Daniel Tammet and language learning

[RoboticusMusic]

right when he said pi is 2 point something I knew this video was not for me.

[Moh1Z]

I'm sorry, but how can you not know even the first number of pi? I've never been particularly interested in math, but I can't NOT remember 3.1415926535 from upper secondary school maths class.

[lingosteve]

@Moh1Z Knowledge has to be useful, or provide me with enjoyment. I no doubt know the value of pi when I was in school. Today this is of no use to me, so it is gone. Sorry but good riddance I say.

[Moh1Z]

@lingosteve I didn't claim it should have to be useful for you, I was just wondering how could one forget. But I guess I'm still using it enough to keep it in memory.

[MrBooshibonton]

@lingosteve pi may come in handy sometime, though. and wouldn't you be more happy knowing pi if if should ever come of use? if not for math, then at least for a bite :D. har

[jacquisaysno]

@Moh1Z He's like Sherlock Holmes; he only remembers things that are useful to him.

[obscureandincognito]

Steve,

In your video you said,

"..In our maths at school pi was two point I don't know what it is.."

The first few digits, as you could easily have checked, are 3.14159265358979..

Daniel Tammet recited the first 22514 digits of pi from memory.

Couldn't you at least make the effort to get the first one right? :)

I'm sure someone has mentioned this already but I think it's worth repeating.

[hellophoenix]

I've lived in the US for 24 years and for the last 15 years, I only had American friends and sopke only English but I am still learning new words. Last month, I was with a friend of mine in a small town and we stayed in a B&B near a train station. So, my friend said let's turn on the fan,,,,,then he said ,,,,"white noise",,,,,,and that was the first time I've heard that word.

[Kanguruo]

I think it is important to start learning an easy language like Esperanto before wanting to tackle difficult ones like Russian or Japanese. First it is important to realise that languages work in different ways. Furthermore learning a language is extremely time consuming, so with a language like Esperanto you can achieve fluency in a reasonable amount of time.

[Solstisol]

Well there's the English pronunciation which I described, and there's the French which Steve (labouriously) uses here. Which English pronunciation do you know, if not the one I mentioned?

I know no other, unless it's a 'hybrid'..?

Also, BOTH the words 'savant' AND 'idiot' came straight from French, but it is more natural to pronounce them in English with English phonemes, just like other 'French' words such as 'table', 'chance', 'minute' and; your own favourite; 'second'.

Best wishes,

Solsti.

[Solstisol]

Well, Tammet was provided with full learning resources for Icelandic, a week's stay in the country with no agenda but to study it (immersion), a full-time personal Icelandic language tutor, and the high motivation of a challenge to be ready for a TV interview, which he managed only okay.

I think most people could achieve this given those conditions, don't you think?

His French is good, but not near native fluency, despite years living there.

Yes, he's brilliant with numbers, but not languages.

[rickjones53]

Dorogoy Steve, ya soglasen s toboy. Voobshche nye vozmozhno uchit'se novomy yazyku v techeniye odnoy nedeli. Dyelo v tom chto, Gospodin Tammet immeyet osobenniy talant. Kak ty uzhe skazal, on savant. Tem nye myenyeye, vosmozhno uchitse novomy yazyku bystyeye, chem obychno. Teknika vsyegda vazhna.

Poskol'ko ty mozhesh khorosho govorit i ponimat' po russki tol'ko posle tryoch godax eto velikolepno. Tvoy sledudyushchiy slovanskiy yazyk budyet gorazdo lyeche.

[tlokken]

Never heard he learned German and talk at a show in German television.

( But i've hear he learned ISLANDIC in few days ( maby it was 7 days ) and then it was intervjued on islandic tvshow in islandic...

[DutchKings]

Dear Steve,

I appreciate your enthusiasm and I support the spread of positive messages.

I would however suggest you to recite the facts correctly:

1) Daniel recited pi to 22.500 decimals, not a few hunderds.

2) He learned Icelandic in 7 days, not German, a distinctly different language.

3) pi is 3,14, not 2 'something'.

Mixing up simple facts in the start of your talk raises the idea that more inaccuracies might be part of it.

Just an idea.

Stay positive and much luck to you,

Peace

[paisleyyama]

Although I find ppl like Tammet amazing, I don`t think the avg. person can look to someone like him for lang. learning tips. His mind is so beyond the avg. person. Our thinking just doesn`t even come close to resembling his. For ex, he naturally experiences #s while the avg. person just sees a #. Therefore the way he learns, compiles, & processes info. is just completely dif. than the avg. person. What`s natural for him isn`t for the avg person.

