Comparison.
Comparison can be a powerful motivator in language learning, but it can
also be a source of discouragement.
According to social comparison theory, first developed in 1954 by psychologist,
I think, it's Leon Festinger, about 10% of our thoughts have to do
with comparing ourselves to others.
And this can be a source of inspiration, motivation, but
for some people it's a source of discouragement, frustration, depression.
How does comparison help us in language learning?
That's what I wanna talk about today, and I think it can be an important source of
that all important motivation, but I think it's important to do the comparison right.
I don't think we should compare ourselves to others.
I try to compare myself to the sort of ideal of the language,
the essence of the language
. If we think in terms of, you know, platonic essence of something
of which everything else is a slightly imperfect copy.
So even the native speakers, all native speakers don't speak the same way.
There are differences in pronunciation, in accuracy and use of the language
and so forth, and the language learner is somewhere on that scale of call
it distortions of that essence.
We can never achieve the essence, but I like to compare myself to an ideal
that I have in my mind of how I would like to speak the language, and it's
tied up with all of the associations that I have with that language, with
their culture, with their history, with the sound of the language.
So none of that can be discouraging to me.
I don't compare myself to others who are better than I am.
For example, I have done videos with, for example, uh, Luca Lampariello who
speaks just about every language better than I do, doesn't discourage me.
I still enjoy having that interaction with him in different languages
because I enjoy the languages, I enjoy being involved in engaging with that,
however imperfectly, with that model of that language, whether it be Italian or
Russian or any other language, you know.
It's a bit like say, golf or a model or some person who has a perfect physique.
Uh, it can be enjoyable to look at a perfect physique.
It can be enjoyable to watch Rory McElroy swing the golf club.
I know that I could spend hours in the gym and I would never achieve
the physique, for example, that Rory McElroy has nor his swing.
But it's still somewhat inspirational to look at that.
So if we use that model as an inspiration rather than to say, gee,
why can't I do as well as , as he can.
And so the same applies to in the case of Luca Lampariello, who speaks a number of
foreign languages much better than I do.
I don't say, gee, I'd like to be like him.
I just enjoy participating with him in a conversation.
When I compare, I compare myself to the model and I compare
myself to where I was before.
And so I can look at a YouTube video of myself speaking some other language,
and I can identify my mistakes, and to some extent, it makes me more
aware of where my mistakes are,
and it, in any case, inspires me to improve.
It doesn't make me feel discouraged.
So let's look at some situations of comparison.
We often hear, you know, about sort of classroom situations where the teacher
asks the students to read out loud or asks the students comprehension questions
about a story they've just read.
And of course there's a wide range of abilities in any classroom, and
I think some of the weaker students are discouraged because they can't
do as well as some of the others.
Possibly some of the better students become impatient, having
to wait for their weaker classmates to do whatever the task is.
So that's kind of an unfortunate situation.
If I were a teacher, I would never ask students to read
out loud in the classroom.
I wouldn't ask them to perform in front of their peers because kids
can be a little bit mean in that way.
And I think too, that negative attitudes towards a language that may be created
in the classroom, kids don't wanna perform because they don't wanna look
like they're trying, because they don't wanna put out, so then they develop a
negative attitude towards the language.
And that might be part of the reason why in Canada, kids do very
poorly in what we call, you know, basic French in the school system.
On the other hand, kids that go to French immersion where everything
is taught in French to Anglophones, they acquire a fairly good level of
comprehension, uh, even though they don't speak necessarily all that well.
But whenever I've met, uh, at a graduate of our immersion program here in say,
Vancouver, where they don't have a lot of opportunity to speak, they're very
happy to trot out their French, however sort of imperfect, less than perfect,
less than ideal their pronunciation is, they're proud of their French.
They have a positive attitude towards their French, so they don't compare
themselves to perhaps, uh, you know, uh, someone in Quebec who's a native
speaker, but they have a positive attitude towards the language that
they have been absorbing, sort of naturally through immersion.
And so I think, again, if the goal of comparison is to compare yourself
to someone else who might be better than you, that can be discouraging.
On the other hand, if you are comparing yourself to a model that you know you
won't attain, but which is an inspiration to you because you admire the language,
you like the language, you like the fact that you're learning the language, those
are all positive ways to compare yourself.
And I've had my grandson tell me that if he had more opportunity to
speak, if he were to go to Quebec very quickly, he would improve.
And that's a, a prospect that he would look forward to because
he has a positive attitude.
Similarly, when I've been at polyglot conferences and I see Polyglots
who are much better than I am.
