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Steve's Youtube Videos - General Language Learning, When Learning a Language DON'T Study the "Basics"

When Learning a Language DON'T Study the "Basics"

Hi there, Steve Kaufmann here, and today I'm gonna tell you don't try to learn

the basics of the language that you are trying to learn, and I'll tell you why.

But remember, uh, if you enjoy these videos, please subscribe.

Click on the bell for notifications, and if you follow me on a podcast

service, please leave a comment.

I do appreciate it.

I'm gonna tell you, don't try to study the basics.

Don't try to master the basics.

Don't even worry about the basics in a language, especially at the beginning.

Why do I say that?

A number of reasons.

Uh, first of all, because I have found it impossible to master the

basics of grammar, the basic, uh, vocabulary, the basic anything, uh,

if I deliberately try to do so, and that's despite looking over explanations

and conjugation tables and all this other stuff, it just doesn't work.

The second thing, and I think this might be more interesting, is something called

the Natural Order of Language Acquisition.

It's one of Steven Krashen's, sort of, principles of language acquisition,

and it says that there is a natural order, uh, according to which we

acquire the structures of a language.

And if you were to, uh, Google the, uh, Theory of Natural Order of Language

Acquisition, you will find all kinds of, uh, material on the subject.

It's a bit controversial.

You'll find people supporting the idea.

You'll see people criticizing the idea.

One of the criticism seems to be that obviously if an English speaking person

is learning French, then there may be a natural order of acquisition for that

English speaking person learning French.

However, if a Spanish speaking person learns French, then that natural

order would be different because obviously the Spanish speaking person

is influenced by their familiarity with, you know, Latin based languages.

So assuming that that's true to me, that doesn't in any way make the theory

of natural acquisition less valid, it just says that there is a natural

order of acquisition, which may be different depending on your native

language and depending on the language you're trying to learn, but there is

a natural order, uh, you know, are we gonna learn, you know, uh, if it's

English, I go, or I'm going, which one are we gonna start using earlier?

Uh, should the teacher teach you the, I'm the continuous form first or in Spanish

... uh, before to, you know, the form ...uh, Is it important for the teacher

to sort of determine, you know, in chapter one we will teach you this, and

in chapter two we will teach you that.

And by the 20 chapters of this book, you will have acquired all the basics

of the language or uh, and this is, I think, Krashen's view and my view,

and that is that you will gradually acquire these different aspects of the

language in an order that is more or less the same for everyone, depending

on your native language, depending on the language you're learning,

depending on some other factors as well.

But there is a natural order and the teacher and the instructions will

not influence that order so much.

Uh, so, uh, but if you do a lot of listening and reading, if you, you know,

increase your level of comprehension, if you increase your vocabulary, again, the

vocabulary will be acquired naturally.

Some words are going to appear more often than others, so you'll acquire them

earlier without any particular effort.

You don't have to go and find a list of the most common

a hundred words, 500 words.

They will show up and by dint of showing up more often, probably

you'll acquire them earlier, but uh, some of them may be resistant and

there'll be some order whereby you acquire the, acquire these words.

You know, an example of how difficult it is to acquire something that is usually

taught very early is the third person singular of the present tense in English.

Everyone I think is taught that in English it's, I go, you go, he or she goes, and

then you go, or we go, you go, they go.

So it's only the third person singular in the present tense that has an S.

It's not a difficult concept.

Uh, and, and obviously when you are reading in English, you

don't even need to notice that it's he goes rather than he go.

It wouldn't bother you.

It wouldn't affect your comprehension.

However, when speaking, it's very difficult for people to remember,

you know, on the fly while speaking English that that third person singular

of the present tense has to have an S and, and if they're thinking about

it, they'll probably get it wrong, but when it eventually becomes a

habit, it'll just come out naturally.

And of course, sometimes the third person is hidden because it refers

to a house on the hill that on...

you know, and then when you finally come to the verb, you've forgotten

whether that takes an S or doesn't take an S if you're a non-native speaker.

