“Dr. Stephen Krashen on Language Learning” — Notes
Why do I keep failing at learning languages? Dr. Krashen shares some answers after 40 years of research
“We can only acquire a language, we cannot learn it.”
— Dr. Krashen
Wait, what?
Does that mean I wasted all that time, energy and money on language classes, grammar textbooks, and travelling to foreign countries for language immersion?
Yes and no.
In Olly Richards’ interview with Dr. Stephen Krashen about language learning, Olly and Dr. Krashen explore the best ways to acquire languages.
Dr. Krashen is one of the world’s most influential experts in linguistics — the scientific study of language. He has published over 100 books and articles and has been researching languages for over 40 years.
Meanwhile, Olly Richards is a polyglot (a person who knows and is able to use multiple languages) and the founder of “I Will Teach You a Language”. He is a language lover who speaks eight languages — English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Cantonese, and Arabic.
As a native Cantonese speaker myself, I have to say: Olly’s Cantonese is pretty good!
Here are my notes. Enjoy!
We learn best through compelling, comprehensible input
- Compelling — What I learn must be interesting and relevant to me, or else I’ll quit.
- Comprehensible — I must understand (not 100%, but the main idea), or else the language is nonsense, and I’ll quit. I can use context and my previous experiences to help me understand.
- Input — I learn best through stories. Facts are boring. The key is to listen and read things I care about. Memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary isn’t effective.
Accents depend on emotions
Dr. Krashen suggests that my accent depends on how I feel.
In my brain, my accent is pretty good. The problem happens when I speak.
When I feel confident, safe, and not judged, my accent becomes much better.
When I feel pressured, suddenly, my accent and speaking abilities disappear. I stress out.
I’m afraid to look stupid — My fear stops me from communicating.
I am my own worst enemy.
Studying a language doesn’t work, acquiring does
“We acquire language in only one way. When we understand what people say and when we understand what we read.
If you do that, all the grammar and vocabulary you’re ready to acquire is there, and little by little, it’s absorbed.
The ability to speak is the result of listening, the result of reading.
Study doesn’t help you very much.
Memorizing vocabulary rules, vocabulary… studying grammar… if you want to get better at another language, listen and read.
Find things you’re really interested in, where you’re excited to know what’s going to happen next, and be patient, it comes over time.
We are born to acquire language. That’s the way our brains are.”
— Dr. Krashen
Learn through stories
Humans communicate and think in stories. Everyone who hates history thinks of it as a series of useless, unconnected facts.
Dates. Names. Places.
Yuck.
Everyone who loves history sees that its a collection of stories. These stories are all intertwined and connected. They shape the world and who we are today.
Stories work. Facts don’t.
Why?
Facts are boring — They’re cold. Robotic. Unrelatable.
Stories are addictive — They’re emotional. Dramatic.
Human.
Other ideas
- Don’t worry about being perfect, the other person doesn’t care about your grammar mistakes.
- Focus on meaning and communication.
- Have patience. Learning languages will take time.
- Failing is normal and part of the fun.
- Be ok with not understanding everything. Be ok with not knowing.
- The goal for input: Get to the end of the chapter. Finish the audio. Complete the rep.
- Do more reps. Reps are practice.
- It’s okay to not understand 100%.
- I’ll see the words again in different books and audio. Keep going, don’t stop.
- As I read more and listen more, I will have more context that will help me understand vocabulary and grammar.
- Some grammar ideas take time to be acquired. This is normal. Not all dialects use the same grammar rules anyway.
- Geniuses are people who found their path. Language learning isn’t for geniuses. Everyone can do it.
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
— Mark Twain
Understand and solve problems (make it real!)
- How do I acquire language? By understanding it.
- How do I get smarter? By solving problems. Not by “studying”.
Three simple steps for learning anything
It’s not talent.
- Know how to do it.
- Love it.
- Do lots of it.
Good luck. Have fun.
