Language Learning Is Lonely (And That's A Good Thing)
When people talk about language
learning, they normally talk about one
thing. They talk about connections.
When we think about learning languages,
we always think about connecting with
other people. We are constantly thinking
about speaking, about understanding,
about making friends, having
relationships everything.
But the truth is I think this is where
lots of people are going slightly wrong.
The truth is I think language learning
is lonely
and that's okay.
My name is Sam and welcome back to a
very special episode of English Sponge.
Uh today we are going to be discussing
language learning and discussing
loneliness and we're going to be talking
a little bit about why I think language
learning is lonely and why that is a
really good thing. When we learn
languages we are always thinking about
other people. We're always thinking
about how to connect with people, how to
be understood and how to understand.
But what we often forget is language
learning and getting a high level in a
language is a result of hundreds and
hundreds of hours of practice. Hundreds
and hundreds of hours of practicing on
your own, working hard, often in
silence. Of course, I'm not saying that
we shouldn't have connections or we
shouldn't want to use our new language
to connect with people. But I'm saying
that is the end result. That is the end
of the process. People love to think
about the end result, but they always
forget about how to get there. So today
we are going to be discussing why I
believe language learning is lonely.
So if you have decided to learn English
through comprehensible input, you have
decided to take the road less traveled
because the truth is today millions and
millions of people are learning English
and they all choose very different
methods.
But comprehensible input is a method
that is still relatively small. In fact,
comprehensible input as a method to
learn a language has only really gotten
popular over the past few years.
The main pioneers, the first people to
really create this were Dreaming
Spanish, who created a massive Spanish
library for comprehensible input. But
there were others. There was lazy
Chinese, comprehensible Japanese, and
now English sponge.
The truth is, in my opinion, taking the
road less traveled when it comes to
languages is the best decision. Choosing
comprehensible input instead of
traditional methods is going to help you
become a much more fluent, a much more
confident English speaker.
But there are pros and there are cons.
Because comprehensible input is a method
that requires you to be on your own a
lot. It is a method that requires you to
spend hundreds and hundreds and hundreds
of hours practicing a language,
listening to a language before you start
to feel confident. So, the road to
fluency through comprehensible input is
a long one and it's one that is less
traveled, but I think if you drive down
that road, you will get to your goal.
So, why comprehensible input and not
traditional methods? Why go down this
path of loneliness instead of
traditional methods? Well, you could
learn English in a classroom,
but the truth is in classrooms, they
usually throw grammar at you. I spent
one term learning Spanish in in
university. And guess what? All they did
was teach us grammar. Before I could say
hello, how are you? And really basic
words, they were trying to teach me
basic grammar, which just didn't make
sense. Why do I need grammar if I can't
even ask the time? On top of that, in
classrooms, they often rush you. You
have to go at the teacher's pace, not at
your pace. So, if you advance really
quickly, you get bored. you get stuck on
things that you already know. But if
you're struggling and you advance quite
slowly, the teacher may just go on and
it's up to you to make up the
difference.
So that's why you should choose
comprehensible input because you control
everything. You control how much or how
little. You control what you watch, when
you watch, and how you watch. The only
important thing is you get lots of
hours.
So there you go. That is why I think you
should take the path less traveled. Why
I think you should take the lonely road
sometimes.
So now you have decided to choose the
path less traveled. You've decided to do
comprehensible input instead of
traditional learning methods.
Well, now comes the silent period.
The silent period is a piece of time
where you consume huge amounts of
content. You get loads and loads and
loads of input, hundreds and hundreds
and hundreds of hours before ever trying
to speak the language.
The truth is the silent period is often
the most overlooked part of the language
learning journey. People are desperate
to speak. People are so desperate to
start speaking and to start connecting
that they often make the silent period
far too short or they skip it entirely.
The truth is when learning a new
language through comprehensible input,
you should really wait to speak for as
long as possible.
The truth is the earlier you start
speaking the bigger the problems are
going to be later
because when you start speaking at a low
level you start making mistakes as you
always do of course but because you are
making so many mistakes and your teacher
is unlikely to correct all of them or
your friends are just friends and they
understand you but they're not
correcting you you start to make
mistakes, but your brain thinks those
mistakes are correct. And you make that
same mistake over and over and over
again until in your brain it becomes a
part of the language.
The truth is this becomes really
difficult to fix later. This becomes
really really difficult to try and
change. Trust me, most of my students
are at B2 or C1 level and fixing
ingrained mistakes is one of the main
things that I have to try and do. But I
recognize as a teacher it takes an
extremely long time. It is very
frustrating
and
often
it's just not worth it. People decide
that if I can be understood that's the
most important thing. So that is why the
silent period is so important. You have
this period where you do not have any
output in the language. You have this
period where it's just you and your
listening and maybe you're reading if
you decide to start reading early.
Now this period can feel very lonely.
That is the truth, right? It's a lot of
hours spent in your room with a face
with your face looking down at a screen.
It's a lot of time walking around the
street, maybe on the underground, maybe
on the bus with your headphones on
listening to a podcast.
