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Steve's Youtube Videos - General Language Learning, How to Make the Time to Learn Languages

How to Make the Time to Learn Languages

That gets me going. That's that first step, that well begun is the job half done.Hi there, Steve Kaufmann. Today I want to talk about how to find the time to learn languages, or should I say how to make the time to learn languages. Remember if you enjoy these videos, please subscribe, click on the bell for notifications.

If you're listening on a Apple Podcast or somewhere else, please leave a review. So one of the most common excuses I hear from people, uh, who profess want to learn languages, uh, is that they simply don't have the time. That's right up there with, you know, you have a talent for, talking to me, you have a talent for languages.

I don't, I can't learn languages, which normally refers back to their experience at school where in fact, they didn't learn like most kids, at least in Canada, but the other one is I don't have the time. People say that I don't have the time. So people seem to have time for lots of activities, perfectly valid, like meeting with their friends and watching TV or going hiking or bicycling or whatever they like to do.

But for whatever reason, they can't find the time to learn languages. Typically, what that means is I have other activities that I prefer to do. I have other activities that are more valuable to me than learning languages, which is fine. Not everybody has to learn languages, but how then, because we have busy lives, our professional or working lives are other activities are social activities, so how do you create time, find time, make time for learning language? To me, the secret for me is listening. Listening is the easiest thing to do. I can listen first thing in the morning. I can listen in the car. I can listen wherever I am. And the listening is the trigger. And um, in many languages and I think it goes back to Aristotle, uh, many languages sort of say, you know, the first step is the most important step.

The beginning is the job... well begun is the job half done. Uh, Chairman Mao said the 10,000 Long March began with, with one step. The main thing is to get started and it's so easy to just listen. And then that triggers the rest of it, but you have to know how to do it. So first of all, make sure you equip yourself.

Okay. So in my case, I listen from a number of devices. I can listen on my iPad. So this is normally where I work, you know, on LingQ, but I can put it on my stepper. Not, not everyone has a stepper at home, obviously, but I can have this open in the background in the morning when I do my exercise. Using this, um, program that I'm on, which is on my iPhone.

I have my iPad open and I'm listening to my, whatever it is, Persian, Arabic and so forth. So I use my iPad, but at the other end of the spectrum, if I go running, jogging in the park, I take my, um, iPod. I should have brought this little device I have that attaches to my arm so that I just have my iPod here.

It's light. This is why I use it. It's lighter. I could take my phone, which I'm using to record this video, but of course it's much bigger and heavier. So this is ideal for that. Okay. And this, you know, I have to load up ahead of time. So I have to make sure I use the wifi at home to get whatever content I want to listen to onto my iPod.

So listening devices. Uh, also with both the, um, iPod and, uh, well on all three of them, I can subscribe to podcasts. Um, I can import, uh, audio and put it into my, uh, Apple Music, it used to be called iTunes, so that I can accumulate all this stuff to listen to. Now in so far as listening, of course I have AirPods, which are in many ways the best, because they seem to be better at syncing and connecting to these various devices.

However, if I'm, let's say I'm a cross-country skiing, I certainly don't want to drop an iPod in the snow. Uh, if I go down to the park and I run and then I might do some, you know, burpees or other things where my head's moving around, I could again drop my iPod. So whenever I'm doing something that's more active, I've also invested into these, I think they're called "power bumps" or something like that. Uh well here, you know, it's kinda, it's like that little kid with his mittens tied to his sleeves. I'm not going to lose these. So I use these "power beats", maybe they're called and more recently I discovered that there's these guys, because sometimes I get tired of having something stuck in my ear.

So these are called open ear. And uh, so I also use these and it's a relief not to have something stuck in your ear the whole time. So I have invested a little money in these listening devices because I spend so much of my time listening. Listening triggers it. Listening triggers it because I listen and I don't understand, so then I have to go through it on LingQ, okay. And read it. And so that gets me going, that's that first step that well begun is the job have done. It's so easy for me. I get up in the morning, I just put the audio on and I do my morning exercises, which is also a good thing to get into the habit of doing.

