How Latter-Day Saint Missionaries Learn Languages Fast
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- Äas pÅ™idán 2. 06. 2024
- 🤯 Each year, 36,000+ new missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) receive just 6 to 9 weeks of language training-depending on the difficulty of their mission language-before being sent off to various corners of the globe.
🤿 In this video, I take a deep dive into one of the most intense (and SHORT!) language training programs in the world: the full-immersion experience at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah (and various other MTCs around the globe).
I generally avoid talking politics and religion in polite company, but I was curious to learn more about how missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints learn languages so quickly and what lessons the rest of us can apply in our own language learning adventures.
‼ï¸Important: All commentary in the video is about language learning, NOT religion. Please be respectful and keep that in mind when leaving any comments below.
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📺 WATCH NEXT:
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• How This Missionary Le...
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âœðŸ¼ BLOG VERSION:
Prefer reading? Check out a blog post version of this video here:
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â± TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
01:22 - The School
02:33 - The Letter
06:50 - The Daily Routine
08:26 - The Method
13:24 - The Practice
17:33 - The Mission
18:42 - The Partner
📰 VIDEOS & PHOTOS USED:
Watch Latter-day Saints Speak 50+ Languages:
• Watch Latter-day Saint...
"The Missionary Training Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Provo, Utah, United States" by Ricardo630 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission...
Process of a Latter-day Saint Mission Call:
• Process of a Latter-da...
Missionary Training Centers of the World:
www.thechurchnews.com/wp-cont...
Preparing to serve in Estonia, MTC, etc.:
• Preparing to serve in ...
Peace in Christ (Sung by Missionaries in 21 Languages) 2020:
• Peace in Christ (Sung ...
Provo Missionary Training Center Tour:
• Provo Missionary Train...
Mormon missionaries learn Tagalog at Missionary Training Center:
• Mormon missionaries le...
My favorite part of the MTC: Role-playing:
• My favorite part of th...
Learning to speak Tagalog
• Learning to speak Tagalog
Mormon missionaries in Australia: a day in the life
• Mormon missionaries in...
Looking for a less intense alternative to full-time immersion? Try learning through stories instead! 👉🼠czcams.com/video/dPqWN2dlsBg/video.html
Are you Mormon, Olly?
I see what you did there😉
I would love to give this a go!
Fascinating
it helps, that you think you are carrying out the will of God.
1
That's so wild. Next time a Mormon greets me in the street, instead of a polite "no thank you,", I think I'm gonna end up talking to them about language learning instead, haha.
Right?! So interesting.
I've a book of Mormon in Japanese to compare with English :) I struggle but I get on with it â¤ï¸
All of them do not get assigned to foreign-speaking assignments. Maybe soon, two guys with white shirts on bicycles may show up at Olly's door. I think I finally got on their do not call list. For a long time, I would get them all the time.
@@Ronlawhouston but if they're in the US, wouldn't they still want to learn regional languages like Spanish, Mandarin, or even Navajo?
@@IM2awsme - I don't think they go to language school unless they are assigned to that area. I will ask my Mormon friends.
While at the MTC I met a missionary from Hungary. He had been assigned to Germany and had to learn the German language. Problem was, the church had no program to teach German to a Hungarian speaker, so he was sent to the Utah MTC to study English for two months so that he could learn English well enough to learn German in a class of English speakers. I liked that guy...
What do you know. You get two languages for the price of one assignment.
Wow hes so lucky to know 3languages at a time
There was a very pretty American Mormon missionary girl here in Hungary some years ago, and she made videos on youtube about her mission in Hungary. I've never even heard about Mormons in Hungary prior to finding her Channel (I would have loved to meet with her, though she wouldn't have been able to convert me :D ). The shocking was that, she spoke very well in Hungarian, after 1 or 2 years in her videos and I knew foreign priests in Hungary (Roman Catholics) who spoke far worse the language after 4-5 years, even though they have already learned multiple other languages before that.
@@fenrirr22 My cousin just returned from Hungary! So yes there are definitely missionaries in Hungary. Compared to other places there aren't many, but they do exist. I can't say anything about her Hungarian though, since I don't know any myself :)
Were you in Provo? Although not an LDS, I was a foreign exchange student at Provo High in the 90’s and I lived in the "tree street" area two blocks from MTC. Once I was walking down the street (in plain view of MTC at 900 East) and a young man walking towards me suddenly said hi and started talking to me in MY language. Obviously I was seen around and the word spread who I was :)) Fascinating. And I had never been in church with my host family before that interaction.
When I was 7 years old, 2 mormon fellas came to my school in brazil.. I knew some words in english, when I said the words to them, they said: You have an incredible intelligence, keep on the good job..
today I speak seven languages and sometimes I catch myself remembering about those 2 guys I will never meet again in my life, but gave me the best energy to become a polyglot, even tho im not even close to be a religious person
I can ask one of them to call you. What about that? May I??? 😊 I was one of those young man….ðŸ‘ðŸ¼
@@VideoHistory... For sure, I would love to meet philosophical linguists.. I'm sure I can talk about everything in life to them.. is there a DM in youtube I can send you my number?
​@@VideoHistory... I recommend reading the CES letter.
Mormons keep very good records. You might be able to make some inquiries and find out who they were. The year and the area will basically get you there. Good luck!
7 languages 😳 Which ones?
I did 20 years in the Texas penitentiary system. I am half white, half Mexican. I was part of a hispanic "group". A lot of my homeboys were from Mexico or Central America. I decided to learn Spanish. With a dictionary, verb book, and very basic conversation book I learned fluent Spanish. I told all of my homeboys to only speak to me in Spanish and I learned very quickly!
Woah that's amazing!
That's incredible, man! Have you used it a lot since getting out?
I guess that is one way to learn a language!
Only Spanish? Obviously not a Mormon, because by their reckoning you should have learned 40!
Why does that sound like you got your ass beat? 🤣
Great Video! I had a Mormon friend back in High School. If I remember correctly, he was sent to Pakistan or some country nearby. Came back speaking 3 or 4 languages and now works for the US government.
Very cool!
Random fun fact: there's a disproportionate number of Mormons working in government because their squeaky clean lifestyle makes it very easy for them to get security clearance!
@@muffinland I was just now wondering how in the world would he be interested in working the government, let alone being allowed to work there. But a clean background makes all the more sense.
@@Meimoons he speaks 3 to 4 languages
@@muffinland A lot of them also end up in sales where their missionary experience serves them well. If you can sell God, you can sell pretty much anything.
Professionalism 100%. By the end of the video I've still got no idea about your personal religious beliefs or your opinion of Mormonism itself. Well done!
Well his videos are about learning languages. Probably not relevant for his content.
Agree. He did great!
but is that a good thing? maybe calling out cult weirdos should be considered "professional". it's just the same as with "customer is always right". no, the customer is not. sometimes customers are rude and disrespectful and shouldn't be accepted, just like religious weirdos shouldn't be accepted as they often times don't respect a lot of minorities that should be respected, like people with certain sexuality or drug habits. instead we call it "professional" when people are just nice to each other, even if it's not justified. it is "professional" to be a robot without a soul. one of the reasons why i'm against being "professional". the word should only be about having a profession, but it's more often used to describe unhuman/capitalist character traits and advertisement even uses it to put a manly connotation on products that have nothing to do with paid work. i know this is getting a little offtopic but this is the spectrum of things that i see when someone writes "professional" unironically. alarm bells are immediatly ringing because of these reasons.
@@Beatsbasteln fair criticism for sure. Thanks for bringing forward those points. I'm ex-mormon (and ex missionary) and pretty sensitive to people making the church seem "normal" or "mainstream." I see how that's harmful and misrepresenting the truth. In the case of this video, I feel like his focus was on the language learning technique and he actually did include a portion of a video by "Zelph on a Shelf," which critiques the way constant companionship messes with your sense of individuality and mental wellbeing. I appreciate that he shared that perspective. It came across as a way to highlight the cons of their entire system.
Ngl, its a dumb religion. But better than a lot of other denominations. Johova's witness are basically evil.
But mormons basically force kids to evangelize which in my reading and experience is not required by the bible (yeah I know "...baptize... (Sic) everyone in all nations..." The greek is as you go.
Mormonism basically takes over your entire life.
I've never met a strict mormon who enjoys their life, its always a differing interpretation of the mormon faith.
I had a similar but different experience. I went to the Soviet Union (yes, I am THAT old) to study chemistry, but I needed to learn Russian first. So I went to an immersive preparation pre-university. The first half of the year, Russian teachers taught us the Russian language. They only talked to us in Russian. All the grammar was taught in Russian. Besides, the groups were mixed. People in each group spoke different languages, so, we could not help a lot each other. It was Russian or nothing. It took a large amount of vodka for me to start speaking Russian and even bigger amounts to stop me talking. Immersion works.
