Lýdia Machová: The secrets of learning a new language
Lýdia Machová: Siri ya kujifunza lugha mpya
Lýdia Machová teaches people how they can learn any language by themselves. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
to learn a new language every two years,
they always ask me,
my answer would be,
love learning languages."
happy with that answer.
years trying to learn even one language,
one language after another.
the secret of polyglots,
so much faster than other people?
like me and find that out.
of language lovers
to practice their languages.
organized all around the world,
about the methods that they use.
is to start speaking from day one.
from a travel phrasebook
with them right away.
even 200 mistakes a day,
based on the feedback.
even need to travel a lot today,
conversations with native speakers
your living room, using websites.
method to learn Russian.
Russian speakers on Skype as friends,
a chat window with one of them
into a text window with another person,
"I'm fine, thank you, and how are you?"
back to the first person,
have a conversation with each other
of these conversations
the Russian conversation usually starts.
by imitating sounds of the language,
most frequent words of the language,
by reading about the grammar.
approaches to learning languages.
they learn a language,
of speaking several languages fluently.
telling me about their methods,
the language-learning process.
were talking about language learning
their colorful grammar charts
about learning vocabulary using apps,
based on recipes in a foreign language.
it's something that they personally enjoy.
how I learn languages myself.
I was bored with the text in the textbook.
to the train station. Right?
my favorite book as a child,
of "Harry Potter" and started reading,
almost anything at the beginning,
because I loved the book,
to follow it almost without any problems.
when I was learning German.
my favorite sitcom, in German,
it was all just gibberish.
and another one started,
because it's "Friends."
I love it so much.
started to make sense.
after meeting other polyglots.
to learning languages.
how to enjoy the process,
from a boring school subject
which you don't mind doing every day.
words down on paper,
to boring textbook material,
or in podcasts for any language.
to native speakers right away,
in the comfort of your room,
how your day has been,
picture from your phone
to your imaginary friend.
it's available to anyone
into their own hands.
helped me realize
to find enjoyment
in a foreign language,
three more principles.
effective methods.
for a test tomorrow,
in your short-term memory
want to keep words long term,
in the course of a few days repeatedly
on this system such as Anki or Memrise,
in a notebook using the Goldlist method,
with many polyglots.
effective and what is available out there,
YouTube channels and websites
it will most probably work for you too.
really has time to learn a language today.
if we just plan a bit ahead.
than you normally do?
to revise some vocabulary.
on your way to work while driving?
to get some listening experience.
without even planning that extra time,
on our way to work
to create a plan in the learning.
every Tuesday and Thursday
while having breakfast."
a part of your everyday life.
a language fluently,
a language within two months,
a visible improvement in two months,
in a way that you enjoy.
that motivates us more
in German when watching "Friends."
two more episodes,
of understanding, these little victories,
where I could use the language
a language every two years.
which you can use systematically
in a way which you enjoy,
languages within months, not years.
to enjoy language learning,
that you polyglots
and most of us aren't?"
I haven't told you about Benny and Lucas.
and five years of German at school.
at all when graduating.
he didn't have the language gene
for his way of learning languages,
and getting feedback from them,
have a conversation in 10 languages.
at school for 10 years.
learn that language, or any language.
to experiment with methods,
conversations with strangers.
11 languages fluently.
every single day.
languages by themselves,
for five, 10, even 20 years,
their learning into their own hands,
more effective methods,
their own progress,
that they were missing all their lives.
to learn a language
thinking it's too difficult
just one enjoyable method away
from becoming a polyglot.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lýdia Machová - Language mentorLýdia Machová teaches people how they can learn any language by themselves.
Why you should listen
Lýdia Machová has learned nine languages without ever living abroad or in a multilingual environment. She maintains seven of them at a fluent level, and she usually learns a new one every two years. After meeting dozens of polyglots, or people who speak a lot of languages, she now shares the principles of language learning with the world as a language mentor.
Machová was the main organizer of the world's biggest polyglot event, the Polyglot Gathering in Bratislava, Slovakia, in 2017 and 2018. She holds a PhD in translation studies and previously worked as a professional conference interpreter. She is based in Slovakia but travels often on her mission to help people learn languages in their own ideal way.
Lýdia Machová | Speaker | TED.com