And then uh little parts that I didn't quite understand, I can go back in and, and look up the words. So the first step is to get used to listening. And if I'm in the car, for example, typically I'll have my iPhone. And it'll be coming through the Bluetooth speaker in my car. So I use different... so between the iPad, I don't take my iPad in the car and I don't take the iPod in the car. I take my iPhone in the car. So you develop these habits, the ways in which that you can always have your listening handy. Now, the other part of listening is to find things to listen to. And there I do a lot of listening to the mini stories.

I've mentioned them before. There's a lot of repetition. I find it's good exercise. I can listen to them now for the 30th or 40th time. It doesn't matter. I always notice something. That's kind of my, my training. That's the equivalent of my exercise in the morning, but I also need to find interesting things.

You know, I spend a lot of time looking for them, the content, especially in Arabic and Persian. Um, we are trying in LingQ to make it easier for people to find things of interest at their level. But sometimes you have to ask. I saw a tweet the other day, someone said, does anyone know of any good intermediate level French podcasts?

So I immediately replied. I said, there's Français Authentique and there's innerFrench that I am, that immediately come to mind. So I answered. So right away, this person can go there and find these podcasts, which can be imported into LingQ by the way. But there's a whole community of people who can help each other find content of interest.

So, you know, and this, the great thing about listening and why listening, it kind of helps you find the time, is I, it's more difficult to find the time to sit in front of a, of a screen and, and read or to watch movies or to look or to do LingQ, that that's dedicated time. You have to, that's more difficult to find, but the listening time you make that, and that triggers the whole a range of activities around language learning.

And that can be done first thing in the morning while doing the dishes. Um, you know, while in the car and I'll find that, uh, certain activities that lend themselves to certain types of content. If I have to concentrate a little bit on what I'm doing, then I prefer to hear the mini stories, because even if I don't concentrate the whole time, there's always something that I become aware of, that I notice that I hadn't noticed before.

Uh, on the other hand, if I'm in the car, actually I find it easier to listen to something of interest. So it's a bit like if you're listening to the radio and they're giving you the traffic report or something, you can actually listen to something where they, there is some significance to what you're listening to and at the same time drive a little more difficult to do that. If I'm say working out in the morning, for example, and I'm concentrating on whatever I'm doing, then I prefer to have the mini stories going in the background. So I think everyone needs to develop a program for themselves. But I just wanted to point out that, that to find the time to make the time to learn languages, listening is the easy... is the easiest activity. And you need to build a range of sort of, uh, circumstances around what devices you use to play whatever you're listening to, where you find the stuff you're going to listen to varying the sort of repetitive, simple stuff, more interesting new stuff, uh, different, you know, ear phones that you can use for different circumstances. And, you know, put yourself in a situation where you can easily listen, anytime you want to, or feel the urge, or even if you don't feel the urge so that you make that first step that eventually will lead you to putting in the time necessary to achieve success in language learning.

So with that, I'll leave you with a few videos that kind of relate to this theme. Thank you for listening. Bye for now.


How to Make the Time to Learn Languages Wie man sich die Zeit nimmt, Sprachen zu lernen

That gets me going. Das bringt mich in Fahrt. That's that first step, that well begun is the job half done.Hi there, Steve Kaufmann. Das ist der erste Schritt, so gut begonnen ist die Arbeit halb getan. Hallo, Steve Kaufmann. Today I want to talk about how to find the time to learn languages, or should I say how to make the time to learn languages. Heute möchte ich darüber sprechen, wie man die Zeit findet, Sprachen zu lernen, oder sollte ich sagen, wie man sich die Zeit nimmt, Sprachen zu lernen. Remember if you enjoy these videos, please subscribe, click on the bell for notifications. Denken Sie daran, wenn Ihnen diese Videos gefallen, abonnieren Sie sie bitte, klicken Sie auf die Glocke, um Benachrichtigungen zu erhalten.