Wow! That's frankly amazing!
That's really inspiring!
Well babies learn their mother tongue in that particular language. They are not taught their mother tongue in baby language.
@@TheRealGigaMind That's completely different. Babies don't already have an operating system for language running. We do. It's like a laptop coming completely blank for you to install what you want, or already running windows and you want to run linux as well. Doing both slows the system down and screws things up. So being a baby, it's easy to learn ANY language. Being an adult, it's not.
Former missionary here. Went Spanish speaking as 3 brothers and several in-laws. My wife is bilingual dual citizen and we speak Spanish at home to keep the language going for the kids. Worked for the government doing linguistic stuff. True gift of tongues
I've actually met one of these missionaries when I was very little, I remember I was out and about with my mom who didn't speak much English at the time when we ran into a missionary packing up his stand, and he started chatting with my mom, but after realizing that her English wasn't too great he immediately switched to flawless Chinese - she was absolutely shocked that a white guy in suburban Canada could speak fluent Chinese!
I LOVED being able to do this on my mission in the US! I learned Spanish. It was so great to see the excitement on someone's face when we started speaking their language!
Cool!
Wholesome!
That's the superpower I want!
@@rachelf5466 It certainly a cool feeling. I am currently one of the missionaries talked about in the video as well so if any of your guys would like to talk about what our language studies look like hit me up: facebook.com/ElderRubalcava/
This is why, during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake, there was no problem with translators. Some news media even went to BYU to see what languages they spoke. They couldn't believe the different languages there. If someone didn't know the language, they would get a friend who did.
That was a fun fact
Our language programs at BYU are insanely expansive and far reaching. So many languages youve never heard of it's awesome 😊
@@M_SC agreed!
After my mission to the Western Visayas, Philippines, I tested out of so many language credits that they almost kicked me out of BYU before I finished my degree (they have a max cap on undergrad credits).
That's interesting because if anyone has ever seen the channel FluentWorld which is filmed at BYU, many of the students can only speak English. Perhaps things have changed over two decades, I don't know. That's still pretty cool though!
Another fun fact for you: Prior to the Language Training Mission (LTM), a precursor to the MTC that existed between about 1963-1976, missionaries were sent directly to the countries where they would serve without any language training; missionaries would learn in the field. The idea for spending a portion of time in language training originated simply because of visa delays in some countries.
That sounds terrifying.
That’s almost how the Spain MTC was. My first week, they took us to a park in Madrid to just have at it as best (or worst) we could.
Not if you have faith in the gift of tongues
My Dad did that in Hamburg Germany. He loved it and thinks it's the best way. He still has his little notebooks where he would write new words he had heard and then looked them up later. Also, watching movies in German was essential to learning the language. It's been almost 60 years since his mission and his German is pretty decent considering he doesn't know many German speakers in CA.
@@elliezannell3406 Yeah but it's relatively easy for English speakers to learn German by dint of the fact they share the same grammar structures, alphabet, and some vocabulary.
Try that with Arabic and you'll not get very far as there are no similarities. I lived in the Middle East for four years and barely learned a word. Though it wasn't helped by absolutely every person there being able to speak English I guess 😄
It’s true. Learned Russian in the MTC and was fluent and mistaken as Latvian in 6 months. My favorite part is we were all volunteers and completely driven to get it done. I could have gone home at any point.
I didn’t know how to buy bread until I got to the country. Only gospel. And when you have to figure out how to survive, you memorize words and phrases really quickly.
You have to dive into the deep end to learn a language fast. Be ready to mess up over and over and over again.
I learned Mandarin as a Mormon missionary and while I could understand 98% of what the teachers were saying to me at the end of (then) 12 weeks in the MTC, when I arrived in Taiwan I could understand maybe 2% of what actual native speakers were saying to me. Having the same conversations repeatedly helped me get back to 98% relatively quickly though.
Oh good
That's because they speak Taiwanese in Taiwan.
@@nonplayercharacterbot155 taiwanese is a dialect of mandarin
@@Codec264 Taiwanese is mostly Hokkien.
@@nonplayercharacterbot155 I've lived in Taiwan, and I speak Mandarin. Everyone who grows up in Taiwan learns Mandarin in school. Mandarin is the only language widely used in writing in Taiwan, and it's the language used for 95%+ of all business/education/government/entertainment purposes. But, about 70% of Taiwanese people also speak Southern Min, also called Hokkien, and nowadays often called "Taiwanese" by the Taiwanese people who speak it. This is a language shared between Taiwan and Fujian, the province on the mainland next to Taiwan. It is a Chinese language, closely related to Mandarin. The difference between them is like the difference between French and Italian.
I served in Japan-11 weeks in the mtc. I was comfortable with the language in 6 months and confident at 1.5 years. My last 6 months were the most effective. Now, 12 years later I just got a job for a company based in Tokyo and will be moving there this winter.
That’s crazy. My brother has worked in Latin America for about 5 years. I don’t know how he does it. Spanish is easy compared to Japanese.
Which part did you serve in? I was in the Tokyo mission from 2008 - 2010. I still use my Japanese frequently as a side hustle for the National Guard.
@@Pruflas-Watts I served in the newly opened Kobe mission from 2007-2009. We actually stole President Tucker from the Tokyo South mission as Kobe's first mission president.
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スゲーー!! That's freakin' awesome.
I hope Covid will be over/settle down by winter and you'll have a great time living here.
日本ã§é ‘å¼µã£ã¦ã💪
from a Japanese person🇯🇵
As a former teacher at the MTC, I wanted to make a few additions. The missionaries that I taught were being sent to French Polynesia which was (to my knowledge) the only mission where they are taught 2 languages; French and Tahitian. They were given 10-11 weeks to learn both languages. 6 weeks of French and then the remaining time was in Tahitian. English was not allowed during the weeks of Tahitian language learning. If you had a question you could ask it in French. We had a 100% success rate with French, but I would say that it is much lower for Tahitian (about 50% if I had to guess). The first group that I trained admittedly had a terrible experience learning Tahitian, so I rewrote the entire curriculum given to me to use in the downtime before my next group of missionaries. success rates went up considerably after that.
Another crazy experience was when we had a French speaker sent to Japan. The poor girl spoke no English and there was no common language with the instructors. They brought me in at about week 5 to help her out. She also didn't have a French -> Japanese dictionary using the same alphabet all the English -> Japanese students were using ( I was told there are 3 different alphabets). Anyway, helping her out was probably my most intense experience at the MTC. I would teach my own class and then spend 4-5 hours helping her communicate with her English-native partner. The partner would help me understand what the Japanese teacher had taught that morning. I don't think she ever fully caught up to the others in her classroom but she was fluent enough to travel to Japan and start her mission.
I agree with what you said about them being fluent in one topic area. I do find that even after 2 years in French Polynesia, teaching at the MTC, a bit of time in France, and transcribing French off and on, I still struggle with some topics. I once took on a project transcribing materials for a robotics conference in Haiti and it was a huge struggle. It took me hours to transcribe a couple pages. I made sure to have a Haitian friend read through it before sending it back and he said it was all correct (except for a few Haitian-specific quirks).
Do you have to be Mormon to teach at the MTC?
Great story
45 years ago, when I served, many of us going to Guatemala were trained in Spanish in the MTC and then, after about 3 months in country, went through 5 week classes where we were taught one of the 5 Mayan languages that the mission also used at that time. So, two languages as well.
I served as a missionary and had spoken Mandarin Chinese for four years prior to entering the MTC. The 12 weeks i spent there was like an explosion of language skills. I already had the basics and even some intermediate skills but by the time i left i had a totally new understanding of Chinese and was able to learn much more quickly and apply what i learned in almost the same instant. I can’t say it was all just the program but it was a massive help.
What I saw and experienced, as a missionary, is that we don’t become fluent in X weeks but little by little as we practice in our given countries. The missionary training center is good for starting but fluency happens by immersion and daily study throughout an entire mission. Many people have no idea how organized the LDS Church is with their missionary program.
It’s quite something, and very admirable.
Agreed... I was an LDS missionary twenty years ago and there's a definite "learning to swim by being thrown in a pool" element to it. Of course the MTC does a good job with it's learning structure, but everyone ends up getting to the mission field and learning the hard way. It works...
@@TimmyCherry how many languages do you speak?
@@ricko13 Native English speaker. Went to Paraguay on a mission and learned Spanish to near-native fluency while also becoming conversational in Guaranà and Portuguese.
Hi Evan Hilton! I'm Hilton Nicolau, I'm from Brazil, I'm curious, your second name is my first name! where in the world was your mission?
Can confirm. They had me speaking Russian conversationally in 9 weeks and downright fluently in 4 months. It was insane.
