5 techniques to speak any language | Sid Efromovich | TEDxUpperEastSide — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Transcriber: Наталья Овчинникова Reviewer: Adrienne Lin
2. 0:04I speak seven languages.
3. 0:06As soon as people find out about that,
4. 0:09what I'm most often asked --
5. 0:11other than for my phone number --
6. 0:13is: "How did you do it?
7. 0:16How did you go about learning all these different languages?"
8. 0:20Well, today I'm going to share with you some answers.
9. 0:24So my phone number is 212...
10. 0:26(Laughter)
11. 0:27I'm just kidding.
12. 0:28See, I was raised as a polyglot.
13. 0:30And by the time I turned 18,
14. 0:33I could speak already four different languages.
15. 0:36And then for the subsequent three years,
16. 0:38I learned three additional languages.
17. 0:40It's about those 3 years that I want to talk about.
18. 0:43Because my language acquisition process
19. 0:46was very different from that of my peers,
20. 0:48in that it was never of these stressful,
21. 0:51strenuous, difficult, seemingly impossible tasks,
22. 0:54but rather something enjoyable, fun, exciting.
23. 0:58I loved it, every single moment of it.
24. 1:02And I want to share with you
25. 1:05why, what was it that made it so special.
26. 1:08See, I did have a head start,
27. 1:10in that I did have these four languages that I spoke ahead of time.
28. 1:14But there were also these 5 techniques,
29. 1:175 skills if you will, that I use
30. 1:20that made the language learning process so much easier.
31. 1:23And it's about those 5 techniques
32. 1:25that I want to talk about.
33. 1:27So let's dig right in.
34. 1:29And for the first one,
35. 1:31the first thing that we've got to do
36. 1:33is to take a very deep breath.
37. 1:41And relax.
38. 1:43And the reason for it is because our entire lives,
39. 1:46we're taught how to do things right.
40. 1:49From the moment we were born we're taught
41. 1:51what things we should do, things we shouldn't do,
42. 1:54and how to do things properly.
43. 1:57Well, when it comes to language learning,
44. 1:59the golden rule of language learning,
45. 2:01the most important thing,
46. 2:04is to get things wrong,
47. 2:07to make mistakes,
48. 2:09and that is the first rule.
49. 2:11Let me explain to you why.
50. 2:12See, when we've known languages,
51. 2:14we know a whole collection of sounds
52. 2:17and a whole collection of structures,
53. 2:19which combined make what I like to call --
54. 2:22and for the purpose of this presentation --
55. 2:24our "'language database."
56. 2:26And our language database will contain
57. 2:28all the sounds and structures that we know.
58. 2:30However, there is a whole family of sounds and structures
59. 2:33that are beyond our database.
60. 2:36And for us to be able to embark on those and to be able to explore those,
61. 2:41there is nothing within our database,
62. 2:44nothing within our knowledge
63. 2:46that will tell us when we're getting the structures right,
64. 2:49nothing to tell us when that sound is precise.
65. 2:52Let's say we're going to explore this one specific sound.
66. 2:56There is nothing in our database.
67. 2:58When we say it, we could say it perfectly,
68. 3:01but in our minds, it will sound like a mistake.
69. 3:05So you know that queasy feeling, that insecure thing,
70. 3:09when we feel like we're doing something wrong?
71. 3:13That is the trigger that you need to look for.
72. 3:15Because that is the signal that tells you that you're going beyond your database
73. 3:21and that you're allowing yourself to explore the realm of the new language.
74. 3:25Let me show you how this works in practice.
75. 3:27Let's say, we're going to go and learn the word "door" in Spanish.
76. 3:31So, the word "door" in Spanish is "Puerta."
77. 3:33So, for "Puerta" we've got a few sounds that exist in English.
78. 3:36So, the "Pu," "e," and "ta."
79. 3:38However, when it comes to the "r,"
80. 3:42that sound is not in our database.
81. 3:45The "RR."
82. 3:46The rolled "r" does not exist in the English sound database.
83. 3:52And it's a little bit on the outside.