If you're listening on a Apple Podcast or somewhere else, please leave a review. Wenn Sie einen Apple Podcast oder woanders hören, hinterlassen Sie bitte eine Bewertung. So one of the most common excuses I hear from people, uh, who profess want to learn languages, uh, is that they simply don't have the time. Eine der häufigsten Ausreden, die ich von Leuten höre, die bekennen, Sprachen lernen zu wollen, ist, dass sie einfach keine Zeit haben. That's right up there with, you know, you have a talent for, talking to me, you have a talent for languages. Das ist genau das Richtige für Sie, wissen Sie, Sie haben ein Talent dafür, mit mir zu reden, Sie haben ein Talent für Sprachen. それはまさにそこにあります、あなたが知っている、あなたは私に話しかけるための才能を持っています、あなたは言語のための才能を持っています。

I don't, I can't learn languages, which normally refers back to their experience at school where in fact, they didn't learn like most kids, at least in Canada, but the other one is I don't have the time. Ich kann keine Sprachen lernen, was sich normalerweise auf ihre Erfahrungen in der Schule bezieht, wo sie tatsächlich nicht wie die meisten Kinder gelernt haben, zumindest in Kanada, aber das andere ist, dass ich keine habe Zeit. People say that I don't have the time. Die Leute sagen, dass ich keine Zeit habe. So people seem to have time for lots of activities, perfectly valid, like meeting with their friends and watching TV or going hiking or bicycling or whatever they like to do. Die Leute scheinen also Zeit für viele Aktivitäten zu haben, vollkommen berechtigt, wie sich mit ihren Freunden treffen und fernsehen oder wandern oder Fahrrad fahren oder was auch immer sie gerne tun. ですから、人々は、友達と会ったり、テレビを見たり、ハイキングやサイクリングをしたり、好きなことをしたりするなど、たくさんの活動をする時間があります。

But for whatever reason, they can't find the time to learn languages. Aber aus welchen Gründen auch immer finden sie keine Zeit, Sprachen zu lernen. Typically, what that means is I have other activities that I prefer to do. Typischerweise bedeutet das, dass ich andere Aktivitäten habe, die ich lieber mache. I have other activities that are more valuable to me than learning languages, which is fine. Ich habe andere Aktivitäten, die für mich wertvoller sind, als Sprachen zu lernen, was in Ordnung ist. Not everybody has to learn languages, but how then, because we have busy lives, our professional or working lives are other activities are social activities, so how do you create time, find time, make time for learning language? Nicht jeder muss Sprachen lernen, aber wie können wir dann, weil wir ein geschäftiges Leben haben, unser Berufs- oder Arbeitsleben andere Aktivitäten sind, soziale Aktivitäten sein, also wie schafft man Zeit, findet Zeit, nimmt sich Zeit für das Sprachenlernen? To me, the secret for me is listening. Für mich ist das Geheimnis für mich das Zuhören. Listening is the easiest thing to do. Zuhören ist das Einfachste. I can listen first thing in the morning. Ich kann morgens als erstes zuhören. I can listen in the car. Ich kann im Auto zuhören. I can listen wherever I am. Ich kann überall zuhören. And the listening is the trigger. Und das Zuhören ist der Auslöser. And um, in many languages and I think it goes back to Aristotle, uh, many languages sort of say, you know, the first step is the most important step. Und ähm, in vielen Sprachen und ich denke, es geht auf Aristoteles zurück, äh, viele Sprachen sagen, wissen Sie, der erste Schritt ist der wichtigste Schritt.

The beginning is the job... well begun is the job half done. Der Anfang ist die Arbeit... Gut begonnen ist die Arbeit halb erledigt. Uh, Chairman Mao said the 10,000 Long March began with, with one step. Äh, der Vorsitzende Mao sagte, der 10.000. Langer Marsch habe mit einem Schritt begonnen. The main thing is to get started and it's so easy to just listen. Hauptsache man kann loslegen und es ist so einfach einfach zuzuhören. And then that triggers the rest of it, but you have to know how to do it. Und das löst dann den Rest aus, aber man muss wissen, wie man das macht. そして、それが残りの部分をトリガーしますが、それを行う方法を知っている必要があります。 So first of all, make sure you equip yourself. Stellen Sie also zunächst sicher, dass Sie sich ausrüsten. ですから、まず、自分で装備するようにしてください。

Okay. Okay. So in my case, I listen from a number of devices. In meinem Fall höre ich also von mehreren Geräten. I can listen on my iPad. Ich kann auf meinem iPad zuhören. So this is normally where I work, you know, on LingQ, but I can put it on my stepper. Normalerweise arbeite ich hier also an LingQ, aber ich kann es auf meinen Stepper stellen. ですから、これは通常、LingQで作業する場所ですが、ステッパーに置くこともできます。 Dus dit is normaal waar ik werk, je weet wel, op LingQ, maar ik kan het op mijn stepper zetten. Not, not everyone has a stepper at home, obviously, but I can have this open in the background in the morning when I do my exercise. Natürlich hat nicht jeder einen Stepper zu Hause, aber ich kann ihn morgens im Hintergrund offen haben, wenn ich meine Übungen mache. Using this, um, program that I'm on, which is on my iPhone. Mit diesem, ähm, Programm, in dem ich gerade bin, das auf meinem iPhone ist.