Holy shit. Can you please share some tips? I am learning French
Russian is so difficult, I need tips too!!
Time to be become a Mormon 😂
@@martthesling to clarify, just because you're a member doesn't mean you can just go to the MTC to learn a language. It's ONLY for missionaries who are going to a place where they need to learn a new language. Other missionaries still go, but they don't have any language classes because they don't need it.
HEyoooo! Doing the same thing right now! Where'd you go?
It’s so cool to see someone on CZcams talk about this. My dad went on a Lao speaking mission in the states and *scandalously* met my mom on his mission. He is still fluent, probably thanks to my whole mom’s side being lao lol, and they’re celebrating they’re 25th anniversary this year :)
SCANDALOUS (my younger brother met his on his mission too - so did my bishop)
Lol, my sister and her husband met in the same mission. They had to be transferred away from each other!
Religion is a disease
"Tut tut" .. naughty naughty!
P.S. How did they manage to do it? Tell all! 😉
I'm glad it worked out - I know there is a lot of judging when things like that happen, but love conquers all!
I think this really shows 1) how important immersion is for quick learning 2) how specific application allowed for easier comprehension and 3) pattern recognition and reinforcement allows people to recall language a lot better
I was in Japan to learn Japanese for one year. But I experienced this immersion method. Nobody would speak to me in English or German and nobody would understand me if I spoke any other than Japanese. The lessons were not as intensive as described here but they insisted that we learn all texts in the lesson by heart and had to prove it by acting out the dialogues of the lesson as a final test after each chapter of the class book. After 3 months I could speak fluently for any normal small talk. After 1 year I passed the JLPT level 2.
That's great work!
wow, japanese this good in only a year thats impresssive. most people would live in a foreign country for years and still dont know how to form a proper sentence
wow
@@eggytricky that’s because they don’t even try or they don’t need to
@@gu3sswh075 that’s the sad part about it. Learning any language to a near fluent level is a very fulfilling experience I think no one should miss out on.
Key to learning any language is motivation, and LDS missionaries have tons of motivation. Doesn't get much more motivated that believing you are spreading God's word.
Yeah, I think their motivation is underrated
It's just a fact that people who have never really been religious will inevitably underestimate how big religion can be in another's life...
... Well, just the same as a person who's been religious their whole life can't really understand an atheists thoughts on God.
Just saying that religion can have a huge influence on people
Not motivation. It helps, but that's not it. Not a learning style. Not the clean haircuts. It's simply a spiritual gift folks. We all agree, unanimously. Just ask one of us.
@@jpcmt1721 evidence?
@@jpcmt1721 yeah, nope.
I was a missionary in the Philippines, and I loved it. One thing he didn't say in the video that should be mentioned is reading in the language. I still do Bible study in Tagalog to keep my language skill sharp. A common technique new missionaries use is reading a scripture in their native language and then in the new language. And doing this out loud.
A friend of mine just recommended this video to me. It's very interesting thank you.
I will attest that reading scripture aloud in the target language was probably the single most effective tool for language learning in my experience
Kababayan!
Kollipoki style...
Hi, How can I get in touch with you?
Hey Olly! Former missionary here. I just wanted to say THANK YOU for this deep dive! Besides the excellent production and presentation, the video is obviously very well-researched. It was only 6 years ago that I was in the MTC, but it feels like a lifetime ago, and the memories of those first few weeks of the language learning process were pretty hazy and distant (I don't know how the guys you interviewed still had it so fresh in their minds with all the craziness of adjusting to missionary life!) BUT as I watched your video, memories of the process and my experience in the MTC came flooding back to me.
And as much as I appreciate the warm fuzzy feelings of nostalgia it gave me, I'm even happier about the fact that I can finally pass some of this knowledge on to my subscribers, as they've always been curious about how I learned Portuguese so quickly. I'll definitely credit your channel and this video whenever I get around to making my own.
Anyway, I appreciate all the effort that went into this project and look forward to checking out your other stuff. Mais um inscrito!
p.s. se quiser trocar uma ideia em português ou sobre o Brasil, ou quem sabe fazer algum tipo de collab, é só chamar! Tamo junto!
caraca, eu já conhecia seu canal e te acompanhava a um tempo. não tinha ideia que vc havia vindo para o brasil como missionário
Mto obrigado pelo comentário. Legal que você gostou do vÃdeo. Eu te mando uma DM em IG e a gente conversa mais!
Out of interest, are you still a missionary?
@@tomogorman3947 the mission lasts only two years and he was in the MTC 6 years ago so he's very much an RM(Return Missionary) at this point for 4yrs now. You only go once as a young adult in this church, otherwise you can go again after you're married retired and any kids you've had are grown up and living on their own. You don't get much choice where this time around either. Your spouse serves with you as your companion this time at least and not some random stranger.
Something I've always wondered, and it's not something I've been able to find online. What kind of visa do y'all get? Like, wherever you go, you're there longer than a normal tourist visas timeline? Is there a special missionary visa? How does that work?
I was a Mormon missionary in the Philippines. The secret? Absolute immersion. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Filipinos speak English though so why do they need to speak the local language
The only foreigner that I’ve met who spoke fluent Filipino was a Mormon missionary. Their technique in teaching languages is the best.
I can't imagine how much fun you got there. Filipino women go crazy when they see a foreigner.
Thank you for the tip !
Thank you bro Chase Rock
Fair Play to the Mormons: They practice what they preach.
truth, I grew up in an area that was mostly Mormon, they were the best neighbors.
I deeply respect Mormans as a Muslim. Great people with big hearts.
@@sm3675 That's very kind of you (speaking as an ex-Mormon, but still spiritual in regards)
I used to be a Jehovah's Witness missionary and that's how I became fluent in Haitian Creole as well. Immersing yourself in the language 24/7 from the beginning is the best way to learn in my opinion.
I’m curious as to how close is Haitian Creole to French. Can you understand much French, spoken or written ?
@@binguscat2514 Yes, French is actually my mother tongue. Most of the vocabulary used in Haitian Creole came from French, but the spelling is totally different as well as the pronunciation, so even though some French speaking people might understand a few words here and there in Creole, it's not that easy if you haven't learned the language. The grammar is also very different. I feel like the relationship between French and Haitian Creole is similar to Spanish speaking people being able to understand a few words in Portuguese here and there without having studied the language.
I spent a summer as a high school student taking a Spanish immersion course, and then as an adult I spent a summer at the University of Texas taking four semesters in a summer to get off my foreign language requirement for a Ph.D. Immersion definitely helps learners remember a language.
@@patrickgen r u still one?
@@ProfessorRyder No, I'm not a JW anymore
It's rare you find a video about Latter Day Saints that has this respectful attitude and neutrality. Thanks for the great content!
I'm from Utah and didn't realize the language behemoth center just in my backyard. Very cool.
Provo Utah to be exact
I’m from Murray Utah and I didn’t know either.
@@mikemurphy8350 I'm in Murray to. haha
I'm from Ukraine, and I knew about this. But it was near my university work. And I was really impressed that missionaries told me that, they learned Ukrainian in a 3 months. I learned English more than 20 years, and Im not fluent, especially in grammar. I wish that I was more passionate about languages in that time, to learn more about this center.
@@ondutytoday5801 I'll be in Ukraine for 6 weeks end of this August. I've been trying to learn Russian past year or so, but getting discouraged..would be nice to know Ukranian also
Hey I'm the second guy that comes up speaking Hmong at the beginning of the video! What in the world?? You did miss one point that I think helps every missionary learn their language. They read the entire Book of Mormon in their target language. It is a book we are extremely familiar with and by the time we finished it in our target language we usually were to some degree fluent. It is full to the brim with very complex grammar and a vocabulary with thousands and thousands of words you would not learn from a standard course or book.
What I did was I began reading the Book of Mormon in Hmong and if at any time I did not know a word I would highlight it and define it in the margins. Sometimes I could not find a translation so I would then resort to asking a native what the word meant often times in Hmong. By the time I got about 3/4 of the way through I was maybe highlighting a word every three pages or so and I knew all the rest or could guess unknown words based on context. By the time I got to the end I understood nearly 100% of what native speakers, specifically the older generation which uses deeper meaning words, were saying. During my entire time reading it was all aloud as well. I would say this benefited me extremely.
