei isso lá fora. That's something that I have that's, that's, uh, you know, an investment that I've made. É algo que eu tenho, que é um investimento que fiz. That's an asset that I have, and the same is true of Greek and Romanian, any of these languages. É um trunfo que tenho, e o mesmo se aplica ao grego e ao romeno, a qualquer uma destas línguas.

So I don't really worry about maintaining them so much. Por isso, não me preocupo muito com a sua manutenção. It's rather a matter of if I feel I'm going to be able to use them and enjoy them for a period of months or whatever, or in preparation for a trip. É mais uma questão de saber se sinto que vou poder usá-los e apreciá-los durante um período de meses ou qualquer outro, ou como preparação para uma viagem. Then I'll be able to go back to them. Depois, poderei voltar a eles. And the fact that the casual encounter, if I run into someone who's Polish speaking, or Czech speaking, or  Greeks, speaking and I struggle and can't really say much. Y el hecho de que el encuentro casual, si me encuentro con alguien que habla polaco, o checo, o griego, hablando y me cuesta y realmente no puedo decir mucho. E o facto de o encontro casual, se eu encontrar alguém que fale polaco, ou checo, ou grego, falar e eu ter dificuldade e não conseguir dizer grande coisa.

Yeah. Sim. That's unfortunately that's a consequence of learning so many languages, not being able to maintain them all at sort of a, an immediately usable level. Infelizmente, isso é uma consequência de aprender tantas línguas, não ser capaz de as manter todas a um nível imediatamente utilizável. But on the, on the positive side, these are assets that I have that I can go back to whenever I need them or want to. Mas, pelo lado positivo, estes são activos que tenho e aos quais posso voltar sempre que precisar ou quiser. So I just thought of that in, in light of having, you know, watched this Polish movie and realized how much my Polish has slipped, but not really feeling badly about it because I still have that Polish that I can go back to. Así que pensé en eso, a la luz de haber visto esta película polaca y haberme dado cuenta de lo mucho que ha perdido mi polaco, pero sin sentirme mal por ello, porque todavía tengo ese polaco al que puedo volver.

So thank you for listening bye for now. Por isso, obrigado por me ouvirem, adeus por agora. Oh, and I almost forgot on Tuesday at 10:00 AM pacific standard time, Vancouver time, I'm having an Arabic language live stream. Ah, e quase me esquecia que na terça-feira, às 10:00 AM, hora do Pacífico, hora de Vancouver, vou ter uma transmissão em direto em língua árabe. So if you're interested, please come check the description box for, you know, how to find it. Por isso, se estiver interessado, consulte a caixa de descrição para saber como o encontrar. We're only gonna have it's all going to be in Arabic. Só vamos ter o texto em árabe.

(Arabic) okay. (Árabe) ok. Bye-bye