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Steve's Youtube Videos - Motivation, Enjoy Language Learning

Enjoy Language Learning

Hi there, Steve Kaufmann here again with my new lighting, which I hope is better.

I'm going to talk about something that I consider very, very important in language learning and that's feeling good, okay? I think we all are aware that if we do something well, if we have an achievement or if something happy happens to us, it could be as simple as our favorite sports team wins a game or you know I play Old Timers Hockey, I scored a nice goal, silly things, but you've got a livelier step when you're walking. You feel better about things.

Language learning is something that's so dependent on the learner's attitude. Again, I repeat, it's the learner's attitude, number one, the time you spend with the language and your ability to notice. Well, not only is the attitude itself important, but it influences how much time you're going to spend with the language. If you're motivated you'll spend more time, if you're motivated you're going to notice more things, so that attitude is such an important factor and I think this is sometimes neglected. What happens in class?

The teacher has a curriculum, a program that you have to follow. Certain things are taught, you're tested on them and you may not do well on those things because, very often, the things that are taught take a while to click in. It takes, in fact, a lot of exposure to the language before certain grammatical aspects start to become clear to you, before they start to make sense, let alone before you can actually start reproducing them. If you do poorly on the test then, of course, that's discouraging and when you're discouraged you lose your motivation. You know I was thinking of this, for example, with regard to the videos I put out at YouTube in different languages, Spanish, Russian, you name it.

Invariably, there is someone who comes along and criticizes me. There was just someone on Russian who came along and said you're pronunciation is terrible, your cases are awful and it's pretty rough, stuff like that, which is probably true, depending on what your standard is. Compared to a native speaker, I'm all of those things and worse. However, compared to someone who can't speak the language at all, which is where I started from five years ago and, similarly, with my Czech, which is worse than my Russian which I started let's say a year and a half ago, now I'm someone who understands the radio, can read books. I have a sense of things Czech, things Russian. I listen to the arguments on Ekho Moskvy. I follow the events in the Czech Republic, the direct election of their president and all. Whatever is going on, I can follow it in Czech well.

So rather than having a teacher tell me that my cases are wrong or some guy gratuitously on YouTube telling me that my cases are wrong or that my pronunciation is not very good, we as learners have to condition ourselves to give ourselves credit for what we have achieved.

I had a discussion in Czech the other day and I stumbled and bumbled, but that doesn't discourage me because of all the ways in which I am able to enjoy the Czech language. I focus on what I have achieved. Wow, look, I can pick up a book. I can read it. I can make sense. I can participate in things Czech. I can discuss the Czech presidential election via Skype with a person in the Czech Republic in Prague well.

It's very important that we find ways to give ourselves credit so that we have a sense of achievement because that sense of achievement is very encouraging for us and it keeps us going. If you're at school, for example, if the say French program is discouraging because you're getting poor marks or whatever, this carries over into other subjects. In other words, any success we feel in our language learning makes us more positive in other areas of endeavor. So if we are satisfied with what we have achieved in our say independent learning of a language, that makes us better at other things we do.

What I'm getting at in all of this is that very often traditional language learning focuses on testing, focuses on trying to make sure what was taught you have, in fact, learned and I think that's largely counterproductive. Obviously, we need testing in math or engineering or like a brain surgeon, people like that that have to meet certain standards, but what are we looking for in language acquisition. Except for a small minority of people who are going to be translators or interpreters at the UN or something, most people just want to communicate and so it's important to bear in mind that these are the goals. The person who wants to work towards that ultimate goal of sounding like a native, which I don't I think is feasible for 99% of people, speaking correctly and stuff is good. Those are laudable goals and we need to have those goals, but we need to give ourselves credit. We need to feel comfortable, confident, feel good about our learning and teachers should make that their number one goal, to make the learner feel good about his or her learning so that they have a positive attitude, feel confident, put in the time, enjoy it, try to make the language their own, all those things.

I had a conversation today with someone and I was explaining LingQ to them.

This is a potential corporate customer for LingQ and they sort of said well, what is the pedagogical basis for what you do and credentials, all this kind of stuff. Yeah, we're a group of people. We help each other. Native speakers helping others learn the language of that native speaker. Lots of interesting content, if people enjoy what they do, they put in the time, they learn. That's the pedagogical basis. This person said you have to teach the basic structures.