That's my method of learning swahili right now. I just purchased the Kitabu cha Mormoni and will have my English one next to me for reference. There is one major thing that is being left out of this equation of learning a language for this type of experience and that is a special gift that many will discount as untrue, unrealistic, false, lies, etc. and that is the gift of tongues and especially help and guidance through the Spirit. I am sure that all missionaries who have served a mission in another language can attest that they did not learn the language all on their own, but received assistance through a higher power who enlightens the mind and opens it up to higher learning at that speed so that they can teach with power, confidence and truth. I've seen it in many missionaries lives. I've known some missionaries that have learned multiple languages to the level where they could at least communicate to a level to teach about the gospel during those 2 years and understand what investigators are saying to them. As mentioned previously, fluency is not the ability to speak every word spoken perfectly in a perfect accent as one who is native to that country, but to be "able to express oneself easily and articulately", and "able to speak or write a particular foreign language easily and accurately." Thousands of missionaries are capable of doing this, and do every year. People discount miracles, but the ability to learn a language this fast to be able to speak fluently and teach effectively is a miracle.
@@Thee_Man_of_Steel Amen,well said,and so true! There is definitely something to be said about the “Gift of Tonguesâ€. I’m a firm believer that when you are in tune with the Sprit, that He, “Quickeneth all thingsâ€, especially understanding anything pertaining to the Gospel. I like the idea of the B.O.M. in the target language along with the English version helped me also. I didn’t serve a mission . I joined the church at 24 and felt my mission was to find a wife. I feel there is a difference in how fast you learn when you are called to a mission versus learning a language on your own. What I’ve learned is that your training is intense and focused,whereas for me I studied at my own pace. Kudos to you Brother and good luck in your future endeavors! ðŸ™
Wow, what a fantastic idea to read a book you know really, really well! I could do this with Narnia or the Bible or Harry Potter. Great tip.
@@xerk2945 Harry Potter is a great choice. I’m reading the Spanish version of it and although there are many many words I don’t know, I can still figure out what’s going on
I taught myself Italian this way also. I already spoke French and English, so I would read a chapter in French and then the same chapter in Italian. I did this for the first book (Nephi) and then after that, just read it in Italian. If you know the story already, it helps you to focus on the language.
I have been through the language training at the Mission Training Center to learn French and later, at the Defense Language Institute to learn German. The difference between these programs is motivation and the seeking of the biblical “gift of tongues.†Latter-day Saints believe in spiritual gifts and miracles. Missionaries are taught to pray for the gift of tongues. Their amazing progress can be attributed to that influence. When ai had been in France for about four months, I met with a professor who taught theology at a university in Toulouse. In an hour of that appointment, my ability to speak the language at his level was magnified. We discussed advanced theological concepts beyond what our memorized lessons included. At the end of the discussion, the professor asked how long I had been speaking French. I told him that I had speaking it for less than six months and he was astonished. He said, “I wonder if I have just witnessed a manifestation of the gift of tongues?†I assured him that he had, because I didn’t have that level of ability on my own.
We(LDS) believe in the gift of tongues (the ability to learn another language by the power of the Holy Ghost) our method of learning another language is also spiritual.
We believe that reading the scriptures and praying to our Heavenly Father in the target language is very important to learn as well.
Even though I went to a mission speaking my native language, I learned to understand English reading the scriptures in English with my companion.
I did this as a missionary and nobody becomes truly fluent in 9 weeks. When you first arrive, your life is like watching a Korean drama without subtitles.
You learn much more in your first month in the field than you do in the training center in 9 weeks. Language learning becomes a necessity for your social survival which drastically increases neuroplasticity AKA the capacity to rewire your brain to learn something new.
You also are surrounded by native speakers having regular conversations rather than just reciting the religious jargon you learned beforehand, so that helps too.
Where I was, the average foreign missionary would take 4-5 months to reach fluency. Although, if you were like me and didn’t have any other English speakers around, you might become fluent in about half that time.
Thank you for your story, it offers some insight into what human beings can accomplish when required. I believe also that this mission trip for Mormons is very important to their faith, so does it add more pressure to be able to learn another language?
@@cthulhutentacles4994 My experience as a missionary was very much the same, the most rapid learning I experienced with the German language happened my first few months in Germany. Learning the language is very important, particularly for those one seeks to teach. In terms of pressure, however, I’d say there were other aspects that contributed far more. After all, one is literally going out acting as a representative for Jesus Christ to teach His gospel. You go out knowing that your actions, lifestyle, even mannerisms will be what others remember and associate not only with you but all others of your faith. THAT is what adds pressure to the life of a missionary.
@@cthulhutentacles4994 Yes. It's very important to Mormons and there is a certain certain amount of blind trust in your leaders. I served in French Polynesia. We arrived at 10 pm at night and 8 am the next morning they had us filling out paperwork for our bank accounts and stuff like that with no translators. I could read French pretty well by that point but I had no idea what most of the legal jargon on those documents said. I just signed them because I was supposed to. By 4 pm that afternoon they had me on a small plane bound for the island of Tubuai. They neglected to tell me that the plane would make stops along the way. I disembarked and saw a big sign that said Raivavae on the other side of the tarmac. I got back on the plane and asked the flight attendant, "Tubuai?" She explained to me that this was the island of Raivavae and Tubuai would be another stop so I sat back down. My only English-speaking partner was my partner in the MTC, all the rest were natives, so I was 100% immersed for about 21 months. I can say I was fluent in French in less than 5 months. Natives would come up to me and would assume I was from France, not the US. It took me about 8-10 month to feel fluent in Tahitian. Overall, it was a great experience.
Rules have relaxed, and now missionaries can call home and email every week. Back when I was a missionary, it was snail mail only, the internet was incipient. Almost 30 years later, I keep up my Swedish. I used 3 languages daily in my mission, English, Swedish and Spanish. I remember one day when I woke up and I spoke badly all 3. Then there are other days when I dreamed in flawless Swedish.
Oh cool im learning Swedish for fun
Oooo I also served in Sweden. Every time I hear Swedish and especially when I get to speak it I am just overjoyed. Where did you serve while you were there?
@@Gwwin1997 Lyckades ni värva nÃ¥gra till kyrkan? Svenskar tycker att det är cringe med kristet â€gudsprat†och mormon-missionärer, liksom med Jehovas vittnen. Men sprÃ¥ket är underbart, det hÃ¥ller jag med om 🇸🇪
@@Gwwin1997 I was there as a Spanish speaking missionary, believe it or not, so I started out in Malmö, and then spent the rest of the time in Stockholm, with some short trips to other places like Lund or Uppsala.
@@starlegends3092 It is a fun language. Watch Disney in the language (Disney+ or CZcams clips), it's an enjoyable and easy way to pick up quite a bit. Jag gillar Svenska.
I still remember missionaries visiting my house when I was younger and for some reason they knew we were Vietnamese and were asking if our parents were home, etc. My older sister was the one who answered the door and she was the most fluent out of us siblings but when she closed the door after talking to them she turned around and was mind blown that they were so fluent, especially because they knew the Vietnamese word for apartment which she had to ask for them to translate to English lol.
Now I wanna become a missionary just so i can learn a language
Haha same
Ah hell no its like being in the strictest cult on Earth for 2 years. Stay away from it man
That's how they get ya! ;-)
@@johnlevin4567 No it isn't. Stop repeating everything you read on the internet. It's a normal church with normal people. Just because we choose to believe and live a certain way that's different from you doesn't make us a cult. Nor is anyone obligated to be a member of the church. If you don't like the church's teachings, go live your life how you want and we'll live ours. It's literally that simple.
5Bigfoots I’m a former member of the church, born and raised. I’m not just some idiot who watched an overly dramatic video of mormonism and said “AHA! So it IS a cultâ€. I’m an insider. I get why you’d think that I am, though, cause I encounter those types of people all the time.
Can we create a school that mimics these? like 3 months immersion program without the Religion, it can have some self improvement built into it? That will be cool.
i think the fact that you know you will be shipped off to that country creates a lot of the motivation required to learn this fast.
That's what the US military tried to do.
Middlebury Intensive language programs. Look them up.
I think their religion plays a big role in why they have so much success though. They aren’t doing it for themselves, they are doing it to spread their beliefs to other people. It gives them the drive to stick through the program.
@@mrpillows not to mention the entire pressure of your family, friends, and community have on you. If you stop learning a language, people won't really care. If a Mormon stops learning it, they will be seen as a "disgrace".
Not saying that's good or bad, just saying it helps with the motivation.
My nephew who is Brazilian and speaks Portuguese went on a mission to Japan and he learned Japanese and English on his mission. He now just got a great job with IBM and the fact that he had these skills helped and he can built a great career there. Especially exciting because in Brazil is hard to get a good job. We call this mission blessings
That’s so cool!!
U need to to post more comments like this and share your nephews experience with other people.
It's relatively easier to get a good job in Brazil if you speak foreign languages and have experience abroad. It's something they give a lot of value. Mostly because it's not as common for a Brazilian to speak a foreign language when compared to europeans for example, that's why English courses in Brazil are so expensive. There was a recent study where they found out that only about 5% of Brazilians are able to communicate in English. Those are my observations as well as a Brazilian brought up in Europe.
