How to Learn English - Be a lazy language learner

[lashachak]

sorry, could u write what your blog is?

[lingosteve]

@lashachak The Linguist on Language

[Trinivalts]

Lazy (non)learning is how I know as much russian as I do, from TV and not that I was particularly interested, but during my lifetime, mostly childhood, watching stuff along with parents I learned some that is at least partially useful. Learned cyrillic on my own a few years ago, didn't care much about it initially, but now it's embedded and I don't have as much trouble reading as I did. All this has been very lazy for me cuz i wasn't putting alot of effort into memorization, it just came slowly.

[ignac27]

Wie lange brauchst du eine Sprache zu erlernen!1 2 oder3 Jahre!????

[ignac27]

Das gefehlt mir!Du hast Recht! du bist sehr gut!

[erdal0]

@ignac27 du bist hitla

[russianpushkin2]

как я говорю по-русский ? /watch?v=jlI9Lx032pU

[marckami]

I find your videos highly motivating.

[bar06]

I applaud you, Steve. What a great video! You always come up with very helpful topics. Your tips for lazy and non-lazy people are very practical and productive. Thank you for covering both personality sides. I'll keep changing some of my habits, so I can become the best student I can be.

[armajab]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP AND YOUR ADVICES. I CONSIDER MY SELF AS A LAZY LEARNER, I HAVE SPEND A LOT OF TIME GOING TO THE SCHOOL TO LEARN LANGUAGES AND AS A RESULT A FEEL REALLY DISAPOINTED OF MY LEARNIG, BECAUSE I AM SUPOSED TO SPEAK WELL ENGLISH OR FRENCH AND I DON´T FEEL ENOUGH ABLE TO DO IT.

[jolandacaterina]

Im so happy to be a lazy language learner.

;-)

[JohnRater]

You aren't demotivating you're REALISTIC. Sometimes the best way to teach somebody something is with a nice kick in the balls.

[mrlasns973]

if one knows english that will be all you need anyway english will be the world language anyway

[mrlasns973]

Instead of learning a language perhaps sign language

[oeppevnvpeb]

pharmaceutical motivation is the best!

[mikeshepherd]

This man certainly likes to hear his own voice. Unfortunately, he uses 100 words where 20 will do.

[h3lblad3]

@mikeshepherd

Easy to learn where he got it from, that was the person I had to be in high school and college.

[ReverendNovember]

Anyone recognize the alliterative title?

[oeppevnvpeb]

@ReverendNovember no one.

[SubjectAlpha100]

I plan to learn several languages in the future, but for now I'm working with Spanish and Norwegian. When should I begin learning other languages? Should I wait until I am proficient at Spanish and Norwegian before learning any other language?

[Ilikelimpbizkit]

I did so well in my first year of French that I skipped a year and went on to French 3, which is still a pretty easy class. I was wondering if reading a French book and translating words that I don't understand is a good method of extraneous study? I understand most of the words in this book, but there are still several that are beyond me.

[lingosteve]

@Ilikelimpbizkit Reading is always good, especially if you like what you are reading.

[inkstersco]

@lingosteve

I find that it's a good way of expanding vocabulary.

[cmalazo]

I like your vids, Steve.

[paisleyyama]

That`s funny that someone would be offended by this. I guess even lang. learning becomes politically correct! But I think the #1 thing for a lazy learner like myself is 1st one has to clearly define a motivation for learning. W/no motivation there`s little to no effort made. If the motivation is "it would be neat to know another lang" then probably the effort will be slight. The better the motivation the better the effort. So find a good motivation to learn as the first thing.

[StupidWhiteGuys]

Thanks for the wise words steve.

[LearnArabicwithMaha]

Nice Videos! please visit my language channel!

[robertogan]

I like it when you inform us, but I also like it when you go off on something. I know what you mean because I am annoyed by many theories or set ways of thinking that go unchallenged. I can feel your frustration, and it makes me feel good to know that someone else feels the same way about various areas of language learning.

[TheRainman19]

... Your videos are an inspiration. I know youre probably really busy but it would be amazing if we could be in touch since i`m setting out on this venture without any support at home. Anyway, thanks again for the reply. :)

[TheRainman19]

lingq offers only one language at a time. I could only select spanish. How do I choose another language?

