My ENTIRE language learning journey! Is it too much? đ
VloĆŸit
- Äas pĆidĂĄn 15. 06. 2024
- A question or comment I get a lot is that I spread myself too thin and can't get fluent in one language because I learn too many. In this video I talk about all the languages I've learned and answer the question of whether or not I spread myself too thin.
#polyglot #multilingual #languagelearning
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Welcome to my channel! My name is Lindie and I share my love for languages and design on this channel. I also write blog posts about languages at lindiebotes.com, and mentor language learners, and offer UX consulting for language apps at superpeer.com/lindiebotes. I'm a Christian and strive to shine Godâs light in all I do. May this channel inspire you to reach your language goals and learn more about design.
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I always think of it like a sport. No one criticizes some one for âdabblingâ in skiing rather than working towards the Olympics. Some of my languages are the equivalent of horseshoes at a day at the park, some are like a recreational league of ultimate frisbee, and others Iâd like to make National Team in. Those are all legitimate approaches to languages.
You worded it so perfectly. I completely agree with you there. â€
Agreed! I dabble unapologetically
Precisely. That's what I believe as well.
Totally agree!!
Wow, I think i'm going to think about this for the rest of my life. I have never thought of it like that.
A lot of people know a few sentences in a language and then they say they «speak» it - you are at least honest and admit you only know a little bit, and donât exaggerate your knowledge. That makes people respect you more, because you are being honest.
You and everyone else should just do what makes them happy, and not care so much about what others are doing.
thats why when people ask me I always say I speak 7 but pretty good only 5, using as reference the language I am speaking so they know the level.
at what level is it fair to say that? b or c1 level?
a level - probably not? because the basics arent enough
and near c2 level is already better than the average native speaker... (if you dont count the accent)
@@SonGoku-uv4pk b2 is consider fluent to understand everyday conversation, I heard it from a language channel, he said that if you wanna learn a language, aim for b2 level, then you'll have the language forever and won't forget it later, to test urself, go to a bar or cafe in which this language is being spoken, if you can understand the chit chat that you heard without difficulty, or when native speakers understand you very well, then you're fluent, you can add that language to your list
It's a natural thing with language learners. The more you learn, the more you want to learn, and since you have various different interests, it's only natural that you will discover more languages and fall in love with them. It's like collecting.
It is quite like collecting, come to think of it!
Hi Lindie, you are spreading yourself too thin in language learning ONLY if you want native fluency in all the languages you are learning. I'm very impressed with all the languages that you're learning and can carry a basic conversation in most of them. Most of the languages you're learning are difficult for native English speakers. Your love of language learning is very inspiring!
How do you know that Lindie isn't one of those super intelligent people with a 200 level IQ, who is therefore capable of native fluency in many languages at once? ; ^)
@@oryonorlando3882 Lol...I thought about this as well.
I wish i had taken Spanish seriously. Language teachers need to encourage students to pursue languages. Not all people will follow through, but the seed of language learner would be planted.
Agreed.
I wish my middle school Spanish teacher (we were forced to take 2 years of Spanish) would have spent less time on boring/rote curriculum and more time encouraging us. Roughly 2 decades later and I still don't know any Spanish. If only that teacher would have told us that we could have had a secret language amongst ourselves that nearly no one else inside that school would have understood (which isn't the type of motivation I'd go for these days, of course, but that would have sounded so cool to me as a kid).
@@AndyGneiss Your idea of having a "secret" language is a great one to motivate the students.
I wish I hadn't looked down on Spanish as either being too easy or too hard. Even one of my French teachers also spoke Spanish. I was afraid fot he similarity, but in actual fact, the pronunciation dilutes that similarity, and there are grammatical differences as well.
As an aspiring Spanish teacher, this speaks right to me :)) thatâs the goal!
Thanks to some who have reminded me, I forgot to mention I dabbled in Hindi during high school and university, just started Thai (this video was filmed a day or two before I started Thai!) and am also trying to pick up Sepedi, a local South African language.