Im not a missionary myself but went to US to learn English and came back to Brazil fluent in English and Spanish and got a job at IBM as well ... so this is real! : )
I am currently one of the missionaries mentioned in the video. It really is such a blessing, not just because of the opportunity to learn a new language (I learned Spanish). If you want to learn more about what we do for our language studies or our beliefs ht me up: facebook.com/ElderRubalcava/
I had 6 years of German in Junior High and High School. Then I was assigned to be a missionary in Germany. I attended the MTC (called LTM back at the time = Language Training Mission) for 8 weeks before getting on the airplane to fly to Germany. My six years of German in school was equal to the 8 weeks in the LTM, because at the last few days of the LTM intensive training, I was just then starting to learn at the 8 week mark what I had already learned in my sixth year of High School German. In other words the 8 week LTM training course equaled 6 years of school.
Hardly a surprise. Most people do a language for 1-3 hours a week at school and are only going to attend maybe 30 weeks of those lessons per year (any other lessons being missed for illness, day trips, assemblies, half days, sporting events, teacher training and on and on). So that means that in one year of school a student may have anything from 30-90 hours of instruction. I'm guessing MTC would have at least 30 hours of instruction per week, if not double that. So six years of school would understandably be equivalent to 8 weeks at MTC. It's basic maths.
And don't forget, school taught you to talk about MANY topics. MTC taught you just one. In about the same number of hours...
I both studied at the MTC and later taught there for three years. I treasure both experiences. It was an exciting and uplifting environment for both language and cultural study. The teaching methods were great, and it helped that the students were super-motivated. After my missionary service, I studied Spanish in college, which expanded my fluency to a much broader scope, given that the missionary life is mostly focused on faith-related vocabulary. I used Spanish daily for many years in my government career working in the Cuban and Nicaraguan emigre communities in Miami, and in Puerto Rico and New Mexico. Learning a second language well opens up a new world of experience, understanding and appreciation and allows one to make friends and enjoy poetry, literature, drama and music from other cultures. I just wrote some slam poetry in Spanish and overlaid it on a rock chord progression ( and some lead) guitar music I composed. At age 66, I'm still studying foreign languages. Great fun. I always encourage young people to learn at least one foreign language.
Thanks to missionary service, I have family members who've learned Korean, Khmer, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Samoan.
50 years after his mission, my Dad still speaks Samoan very fluently, has held a chief title since his mission, and he has been able to help out Samoan families in our community with immigration, adoptions, and court translation as a result. Now, at age 71, he's still using his language skills almost daily.
I don’t like missionaries but it’s ok,at least something good to learn from the missionaries, missionaries especially Cristian do shady things in my country, and in my culture we don’t force out religious believe on others
I'm sorry you've had some negative experiences with missionaries. There are lots of different approaches to missionary work, and some of them are not good. Missionaries in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints generally prefer to do service where possible and teach those who invite them into their home or who are introduced through a friend. You are always welcome to say no.
@@voltgaming2213 our missionaries don’t force anything on anyone.
@@voltgaming2213 going on a mission is not forcing beliefs on anyone it’s just politely asking if you’d like to learn about the church, and if not they leave and don’t bother you ever again
if only he had realized that he was spreading lies.
My dad served a mission in Uruguay and was often mistaken for being a native spanish speaker.
I really loved this video. It was unbiased and objective. There are few videos on the internet about my faith which are unbiased. One of my worries when clicking on this video was that I was going to be disrespected in some way, but I wasn't. I feel like it needs to be made known that I really appreciate that.
I feel you. This comment section is disheartening, but Olly's video was quite the opposite.
I'm from Uruguay and I often see many Mormons preaching around here, they seem to be very dedicated and respectful people
@@fede5235 I'd like to think that most of us are, so thank you. You seem very respectful yourself. I hope you have a great day!
@@abelpalmer552 czcams.com/video/r_5yUXjXizQ/video.html
Not to say that civil discourse can't be had but when the only way we can respect something is to ignore it it's not really respect.
@@aaronfletcher8745 same to you
I attend BYU, which is a Mormon-run university right next to the MTC. In general BYU has really good language programs because there's so many missionaries. My freshman year I lived in BYU's foreign-language student residence, where I was only allowed to speak my target language (Japanese). The first Sunday I was there I was asked to give a lesson to my roommates in Japanese on a chapter of the Bible. At the time I literally knew no religious words in Japanese and so it was rough! This method definitely taught me a lot though, even outside of a religious context, so I can definitely see how 9 weeks of just this would be super helpful.
Also interesting to see is how these former missionaries perform in regular language classes. I take Japanese classes and missionaries are sent straight into 300 level language classes because of their experience. I've noticed that they're REALLY good at conversation, pronunciation, and basic fluency but, especially as it's more advanced vocabulary at this level, they generally don't know more vocab than non-missionaries. They still do very well in the classes, of course.
9:35 sentence structure
10:04 speaking: focus on specific things
16:05 glimpse of mastery
18:42 partner system
Notice how they weren't taught life skills like how to buy food or catch a bus.
@@victoriarose9802Because they learn to preach Mormonism…
Let's be honest here: no one in the language learning community has expected such video. Thanks, Olly!
I am currently one of the missionaries mentioned in the video and I certainly wasn't expecting such a video either haha
It gets even better. Missionaries are assigned to Paraguay as a spanish speaking country only to find that we speak two languages. Spanish and the native language guarani, which in the country side is almost mandatory. Now you not only have to learn one language but two. And let me tell you, they've been doing it wonderfully as long as i remember. Thanks for your hard work on making this video. (I served in Chile myself, were my mission president encouraged us to learn English with our companions, thanks to that i can watch CZcams videos with no Spanish subs and comment to you now, cheers)
I learned a bunch of Guarani while I was there. It was a fun language to learn.
My Aunt served in the Phillipines in the 70s and was told she would speak English. She ended up spending 9 months in a Refugee Camp and had to learn Tagolag and quite a few other languages as well.
Also, in my mission (Arkansas Bentoville) there are a few areas that have a high population of people from the Marshall Islands and missionaries get put in these areas sometimes, so even though they are called to an English speaking mission they end up having to learn Mashaleese.
Had a friend that learned Japanese, went to Japan, then learned Portuguese due to the high number of Brazilians there.
There are so many places where the "standard" language you learn in the MTC has to be nearly supplanted by a unique language spoken in the field. In Ukraine (eastern half) I learned Russian in the MTC because it was the dominant language. But in the field I learned to speak Ukranian and then was introduced to the frustratingly inconsistent Surzhyk (Ukrainian-Russian hybrid).
Paraguay! That's where my brother served his mission!
Loved this video! Serving a mission in the Philippines made me realize just how WELL my church teaches languages. I had taken 3 years of Spanish in high school, but I learned more Tagalog in those 6 weeks than Spanish I had learned in all 3 years.
Nakakaintindi at nakakapagsalita na po ba kayo ng Tagalog?
i can confirm learned more in a 3 month college spanish class than 3 years of middle/high school spanish combined
Thank you so much for this! I have three sons who served missions where they had to learn languages (Russian & two Spanish). One is now a Spanish Linguist in the Army. This video will help me explain to people how my son who couldn't count to seven in Spanish when he entered the MTC now, after a mission and years of study, speaks and reads at an academic level. One other point: The missionaries also quickly grow to love the people and desire to communicate with them. That motivation is key.
Being Mormon, it's awesome to see such a nice and tolerant comment section!
I’d like to think we have a great community over here!
You Mormons are not fanatics, unlike much of the mainstream Christianity..You are nice and tolerant peoples yourselves. Shadiversity and Metatron are one of the best CZcams channels.
Yes, probably most people on here are kind and not hateful bigots, unlike much of mainstream atheists.
I thought ur prophet hated that word isn’t it a “victory for satanâ€
Mormons missionaries going to Japan like:
"I HAVE THE POWER OF GOD AND ANIME ON MY SIDE"
And they have millions of Gods, some Buddhas and loads of Bodhisattvas there.
This made me smile XD
I am pretty certain Anime is not on the Mormon approved play list....
AL;DKSFJLSADK I LOVE THIS
Yes all the mormon weebs seem to go to Japan
I was a trainer at the missionary training center for 5 years. Great video, thanks for putting it together! I was always SO impressed by the voluntary dedication to the work and study the missionaries did, even though it was 100% volunteer work. I'm not a linguist-- linguists, chime in if you agree: you can't learn a 2nd language unless you voluntarily put in the effort. My missionaries that intentionally chose to study hard excel. I think the MTC environment inspires missionaries to choose to study. (As opposed to middle school or primary school, where kids seem forced to study without much success).
Essentially, these people just get loads and loads of input and immersion. That's how they do it.
