How to Learn Any Language in Six Months
Anybody can do it.
Learning a new language is fun and challenging. It is full of laughs and embarrassing mistakes. The process is not easy, but it doesn’t need to be full of tears, sweat, and blood.
Like working out at the gym to get stronger muscles, learning a new language strengthens your brain. With the right attitude, effort, and willingness to try again and again — I know that you will succeed.
I’m always looking for better ways to learn. The video below on “How to learn any language in six months” by Chris Lonsdale is the best video I’ve ever seen on learning languages. I’ve included some of my notes to help you follow along. All credit goes to Mr. Lonsdale for his hard work and amazing presentation.
It is important to note that the point of the video is not about “learning a language in six months”. Think about your own native language. How long did it take you to learn it? Probably at least five to six years before you were fluent, and that was when you listened to your parents, family and friends speak almost every day.
There are no shortcuts to anything worth doing.
However, the purpose of Lonsdale’s presentation is to help you acquire a positive, growth-mindset and to equip you with concrete actions that will boost your learning abilities.
Enjoy!
“The history of human progress is all about expanding limits”
— Chris Lonsdale
2 things that don’t really matter
Talent
Many of us think that other people are magically smarter or that we just aren’t good at learning languages. This is not true.
You are smarter than you think. Humans are designed to communicate with language. You can learn to overcome your challenges.
“We are told that talent creates opportunity, yet it is desire that creates talent.”
— Bruce Lee
Immersion per se (on its own)
Many foreigners who live in your country have lived there for many years but they can’t speak the local language. Immersion is not a super-cure. It can help, but only if you know how to use it properly.
“A drowning man can’t learn to swim.”
— Chris Lonsdale
5 principles for learning languages quickly
Principle 1: Focus on language content that is relevant to you
- Any information that helps your survival = relevant.
- Information that helps you achieve your personal goals = relevant.
- Why are you learning this language?
- What are your goals?
Principle 2: Use new language as a communication tool from the very beginning
- You learn best through doing. Use the language to communicate with people.
- Be a kid: make mistakes, laugh at yourself, and try again.
Principle 3: Understanding the message is more important than grammar
- In the chart above:
Purple = people who learned by grammar and formal study.
Green = people who learned by comprehensible input.
- Comprehensible input: Listen and try to understand language that is a little more difficult than your current ability. Focus on understanding the main message.
- You might not know all of the vocabulary or grammar, and that’s okay.
- Learning a language is not only about knowledge.
Principle 4: Learning a language requires physiological training
- We have filters in our brain that filter in sounds that we are familiar with and filter out sounds that we are not familiar with.
- If you can’t hear the sound of a new language, you won’t be able to understand it.
- You need to strengthen your face muscles to speak in a new langage.
Principle 5: Your mindset and emotions are crucial to your success
- How you feel is important.
- Your attitude and mindset are important.
- You can’t learn when you’re sad, worried, angry or upset.
- You learn best when you’re happy, relaxed, and curious.
- You must learn to tolerate ambiguity = you have to be comfortable with not knowing the “correct” answers.
- You have to be comfortable with making mistakes.
- If you try to understand 100% of every word you hear, you will go crazy.
- Do not try to be perfect. It will make you upset, and then you won’t be able to learn well.
- It’s okay to be wrong. Make mistakes and have fun!
7 actions to learn languages faster
Action 1: Listen a lot. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand
- Listen to a lot of the language you want to learn.
- In the beginning, it doesn’t matter if you understand the language or not.
- Listen for the sounds, the rhythms, the patterns, the pronunciation…
Action 2: Focus on the getting the meaning first. Vocabulary comes later
- Human communication uses a lot of body language.
- Try to understand the meaning or the message before worrying about the exact word or vocabulary.
- Use patterns that you already know.
- Body language is a type of comprehensible input.
Action 4: Focus on the core of the language
- Learn the most common words in the language first.
- The graph above is for the English language.
1000 words = 85% of the English language.
3000 words = 98% of the English language.
- Start simple.
- Use your target language from the very beginning.
- Communicate like a baby.
- Simple is good!
- This is where grammar really starts to help.
Action 5: Get a language parent
- When a child learns to speak a language, they will use simple words, simple combinations and simple pronunciation that might seem strange to people who are not part of the family — but their parents will understand them.
- Parents create a safe environment that allows their children to gain confidence in the new language.
- Parents talk in body language and simple language that the child understands.
- Find a language parent.
- Here are four rules for a language parent:
Action 6: Copy the face
- You have to get the muscles working correctly.
- Hear how the language feels, feel how the language sounds.
- Create a feedback-loop in your face.
- Watch how a native speaker uses their face when they speak.
- Copying the face of a native speaker will help you use the language naturally and improve your pronunciation.
Remember, all of these tips are just the beginning.
It’s up to you to make it happen.
Good luck.