[lingosteve]

@TheRainman19 Just go to top left of screen and select another language.

[TheRainman19]

@TheRainman19 I wasnt expecting a reply so soon. Thank you! I`m 22 years old and a native of India. I`ve always wanted to learn foreign languages and personally felt that I had a natural bent. But I never got the time. I just finished a degree and have decided to immerse myself. My target languages from the two groups for now are spanish and german, chinese and japanese. I`ll be joining the instituto de hispania shortly. I hope I havnt grown too old to learn to speak them fluently. Your videos..

[silverfoxidm]

These are great topics you come up with whether "Lazy Language Learner" or "Digital Altruism" it is very interesting and you are a great example of what language learning does which has made you a very interesting person to listen to day to day. Thank you very much and I hope you might continue to do these as often as you can I surely enjoy them and it is helping me a lot re: how to look at things and approach language learning.

[LearningRussian1984]

Excellent advice and very true! Thanks a lot!!!

[banayioti]

nobody cared? are you nuts your a legend steve!

[Wakako77]

I would be intersted in hearing what you think about using music (with words of course) to learn a language.

[skaf4etata]

Thank you ....from Bulgaria , Thank you , Bless ya .

[CheeseBubbles]

I like your videos alot. you should make videos teaching languages, talking to us some basic stuff and giving translations. I love learning like that.

[Autodidact40324]

Anything but demotivating, Mr. Kaufmann! Laziness drives innovation and progress, as new ways are invented to simplify otherwise difficult tasks.

[tomispev02]

I feel motivated now. :-)

[Peterthechinamen]

You motivate me Steve.

[SunSwordSoul]

Bonjour Steve!

Je suis autodidacte en français et j'aime bien votre videos. Une fois, j'ai travaillé très fort pour apprendre la langue mais maintenant, je le fait pour m'amuser. Merci beaucoup!

[27yrs]

Nice video, So all you need to learn a language is time.

[lingosteve]

yup

[Albesa81]

@27yrs Not only:you also need to love what you learn.As Steve says,if you really fall in love with what you do,you'll somehow find the time to do it.

[anne241163]

Nice video Steve!

[saxquiz]

Many people believe that they need to actively be doing something to learn a language. My experience is that language learning can be a passive activity. Steve, you say that you mostly listen in order to learn a language. I am the same way. I don't think speaking is of much value until you are very advance in the language. Listening is 90% of learning languages. It's where you learn the rhythm, where words begin and end, accent, and it's how you learned your first language.

[surrected4526]

Ah, but I am often lazy when it comes to learning languages, but always find the time to listen everyday and think in my target languages. At least this way I stay with the languages. When I am in a lazy mode, progress is slow; yet remains steady. Thanks for the wonderful video!

[LazyLanguageLearner]

Thank you Steve. I took your advice. =)

[skeptikulo]

Thanks for this video Steve. I confess, I'm a lazy learner, but I try to study how much I can before get bored. However, to us, Brazilians, it is harder to study a non-famous language, because there are no materials in Portuguese. We have to study the languages thought English, and this is terrible. I had enough English in my life, I can't stand it anymore... ahhh...

[getlostyoumoron]

yep, it's a fact, i'm a lazy language learner... i am fluent in only two, but i know the general idea behind two others... just can't be bothered working harder over language ^^"

but you're right... we should just find time :P

and it's true, listening does wonders.

Thanks for the vid ^^

[gottsein234]

i constantly lisson to german music neue deutsche härte ftw and other music i dont try to grind it i got a long way to go but its fun and i get hooked on the lyrics but im geting alittle distracted by a russian band called slot right now lol

[andeepollard]

Not demotivating at all Steve, I'm a very lazy learner in most things I do; not just language learning.

But even being lazy I get 2 hours of listening everyday just from driving. I find it unbelievable that people can whinge about not having the time - we all have down-time where we're alone.. I flick through grammar books in the toilet.. I'm sure I'm not the only one that reads in the loo ;-)

[xxxqwertxxx]

I happen to be a lazy language learner, and I didn't actually start learning French until I accepted that, and only studied in ways that are fun to me. Thanks for all you do, Steve! ^_^

[usenetposts]

You're sayong quite a few of the same things as I do, and it's good to see corroboration from other linguists saying the same thing. Some people say the opposite, but I think they haven't thought it through.