Pretty grateful that I got to serve in Spain. Language learning in that environment was incredibly fun and fulfilling. Fun fact: I returned almost 6 years ago and have still abandoned English in my prayers, unless it’s out loud at church. Because I was LDS for just a year before my mission, Spanish became the only way I talk to God by myself.
That's cool
That's beautiful, actually. This is inspiring.
I was raised in the church, yet still Spanish feels like a more sacred language to me due to the mission. I think since you spend the most actively religious part of your life in Spanish, your brain makes that connection that that language is sacred.
@@the_flying_airplane5335of course, Spanish is the closest language to Latin, the language of God.
I found the comment about specific topics interesting. I learned Japanese in the MTC as a missionary, Russian at DLI while in the military and Mandarin in Beijing for business. People often ask me which language I speak best and the answer is: it depends on the topic. Unsurprisingly, I am much more proficient when speaking about religion in Japanese, military topics in Russian, and discussing finance in Mandarin.
I think you were in my National Guard unit. C Co 300th MI Bn?
@@carlosenriqueulloa Very likely, that was my unit :)
@@daniellitster1932 If you see the videos I've posted you'll see who I am. My username is my initials.
Wow!!! I want to meet you!!!
This is phenomenal really. Regardless of your feelings on religion or politics etc you have to respect the dedication. I’m impressed.
It's true 100%! A lived in Los Angeles, California, and I attended a Mormon church just for the purpose to practice English because that's what they offered to native Spanish speakers. I spoke to one of the Mormons and he explained to me how they learn languages and this video is telling the whole truth!
I can ask one of them to call you. What about that? May I??? 😊 I was one of those young man….ðŸ‘ðŸ¼
The rules have loosened up these days. Missionaries do have smart phones and access to social media but on a very limited basis, and where it’s possible they’re allowed to call home weekly instead of just on Mother’s Day and Christmas, but those changes are pretty recent.
a few years ago the first missionaries that came to my place only had flip phones a bit later they got smart phones. i think it's interesting that two people share them
@@FleurChat7 usually the phone doesn’t belong to any one of them specifically but is rather tied to a location so when both of them move on the missionaries who replace them have the same phone so people don’t have to change contact info every 6 weeks or whatever
@@nagischwarz2724 That's actually an even more recent change with the smartphones. They are actually encouraged to bring theirs from home (the church then switches them over to a different phone plan while keeping their same number). This is at least the case for missionaries with unlocked phones. For missionaries with locked phones or without a phone I believe the church provides a new phone.
I am currently one of the missionaries in the video and I can confirm. Although, we are still learning languages as fast as ever haha. If anyone wants to practice their Spanish with me I'd be happy to help: facebook.com/ElderRubalcava/
@@taylorrubalcava5952 Do many concerts go on missions themselves? Let’s say someone converted at age 18 to the Church, would there be as much encouragement for them to serve a mission before/by the time they turn 25? Did you encounter many missionaries who converted at around that age? I’m only 17- my father is an inactive/ex member and has been for I would estimate about 40 years.. so to reduce tensions I’m waiting till I am 18 before I seek out missionaries to become an investigator. Honestly this video has stoked fear into me if I was ever put down the route of serving a mission because in recent years I took 4 years worth of Spanish lessons at school and never picked up much in the sense of being able to converse (then again I am not that academically minded). Sorry for rambling on but I haven’t been able to find much of a specific answer on the Church website other than all able bodied men are encouraged to serve a mission, not because of compulsion but out of a will to share the Gospel they know to be true. Massive amount of respect for the work missionaries do and the drive they have but I just don’t see myself ever being able to achieve something of that magnitude.
They learn to speak very well. My ex-wife was Vietnamese, and they would often come outside the Asian mall here in Houston. I told her they were Mormons and she went up and started speaking with them in Vietnamese. When they were finished I asked how he did (the missionary.) She said he was good.
He was so good that she is now your ex-wife ?
@@dozog - Good one.
It's so refreshing to see other people talk about my religion in a positive way. I went to Louisiana on my mission. Best time of my life.
I went to Brazil as a young LDS missionaries and somehow, once in Brazil, I picked up Portuguese with pretty good fluency in about 2 months!
Olly, you're exactly right! There's a tremendous amount of passion regarding the message and that makes a huge difference!
I've spent a lot of time with Mormon missionaries. I spent over two years with about 12 total, as best as I can recall. My impression was that they are all exceptionally disciplined. That's the most reliable constant. I was also in the US military. The Mormons were far more disciplined than we were. I also came to think that their unusual discipline and highly organized social structure left them exceptionally intelligent. I've never met a Mormon that didn't make me want to be a Mormon. I am not a member of the church, but I would never set myself to dissuade another person from becoming one. I'll leave it at that. I'm not surprised that they've accomplished incredible feats in the science of learning languages, or anything else for that matter.
What a kind comment. Thank you.
You’re confusing efficient/effective with intelligent. You’re confusing science with practice.
If only their actual beliefs weren't so ridiculous! Why aren't there versions of this discipline in secular organisations?
@@stuckupcurlyguy because the self is fairly poor motivation. This is why people fail fairly simple goals like making thier bed or working out. It's really easy to justify or make excuses for the inability or failure to act when your self or peers are the bar you attempt to reach.
God or godliness is likely unobtainable but it leaves little room for the self especially when you really want to obtain it.
The military gets fairly close but it's more selective than building the seal teams for example most people quit, those who do not achieve the goal.
But it's because they want it and they have faith in themselves or the system to see it through to the end.
@@M_SC I'm a Latter-day Saint and a Physicist. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints produces (per capita) more science PhDs than almost any other group in the United States. Most Latter-day Saints embrace science and scientific thinking (something skewed by the extremely conservative political views of many American Latter-day Saints).
Stereotypes are prevalent about us but, like most stereotypes, they are almost entirely wrong.
Thanks for this, Olly! Being a former missionary myself (France!), your video reminded me that the purpose and motivation were the key for me - both to initially have the desire to become a missionary and what carried me through the tough days that challenged my decision to put myself through such an intense experience. My purpose was not to learn a language for myself, but so that I could be of service to the God I love and His children in the area where I was assigned to go. When I returned home I always thought it would be cool to learn more languages, but it wasn't the same - I didn't have the same purpose or motivation that I had as a missionary. I've only recently rediscovered a similar purpose in learning my 3rd language (Spanish!) - a genuine desire to love and serve the people - and it's making all the difference in my progress. Thank you for your professional touch on something very close to my heart!
That song was Peace in Christ. Beautiful piece.
I've always wondered this. Every time the mormons come to me and start speaking in my own language with a very high fluency, I ask them when they started studying the language and they say they started studying like a several months ago and that is really shocking to me. Sometimes it makes me think that they really are blessed by God or maybe the faith itself has an extraordinary power that I am not yet aware.
I'm sure that is an intentional effect.
Careful now lol
It helps that they are very young. at 18 the language center is still malleable, making it easier to pick up language basics than it will be even 4 years later.
Love this thought ðŸ¤
HI Kanai! I am currently one of the missionaries mentioned in the video and we certainly think that God has a lot to do with it haha. We do feel very blessed. I know I couldn't have learned Spanish in 3 months without His help. Faith is certainly an extraordinary power, and if you ever want to learn more about it I'd be happy to chat: facebook.com/ElderRubalcava/
I taught English in South Korea for two years, having studied Korean for about three years before I went to Korea. I met Mormons in my Korean city and the recently arrived (several weeks prior) missionary could almost speak better than me. I was very impressed with their conversational fluency.
Your video was great, Olly, thank you for shedding some light on their methods!!
I met some Mormons in Norway, and I was shocked,it was SO good and native-sounding.
I can ask one of them to call you. What about that? May I??? 😊 I was one of those young man….ðŸ‘ðŸ¼
I like your video a lot. I am an LDS from Madagascar. We speak Malagasy and people who went to school may speak French.
I was called to serve in Kenya back from Apr 2011 - Apr 2013.
I went to Johannesburg SA's MTC and had only 3 weeks to learn English.
It was tough, but I can tell you, I was able to speak English after the 3 weeks.
One of the greatestyearsr of my life.
I had no idea that Mormons learn languages fast in the first place. This video is going to be very educative for me.
Im a member of the Church myswlf, and I was wondering how people learned there langwages when they went on missions.
Ive never been on one cuz im just a teen🤷â€â™€ï¸
I started learning Korean in the MTC in Provo back in the early 1980s, back when missions were only 18 months long. We had 8 weeks in the MTC. And yeah - 14 hours on a plane later, we were on the street, wondering if they taught us the right language in Provo. :) They did, and once your ear got used to how they talked in the area you were assigned to, it started to gel. It was an amazing experience.
Amazing! You’ll enjoy my video on Derek which is coming out in the next couple of weeks.