It has to be this structure, that structure. As I've said many times, I find it very difficult to learn the basic structures. I don't think the basic structures just slot into place like that. I think, eventually, over time, with enough exposure, you get a better and better sense of how the language works, but you don't just go out there and acquire the basic structures. I don't think it works that way. Rather, what happens in our schools is a lot of people are discouraged by the way languages are taught and they never continue. They never continue. Once they leave school, they don't bother with it and so that's a great failing. So, just to summarize again, I think language instruction should focus on the issue of making the learner feel good about learning that language, wanting to learn that language, feeling good about their achievements, rather than point out through tests or through other critical comments where the learner isn't quite up to somebody else's standard. So I hope that makes sense.

Thanks for listening, bye for now.

Enjoy Language Learning Насладете се на изучаването на езици Spaß am Sprachenlernen Enjoy Language Learning Disfrute aprendiendo idiomas Apprécier l'apprentissage des langues 語学学習を楽しむ 언어 학습 즐기기 Ciesz się nauką języka Desfrutar da aprendizagem de línguas Получайте удовольствие от изучения языка Dil Öğrenmenin Keyfini Çıkarın Насолоджуйтесь вивченням мови 享受语言学习

Hi there, Steve Kaufmann here again with my new lighting, which I hope is better. Привет, Стив Кауфманн снова с моим новым освещением, которое, я надеюсь, лучше.

I’m going to talk about something that I consider very, very important in language learning and that’s feeling good, okay? Ich werde über etwas sprechen, das ich beim Sprachenlernen für sehr, sehr wichtig halte, und das ist, sich gut zu fühlen, okay? I think we all are aware that if we do something well, if we have an achievement or if something happy happens to us, it could be as simple as our favorite sports team wins a game or you know I play Old Timers Hockey, I scored a nice goal, silly things, but you’ve got a livelier step when you’re walking. 私たちは皆、私たちがうまくやった場合、達成した場合、または何か幸せなことが起こった場合、私たちのお気に入りのスポーツチームがゲームに勝つか、私がオールドタイマーホッケーをするのと同じくらい簡単かもしれないことを知っていると思いますいい目標、ばかげたことですが、歩いているときはより生き生きとした一歩を踏み出すことができます。 You feel better about things.

Language learning is something that’s so dependent on the learner’s attitude. Again, I repeat, it’s the learner’s attitude, number one, the time you spend with the language and your ability to notice. Повторюсь, все зависит от отношения ученика, номер один, от времени, которое вы проводите с языком, и от вашей способности замечать. Well, not only is the attitude itself important, but it influences how much time you’re going to spend with the language. If you’re motivated you’ll spend more time, if you’re motivated you’re going to notice more things, so that attitude is such an important factor and I think this is sometimes neglected. What happens in class?

The teacher has a curriculum, a program that you have to follow. L'enseignant a un curriculum, un programme que vous devez suivre. Certain things are taught, you’re tested on them and you may not do well on those things because, very often, the things that are taught take a while to click in. Certaines choses sont enseignées, vous êtes testés sur ces points et vous ne réussissez pas toujours bien parce que, très souvent, les choses enseignées prennent du temps à s'assimiler. 特定のことが教えられ、あなたはそれらについてテストされます、そしてあなたがそれらのことでうまくいかないかもしれません、なぜならば、教えられることはクリックするのにしばらく時間がかかるからです。 It takes, in fact, a lot of exposure to the language before certain grammatical aspects start to become clear to you, before they start to make sense, let alone before you can actually start reproducing them. En fait, il faut beaucoup d'exposition à la langue avant que certains aspects grammaticaux ne deviennent clairs pour vous, avant qu'ils ne commencent à avoir un sens, et encore moins avant que vous ne puissiez commencer à les reproduire. 実際、特定の文法的な側面が明らかになり始める前に、それらが意味を成し始める前に、そして実際にあなたがそれらを再現し始める前に、それは言うまでもなく、多くの言語に触れる必要があります。 If you do poorly on the test then, of course, that’s discouraging and when you’re discouraged you lose your motivation. Si vous n'obtenez pas de bons résultats à l'examen, cela vous décourage, et lorsque vous êtes découragé, vous perdez votre motivation. テストの成績が悪い場合はもちろん、それは落胆し、落胆した場合はやる気を失います。 You know I was thinking of this, for example, with regard to the videos I put out at YouTube in different languages, Spanish, Russian, you name it. Vous savez, j'y pensais, par exemple, en ce qui concerne les vidéos que je publie sur YouTube dans différentes langues, en espagnol, en russe, etc. たとえば、私がYouTubeでスペイン語、ロシア語などのさまざまな言語で公開したビデオについて、私はこれについて考えていました。

