I am an introvert and I hate the suggestions like go talk to strangers who speak the language. That would be so stressful and tiring. I am glad to see someone make a video that recognizes that strategy won't work with some people. Finding native speaker friends is what's working best for me.
(continued) Thinking and talking to myself is something I do all the time, and it has been helpful to me I think. I also find that if I do a lot of really intensive listening, or listen to the same audio book or watch the same movie over and over, I start to actually hear it in my head to the point that I can use it actively and automatically. I only do this with material I really enjoy though, of course!
I've been watching a bunch of your videos, and I think you're one of my favorite people on Youtube. I really appreciate this one especially, being quite an introvert myself. It's so encouraging to see someone affirm that being introverted is not a "problem"! Some people seem to think introverts can't be good language learners, but I don't think that's true at all. We just need to learn in our own way, as you say.
@FrapaneseGirl Thank you for your kind words. I make this particular video because one youtuber insisted that inside every introvert is an extrovert trying to break out - and we just have to "get out more". It offended me, since being an introvert isn't a defect, it is just the way we are. I hope my video is a small step towards others accepting introvertism as being just as good and just as healthy as extrovertism.
AM I INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT??? I love having time to just my self, so that way i can read, write story's, work out, or just do what ever because its relaxing. I also love going out and chilling with friends and going out to parties or whatever social event is going on... Soo I'm not sure what i would be :/
This is excellent- I definitely fall into the Introvert category, although I enjoy interacting with people (including strangers!). I'm also a bit shy, but not exclusively. I find your comments on active and passive vocabulary very interesting. I have very good passive vocabulary, but really struggle with my spoken Czech. I don't feel I have the thinking patterns yet, so will be putting your advice into practice!
Thank you, excellent video and this is something I have been thinking about for a while. I am an introvert learning Spanish living in Spain. Yes it is a question mark for me too in conclusion and I will need to think about this more.
Superb video. I myself am on the introvert side and have for years been trying to force myself to "get out there", but gradually come to the conclusion that it's pointless to force myself to do something I don't enjoy in the slightest. I don't disdain social interaction, far from it, I'm just not dependent upon it. The biggest problem in any educational system is the failure to recognize that different people benefit from different learning methods. This video shows a lot of respect and insight.
Very clever!! I love psychoanalysis, and I especially enjoyed how you've applied it to language-learners. Hey, and no wonder why I hate cocktail parties so much!! (No joke!) And wow, yes, I am quite outgoing, but I do get bored in perfunctory social rituals. Don't get me wrong, I'll chat up anyone and everyone, but I don't regard it as augmenting my quality of life any. You explained this concept marvelously :D
It's funny you've uploaded this topic because it's something I think about a lot. I am actually an introvert AND I'm shy. I also prefer working on my own - but not because of my shyness, but because I just work better independently.
I'm glad you understand introverts. That is one reason why I don't practice languages like I should. I am pretty shy but once I talk to someone, it's not so bad haha :s
Extroverts sound very unhealthy to me... Their mental stability must be quite shaky if they can't bare to be alone. Perhaps they should get counseling of a sort.
There has been some research done on talking to yourself in a foreign language, as far as I can remember it helps with vocabulary and obviously makes you notice the gap but it doesn not improve your active language overall.
I know you said not to say this (sorry!) but I will be swinging towards "get over shyness" as a solution, because I was definitely an introvert for most of my life, but have learned to enjoy the company of others in recent years by simply forcing myself into social situations and learning to appreciate it. This has been by far the greatest contribution to my language learning success.
I also find people that many ppl exaggerate their introversion quite a lot.
I'm not against talking to yourself (internal monologue, conversation with yourself, or simulating conversation with someone else); on the contrary, I'm all for it, and believe an internal monologue is essential to making the language a part of your life and your personality, which is an important step on the way to advanced fluency. I'm just in favor of some kind of interaction because it stimulates the mind and introduces new topics, and with them new questions and answers about the language.
Anyway, an interesting idea might be having penpals. This is basically a 'relayed' conversation with a single partner. One on one internet chatting would be a more inmediate version of this. Also, you could have 'relayed conversations', basically penpals, but with audio recordings or videos instead of letters or emails. Basically, I would recommend anything that stimulated two-way conversation about interesting and stimulating topics without inconveniencing or stressing out either partner.
I find it hard to classify myself on this scale. I get a huge kick out of one-on-one interaction. The larger the group gets (and this starts at three people including me), the less interested I am. As long as it's just me and someone else, I greatly enjoy talking to people, even complete strangers.