My cousin also served in Korea in the 80's. He said it was a difficult language to learn.
My dad served in Korea in 78 and 79.
I wonder what would the missionaries do when they need to use the restroom when they are on the street
@@storylearning I am really looking forward to this.
I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often nicknamed the "Mormons," and I served a 2-year mission to Russia. I LOVED the experience of teaching about Jesus Christ and doing so in such a beautiful, difficult, and historic language, so much so that I studied it in college alongside my primary major. It's an extremely efficient process and we're all HIGHLY motivated by our message, so it works quite well. Thanks for the awesome and accurate video!
I learned Spanish as an adult with some of these techniques - content & objective (learning a certain limited vocabulary for a specific purpose) and immersion (travel with native non-English speakers). As I grew more proficient in my content area, I studied vocabulary groups like buying things, emotions, verbs, specialized work language, etc. Having "compartments" for vocabulary was a big help. Also just reading, reading, reading a bilingual dictionary (best one: U.S. Department of Defense)!
My oldest son served in Madagascar and learned a very very rare language called malagasy. My youngest son is now serving in Paraguay and is learning Spanish. I just want to say that I believe in the gift of tongues, with a wide spectrum of how the Lord blesses you with the language you are learning. That's my belief.
Serving as a missionary was the most challenging and rewarding thing I've done in my life. I served in Fiji and learned the language. Being immersed in the language and culture the way I was has made it seem ingrained into my being so to speak. Give me two minutes speaking Fijian and it'll start flowing like I'm a native. Great video!
Ni Bula Vinaka Cullin. When I went to Fiji in 77, no language training at all. Because there were only 5 expatriots allowed in the country then they didn't devote any time to it and the fact that English was the connecting language between Hindi and Fijian made it hard to focus on learning either. I regret not learning more Hindi when I was there as I meet more Indians now than Fijians and unfortunately, I became addicted to curry and now spend my life loitering in Indian Restaurants..
I’m a returned Peace Corps volunteer. -Honduras ‘84-87. We had 16 weeks of intensive language training in country before we received our assignments. Our instructors used all of the approaches you covered and more. Peace Corps language training might be a future episode for you.
Well done video! I spent 10 years in the US military as linguist. I never attended Defense Language Institute (tested out of it) or the Missionary Training Center. One thing I have noticed about both military linguists and LDS Missionaries is that, for the most part, while they may be very proficient at their respective "jobs", many cannot so much as order a meal in a restaurant , etc. As one former LDS Missionary put it, " I could talk doctrine all day, but I couldn't get a flat tire fixed on my bicycle.".
I have several LDS cousins who went on missions. They learned Thai, Japanese, Italian and Spanish.
Wow!
Of my group of friends growing up, one learned Spanish, one Chinese, one Vietnamese, two went to France (We're a Canadian ward, the Church likes to send Canadians to France for obvious reasons) and 3 served missions inside Canada and the US.
I didn't go. I have mental issues which made the constant exposure to people unacceptable. So I served what's known as a Church-service mission, working from home running tech support for familysearch.org for 2 years. It was me and a bunch of retiree-age people who joined the Church too late in life, or wanted another go at serving later in life Good times.
9 weeks immersion and then immediately jump into a 2 year Master-Apprentice program? That’s sounds pretty awesome.
That's more or less the thing. Their job is to talk about the religion, but if all you do is talk about the religion, that's pretty offputting. I'm pretty sure that they do get to do other things in the language as well, it's just in the context of trying to win over converts.
To properly and "fully" learn a language takes decades. To speak like an educated English speaker across many domains takes roughly 25 years. It's a bit faster if it's not your first language and you bring with you concepts for most of the things you might want to say and the notion that grammar exists, but you're probably still taking many years of complete focus to manage it.
@@SmallSpoonBrigade That's off-putting to you, to them it's a life goal. It's a rite of passage. It's a part of their identity.
This drives their motivation.
It's not my thing either, but I respect them for their dedication.
Yeah, I did a Mormon mission, and it was an amazing language learning experience. I will probably never again in my life have the opportunity to have someone with me 24/7 to help me with a language 1-on-1 and in real-life situations.
Yeah, mission was one of the hardest thing I've done in my life. Talking about religion is a big part of it, but you also go to serve the people of the area you are assigned to, so we did ton of service projects as well from gardening, moves, splitting firewood, painting, taking trash out, etc. When a missionary ask you if they can do something to help you, they really mean it.
@@puppetaccess not really, a lot of mormons stay in america for their mission or go to english speaking countries
I'm no longer Mormon, but I'm at least grateful that I was able to learn Thai. I loved studying languages and haven't stopped since.
(But you definitely don't want to live in the MTC, Olly! Let's just say the food is awful)
That's another motivation to learn as quickly as possible
What honorific was used during prayer?
@@reveranttangent1771 Very formal and royal language was used in prayer and scripture. For example, “I†was ข้าพระà¸à¸‡à¸„์ and Heavenly Father was พระบิดาบนสวรรค์. โปรด = please. รับประทานà¸à¸²à¸«à¸²à¸£ = to eat. In some cases, some people used more intimate language like referring to themselves as “child†or “ลูà¸.â€
These are just a few examples, but I hope it answers your question.
@@rowland9201 damn, I'm impressed. Never knew someone who could learn thai in such a short time, since Thai ia a very complex language. ดีมาà¸à¹†à¸žà¸à¸”ีผมเป็นลูà¸à¸„รึ่งไทย-นิวซีà¹à¸¥à¸™à¸”์
Wow, awesome to have learned Thai. It seems if you could learn it, and fast, you could do any. Congrats
Wow, things have hardly change in 55 or so years at BYU. My late spouse attended BYU and when we walked by the Mission Training area, we can hear the trainees vocalize their training.
This guy has pretty perfectly described the experience of learning a language as a Mormon missionary. During my time as a missionary, I broadened my vocabulary quite a bit outside religious topics (cuz you know, sometimes you gotta tell someone you want pineapples on your pizza or even just have a conversation), but being able to start out focusing on a very narrow, topical vocabulary was really helpful.
Pineapples on a pizza? Don't ever try this in Italy. 🙂
@@verot8444 That sounded so threatening but I like it.
ASA ASA Romans got their things straight
I went through the MTC back in '75 and, though I have nothing to do with the Mormon church now, it was an invaluable experience. I went to Chile for two years and I have maintained and improved my Spanish skills greatly since then. The religious focus was limiting afterwards (from a fluency perspective) but what a great way to start!
Thanks Bob. Do you have any sense of how the training programme has changed over the years?
I feel like, from that point of view, being a Mormon is a bit like being an AIESEC member for some: basically a chance to get a budget-friendly exposure to the world at large, for which you have to bear with some inconveniences and group-think
@@Limemill That's a massive oversimplification- being LDS is very much a lifestyle, it's not the kind of thing you can do for half an hour on Sunday morning and then not think about the rest of the week. It's not as restrictive as some other religions, but it does require much more commitment than somebody who just wants to travel cheaply would be willing to give.
@@sarahhughes1302 it is of course an oversimplification. But what I meant was more along the lines of how many recruits enlist in the US military because it's their only shot at a decent education and, well, a respected, paying profession at that. Or how many people in Thailand end up being monks primarily because it's an occupation that comes with respect, lodging and food. That is not to say that the former only care about themselves and not their country and the latter have no spiritual aspirations, it's just that these are pathways available to them to make their other dreams come true. Of course, all three lifestyles (for the lack of a better term) come with an overwhelming amount of regulations and shape your life in very specific ways whether or not you like it, but they come with perks that some find hard to find elsewhere
@@storylearning Unfortunately, I do not. I have not kept up since leaving the church, though I would suspect it has become even more sophisticated over the last 45 years. We did a lot of memorization of the "lessons" as a starting point; the grammar and vocabulary came later (mostly with the natives of the country).
This is so fascinating to hear your perspective. I served my mission in Russia!
I was an LDS missionary, but while at the training center I was not paying attention to the methods used, just to trying to learn the language. It is cool to look at the program again having already passed through it to see how it is that I learned what I learned.
I have Mormon friends (and in-laws) who have had to learn Japanese, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese (and others) for their missions. The friend who after finishing two years in Italy and returned to the US found himself ordering (unconsciously) his meal in Italian. As I understand it is still a language shock at first - unsurprisingly.
This method kind of reminds me of Moses McCormick who figured out that when it comes to small talk, people always ask the same questions (where are you from, why are you learning our language, how old are you, what's your family like, etc.), so he studied very intensely for a short period of time to learn enough of a language (something like 50 of them!) to be able to have that kind of small talk conversation with people. In the Mormons' case, it's learn to talk about your faith and how to answer the questions that most people will inevitably ask.
There are a lot of parallels!