Oh great! For a second I thought "oh no! She gave up on Thai!?" đ€Ł That's good, Will you learn Burmese in the future? Keep up the good work đ you're my favourite polyglot youtuber.
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Would love a video on how you're learning thaĂŻ
I have one already đ
@@serenamoreiras6200 I have one up already :)
I think it really depends on the person and itâs not fair to label someone just because itâs not your learning style so Iâm proud of you for not allowing the opinions of others bother you â€
True, she is my idol. I hope I can be a polygot like her. This is my biggest dream
I think of language learning from a hobby point of view sort of like a video game. Where you dabble a bit in it and it unlocks all of this potential & side questâs. You only strengthen the skill over time & with use. â€
Another great video Lindie! I wish other polyglots were as transparent about their language levels as you are. I hope this becomes a trend. I think we need a change in the community.
@@jessszabo6701 you are so right! It's almost like we should just do our own thing and just be honest about where we started from. It's unfortunate that now people are willing to be misleading just for the views - it always goes back to money unfortunately đ.
When people complain that you speak too many languages it sounds like they are jealous. I love to sing. When I was at Karaoke, someone once told me I sang too loud and I was supposed to "blend in" with the people around me who sang with me but weren't at the mic. I think she was just jealous because I could hit all the high notes and got lots of compliments for my singing. Don't be afraid to shine and do what you love. It doesn't matter how many languages you are learning, as long you can be proud of speaking some of them well.
BTW, it's nobody's business but your own, how many languages you want to learn.
It is sad and unfortunate that humans all did not evolve to have a SINGLE native language.
I feel BAD for all the world's refugees and immigrants, burdened with learning a second language for their physical survival.
And, no. I NEVER said that that single language should be English.
I just mean: WHATEVER such a single hypothetical language in an alternative history would be.
However, given that history has happened, that we and our languages evolved as they have,
I have realized later in life that it makes just infinitely more sense for human to work
on improving and using handheld computer language translation devices
than wasting their time piecemeal learning a second language that they will barely ever communicate with anyone else.
Otherwise you will ALWAYS suffer FOMO endlessly: Fear of Missing Out. Whatever ONE language you learn,
there exist 7000 others one could learn but have no time or energy for.
Language teachers and those trying to encourage others to learn languages need to learn that some people
JUST DON'T LIKE OTHER PEOPLE but that they want to learn a language (whether writing or reading, speaking or listening)
JUST for the sake of the love of the language. NOT with any intention of communicating with others.
Lindie, you're an absolute inspiration.
The nature of the internet means you'll get criticism whatever you do. Just try to ignore it.
The way you learn means that you're incredibly aware of how much time you spend on everything. You're well placed to learn multiple languages at once.
I try to limit myself to two languages at a time, but I have a completely different lifestyle to you. It's about what you can fit in.
I love learning some simple words and phrases from the language spoken in the country I'm visiting. I remember when I was in Sweden and I once held the door so that an old man could simply come in and he said "tack sĂ„ mycket" and I was so so happy I could understand that. And in Prague, I was able to say "dÄkuji" to the waitress. And even though I don't speak these languages at all - I think it's good to be open and curious about other cultures and languages especially. It's just really kind
This is me! If my friend ask, since when are you fluent in French? I'd be like "I'm not fluent, but I know just enough French to feed myself or to not lost in Paris" đ
Lindie, you said the correct thing near the end -- ''I don't care''--which is important. You can't keep all the plates spinning in the air, there are only 24 hours in the day and you only have one life. The enjoyment you obtain from studying the languages, and the excitement at starting a new one, are far more important than anyone's opinions.
when I started tagalog, I realized I made many people online very happy for learning their language, and that made me motivated to continue. it's not just the language, is the person who speaks that language who wants to connect with you when they see you're interested in their language. even just a few words can make them happy!