I have my iPad open and I'm listening to my, whatever it is, Persian, Arabic and so forth. Ich habe mein iPad geöffnet und ich höre mein, was auch immer es ist, Persisch, Arabisch und so weiter. 私はiPadを開いていて、ペルシア語、アラビア語などの泡を聞いています。 So I use my iPad, but at the other end of the spectrum, if I go running, jogging in the park, I take my, um, iPod. Also benutze ich mein iPad, aber am anderen Ende des Spektrums, wenn ich laufen gehe, im Park jogge, nehme ich meinen, ähm, iPod. I should have brought this little device I have that attaches to my arm so that I just have my iPod here. Ich hätte dieses kleine Gerät mitbringen sollen, das ich an meinem Arm befestige, damit ich nur meinen iPod hier habe.

It's light. Es ist Licht. This is why I use it. Deshalb benutze ich es. It's lighter. Es ist leichter. I could take my phone, which I'm using to record this video, but of course it's much bigger and heavier. Ich könnte mein Handy mitnehmen, mit dem ich dieses Video aufnehme, aber es ist natürlich viel größer und schwerer. So this is ideal for that. Das ist also ideal dafür. Okay. And this, you know, I have to load up ahead of time. Und das, wissen Sie, muss ich im Voraus aufladen. そして、これは、あなたが知っている、私は前もってロードしなければなりません。 So I have to make sure I use the wifi at home to get whatever content I want to listen to onto my iPod. Also muss ich sicherstellen, dass ich das WLAN zu Hause benutze, um alle Inhalte, die ich hören möchte, auf meinen iPod zu bekommen.

So listening devices. Also Abhörgeräte. Uh, also with both the, um, iPod and, uh, well on all three of them, I can subscribe to podcasts. Äh, auch mit beiden, ähm, iPod und, äh, na ja, auf allen dreien kann ich Podcasts abonnieren. Um, I can import, uh, audio and put it into my, uh, Apple Music, it used to be called iTunes, so that I can accumulate all this stuff to listen to. Ähm, ich kann, äh, Audio importieren und in meine, äh, Apple Music einfügen, früher hieß es iTunes, damit ich all diese Sachen zum Anhören sammeln kann. Now in so far as listening, of course I have AirPods, which are in many ways the best, because they seem to be better at syncing and connecting to these various devices. Was das Hören angeht, habe ich natürlich AirPods, die in vielerlei Hinsicht die besten sind, weil sie anscheinend besser darin sind, diese verschiedenen Geräte zu synchronisieren und sich mit ihnen zu verbinden.

However, if I'm, let's say I'm a cross-country skiing, I certainly don't want to drop an iPod in the snow. Wenn ich jedoch, sagen wir mal, ein Langläufer bin, möchte ich auf keinen Fall einen iPod in den Schnee fallen lassen. Uh, if I go down to the park and I run and then I might do some, you know, burpees or other things where my head's moving around, I could again drop my iPod. Uh, wenn ich in den Park gehe und laufe und dann vielleicht Burpees oder andere Dinge mache, bei denen sich mein Kopf bewegt, könnte ich wieder meinen iPod fallen lassen. So whenever I'm doing something that's more active, I've also invested into these, I think they're called "power bumps" or something like that. Wann immer ich also etwas Aktiveres mache, habe ich auch in diese investiert, ich glaube, sie werden "Power Bumps" oder so ähnlich genannt. Uh well here, you know, it's kinda, it's like that little kid with his mittens tied to his sleeves. Uh, hier, weißt du, es ist irgendwie, es ist wie bei diesem kleinen Kind mit seinen Fäustlingen, die an seinen Ärmeln festgebunden sind. I'm not going to lose these. Ich werde diese nicht verlieren. So I use these "power beats", maybe they're called and more recently I discovered that there's these guys, because sometimes I get tired of having something stuck in my ear. Also benutze ich diese "Powerbeats", vielleicht heißen sie und vor kurzem habe ich entdeckt, dass es diese Typen gibt, weil ich es manchmal leid bin, etwas im Ohr zu haben.