Thank you for the video. You made some good points on introverts (I'm one) and it gave me a new perspective. :)
I think introverts like me should spend most of their time listening and reading (preferably listening-reading (L-R)) and once passive fluency is there, it is really "easy" to activate it, by just talking to yourself or trying to translate things. The rest follows by itself as long as the passive foundation is there.
I agree, I think it's an excellent topic (especially since I'm also more on the introvert side). The idea of "going out and talk with people" just for the sake of doing it sounds discouraging to me :P My personnal tip is: write things! poems are easy to do, but short stories are fun too. It allows you to activate your vocabulary and it makes something you can usually be proud of! Plus, it gets you searching about the different nuances of a lot of words ^^
@clarinini I definitely agree with you, but I would suggest you to get a free account on lang-8 . com, if you haven't got one. There you can write all what you want and get a correction from a native speaker in a couple of hours. I find it very stimulating because it forces you to think/write but also to reconsider things you didn't know were errors.
@taiglander this first sounded like a product placement comment, but I'll be giving it a try :) The concept looks great. I suppose it's actually a good idea to let people correct you before you get friend with them. Foreign-language friends tend to be too permissive over small mistakes! It's great to keep motivation up, but I'd like to get some challenge as well.
@clarinini haha, sorry for that! It definitely looks like spam ;-) Anyway, I like its concept because you can write about anything without bothering whether people will find it boring or not (like in chats): small talk or reflections about literature are the same for the others, just texts to be corrected. Sometimes it's even annoying how many mistakes they can find out in your creations ;-)
I am an introvert and I hate the suggestions like go talk to strangers who speak the language. That would be so stressful and tiring. I am glad to see someone make a video that recognizes that strategy won't work with some people. Finding native speaker friends is what's working best for me.
ratyoke 1 month ago in playlist Uploaded videos
i'm a huge introvert.
zakyzeek 2 months ago
(continued) Thinking and talking to myself is something I do all the time, and it has been helpful to me I think. I also find that if I do a lot of really intensive listening, or listen to the same audio book or watch the same movie over and over, I start to actually hear it in my head to the point that I can use it actively and automatically. I only do this with material I really enjoy though, of course!
FrapaneseGirl 9 months ago
I've been watching a bunch of your videos, and I think you're one of my favorite people on Youtube. I really appreciate this one especially, being quite an introvert myself. It's so encouraging to see someone affirm that being introverted is not a "problem"! Some people seem to think introverts can't be good language learners, but I don't think that's true at all. We just need to learn in our own way, as you say.
FrapaneseGirl 9 months ago
@FrapaneseGirl Thank you for your kind words. I make this particular video because one youtuber insisted that inside every introvert is an extrovert trying to break out - and we just have to "get out more". It offended me, since being an introvert isn't a defect, it is just the way we are. I hope my video is a small step towards others accepting introvertism as being just as good and just as healthy as extrovertism.
FluentCzech 9 months ago
AM I INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT??? I love having time to just my self, so that way i can read, write story's, work out, or just do what ever because its relaxing. I also love going out and chilling with friends and going out to parties or whatever social event is going on... Soo I'm not sure what i would be :/
mrcreamsickell 11 months ago
@mrcreamsickell depends, which one bores you more easily?
zombiekidcrazy 10 months ago
nice video.. I actually had a presentation about this topic and it's been very helpful
alhassanediallo02 1 year ago
Comment removed
Ashlenka 1 year ago
This is excellent- I definitely fall into the Introvert category, although I enjoy interacting with people (including strangers!). I'm also a bit shy, but not exclusively. I find your comments on active and passive vocabulary very interesting. I have very good passive vocabulary, but really struggle with my spoken Czech. I don't feel I have the thinking patterns yet, so will be putting your advice into practice!
Ashlenka 1 year ago
Thank you, excellent video and this is something I have been thinking about for a while. I am an introvert learning Spanish living in Spain. Yes it is a question mark for me too in conclusion and I will need to think about this more.
SuperNewera1 1 year ago
I am an both, introvert and extrovert. you have very good topics in your videos.
NaomiChambers 1 year ago
Superb video. I myself am on the introvert side and have for years been trying to force myself to "get out there", but gradually come to the conclusion that it's pointless to force myself to do something I don't enjoy in the slightest. I don't disdain social interaction, far from it, I'm just not dependent upon it. The biggest problem in any educational system is the failure to recognize that different people benefit from different learning methods. This video shows a lot of respect and insight.
kokorodokoro 1 year ago
Very clever!! I love psychoanalysis, and I especially enjoyed how you've applied it to language-learners. Hey, and no wonder why I hate cocktail parties so much!! (No joke!) And wow, yes, I am quite outgoing, but I do get bored in perfunctory social rituals. Don't get me wrong, I'll chat up anyone and everyone, but I don't regard it as augmenting my quality of life any. You explained this concept marvelously :D
katrudy7 1 year ago
Thank you!
nigaldo8 1 year ago
It's funny you've uploaded this topic because it's something I think about a lot. I am actually an introvert AND I'm shy. I also prefer working on my own - but not because of my shyness, but because I just work better independently.