This the silent period can be really
really lonely and it can be quite
challenging for people. People go in to
learning a language, like I said,
because they want connections. They want
that feeling of I'm connecting with
people. You know, we learn so we can
talk, so we can communicate. So, the
silent period is really challenging
because when you first start learning
English or whatever language, your
thought is always, I can't wait to be a
fluent speaker.
So spending such a long period of time
in silence without speaking can be
really really challenging. But this is
the time where you need to stay strong
where you need to keep listening. Just
listen, listen, listen. The silent
period is a lonely period, but it's also
the period where you will see your
fastest improvements.
Just listening, doing nothing else will
do so much for your language. It's the
only skill I say that really brings
everything together. The more you
listen, the better you'll be at
speaking. You just have to wait.
That's the truth of this method. This
method is not for instant gratification.
You don't get the rewards right now, but
you get the rewards in three months
time, in six months time, in one year's
time. The silent period is really
difficult, but the longer you can stay
silent, the longer you can appreciate
loneliness,
the better your language will be.
So, language learning is lonely.
But like I said before, I think that is
a good thing because loneliness is
actually one of the best environments
for you to improve.
The benefits of loneliness is that you
are not comparing yourself to anybody
else. Let's say you went to a group
class. Well, the likelihood is there's
going to be someone there better than
you, someone there with a much higher
level in the language. Let's say you
went to a language exchange event. Well,
that can be really, really demotivating
because guess what? You're going to be
there with native speakers having native
speaker level conversations.
And if you're not ready, that can be
really, really heartbreaking.
The truth is loneliness is one of the
best environments for you to succeed,
especially in language learning.
When you're lonely, when you focus on
yourself and only yourself, you don't
have to worry about anything else. You
don't have to stress about your
progress. You don't have to worry and
panic about how do I say this or how do
I explain that.
You could just focus on getting input.
Just focus on quietly accumulating,
quietly gathering hours and hours and
hours. For most people, language
learning isn't lonely. But maybe it
should be. Maybe when it comes to
languages, we should stop focusing so
much on other people and start focusing
on us and focus on what we can control.
Being alone means you are completely in
control of what you do. Being alone
means if you want to sit for three
hours, 4 hours and just go crazy and
watch loads of input and you know make a
really really positive day for yourself.
You can and you don't have to tell
anybody why. You can simply do it
because you know you are helping
yourself. Being in a lonely environment
allows yourself to feel less pressure.
You don't have to worry about anything.
All you have to think about is yourself.
And this means you can be honest with
yourself. Being lonely, being on your
own allows us to be honest with
ourselves. If you are not progressing,
why? Well, are you getting enough input?
Are you spending enough time with
English to progress? If the answer is
yes, then all you have to do is wait and
trust the process because I promise you
with enough time things will start to
come together.
But if you're not doing enough, if
you're not putting in enough hours,
well, you can admit it to yourself. And
once you admit it to yourself, then
well, you can hopefully change. You can
hopefully change for the better.
In the modern day, we have more
connections than ever before. And we
have more ways to connect with others
than ever before.
But sometimes these connections are just
distracting.
Sometimes they stop us from achieving
our real goals. They stop us from doing
the things we really want to do.
Sometimes it's better to choose to be
lonely. To choose to be lonely and to
choose to focus on yourself and your own
improvement.
I think a word that we haven't used
today that could be really important is
solitude. Solitude is loneliness but in
a more positive way. Solitude is
loneliness but being content, being
happy with your loneliness.
And I think when we're discussing how
language learning is lonely, I think
solitude is the best word to use.
Solitude should be what you're seeking
out.
So if you do remember one thing from
today's video, I want it to be this.
When a runner wins a race, everybody
celebrates. Everybody congratulates
them. Everybody is really really happy
for them.
But what everybody didn't see was the
hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of
hours of training that that runner did.
What the people did not witness was the
blood, the sweat, and the tears they put
in. People celebrate the end of the
race. People celebrate the result. But
for you, the person running the race, if
you want to win, you need to put in the
hours.
And that is why language learning is
lonely.
So, thank you so much for for watching
today's video, everybody. Uh, I do
really really appreciate it. As I'm sure
you guys can imagine, this was a really
really big video to put together. I have
been planning this video for at least
four months now. So, I'm just absolutely
delighted that I'm here. I've done it.
And yeah, I'm really, really proud to
have been able to share it with you guys
because this was a truly magnificent
experience to be completely honest with
you. Um, of course I have to give all of
you an absolutely massive thanks because
without your support, uh, things like
this wouldn't be possible. Uh, without,
you know, English sponge, I wouldn't
have a reason to come here and to make
this for you guys. So, genuinely, thank
you so much for the support. And a big
big thank you to our premium members as
well. You guys are really the ones who
keep us going. You guys are the ones
that yeah make this all worth it. So,
thanks a lot. So, that is it from me. As
always, if you do enjoy comprehensible
input and you want to see more
spectacular videos like this in the
future, you can support us and support
the project over at www.englishponge.com
where we have over 800 comprehensible
input videos ready for you at the low
price of just $8 a month. Trust me, I
think it's pretty fantastic.
So, that is why language learning is
lonely. As always, my name is Sam and I
will see you guys in the next one. Bye.