84. 3:55So, if we allowed ourselves
85. 3:58to bridge through our database, and to really break through
86. 4:01and to make the mistake,
87. 4:02we could make sounds like the "RR."
88. 4:04But instead, what sometimes happens
89. 4:06is that we get the closest relative of it that is within the database,
90. 4:10and that is the "ah-er" sound.
91. 4:12(Laughter)
92. 4:14And that "ah-er" sound
93. 4:16makes something that sounds like "pue-er-rta,"
94. 4:18which doesn't mean a thing in Spanish,
95. 4:22and actually doesn't sound too charming.
96. 4:26And it doesn't tell you too much.
97. 4:28So, for the first technique,
98. 4:30allow yourself to make that mistake,
99. 4:33so that sounds like "Puerta" can come out.
100. 4:36And now let's go to the second one.
101. 4:38For the second one,
102. 4:39I'm going to need some of your collaboration.
103. 4:41We're going to read these four beautiful words.
104. 4:45And on the count of three.
105. 4:46So let's start with the first one, on the count of three: one, two, three.
106. 4:50(Audience) Mao. SE: "Mao," perfect.
107. 4:52The second one: one, two, three. (Audience:) Coco.
108. 4:54SE: Perfect. Third one. One, two, three.
109. 4:56(Audience) Cocao. SE: Perfect.
110. 4:58And the fourth one. One, two, three.
111. 5:01(Silence)
112. 5:03Oh.
113. 5:06Let me show you what happened when we did this.
114. 5:08We get theses four words
115. 5:11and we put them through a sort of American English filter.
116. 5:14And we get something looks kind of like this.
117. 5:19And I'll tell you the results of that.
118. 5:21So for the first one "Mão,"
119. 5:24which means "hand" in Portuguese,
120. 5:26we put it through the filter, we get "Mao."
121. 5:29(Laughter)
122. 5:30For the second one we get "coco,"
123. 5:32which is "coconut" in Portuguese,
124. 5:34or "cocô," which means "poop."
125. 5:38We put through the filter, we get a warm cup of cocoa.
126. 5:41(Laughter)
127. 5:42And for the fourth one,
128. 5:44we have "huo,"
129. 5:45which means "fire" in Chinese.
130. 5:48And we get --
131. 5:49if you're feeling really creative, maybe a dude doing karate...
132. 5:52(Laughter)
133. 5:53But anyway,
134. 5:55these don't tell you much about how these things are pronounced.
135. 5:59And if you think it's only one way,
136. 6:01only if you're going from English to a different language,
137. 6:04think about non-native speakers.
138. 6:06And try to explain to someone
139. 6:07that this [though] is pronounced "though,"
140. 6:09and that this [thought] is pronounced "thought."
141. 6:12And even though they look almost identical,
142. 6:14they have nothing to do with one another.
143. 6:17Or try to explain to them that
144. 6:18this [enough] is "enough"
145. 6:20and this [enuf] is just simply wrong.
146. 6:22See, there is nothing useful about using that foreign alphabet,
147. 6:29when you're trying to learn a language.
148. 6:31Why? Because it will give you wrong signals.
149. 6:34So what is the second technique?
150. 6:36Scrap it.
151. 6:37Scrap the foreign alphabet.
152. 6:40Let me give you an alternative of how you can go about this.
153. 6:44This is a Brazilian currency,
154. 6:46and it spelled like this.
155. 6:48On the count of three, can we all say the name of the currency. 1, 2, 3.
156. 6:51(Audience) Real.
157. 6:53SE: We have some people who know the spelling.
158. 6:56Yeah, "re-al," for the most part.
159. 6:58And as useful as this might seem, it doesn't tell you a single thing.
160. 7:03And when you're speaking Portuguese, "re-al" means nothing.
161. 7:07Let me give you an alternative.
162. 7:08See, in Portuguese, the way that you say "real" is "heou."
163. 7:13So let me teach you how to say it.
164. 7:16So on the count of three, let's say "he."
165. 7:19So it's "hey" without the "y" sound.