Whereas if you're a native speaker, somehow or other the, you know,

brain has developed habits so that it will, in most cases hit the S.

And it really doesn't matter if you don't hit the S, the person

will still understand you.

But it's just to illustrate that there are certain habits in the

language that take longer to acquire.

And so for that reason, when I see people say, you know, first master

the basics, and then if I master the basics, then I'll build on that.

And of course, everything that we acquire in the, in the

language is more like jelly.

We can't build on it.

It's kind of this amorphous thing that we...

fuzzy thing that we gradually become more and more familiar with.

A few more things slot in, things become a little clearer and it's not obvious,

uh, which items, which grammatical patterns, which words are gonna sock in

first and which ones will come later.

And it, it's not correction, it's not because, uh, you know, if, if

a child, even an English-speaking child is, is, is used to, okay,

the one pattern that the child will pick up on is "ed" for past tense.

So, uh, you know, uh, I eat, I eated.

Uh, that's a normal thing to say that shows the brain is, is, you know,

thinking in terms of logical patterns.

I eated, and even if the mother doesn't correct the child, Eventually

the child will start to say, I ate, and that'll happen at a certain time.

And it doesn't matter if the child spends six months or a year saying I eat it,

because eventually, I mean, they won't be saying that when they're older, unless

they are surrounded by people who are also saying, I eated, in which case that

will then become an ingrained habit.

But I think it's, it's important to, to uh, sort of, I think, de-emphasize

this idea of basics as if learning a language is like building a house

and you lay the foundation and then you start putting bricks in place, or

you know, wooden frame or whatever, and you build up this structure.

That's not how it is.

It sort of comes at you and you forget it and come back again.

And if you keep on listening and reading and using the language and maybe hearing

the native speaker, what they say, which is maybe a little different from what

you say and slowly but surely you will develop proper habits in the language.

So, uh, you know, the idea that we're gonna nail down the basics

or learn the basics first, I don't think it's realistic.

And I think a lot of people, uh, beat themselves up because they will continue

to make mistakes in some of the most basic things for a long, long time.

I use the word basic, you know, in that understanding we have like,

you know, people continue to not putting an s on the third person

singular of the present tense.

It's basic maybe, but they continue to get it wrong.

And I do the same in languages that I speak I get a lot of basic things wrong.

I continue to get them wrong.

I can still communicate very well.

I understand what people are saying.

I can get my meaning across and I continue to make the most basic mistakes.

And we have to accept that.

And that the only, and, and we can review the rules and stuff and it

may or may not have some effect, but ultimately it's only by continuing to

listen and read and speak and wanting to, you know, wanting to pay attention

to what's happening in the language.

Slowly, slowly, slowly, we improve.

So don't beat yourself up if you can't master the basics,

focus on enjoying the language.

Thank you.

And I'll leave you with a couple of, uh, videos that I've done

on the subject of basics before.

Thanks.

Bye for now.


When Learning a Language DON'T Study the "Basics" When Learning a Language DON'T Study the "Basics" Quando impari una lingua NON studiare le "basi" Bir Dil Öğrenirken "Temel Bilgileri" ÇALIŞMAYIN

Hi there, Steve Kaufmann here, and today I'm gonna tell you don't try to learn Salve, qui Steve Kaufmann, e oggi vi dirò di non cercare di imparare Merhaba Steve Kaufmann, bugün size öğrenmeye çalışmamanızı söyleyeceğim.

the basics of the language that you are trying to learn, and I'll tell you why. le basi della lingua che stai cercando di imparare, e ti dirò perché. öğrenmeye çalıştığınız dilin temelleri ve size nedenini söyleyeceğim.

But remember, uh, if you enjoy these videos, please subscribe. Ma ricorda, uh, se ti piacciono questi video, per favore iscriviti. Ama unutmayın, uh, bu videoları beğendiyseniz, lütfen abone olun.

