Language Hacking tips from Benny the Irish polyglot at TBEX Vancouver

[silent0watcher]

This was in Vancouver?

So I guess you went over to Mr Kaufman's house for tea and scones after giving the talk, right?

(Nah, I'm only only kiddin!)

[definingpossible]

Hey there! Can I ask how old you are? You said you only spoke english when you were 21 and you know 8 languages and learn them within a few months. I was just wondering how long it took you to learn these languages all together. 

[katrudy7]

hey, wow! Congratulations, first* :) And thanks for sharing your conference with us---as always, great work!

[ConlangFan]

Wish I could learn languages faster, I just don't have good resources.

[irishpolyglot]

@TheSwissWatch Haha, why did you write "heart" three times??

I said COUCHSURFING. ;)

[lanuevagranada]

Also.... you inspire me man...

[lanuevagranada]

French people are pricks!

[therealnathanthorpe]

@lanuevagranada what are you basing that on?

[5Language]

Great talk Benny. I hope you got in touch with Steve Kaufmann whilst you were there ^_^!

[alkantre]

Marhaba, nasIlsInIs? Evet, turkce dilimiz cok guzel!

Dankon por substreki tiom trafe la avantagxon de Esperanto! Certe, belega parolado!

[firefoxx298]

Ha, I absolutely love the "Jack Sparrow" method! Finding the word to say is something I find myself having with English, more often than not, and its something I've picked up for my own language learning endeavours!

[Xeniathar]

Congratulations on your first time speaking in front of such an audience! You did great at it. You made the woman blush when you hugged her. ^^

Looking forward to seeing how you do at Turkish.

[Japcat21]

Hey Benny,

How would you apply using the "Music method" with a tonal language like Chinese? I know you studied Thai, which is also a tonal language. So did you use the Music method in your time in Thailand?

[irishpolyglot]

@Japcat21 The music method is good for learning the actual word pronunciations and sounds, so you could use that to get you half way with a tonal language. After that you'd add a different type of musicality. You have to remember that the Chinese, Thais etc. sing too ;) I look forward to finding out how to sing a tonal language some day! If you search my blog you'll find two posts about the tones of Thai.

[csayumi8]

@Japcat21 u listen to the chinese music

[kcor4]

Another informative video. Thanks.

But Benny, you're always talking about how anyone can accomplish what you do in three months. I think it would be awesome if, for your next language, you took a complete novice with you. You'd have no experience with the language and neither would they.

Document that on video and if it were to work I think it would do wonders for your exposure and your theories. People would really take notice.

Just a suggestion. Peace out, son.

[irishpolyglot]

@kcor4 If someone were to pay me for that, then it would be feasible and realistic. Otherwise after three months I'll have personally not achieved anything. Simply proving myself is a superficial reason to do it.

I'll be sharing many case studies on the blog so you can see that I'm not the only one doing this ;) My recent interview with two au-pairs is one example.

[TheRiobezerko]

You did great speaking in front of a large audience for the first time, Benny.

[irishpolyglot]

@TheRiobezerko Thanks! I was nervous before it, but it turned out OK!

[CreateYourWorldBooks]

Great comment about making your own song to remember words. Language sticks much better with music. Ode to imperfection!

[irishpolyglot]

@CreateYourWorldBooks Well said!

[Alyxification]

OMG thankyou for telling me about the ANKI program i have looked all over for something like it. So thank you very much and excellent tips!!!!! You are a very nice speaker and i applaud you and your language learning quests your an inspiration :)

[irishpolyglot]

@Alyxification Aw thanks! Anki is handy! If you search for "spaced repetition" on my blog you'll see a post I wrote about it.

[Rognalf]

This should be mandatory viewing in all language classes.

I learned french for 5 years in school. I'm still unable to express myself, or even understand very basic things.

Conversly, last autumn, I decided to spend this semester from february to july in Peru. I didn't know spanish before, but just a couple months of self-motivated learning, and following Benny's advice, and I've been talking to people, learning new skills, and making great friends, all in spanish!

[irishpolyglot]

@Rognalf Thanks for the kind words! :) Great to see my advice helping! :D Keep up the good work!!

[deathbladeaaron]

hey,

i saw the part about watching simpsons in Spanish, but do you watch it with subtitles or without? because i hear mixed feelings about whether to watch with or without subs.

Thanks, excellent talk btw

[irishpolyglot]

@deathbladeaaron I watched it with subtitles IN SPANISH, so I could visually associate words with the sounds. I didn't use subtitles in English as this would lead to lazily reading those and ignoring the Spanish almost entirely.

[PaulSLambeth]

@irishpolyglot That's precisely why I was so happy when I stumbled across two long series of videos with Icelandic subtitles after a lot of searching. My listening comprehension is nowhere near good enough and subtitles in the language help dramatically. I only wish people had subtitles in front of them when they spoke.

[Dacud]

Hey Benny,

I think that why many people like what you do, is because you are doing things that most people are dreaming to do. That's travelling, making friends, and learning (and be able to learn) new languages. In this video i noticed that you have been able to create a life where you are able in to continue these activities, and that is great. How do you do that?

I mean most people can't afford to travel that much (financially).

Do you have a sponsor?

[irishpolyglot]

@Dacud I don't have a sponsor, and I earn much less money than pretty much everyone I meet who works a 9-5 job. Travelling is not expensive, and I'm MUCH more frugal than most people who waste most of their money. At the moment I earn from my website directly from sales of the Language Hacking Guide, but I travelled for several years getting work on location. If you read through my site you'll see more about my story. In particular search for a post "do you need to be rich to travel the world"

[Dacud]

@irishpolyglot Bedankt voor je eerlijke reactie!