[Only4Russian]

Splendid! You're so right about it all!

[hkobb7]

Hey,

Is it a bad idea to try to learn two languages at once? I'm taking the mandatory Spanish at our school, and yet I prefer German, which isn't offered. Would my Spanish suffer if I tried to learn German at the same time?

Note: I am in my first year of Spanish.

[lingosteve]

Not at all. Your Spanish would improve since your language learning ability would improve. Why not join LingQ and do both.

[hkobb7]

Okay, thank you sir. I may start reading some simple German literature, as well as start listening to recordings of beginner German conversations.

Thank you for the advice!

[zocurtis]

Hey Steve,

Do you write on the How-To-Learn-Any-Language forum. It is a very good forum.

[davidcurtin1]

Hi steve lazy bones learner here thanks for ur video, I think the main problem for me in language learning is finding the right learning method that is both fun and effective . Im giving Lingq a try as It seems that you as an avid language learner have developed a system that simply works if applied properly and at the end of the day you only get out of it what you put in.

[flashatizer]

Not at all demotivating. I am a hard language learner and it motivated me even more to not get to the lazy days. I have days where I don't want to listen or study my Chinese but I do it because I know it will benefit me.

[yahags]

Eile mit Weile!

[anouhida]

Hi Steve,

I am lazy in all my habits but once I insist on doing something or I'm really willing to learn (a language for example) I become the most active learner on earth. I think that the fact of loving a language and the desire to learn it is fair enough to make someone learn that language. I think also that there's no strategy to follow when learning a language.

Love makes motivation and thus promotes learning.

[rsherfan]

Hi Steve. I used to be very motivated and I would push myself to extremes, but after a few months that went away. I kept shifting towards lazy habits and my progress was similar.

To test out the lazy theory, I started a brand new language about 6 weeks ago. I didn't try to remember anything, just thumbing through a version of "Who Is She" in this language, and listening to the audio. Slowly but surely the words just start to stick- with almost no effort. Just repetition. It's great!

[acromel]

"I don't need much encouragement"

Then consider this to be encouragement. More please, Sir. Rant away :o)

By demotivational did they mean that they were `offended' ;o)

I certainly consider myself to be lazy, in that I'm always looking to find the most effective and efficient methods. I think this is quite healthy.

Perhaps some people still believe that learning has to be an ordeal and if it seems like fun then they're cheating somehow - that it isn't `real' learning?

[FDVISIONS]

Steve, please don' t stop posting these videos. I have been watching you and your advice has helped me out a lot. I am a native Spanish speaker going now for my third language (Portuguese). We need more people like you who not only has an enormous intellect when it comes to language learning, but who also shares his knowledge with us.

Thank you so much for doing so.

Franklin

[mediteight]

Neat video - curious that some could find the recommendations demotivational!

Playing devil's advocate, I'd have to suggest that sometimes, to get something done, that you don't think you'll enjoy, you really have to gee yourself up and prepare for it - otherwise you simply won't do it at all. If your trying to do this and someone says - don't worry about it you can do it without much effort anyway - it could *possibly* demotivate you a little...

[teddythefrency]

What do you think about listening audio books and MP3/4 in many language all a day long?

I don't think if I am a lazy learner, certainly not a lazy listener, but I have got no time to be a good practitioner.

Thank you very much for your videos.

J'apprécie vos vidéos depuis mon Béarn, la passion des langues me suit depuis mes collines viticoles du Jurançonnais.

Je ne suis pas paresseux mais je manque de temps, seule solution: le mp3.

[lingosteve]

teddy,

Vive le mp3. That little machine has revolutionized language learning. I listen everywhere. It is my portable lesson in Russian, Italian, Portuguese and one day Bearnais. I supplement with reading and words and phrase study at LingQ, but only so that I can bet back to listening. I also read books, and then upload a list of words into the LingQ vocab section.