Click on the bell for notifications, and if you follow me on a podcast Click on the bell for notifications, and if you follow me on a podcast Bildirimler için zile tıklayın ve beni bir podcast'te takip ederseniz

service, please leave a comment. hizmet, lütfen bir yorum bırakın.

I do appreciate it. takdir ediyorum.

I'm gonna tell you, don't try to study the basics. Size söyleyeceğim, temelleri çalışmaya çalışmayın.

Don't try to master the basics. Non cercare di padroneggiare le basi. Temel konularda uzmanlaşmaya çalışmayın.

Don't even worry about the basics in a language, especially at the beginning. Non preoccuparti nemmeno delle basi di una lingua, soprattutto all'inizio. Özellikle başlangıçta, bir dilin temelleri hakkında endişelenmeyin bile.

Why do I say that? Bunu neden söylüyorum?

A number of reasons. Bir dizi neden.

Uh, first of all, because I have found it impossible to master the Uh, prima di tutto, perché ho trovato impossibile padroneggiare il Uh, her şeyden önce, çünkü ustalaşmayı imkansız buldum.

basics of grammar, the basic, uh, vocabulary, the basic anything, uh, dilbilgisinin temelleri, temel, uh, kelime dağarcığı, temel herhangi bir şey, uh,

if I deliberately try to do so, and that's despite looking over explanations wenn ich es absichtlich versuche und das trotz überfliegen von Erklärungen se provo deliberatamente a farlo, e questo nonostante esamini le spiegazioni kasıtlı olarak bunu yapmaya çalışırsam ve bu, açıklamalara bakmama rağmen

and conjugation tables and all this other stuff, it just doesn't work. e tabelle di coniugazione e tutte queste altre cose, semplicemente non funziona. ve konjugasyon tabloları ve diğer tüm şeyler, işe yaramıyor.

The second thing, and I think this might be more interesting, is something called La seconda cosa, e penso che questo potrebbe essere più interessante, è qualcosa chiamato İkinci şey, ve bence bu daha ilginç olabilir, adı verilen bir şey.

the Natural Order of Language Acquisition. Dil Ediniminin Doğal Düzeni.

It's one of Steven Krashen's, sort of, principles of language acquisition, È uno dei principi dell'acquisizione del linguaggio di Steven Krashen, Steven Krashen'in bir nevi dil edinimi ilkelerinden biri,

and it says that there is a natural order, uh, according to which we und da steht, dass es eine natürliche Ordnung gibt, äh, nach der wir e dice che c'è un ordine naturale, uh, secondo il quale noi ve bize göre doğal bir düzen olduğunu söylüyor

acquire the structures of a language. acquisire le strutture di una lingua. bir dilin yapılarını kazanır.

And if you were to, uh, Google the, uh, Theory of Natural Order of Language Und wenn Sie, äh, die, äh, Theorie der natürlichen Sprachordnung googeln würden Ve eğer, ah, Google'da, ah, Theory of Natural Order of Language

Acquisition, you will find all kinds of, uh, material on the subject. Edinme, konuyla ilgili her türlü materyali bulacaksınız.

It's a bit controversial. È un po' controverso. Bu biraz tartışmalı.

You'll find people supporting the idea. Troverai persone che sostengono l'idea. Bu fikri destekleyen insanlar bulacaksınız.

You'll see people criticizing the idea. İnsanların fikri eleştirdiğini göreceksiniz.

One of the criticism seems to be that obviously if an English speaking person Einer der Kritikpunkte scheint zu sein, dass es sich offensichtlich um eine englischsprachige Person handelt Una delle critiche sembra essere che ovviamente se una persona di lingua inglese Eleştirilerden biri, açıkça, eğer İngilizce konuşan bir kişi ise

is learning French, then there may be a natural order of acquisition for that Französisch lernt, dann kann es dafür eine natürliche Reihenfolge des Erwerbs geben Fransızca öğreniyorsa, o zaman bunun doğal bir edinim sırası olabilir.