Invariably, there is someone who comes along and criticizes me. いつも一緒に来て、私を批判する人がいます。 There was just someone on Russian who came along and said you’re pronunciation is terrible, your cases are awful and it’s pretty rough, stuff like that, which is probably true, depending on what your standard is. Il y a juste eu quelqu'un sur le russe qui est venu dire que votre prononciation est terrible, que vos cas sont terribles et que c'est assez brutal, des choses comme ça, ce qui est probablement vrai, en fonction de ce que votre norme est. Compared to a native speaker, I’m all of those things and worse. Par rapport à un locuteur natif, je suis tout cela et même pire. However, compared to someone who can’t speak the language at all, which is where I started from five years ago and, similarly, with my Czech, which is worse than my Russian which I started let’s say a year and a half ago, now I’m someone who understands the radio, can read books. Cependant, comparé à quelqu'un qui ne parle pas du tout la langue, ce qui est mon point de départ il y a cinq ans, et, de la même manière, avec mon tchèque, qui est pire que mon russe que j'ai commencé il y a disons un an et demi, je suis maintenant quelqu'un qui comprend la radio, qui peut lire des livres. しかし、まったく言語を話せない人と比較して、5年前から始めました。同様に、チェコ語も、1年半前に言い始めたロシア語よりも劣っています。今、私はラジオを理解し、本を読むことができる人です。 I have a sense of things Czech, things Russian. I listen to the arguments on Ekho Moskvy. J'écoute les débats sur Ekho Moskvy. I follow the events in the Czech Republic, the direct election of their president and all. Whatever is going on, I can follow it in Czech well. 何が起こっていても、私はチェコ語でそれをうまく追跡できます。

So rather than having a teacher tell me that my cases are wrong or some guy gratuitously on YouTube telling me that my cases are wrong or that my pronunciation is not very good, we as learners have to condition ourselves to give ourselves credit for what we have achieved. ですから、先生に私のケースが間違っているとか、YouTubeで不満に思っている人に、私のケースが間違っているとか、私の発音があまり良くないと私に言ったりするのではなく、学習者は、自分が持っているものに自分自身を認めるように自分自身を条件付けなければなりません。達成しました。

I had a discussion in Czech the other day and I stumbled and bumbled, but that doesn’t discourage me because of all the ways in which I am able to enjoy the Czech language. I focus on what I have achieved. 私は達成したことに焦点を当てています。 Wow, look, I can pick up a book. 見て、本が手に取れるよ。 I can read it. I can make sense. I can participate in things Czech. チェコ事に参加できます。 I can discuss the Czech presidential election via Skype with a person in the Czech Republic in Prague well.

It’s very important that we find ways to give ourselves credit so that we have a sense of achievement because that sense of achievement is very encouraging for us and it keeps us going. その達成感は私たちにとって非常に励みになり、私たちを動かし続けるので、私たちは達成感を持つために自分自身に信用を与える方法を見つけることが非常に重要です。 If you’re at school, for example, if the say French program is discouraging because you’re getting poor marks or whatever, this carries over into other subjects. あなたが学校にいる場合、たとえば、フランス語の言うプログラムが成績が悪いなどの理由で落胆している場合、これは他の科目にも影響します。 In other words, any success we feel in our language learning makes us more positive in other areas of endeavor. So if we are satisfied with what we have achieved in our say independent learning of a language, that makes us better at other things we do. Така че, ако сме доволни от това, което сме постигнали в самостоятелното си изучаване на даден език, това ни прави по-добри в другите ни занимания. したがって、言外の言語学習で達成したことに満足すれば、他のことをより上手にできるようになります。