[edwardtang1977]

I speak 4 languages but aborbed them in an international enviornment since childhood...I speak 3 languages to my family...but I am not smart ...everyone in my school does speak 3 languages at least..so I think the enviornment affects your learning. As children, we absorb whatever that comes without much thought.

[NorseRonin]

I read his article from der Spiegel. He asked a question that made me laugh.

"Wie klein muss ein Löffel sein, damit er ein Löffelchen ist?"

(how small must a spoon be to be considered a "small spoon").

Of course you need to know a little German to know that when you add "chen" as a suffix to a word it makes it a diminutive word. "Brüderchen" = little brother.

[Chezrocksall]

Hey everybody, I am a polyglot like Steve is and I am fluent in 37 languages and am almost fluent in French. Please check my profile to see what languages I speak first, then if you want any lessons of any of my languages, please reply to this comment mentioning the language you want to learn and me to teach and help you.  Thanks.

[cdm0014]

im studying icelandic no way could i learn it in one week! lol

[jazzmatik]

Very interesting discussion!

[AzureDrag0n1]

I think word association work for some things with how they sound. Like Blub Blub Blub sounds soft and round. Zink Zink Zink sounds sharp and hard.

It is helpful to learn words in a language that have these sort of associations first imo. At least for me when I learned English they where the first words that I could understand easily. Other than the words that where similar to their Polish counterparts.

I feel getting that foothold on a language is important.

[BantamAbyss]

really, never?? try out the word Phlegm.... ya, it sounds EXACTLY as it should.... i know, totally relative, but try to be more open minded.... btw, he learned icelandish in a week, and that interview is still up on the tube. The reason he can associate numbers with colors is abnormal, most folks can't... o well. oh ya, and for you nit-pickers, assume all the grammatical mishaps in this paragraph are intentional, this was written in my leisure and i don't think it necessary on youtube.

[funnyav]

In English, because i already know so many words, I *can* guess [usually] the meaning of a word OUT of context just by its sound. Usually longer, latin based words.

[PaulyPlz]

Interesting comparison between your own language learning and his, however a lot of your analysis of his understanding of words, ability to pick up and produce words and his synesthesia that you "can't do" or "don't buy" is, to me, pointless. He's a savant. He didn't write the book to tell other people that they can do exactly what he does in his time period - he wants people to know that the capacity to hold all that information is there, it just takes longer.

[evelioto]

..... Вы не более, нежели лживый, кто делает деньги из дураков, которые доступ к вашей "программы", ничего не было изобретено вами, потому что, вы дилетант, кто пользуется Интернетом, чтобы заработать деньги, а другие люди кто знает меньше, чем попасть в вашу ловушку Ваше

[cantabri99]

it´s pretty unfeasible to know all words of any language, even of your own mother tongue except you are a savant or sthg extremely extraordinary like that.

though i understand pretty much in english there will always be words i have never heard before, especially those deriving from the latin language.

and english has a whole range of them.

[opaulo9]

Hello (Lingo)Steve, good vid. I also w like to know the link to the German interwiev w D.Tammet. Thanks in advance. B.regards, Pa(u)l

[pecacanada]

How i can find that interview on german?You sad that you gonna put it on your blog but i can't  find it...helpppppppppppp...:):):):­)And does he had some interviews in some other languages that i can see?

[MarcusCV]

7.07 - 8.18 YES I AGREE WITH YOU 100% and then the part at the end where you have to enjoy it...the best part of learning a language is learning something new..as it brings you that much closer to the native speakers, not to mention the culture...so jealous of daniel tammet though..but at the same time maybe through the process of making more mistakes and learning the language over a longer period of time makes one appreciate it that much more.

[Jazzper79]

Very interesting. I have noticed that Daniel Tammet talks a lot about emotion and intuition -- I really think he remembers a lot emotionally, where most people remember kognitively. For example I need to hear a word a lot of times to remember it - but I don't think Daniel need that - I think his brain connects what he is hearing emotionally somehow and therefore it goes fast. I am only guessing, just an observation.

Jesper, Denmark

[dantemustkill]

i think you're right.

[recluso617]

Until today it's said that there are some 100 Savants who are known. I mean 2009 and this is still a 'new' topic for scientists ...

Not too long ago those people were held in jail or in a 'nut house' ...

Now imagine you have to find out on your own what's going on like i had to, and almost nobody is able, or even worst: willed to help you.