English speaking person learning French. Englisch sprechende Person, die Französisch lernt. Fransızca öğrenen İngilizce konuşan kişi.

However, if a Spanish speaking person learns French, then that natural Wenn jedoch eine spanischsprachige Person Französisch lernt, dann ist das selbstverständlich Однако, если человек, говорящий по-испански, изучает французский язык, то естественно Ancak, İspanyolca konuşan bir kişi Fransızca öğrenirse, o zaman bu doğal

order would be different because obviously the Spanish speaking person порядок был бы другим, потому что, очевидно, человек, говорящий по-испански sipariş farklı olurdu çünkü açıkçası İspanyolca konuşan kişi

is influenced by their familiarity with, you know, Latin based languages. Latin kökenli dillere olan aşinalıklarından etkilenir.

So assuming that that's true to me, that doesn't in any way make the theory Angenommen, das stimmt für mich, macht das in keiner Weise die Theorie それが私にとって真実であると仮定すると、それは決して理論を作りません

of natural acquisition less valid, it just says that there is a natural des natürlichen Erwerbs weniger gültig, es sagt nur, dass es einen natürlichen gibt 自然獲得の有効性は低く、自然な獲得があると言っているだけです

order of acquisition, which may be different depending on your native ordine di acquisizione, che può essere diverso a seconda del nativo yerel bölgenize bağlı olarak farklı olabilecek edinme sırası

language and depending on the language you're trying to learn, but there is

a natural order, uh, you know, are we gonna learn, you know, uh, if it's

English, I go, or I'm going, which one are we gonna start using earlier? Turkish, gidiyorum ya da gidiyorum, hangisini daha önce kullanmaya başlayacağız?

Uh, should the teacher teach you the, I'm the continuous form first or in Spanish Uh, öğretmen sana öğretmeli mi, önce sürekli formum ya da İspanyolca

... uh, before to, you know, the form ...uh, Is it important for the teacher ... ah, önce, bilirsiniz, form ... uh, öğretmen için önemli mi

to sort of determine, you know, in chapter one we will teach you this, and um es irgendwie zu bestimmen, wissen Sie, in Kapitel eins werden wir Ihnen dies beibringen, und

in chapter two we will teach you that.

And by the 20 chapters of this book, you will have acquired all the basics

of the language or uh, and this is, I think, Krashen's view and my view,

and that is that you will gradually acquire these different aspects of the

language in an order that is more or less the same for everyone, depending

on your native language, depending on the language you're learning,

depending on some other factors as well.

But there is a natural order and the teacher and the instructions will

not influence that order so much.

Uh, so, uh, but if you do a lot of listening and reading, if you, you know,

increase your level of comprehension, if you increase your vocabulary, again, the Erhöhen Sie Ihr Verständnis, wenn Sie Ihren Wortschatz wieder erhöhen

vocabulary will be acquired naturally.

Some words are going to appear more often than others, so you'll acquire them 一部の単語は他の単語よりも頻繁に表示されるため、それらを習得します

earlier without any particular effort.

You don't have to go and find a list of the most common

a hundred words, 500 words.

They will show up and by dint of showing up more often, probably Ze zullen komen opdagen en waarschijnlijk vaker komen opdagen

you'll acquire them earlier, but uh, some of them may be resistant and

there'll be some order whereby you acquire the, acquire these words.

You know, an example of how difficult it is to acquire something that is usually

taught very early is the third person singular of the present tense in English.

Everyone I think is taught that in English it's, I go, you go, he or she goes, and

then you go, or we go, you go, they go.

So it's only the third person singular in the present tense that has an S.

It's not a difficult concept.

Uh, and, and obviously when you are reading in English, you

don't even need to notice that it's he goes rather than he go.

It wouldn't bother you.

It wouldn't affect your comprehension.