What I’m getting at in all of this is that very often traditional language learning focuses on testing, focuses on trying to make sure what was taught you have, in fact, learned and I think that’s largely counterproductive. これらすべてにおいて私が得ているのは、非常に多くの場合、従来の言語学習はテストに焦点を合わせ、実際に学んだことを確認しようとすることに焦点を当てていることです。 Obviously, we need testing in math or engineering or like a brain surgeon, people like that that have to meet certain standards, but what are we looking for in language acquisition. 明らかに、私たちは数学や工学、または脳外科医のようなテストを必要としています。そのような人々は特定の基準を満たす必要がありますが、言語習得で何を求めているのでしょうか。 Except for a small minority of people who are going to be translators or interpreters at the UN or something, most people just want to communicate and so it’s important to bear in mind that these are the goals. 国連などで通訳や翻訳をする少数の人を除いて、ほとんどの人はコミュニケーションをとりたいだけなので、これらが目標であることを覚えておくことが重要です。 The person who wants to work towards that ultimate goal of sounding like a native, which I don’t I think is feasible for 99% of people, speaking correctly and stuff is good. ネイティブのように聞こえるという究極の目標に向かって取り組みたいと思う人は、99%の人にとって実現可能ではないと思います。正しく話すことなどは良いことです。 Those are laudable goals and we need to have those goals, but we need to give ourselves credit. それらは称賛に値する目標であり、私たちはそれらの目標を持つ必要がありますが、私たちは自分自身に信用を与える必要があります。 We need to feel comfortable, confident, feel good about our learning and teachers should make that their number one goal, to make the learner feel good about his or her learning so that they have a positive attitude, feel confident, put in the time, enjoy it, try to make the language their own, all those things. 私たちは快適に、自信を持って、私たちの学習に良い感じをする必要があり、教師は彼らの最大の目標を作る必要がありますそれを楽しんで、言語を自分のものにしようとしてください、それらすべてのもの。 Нам потрібно почуватися комфортно, впевнено, добре навчатися, і вчителі повинні зробити це своєю метою номер один, щоб учень почувався добре від свого навчання, щоб він мав позитивне ставлення, почувався впевнено, витрачав час, насолоджуватися цим, намагатися зробити мову своєю власною, усі ці речі.

I had a conversation today with someone and I was explaining LingQ to them. 今日は誰かと会話していて、LingQについて説明していました。

This is a potential corporate customer for LingQ and they sort of said well, what is the pedagogical basis for what you do and credentials, all this kind of stuff. これはLingQの潜在的な企業顧客であり、彼らはよく言っています。あなたが何をするための教育的基礎と資格情報、すべてこの種のものです。 Yeah, we’re a group of people. Так, ми група людей. We help each other. Native speakers helping others learn the language of that native speaker. 他の人がそのネイティブスピーカーの言語を学ぶのを助けるネイティブスピーカー。 Lots of interesting content, if people enjoy what they do, they put in the time, they learn. 面白いコンテンツがたくさんあります。人々が自分のやっていることを楽しんでいるなら、彼らは時間を割いて学びます。 That’s the pedagogical basis. This person said you have to teach the basic structures.

It has to be this structure, that structure. この構造、その構造でなければなりません。 As I’ve said many times, I find it very difficult to learn the basic structures. I don’t think the basic structures just slot into place like that. 基本的な構造がそのように配置されるだけではないと思います。 Я не думаю, що базові структури просто так стають на свої місця. I think, eventually, over time, with enough exposure, you get a better and better sense of how the language works, but you don’t just go out there and acquire the basic structures. I don’t think it works that way. Rather, what happens in our schools is a lot of people are discouraged by the way languages are taught and they never continue. むしろ、私たちの学校で起こっていることは、多くの人々が言語の教え方に落胆し、彼らが継続することは決してないということです。 They never continue. Once they leave school, they don’t bother with it and so that’s a great failing. 彼らが学校を去ると、彼らはそれを気にしないので、それは大きな失敗です。 So, just to summarize again, I think language instruction should focus on the issue of making the learner feel good about learning that language, wanting to learn that language, feeling good about their achievements, rather than point out through tests or through other critical comments where the learner isn’t quite up to somebody else’s standard. つまり、もう一度要約すると、言語の指導は、テストやその他の重要なコメントを通じて指摘するのではなく、学習者がその言語の学習に気分を良くする、その言語を学びたい、自分の成果に満足するという問題に焦点を当てるべきだと思います学習者が他の誰かの標準に完全に対応していない場合。 So I hope that makes sense. だから私はそれが理にかなっていると思います。

Thanks for listening, bye for now.