Since my epilepsy in childhood, i 'suffer' from what is called savantism. As well on my own, i discovered my personal mental blackbox

o_O

[MetalHeart8787]

yeah to challenge myself i studied

Icelandic & i know abou 27 words

But its difficult & I won't become fluent in it.

[Solstisol]

Hello Steve.

Thanks for the information.

You should remember that just because you speak French, it's not necessary (or desirable) to pronounce words borrowed from French with a modern French pronunciation.

"Savant", in English, rhymes with "extant" or "dead ant".

It's just like the word "table"; it's now English and pronunced as such.

Keep up the good work.

Solsti.

[oeppevnvpeb]

@Solstisol i've never heard anyone in english pronounce the word savant the way you say. anyway, i think steve pronounced it in a more french way because he intended it to mean "wise man", as in french, rather than "retard", which is what most people take it to mean in english.

[Solstisol]

@oeppevnvpeb

Hang on a seck... You say you don't know the English pronunciation of the word, yet you presume to know what it means when pronounced in this way?

How could you know the meaning of a word that you... erm... don't know?

Also, if Steve intended to say "wise man", then he would probably have said "wise man".

(Maybe you would have understood Steve's comment better if it had been written completely in French, then.

I'm sure that could be arranged, actually.)

Best wishes,

Solsti.

[Solstisol]

Oops, I've just looked at the clip, as my first comment was from months ago.

I now see (and remember) that we are discussing only the speech in the clip, and not the written content.

This led to a small inconsistency in my comment, easily corrected.

I therefore now correct part of the part in brackets of my last comment:

"(...Steve's commentary better if it had been said completely in French...)"

Best wishes,

Solsti.

[oeppevnvpeb]

@Solstisol ok, i'll give you a "seck". i didn't say i didn't know the english pronunciation of "savant", i said you didn't. as proof that steve meant "wise man" or "sage" you need only consult a dictionary. he clearly spoke the word, and only that word, a la francaise, likely because in english the word "savant" most often follows the word "idiot", which daniel tammet most certainly is not.

[shimmeringreflection]

Excellent point you touched on, Steve. "I want to get away from my native language, culture -- project myself as Russian, Japanese" etc.

One simply must identify with being a native of that language. This sends a powerful message to your subconscious that you must improve until you match the belief.

I've found people who never reach native level identify too strongly with being from their mother country.

If you're learning Japanese, be Japanese! And be like a baby, mimic in every way!

[lingosteve]

This is a point that I feel strongly about but am reluctant to stress because I have no proof. I feel that one's own cultural weightlessness, while learning another language, is one of the most important characteristics of a good language learner, much more important than "talent" or " an ear for languages". It is the key, in my view, but it is difficult to explain or prove. The teachers think that classroom instruction is the key and poo learners think it is some talent they do not have.

[MrBooshibonton]

@lingosteve correct, i think very much. however, if you find (as i also may) that one's being able to learn another language relies so strongly upon one's ability to attain 'cultural weightlessness', then why shouldn't you employ this thought structure and see how it works out for you? or have you already? possibly lying to yourself could have some benefit. let's, we shall incorporate this mode of study into our way of thinking - for the while... have run out of characters - bye. :D

[volokk]

why don't you go suck a dick, you envious loser.

[zocurtis]

Audio is very low.

[acromel]

I'd be a bit wary of drawing too many parallels from David. I've seen a documentary about him (there are links on my favourites) and there's no doubt that he's wired differently to most of us. Whether he's `better' or it's due to his childhood epilepsy I don't know, but probably not a very useful comparison. Fascinating though. And his learning conversational Icelandic in a week was remarkable. He was interviewed on Icelandic television so I doubt there was any subterfuge!

[rsherfan]

Amazing... btw Steve I'm wondering if you stumbled upon Daniel Tammet from an email I sent last month? He learned Icelandic in 1 week also! Until we can tap the enormous potential of the human brain, we mortals must do things the hard way I guess!

[lingosteve]

Actually Irene and Vera mentioned him recently on the LingQ forum.

[sk8tertater]

He did pretty good from what I saw!

I think Tammet is just one of those people that was born with the ability to use more than 10% of his brain lol

[qzchris]

I highly doubt Daniel Tammet reached the ability to read literature and the like in one week. As you said, how could a person possibly be exposed to that many words? He probably attained enough to converse comfortably in general situations.

As for his associations to numbers and sounds, this is a result of a fascination neurological condition he has called "synesthesia". It's worth reading up about on Wikipedia, and I know he goes into some depth about it in his first book.