However, when speaking, it's very difficult for people to remember, However, when speaking, it's very difficult for people to remember,

you know, on the fly while speaking English that that third person singular weet je, terwijl je Engels spreekt, die derde persoon enkelvoud

of the present tense has to have an S and, and if they're thinking about

it, they'll probably get it wrong, but when it eventually becomes a

habit, it'll just come out naturally.

And of course, sometimes the third person is hidden because it refers

to a house on the hill that on...

you know, and then when you finally come to the verb, you've forgotten

whether that takes an S or doesn't take an S if you're a non-native speaker.

Whereas if you're a native speaker, somehow or other the, you know,

brain has developed habits so that it will, in most cases hit the S.

And it really doesn't matter if you don't hit the S, the person

will still understand you.

But it's just to illustrate that there are certain habits in the

language that take longer to acquire.

And so for that reason, when I see people say, you know, first master

the basics, and then if I master the basics, then I'll build on that.

And of course, everything that we acquire in the, in the

language is more like jelly. la lingua è più simile alla gelatina.

We can't build on it. Non possiamo costruirci sopra.

It's kind of this amorphous thing that we...

fuzzy thing that we gradually become more and more familiar with.

A few more things slot in, things become a little clearer and it's not obvious, Ein paar mehr Dinge fügen sich ein, die Dinge werden ein wenig klarer und es ist nicht offensichtlich,

uh, which items, which grammatical patterns, which words are gonna sock in

first and which ones will come later.

And it, it's not correction, it's not because, uh, you know, if, if

a child, even an English-speaking child is, is, is used to, okay,

the one pattern that the child will pick up on is "ed" for past tense.

So, uh, you know, uh, I eat, I eated.

Uh, that's a normal thing to say that shows the brain is, is, you know,

thinking in terms of logical patterns.

I eated, and even if the mother doesn't correct the child, Eventually

the child will start to say, I ate, and that'll happen at a certain time. 子供は「食べた」と言い始めます。

And it doesn't matter if the child spends six months or a year saying I eat it,

because eventually, I mean, they won't be saying that when they're older, unless

they are surrounded by people who are also saying, I eated, in which case that

will then become an ingrained habit.

But I think it's, it's important to, to uh, sort of, I think, de-emphasize

this idea of basics as if learning a language is like building a house

and you lay the foundation and then you start putting bricks in place, or

you know, wooden frame or whatever, and you build up this structure.

That's not how it is.

It sort of comes at you and you forget it and come back again.

And if you keep on listening and reading and using the language and maybe hearing

the native speaker, what they say, which is maybe a little different from what

you say and slowly but surely you will develop proper habits in the language.

So, uh, you know, the idea that we're gonna nail down the basics

or learn the basics first, I don't think it's realistic.

And I think a lot of people, uh, beat themselves up because they will continue

to make mistakes in some of the most basic things for a long, long time. 非常に長い間、最も基本的なことのいくつかで間違いを犯すこと。

I use the word basic, you know, in that understanding we have like,

you know, people continue to not putting an s on the third person

singular of the present tense.

It's basic maybe, but they continue to get it wrong.

And I do the same in languages that I speak I get a lot of basic things wrong.

I continue to get them wrong.

I can still communicate very well.

I understand what people are saying.

I can get my meaning across and I continue to make the most basic mistakes. Ich kann meine Bedeutung vermitteln und mache weiterhin die grundlegendsten Fehler.

And we have to accept that.

And that the only, and, and we can review the rules and stuff and it

may or may not have some effect, but ultimately it's only by continuing to

listen and read and speak and wanting to, you know, wanting to pay attention

to what's happening in the language.

Slowly, slowly, slowly, we improve.

So don't beat yourself up if you can't master the basics,

focus on enjoying the language.

Thank you.

And I'll leave you with a couple of, uh, videos that I've done

on the subject of basics before.

Thanks.

Bye for now.