166. 7:21So, one, two, three -- "he."
167. 7:23(Audience) HE. SE: Perfect.
168. 7:25And now let's say "ou."
169. 7:26It's like "ouch", but without the "ch" sound,
170. 7:28so it's "ou." One, two, three,
171. 7:31(Audience) OU. SE: Perfect.
172. 7:32So, "HE."
173. 7:33(Audience) HE.
174. 7:35SE: "OU."
175. 7:36(Audience:) OU.
176. 7:37SE: "HE." (Audience:) HE.
177. 7:38SE: "OU." (Audience:) OU.
178. 7:40SE: "HE-OU," HEOU.
179. 7:43(Audience) HE-OU. SE: Perfect.
180. 7:46Now you all sound like passionate Brazilian capitalists.
181. 7:49(Laughter)
182. 7:51So why would we go and use something that looks like this,
183. 7:58that looks like "real,"
184. 8:00when instead you can use something
185. 8:02that looks like this and gives you so much more information
186. 8:05about how to say something in a foreign language.
187. 8:08And that puts us in a really good spot
188. 8:10because at this point we allowed ourselves
189. 8:12to break through our database and to make mistakes,
190. 8:15to go into that uncharted territory of a new language.
191. 8:19And then, we figured out how to take notations
192. 8:22in a way that the information is actually meaningful.
193. 8:25But then how can we test it?
194. 8:28And that's where technique number 3 comes in.
195. 8:31Technique number 3 is about finding a stickler.
196. 8:35So finding someone who's detail-oriented
197. 8:37and won't let you to get away with the mistakes.
198. 8:40And more than finding someone who is really that person,
199. 8:43the guru for the language,
200. 8:45it's more about establishing the right sort of relationship.
201. 8:49Relationship with someone,
202. 8:51where they'll correct you, and feel comfortable correcting you
203. 8:54and making sure that you're getting to that spot you wanted in a language.
204. 8:57But at the same time,
205. 8:59someone who will encourage you
206. 9:00to get things wrong and to make those mistakes in the first place.
207. 9:04And sticklers could be your teacher,
208. 9:06it could be your tutor, friend,
209. 9:08it could be someone on Skype or on Craigslist; it doesn't matter.
210. 9:12You can find sticklers all over the place,
211. 9:14and with technology, it becomes a lot easier find them.
212. 9:17And then it's time to practice.
213. 9:21And for practicing, we've got the fourth technique.
214. 9:24See, I always thought I had this thing
215. 9:26that was a little bit of "Sid craziness" that I did,
216. 9:30and then I realized how useful it was.
217. 9:32I always did what I like to call "Shower Conversations."
218. 9:38And shower conversations are exactly what they sound like.
219. 9:42When I was learning a new language,
220. 9:44I would stay in the shower for a few minutes.
221. 9:46I would remember having all these discussions;
222. 9:48I remember when I was learning Chinese,
223. 9:50and I would haggle and try to get two yen more,
224. 9:53to get that wonderful dumpling, and getting the discount;
225. 9:57or I would go to Roma
226. 9:59and I'd ask for directions to the best "piazza."
227. 10:02It was amazing.
228. 10:04The beautiful thing about the shower conversation
229. 10:06is that it allows you to find wherever you have a gap in your knowledge,
230. 10:10because you're having a conversation on both ends.
231. 10:14For example, it's easy to ask for directions, how about receiving them?
232. 10:18Or even better, giving directions.
233. 10:20Well, the shower conversation forces you to have both side of the conversation.
234. 10:24And you don't need to have them in the shower.
235. 10:27Another wonderful thing is that you can have them anywhere.
236. 10:30You can have them in the shower, in your apartment,
237. 10:32walking down in the streets, in the subway,
238. 10:35and seriously, if you're in the subway,
239. 10:38speaking to yourself in a foreign language in New York,
240. 10:40you'll fit right in.
241. 10:42You're fine.
242. 10:43It's great,
243. 10:44because you don't depend on anything or anyone to get your practice,
244. 10:49and I did this for years.