BrokenClocks08 1 year ago
I'm glad you understand introverts. That is one reason why I don't practice languages like I should. I am pretty shy but once I talk to someone, it's not so bad haha :s
WaterFor3st 1 year ago
Nicely put video, as ever, Anthony. I like that you wrote introVERTs and extroVERTs in green on the first board - was that on purpose? ;)
Torbyrne 1 year ago
@Torbyrne How could it be on purpose Richard? As you know only too well, I don't speak welsh ;-)
FluentCzech 1 year ago
Extroverts sound very unhealthy to me... Their mental stability must be quite shaky if they can't bare to be alone. Perhaps they should get counseling of a sort.
YouStoleMyTube 1 year ago 3
There has been some research done on talking to yourself in a foreign language, as far as I can remember it helps with vocabulary and obviously makes you notice the gap but it doesn not improve your active language overall.
mednos 1 year ago
@mednos That is certainly very interesting. Do you possibly have a link to a paper on this that you could send to me?
FluentCzech 1 year ago
Thank you for very interesting videos !!!! I'm definitely extrovert !!!!!!!! I love to chat with people in any language I know =)
loki2504 1 year ago
very intelligent talk! no surprise, I see you have a Ph.D.
alkantre 1 year ago
Excellent factual video Anthony!
I know you said not to say this (sorry!) but I will be swinging towards "get over shyness" as a solution, because I was definitely an introvert for most of my life, but have learned to enjoy the company of others in recent years by simply forcing myself into social situations and learning to appreciate it. This has been by far the greatest contribution to my language learning success.
I also find people that many ppl exaggerate their introversion quite a lot.
irishpolyglot 1 year ago
I'm not against talking to yourself (internal monologue, conversation with yourself, or simulating conversation with someone else); on the contrary, I'm all for it, and believe an internal monologue is essential to making the language a part of your life and your personality, which is an important step on the way to advanced fluency. I'm just in favor of some kind of interaction because it stimulates the mind and introduces new topics, and with them new questions and answers about the language.
getreallanguage 1 year ago
Anyway, an interesting idea might be having penpals. This is basically a 'relayed' conversation with a single partner. One on one internet chatting would be a more inmediate version of this. Also, you could have 'relayed conversations', basically penpals, but with audio recordings or videos instead of letters or emails. Basically, I would recommend anything that stimulated two-way conversation about interesting and stimulating topics without inconveniencing or stressing out either partner.
getreallanguage 1 year ago
I find it hard to classify myself on this scale. I get a huge kick out of one-on-one interaction. The larger the group gets (and this starts at three people including me), the less interested I am. As long as it's just me and someone else, I greatly enjoy talking to people, even complete strangers.
getreallanguage 1 year ago
Thank you for the video. You made some good points on introverts (I'm one) and it gave me a new perspective. :)
I think introverts like me should spend most of their time listening and reading (preferably listening-reading (L-R)) and once passive fluency is there, it is really "easy" to activate it, by just talking to yourself or trying to translate things. The rest follows by itself as long as the passive foundation is there.
shanikuzai 1 year ago
I agree, I think it's an excellent topic (especially since I'm also more on the introvert side). The idea of "going out and talk with people" just for the sake of doing it sounds discouraging to me :P My personnal tip is: write things! poems are easy to do, but short stories are fun too. It allows you to activate your vocabulary and it makes something you can usually be proud of! Plus, it gets you searching about the different nuances of a lot of words ^^
clarinini 1 year ago
@clarinini I definitely agree with you, but I would suggest you to get a free account on lang-8 . com, if you haven't got one. There you can write all what you want and get a correction from a native speaker in a couple of hours. I find it very stimulating because it forces you to think/write but also to reconsider things you didn't know were errors.
taiglander 1 year ago
@taiglander this first sounded like a product placement comment, but I'll be giving it a try :) The concept looks great. I suppose it's actually a good idea to let people correct you before you get friend with them. Foreign-language friends tend to be too permissive over small mistakes! It's great to keep motivation up, but I'd like to get some challenge as well.
clarinini 1 year ago
@clarinini haha, sorry for that! It definitely looks like spam ;-) Anyway, I like its concept because you can write about anything without bothering whether people will find it boring or not (like in chats): small talk or reflections about literature are the same for the others, just texts to be corrected. Sometimes it's even annoying how many mistakes they can find out in your creations ;-)
taiglander 1 year ago