Or even if I see someone who is not a native speaker of say, English
or French or Chinese or whatever, speaking well in that language,
even with mistakes, I admire them.
So I find that inspirational.
It's not necessarily that I want to compare myself to them, but
I'm inspired by their example.
And that's why when I make a video in a different language and inevitably on
the internet, there's gonna be someone come along, not just with me, but
with everyone else that does videos in different languages and criticize,
whether with justification or not.
You know, Steve is not as good as Luca.
Okay.
I'm not as good.
It doesn't discourage me in any way.
And so we should.
Avoid listening to criticisms from others.
I think it's very important that we compare ourselves to ourselves,
compare ourselves to where we were six months ago, compare ourselves
to where we'd like to get to.
All of that would inspire me, but someone randomly criticizing my level
in a certain language or saying that I'm not as good as someone else,
doesn't discourage me in the slightest.
That takes me to another example, which is politics.
You may know that we have an election right now in Canada, and the two
leading contenders are Mark Carney of the Liberal Party and Pierre
Poilievre of the Conservative Party.
Now, Pierre Poilievre speaks much better French than Mark Carney, no question.
Mark Carney was asked the other day on French television how he would
rate his own French, and he said he thinks he's a six out of 10, and he
was asked what he thinks he can achieve if he is elected the Prime Minister
after four years, where might he be?
And he said, I think I can get to eight out 10 maybe.
Pierre Poilievre is already at eight out of 10.
He has a French name, but he is not a, a francophone, not a native speaker.
So he is already at eight, out 10.
And the other day I listened to, uh, Mark Carney on tv and he had quite
a few glaring errors of grammar of pronunciation in his French, but he's
out there every day using his French
on national television in Canada, which is 20% French speaking.
And I don't think it hurts 'em because, you know, I'm reminded of,
of the sort of rules of rhetoric in ancient Greece and Rome.
The first thing you have to do is establish trust that people believe in
you, that you have some credibility, and second of all, you have to be likable.
I think that applies to all forms of communication and learning.
Another language is in order to be able to communicate in that language, and
if you can come across as credible, trustworthy, and likable in that language,
you have already gone most of the way.
And I think Mark Carney has been able to achieve that.
I. Even though by the demanding standards of us Polyglots, he might
only be somewhere between B1 and B2.
I think he has a good vocabulary and, and good comprehension, but his
control of grammar and pronunciation would certainly not be considered,
uh, you know, all that high.
But he is performing.
He is communicating whether he makes mistakes on grammar,
subjunctive, verb endings.
It's not harming his ability to communicate.
And so comparing him to Pierre Poilievre, I don't think that comparison is necessary
to his disadvantage, but time will tell.
Along the same lines, there is a personality on English language
television, I would say in both English and French television in
Canada, whose name is Chantal Hébert.
Hébert speaks English with a fairly heavy French accent, but she's extremely fluent.
I live in both environments, French and English.
Uh, I am troubled by the fact that I, as a francophone, I am getting a much
better sense of the leaders, to their willingness to expose themselves to
scrutiny, uh, than they are in English.
She's very clever.
Her political analysis I find very, you know, to the point and, uh, she
has a usually a great deal of insight.
And so her accent in her English is no obstacle.
Now, should she compare herself to Justin Trudeau or Jean Charest who
speak both languages essentially without accent, I don't think that's helpful.
So that comparison, I'm sure she doesn't bother with it.
She communicates in the language and she's satisfied.
So in the end, I think comparison can work for us if it's part of our overall
motivation, part of our enjoyment of the language, the key to making comparison
work for you in language learning is to avoid third party comparisons.
Don't let other people judge your language, and that includes, don't
let the fear of tests or even a concern about test results affect
your enjoyment of the language.
You are your best judge of where you are in the language.
You compare yourself to where you were six months before, you compare yourself
through even watching yourself on YouTube
if you make a video of yourself speaking the language, or you have a sense of how
well you're able to read, how well you're able to understand, the comparison should
be, where are you today, where were you?
And somewhere in the background is that sense of the ideal of that
language, which doesn't exist anywhere.
Uh, even if we're talking specific languages like French, there
is theoretically this platonic ideal of the French Canadian French
platonic ideal of Parisian French.
No one speaks that ideal, and you certainly won't achieve that ideal.
You are a, I wouldn't say distorted, but less than perfect version of that ideal,
which in fact doesn't exist, but it still is in the back of my mind where I would
like to be ideally and where I am today and where I was six months ago, and those
are the kinds of comparisons that I make.
And that I find motivating, and if you can motivate yourself,
have a positive attitude towards the language, you will improve.
Thank you for listening.
Bye for now.
