I recently recorded a new podcast and YouTube video answering questions submitted by my social media followers. The topics/questions I addressed were:
What should I do when I understand what someone says, but I can’t reply?
I’ve been learning a language for 5 years and I’m not interested in learning it anymore, but I feel like I need to continue due to sunk-cost fallacy.
How do I learn an endangered or indigenous language? There are almost no resources to learn.
Do you think it's a good idea for someone to study two languages at the same time?
Click one of the buttons below to watch/listen to the full episode, or keep reading below for a summary of my answers to each question.
Question #1: What should I do when I understand what someone says, but I can’t reply back?
With language learning, it’s inevitable that you’ll hear things you don’t understand and/or don’t know how to reply to. In fact, until you have an advanced level, you won’t be able to understand and/or reply to up to 99% percent of what you hear. This is normal. Embrace the struggle.
After you freeze up in the middle of a conversation, reflect back on the experience. What you could have said differently? Is there anything you didn't say that you wish you did? Learn from what went wrong so that you are better off the next time you're in that situation.
It also might be helpful to find someone you’re comfortable talking to and, initially, only speak with them. When you feel ready, start talking to a 2nd person person until you feel comfortable with them too. Repeat this process until the anxiety of speaking to new people slowly subsides. Hiring private tutors on https://italki.com is an effective and affordable way to find speaking partners. You can also consider using a language exchange app such as HelloTalk or Tandem.
Question #2: I’ve been learning a language for 5 years and I’m not interested in learning it anymore, but I feel like I need to continue due to sunk-cost fallacy.
First of all, ask yourself why you aren’t interested in learning the language anymore. Dig into that and you might be able to re-ignite your interest. For example, let’s say you broke up with your Mexican boyfriend/girlfriend last month. If the primary reason you started learning Spanish was to speak with your partner and their family, it should come as no surprise that you no longer want to learn Spanish. In such a situation, you would need to find a new reason to learn Spanish in order to motivate yourself.
As for sunk-cost fallacy, try this: pick a benchmark that you think is an acceptable endpoint. You might, for instance, choose a certain grade you’d like to receive on a standardized exam that measures your proficiency level (e.g, DELF for French, DELE for Spanish, HSK or HSKK for Mandarin, JLPT for Japanese, IELTS for English.) Once you reach the endpoint you selected for yourself, stop learning the language. Seeing as you could study a language for a lifetime, there isn’t a finish line unless you draw one yourself.
Question #3: How do I learn an endangered or indigenous language? There are almost no resources to learn.
I’ve been working on a Blackfoot language revitalization project since May, 2021. Blackfoot is an indigenous language spoken in southern Alberta and northern Montana. Here are a few tips I can share based on my experience so far:
Interact with first-language speakers as often as you can and practice speaking with them. It will also be helpful to ask them questions about the language in question. Questions you may ask are:
How do I pronounce________?
How do you say_________?
What’s the difference between _______(word or phrase 1) and _______ (word or phrase 2)?
Scour the Internet for resources. Look on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook groups, or Instagram. Go on Amazon to see if you can find any books. Search the App Store and the Google Play store for apps that teach the target language. Never stop seeking out learning materials and use every resource you come across.
Question #4: Do you think it's a good idea for someone to study two languages at the same time?
Absolutely! Go for it. It will be hard, but worth it. It will be hard because:
You’ll need to find the time.
You’ll need to become more organized.
You’ll need to become more disciplined.
You’ll realize that strategies that worked for one language don’t work for the other and that will discourage you. You’ll need to learn how to work through that.
You’ll need to figure out how to learn both languages in an interesting and engaging way.
Additional challenges are likely to arise. When they do, repeat the following mantra: this is what hard feels like. Even though you knew prior to starting that it would be difficult, you probably didn’t realize what hard would feel like. That’s why saying this to yourself is helpful.
In the end, it’s entirely possible that you end up dropping one language. Don’t beat yourself up if this happens. It won’t have been wasted time as long as you establish why you dropped it and apply those lessons to your next venture.
Want to Watch/Listen to the Full Podcast?
Click here to watch to the podcast on YouTube.
Click here to to listen to the podcast on Spotify.