So these are called open ear. Diese werden also offenes Ohr genannt. And uh, so I also use these and it's a relief not to have something stuck in your ear the whole time. Und äh, also ich benutze diese auch und es ist eine Erleichterung, nicht die ganze Zeit etwas im Ohr zu haben. So I have invested a little money in these listening devices because I spend so much of my time listening. Also habe ich ein wenig Geld in diese Hörgeräte investiert, weil ich so viel Zeit mit dem Hören verbringe. Listening triggers it. Listening triggers it because I listen and I don't understand, so then I have to go through it on LingQ, okay. And read it. And so that gets me going, that's that first step that well begun is the job have done. It's so easy for me. I get up in the morning, I just put the audio on and I do my morning exercises, which is also a good thing to get into the habit of doing.

And then uh little parts that I didn't quite understand, I can go back in and, and look up the words. So the first step is to get used to listening. And if I'm in the car, for example, typically I'll have my iPhone. And it'll be coming through the Bluetooth speaker in my car. So I use different... so between the iPad, I don't take my iPad in the car and I don't take the iPod in the car. I take my iPhone in the car. So you develop these habits, the ways in which that you can always have your listening handy. Now, the other part of listening is to find things to listen to. And there I do a lot of listening to the mini stories.

I've mentioned them before. There's a lot of repetition. I find it's good exercise. I can listen to them now for the 30th or 40th time. It doesn't matter. I always notice something. That's kind of my, my training. That's the equivalent of my exercise in the morning, but I also need to find interesting things.

You know, I spend a lot of time looking for them, the content, especially in Arabic and Persian. Um, we are trying in LingQ to make it easier for people to find things of interest at their level. But sometimes you have to ask. I saw a tweet the other day, someone said, does anyone know of any good intermediate level French podcasts?

So I immediately replied. I said, there's  Français Authentique and there's innerFrench that I am, that immediately come to mind. So I answered. So right away, this person can go there and find these podcasts, which can be imported into LingQ by the way. But there's a whole community of people who can help each other find content of interest.

So, you know, and this, the great thing about listening and why listening, it kind of helps you find the time, is I, it's more difficult to find the time to sit in front of a, of a screen and, and read or to watch movies or to look or to do LingQ, that that's dedicated time. You have to, that's more difficult to find, but the listening time you make that, and that triggers the whole a range of activities around language learning.

And that can be done first thing in the morning while doing the dishes. Um, you know, while in the car and I'll find that, uh, certain activities that lend themselves to certain types of content. If I have to concentrate a little bit on what I'm doing, then I prefer to hear the mini stories, because even if I don't concentrate the whole time, there's always something that I become aware of, that I notice that I hadn't noticed before.

Uh, on the other hand, if I'm in the car, actually I find it easier to listen to something of interest. So it's a bit like if you're listening to the radio and they're giving you the traffic report or something, you can actually listen to something where they, there is some significance to what you're listening to and at the same time drive a little more difficult to do that. If I'm say working out in the morning, for example, and I'm concentrating on whatever I'm doing, then I prefer to have the mini stories going in the background. So I think everyone needs to develop a program for themselves. But I just wanted to point out that, that to find the time to make the time to learn languages, listening is the easy... is the easiest activity. And you need to build a range of sort of, uh, circumstances around what devices you use to play whatever you're listening to, where you find the stuff you're going to listen to varying the sort of repetitive, simple stuff, more interesting new stuff, uh, different, you know, ear phones that you can use for different circumstances. And, you know, put yourself in a situation where you can easily listen, anytime you want to, or feel the urge, or even if you don't feel the urge so that you make that first step that eventually will lead you to putting in the time necessary to achieve success in language learning.

So with that, I'll leave you with a few videos that kind of relate to this theme. Thank you for listening. Bye for now.