@@storylearning That was the point I was trying to make about the narrowness of focus. It is a sort of Benny Lewis on steroids. For small talk, substitute the Book of Mormon and off you go.
Indeed. His Laoshu videos were still fun, even if the content was somewhat limited. He died way too young.
@@apaul9776 and it's very difficult for them to make small talk for long without going back to their doctrine..
@@notthatyouasked6656 Yeah, he was one of my heroes. Him and Tim Donor.
Oh that poor girl was so happy that she's going to Denmark.. i just can see her crying once she started to learn danish.
Rødgrød med fløde to her lol
ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
I went to the MTC as a full time missionary and I did learn Spanish in 6 weeks. And I am now almost fluent in Portuguese, Italian, and Vietnamese as well.
This reminds me of the American missionary that went to the Amazon jungle and ended up living with the Piraha tribe and writting books on the fascinating language
As I recall he can speak Piraha at a reasonable level but he says he could never become fluent in it because it’s such a unique language, which is precisely what makes it interesting from a linguistics perspective
I spent my Mormon Mission in the Czech Republic in 1995-1997. The grammar is hard and I never got perfect at it, but still. I was there about three months before I realized I was speaking to complete strangers in their native language without even really thinking about it. Thanks for this great video!
I have a brother currently serving a mission, and I figured I could give a correction about some of the guidelines:
You can in fact call home. That's been allowed for a while, though it used to only be very occasionally, I think like once a month or something. Nowadays the rule is different. I see my brother on video calls at least once a week.
The dress code is slightly less strict as well. Now, male missionaries can wear blue shirts as well (crazy I know), and I think in some areas missionaries can also wear shorts. Female missionaries are also permitted to wear pants in some instances I believe, though again I don't know what factors into that.
Also, that underwear is called garments, and they are worn not just by missionaries but any member of the church who has been endowed (I...don't actually really know what being endowed means--something about going through the temple and promises to God, I think).
When it comes to media, I believe you can watch media, but only media produced by our church. When my brother was in the MTC, he could also watch church-approved content (like Disney films, The Chosen, etc), but I don't know if he can do that out on his mission.
Plus, my brother says that most of what he and other missionaries do is on social media. The church has found it a much more effective way of getting in contact with people who want to learn.
As for phones, I do know for a fact that my brother has a phone. It's provided by the church, though, and they are probably allowed very limited usage.
I want to compliment you on your research. The information was very accurate---especially coming from someone outside the church. All of the changes I listed were made very, very recently (some happened within the past few months), so it totally makes sense that you didn't find these---especially since most sources you'd find would contain info from before the changes. I really am impressed with what you've shared. I got my knowledge from seeing my brother going through the MTC (because he had it during COVID, his MTC was done at home online), hearing family members talk about it, and news from church leaders received through email. The fact that you got such great info while being outside of the church is nothing short of impressive. And thank you so much for being respectful.
Lastly, a quick note on our perspective of missionaries and missionary work. Missionary work is more about spreading ideals about Christ than it is about expanding the membership of the church. In particular, you'd never hear a member nowadays call it Mormon doctrine. Especially recently, church leaders have been pushing that we focus less on our following of this church and focus more in the fact that we are followers of Christ. (If you've had a friend that's a member of the church ask you to not refer to them or their faith as Mormon, this is why).
Anyway, have a fantastic day. And thank you again for being respectful.
Thanks for sharing this
Way back when I served mine only allowed phone calls to family on Christmas and on mother's day. Though that was early 2000's and we couldn't even email.
Does the Mormon Church pay for your accommodations?!?
@@sm3675 missionaries or their families pay a monthly support amount based on the country the family lives in to help cover some of the costs. The church arranges your housing and gives you some money each month for food based upon the country you are sent to. If the missionary or their family can't afford to contribute. Then the church covers the full costs. It is looked at on a needs basis. Some families start saving funds for missions similar to college funds so once kids is old enough money is there.
TL-DR: Yes they provide housing and money for food. Though in some cases most/portion of the money is paid by the missionary or their family.
I’m not so sure how many people have commented this but instead of being called the term Mormon we prefer to be called members of church of “Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints†that’s all. Thank you for this video!
I served my mission in Korea. After returning home, I co-authored the Korean language book series Korean From Zero! My wife is Korean (and our daughter has dual US/Korean citizenship) and I use the language all the time, everyday. I spent 12 weeks in the MTC and still remember my first day arriving in Korea and trying to understand what was going on. It was always scary talking to people, especially because people can be really mean and speaking Korean was so hard for me. Personally, I really only felt comfortable with the language at about 20 months or so.
Being put in situations where you make mistakes is a really important aspect of learning a language. It's embarrassing and painful, but in the end, it improved my language acquisition skills and I did learn Korean. I really don't think I could have done it without my mission experience. Completely changed my life and I am grateful for the experience everyday! It never really ends though, I still learn new things all the time even after learning for 13+ years haha.
ê°ì‚¬í•©ë‹ˆë‹¤! 잘 봤어요^^
Reed
Sorry, I don’t take advice from a person with an username of “bad man.â€
Ooooh, if the ‘Japanese from Zero’ series was anything to go by, then the Korean from Zero book sounds amazing.
Thank you for your hard work !
안녕하세요 ì„ ìƒë‹˜. I learned from your Korean From Zero! series when I first started Korean. Really glad to have found it because the way you introduced the BASIC form was super helpful. As an intermediate student that way of thinking still helps me a lot. ê°ì‚¬í•©ë‹ˆë‹¤!
One of the most brilliant scholars I've ever encountered, a legend in Daoist and Chinese philosophy, was a Mormon missionary sent to Hong Kong until being converted to Daoism, where he remains on the faculty at HKU
I'm converting to Judaism. I'm an older adult and realized that learning Hebrew would be a challenge so I did exactly what the missionaries do... I am concentrating on Hebrew for religious purposes. For the next year I'll learn how to read and understand the Hebrew in the prayerbook. Thank you, Olly, for this fascinating video!
Hi Olly, Your MTC findings match my notes of something similar to MTC that we ALL went through, when we were infants.
Moms don’t teach with grammar, text books & classrooms. Moms tell their infants children stories about things children would actually be interested in taking in. This interestingness is key. It gives the brain incentives and is how memory works. You can memorise a long list of random words if you make them into a story.
Infants can be great teachers as they use language with simple direct words & phrases, love pointing, repeating and stories.
I studied Spanish all of middle school and high school. Then I served my mission in Brazil, speaking Portuguese. I then came home and studied Spanish in college. Hands down my fluency in Portuguese is still far above Spanish even though I studied Spanish formally for much longer. My reading and writing skills in both languages are about the same, but my comfort level in Portuguese is higher. When I took Spanish in college, my class was made up of four groups of people, native speakers, missionaries who served in a Spanish speaking country, missionaries who served Spanish speaking, and then me someone who served Portuguese speaking but studied formally in school. It was fascinating to see the difference in skill and level of mastery with these people. A lot of missions these days do have smart phones and tablets but are used in a controlled manner. Some missionaries do learn slang. And as part of our training we receive, we are supposed to make connections with the people we teach, so non religious vocabulary is essential. I loved learning all that I could, but I also know some people who came home not knowing anything more than religious vocabulary. You get out of it what you put in. I'm trying to learn Italian on my own now and the process isn't even comparable to how I learned Spanish or Portuguese!
I learned Russian at university after my mission in Spain. It seems like a weird choice, but I was hoping that letter would say Russia on it. Seeing Barcelona, Spain on it made me very happy. During university I got into the polyglot online community for a bit then learned French and Portuguese for a bit. My Russian is better than my Spanish now, but I've lived in Moscow for 6 years. A lot of principles I used to learn Spanish back in 2008-2010 really helped me with Russian. Purpose and motivation are everything. They helped me plow through "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoyevsky and "War and Peace" by Tolstoy in Russian recently.
This was awesome!!! I served in the Philippines from '07-'09 and loved it. So much I could say about my own experiences with each segment. I'll just share my favorite experience with the Tagalog language; I was out over 20 months and getting ready to go home soon. One day in the market I was talking with a lady about items she was selling. She had her back to me for the first part and after a few minutes she turned around and saw me for the first time and shout in surprise, "you're white!!!" Loved speaking Tagalog!!!!!
Ang astig naman niyan idol! Balik ka dito at pasyal ka sa Pilipinas balang araw!
Do you have any tips for learning Tagalog? I've only ever learned Romance languages and don't know where to start.
This video on the MTC in Provo, Utah took me back to France in the 1960's where I totally immersed myself in medical school for 6 years, so much so that I stayed in France for the next 40 years, practicing internal medicine.
Total immersion is the key, as well as total dedication. As often as not, it'll change the trajectory of your life!
Bless you for having a whole video that focuses on people of a religion without being controversial