Ideas for learning languages from some Ted talks

This post is a reall brief one just to summarise the main points from 2 TEDx talks about language learning. You can watch the talks at the links below, but these super brief summaries are here to help if you don't have much time :-) Notice there is some overlap in the ideas of the two speakers, Sid Efromovich and Chris Lonsdale. My (few) comments are in [] in italics. Let us all know your own thoughts in the comments below!

Sid Efromovich
Rule 1: Get things wrong - make mistakes.
Rule 2: Use own scheme to record phonology [Learning IPA is better really]
Rule 3: Find a stickler who won't let you get away with mistakes. They need to feel comfortable correcting you.
Rule 4: Shower conversations. He points out that you can have these conversations anywhere. You practice both sides of a conversation which helps with issues like knowing how to ask a question but not know how to answer it. If you find you don't know how to answer, you will figure it out and then practice again.
Rule 5: Buddy formula - find people to speak with.


Chris Lonsdale - become fluent in any language in 6 months

Myths:

• Talent is important.
• Immersion is necessary.

5 Principles:

1) Attention, meaning, relevance and memory are interconnected in important ways
2) Use your language as a tool to communicate from Day 1
3) When you first understand the message then you will unconsciously acquire the language.
4) Language learning is not about accumulating knowledge - it's a physiological process. If your face doesn't hurt at the end of a session of practicing speaking, you're not doing it right!
5) Psycho-physiological state matters: Being in a happy, relaxed state matters. You need to learn to tolerate ambiguity!

7 Actions:

1) Listen a lot. Brain soaking. Put yourself in a context to hear tonnes of the languages to hear patterns and rhythms.
2) Get the action before you get the words. Read the body language to understand as much as possible before you know everything. Use patterns you already know from known language.
3) Get mixing. 10 verbs * 10 adjectives * 10 nouns = 1000 sentences.
4) Focus on the core. This means focusing on high-frequency content. 1000 words in English covers 85% of daily conversation, 3000 words covers 98% of daily conversation.
Week 1 - the toolbox: "What is this?", "How do you say?", "I don't understand", "Can you repeat that please?" - all in your target language.
Week 2 - "you, that, me, give, hot"
Week 3 - Glue words: "although, but, therefore". At that point you're talking.
5) Get yourself a language parent. They will use simple language with you and put up with your faults to help you move on. NO SPOUSES!
Rule 1: They will work hard to understand you even if you are way off-target.
Rule 2: Does not correct your mistakes.
Rule 3: Confirms understanding by using correct language.
Rule 4: Uses words the learner knows.
6) Copy the face. You have to get the muscles working right. You need to hear how it feels and feel how it sounds to have a feedback loop. If you can watch a native speaker and subconsciously absorb the facial patterns.
7) Direct connect to mental images. Don't make lists of words to connect to words in your native language - connect to pictures. [Not a bad idea for those few hundred concepts that have clear images but I've always found that (a) there are tonnes of words that are necessary for basic reading and listening, let alone an adult ability to express oneself, that are just basically impossible to use images for. Fire is an easy one to visualise, but what about showing the distinction between such simple concepts as "tears" and "crying" or "distraught" or even "grief", and I often find myself trying to remember between the multiple possible meanings of an image, which pretty much defeats the purpose, and (b) because this worked so well for Rosetta Stone. Of course, this is probably generally intended for beginners and those concepts should be a bit easier to distinguish although there can be confusion amongst images for even simple things like the prepositions. The suggestion for more advanced learners who prefer not to use their own language for initial support is to write definitions for new words in terms of words you already know in the target language. The flaw here is that it might not lead to much precision but it's an option. When I get a chance again to learn a new language I will try some of these ideas for sure, although it sometimes seems like trying to build an arch using only the stones already in the arch as opposed to using support stones first and then removing them one by one as it becomes possible :-) ].