245. 10:51And later on I found that professional athletes do, too.
246. 10:54Michael Phelps is known to visualize every single one of his races,
247. 10:58several times over, before jumping in water.
248. 11:01Worked great for him,
249. 11:02and it works great for me, too,
250. 11:04so it would work for you as well.
251. 11:07And now let's go to using the language.
252. 11:10Because up to now, it's great,
253. 11:12we've figured out how to do all these things,
254. 11:14and that puts us in a really good position to use the language,
255. 11:18and for that I recommend you find a conversation buddy.
256. 11:22To find a conversation buddy,
257. 11:24I recommend you follow what I call "The Buddy Formula."
258. 11:29And that is a way that you can make sure
259. 11:31that your incentives are always aligned to use the new language.
260. 11:37So for that is,
261. 11:38the target language should be your best language in common.
262. 11:42Why?
263. 11:44If you're anything like me,
264. 11:45you like to learn languages,
265. 11:47so that you can communicate with more people,
266. 11:50so that you can reach out
267. 11:52and understand a little bit more about their brains and hearts.
268. 11:56And so, if we try to talk to someone in a foreign language
269. 11:59that both of us don't do really well, when we could be speaking English,
270. 12:03or whatever language you're more comfortable with as a pair,
271. 12:06odds are that you're going to revert to that language that is easier.
272. 12:10So I recommend you to find someone where your best language in common
273. 12:13is your target language.
274. 12:15And if you can't find one locally, try technology.
275. 12:18Or if you can travel, that would be perfect.
276. 12:21There's a problem with that, and I realize it,
277. 12:24because it's difficult to find someone who fits that profile exactly.
278. 12:27But I've got good news.
279. 12:29And I've found that out when I was work,
280. 12:32and one of my colleagues, he's a linguist, too,
281. 12:34he speaks a ton of languages,
282. 12:37and our best language in common was definitely English.
283. 12:41Our second best language in common: definitely French.
284. 12:44But we always spoke in German to each other in the office.
285. 12:49Why was that?
286. 12:51It was because there were people in the office who spoke English;
287. 12:54there were people in the office who spoke French.
288. 12:57But we could talk about Friday and Saturday night in German,
289. 13:00and nobody had any idea what we were talking about.
290. 13:03So it can also be your best secret language in common.
291. 13:07(Laughter)
292. 13:09And it becomes such a convenient tool.
293. 13:11You can have it with your friends
294. 13:13and you get the sense of privacy in public.
295. 13:16No matter where you are, you can have a private conversation.
296. 13:19So, let's recap.
297. 13:21With the first technique
298. 13:22we allow ourselves to break through the barrier of language
299. 13:26and to explore the uncharted territory
300. 13:29of sounds and structures outside our database.
301. 13:31Then with the second one,
302. 13:33we learn how to take notes
303. 13:35and how to make sure that we can take notes
304. 13:37in a way that we can replicate those sounds and structures later.
305. 13:41Then we can check the mistakes by finding a stickler.
306. 13:44Fourth: Practice.
307. 13:46Have shower conversations, wherever you want to be.
308. 13:49And then, follow the Buddy Formula,
309. 13:51and you can find somebody to practice your language with.
310. 13:54And after that,
311. 13:56(Italian) we get to a truly beautiful place,
312. 14:00(German) where learning languages
313. 14:02is no longer something stressful, difficult and boring,
314. 14:06(Spanish) but rather a world of possibilities.
315. 14:09A world, where each of us has the opportunity to explore
316. 14:12(French) new cultures and all the different ways of living.
317. 14:17(Br. Portuguese) The greatest reward from this,
318. 14:19is that we end up learning more about ourselves.
319. 14:23(Greek) As of now, it may all sound Greek for you.
320. 14:27But that doesn't mean that you can't learn it.
321. 14:32(Mandarin Chinese) "A journey of a thousand miles
322. 14:34begins with the first step."
323. 14:35(English) And this is not a problem, because now you know how to walk.
324. 14:40Thank you.
325. 14:42(Applause)