I wish I had dabbled more in language learning sooner, and had been in a culture that encourages it. Unfortunately living in the US as a native English speaker, there's often zero interest among peers and teachers about learning other languages. We have minimum requirements for school, but because they're min requirements, teachers know people often take those classes because they have to, and can be under-enthusiastic about it, or under-prepared/funded, since schools consider language learning here as not really important. I think learning languages can open your mind up to so many new possibilities and people and cultures. I remember visiting the Netherlands and being so envious of everyone being able to speak 3+ languages. I wish we had more of that here in the US. And I wish we more properly funded and structured language learning programs to encourage people to dabble and explore more.
You may have spread yourself quite thin with language learning, but it sounds to me like you've been having a blast. And imo, that's the most important thing. I hope you keep having fun with languages! Thanks for doing what you do, and spreading such positive (and real!) messages about the language learning process. :) èŻăäžæ„ăïŒ
It's awesome that you're doing what you enjoy and not trying to follow someone else's arbitrary language-learning rules. It's a ton of fun to learn the basics of many languages.
Hey Lindie, I think it helps to look at it from a different perspective. Yes, you may only speak certain languages to a small degree at the moment, but look at what you already achieved at a young age and what you could achieve in the next 40-60 years. Its just natural that some languages are gonna develop at a different pace than others. I think it always helps to take a step back and reflect on your journey so far.
Haha it's never enough! I never understood why some people criticize others for trying to understand people
I can't understand why people are judging other learning styles or interests (Insecurities? Boredom?). It doesn't matter if you learn a language to be able to speak fluently or if you do it do be able to say hello and order food on vacation or if you're just curious and want to learn the writing system and just have a little taste of it.... It's your hobby. You can do whatever you want.
100% agree with you Lindie!! Do whatever makes you feel happy! I think it's fun to dabble in a language for a bit and then perhaps return back to it when you feel like to or perhaps not. Our interests ebbs and flows. I think people focus too much on fluency, it's fine to just know a bit! It really just depends on what is your final goal. Your language learning journey is filled with so many different types of languages!! Thanks for sharing :D
I totally agree with you. We can not be perfect in this world. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. This is the reality of our life. When we accep this reality, we can be happy and focus our goals. Thanks for sharing this beautiful message â€ïžđ„°â€ïžđ„°
Hi Lindie, my story is similar to yours. I was born in South Africa and then lived in Qatar where I learned French because I went to a British school. My languages (to varying levels and definitely not fluent in most of them!) are English, Afrikaans, Dutch, French, Arabic, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, and I know a tiny bit of Zulu, Swahili, and German. I like to think that if I ever needed to improve one of those languages for work or if I moved to a country where that language was spoken, that I'd have a good base knowledge of the language and would improve quite quickly, however I only need English for my job and like you, I mostly just enjoy meeting people from other places and being able to talk with them in their language. I enjoy reading books and watching movies in French, Dutch, and Spanish, and I enjoy practicing Japanese every day just because it is fun!
Please ignore all the haters! You are an amazing person who inspires others, and you have awesome hair :)
Hi Lisa! It's fascinating how much we have in common. Thank you for sharing your story!!
The most important thing is to enjoy the process, and if you like learning languages just do it, because at least you have tried to learn that language. I am a polyglot myself I do speak 5/6 languages at different levels, and even if you know the basic people are grateful that at least you are trying to communicate with them in their native language
I'm a native norwegian speaker, who speaks english aswell, a little bit german, and studies russian in university. I respect your dedication towards languages! But if you learn nowegian quite well, you will also be able to understand both danish and swedish better, so norwegian is a wise choice. I myself, when I'm in Sweden or Denmark, always speak in norwegian, and they answer me in danish or swedish. I just think it is important that we in Scandinavia understands eachother without english! đ But they say that swedes and danes doesn't understand eachother as good as we norwegians understand both of those languages
I have a question is what viking used to speak is the same language as u speak today
@@yassine3978 no. Icelandic is the closest language to old Norse, but Old Norse is no longer spoken.
Hi! When you speak of Norwegian, do you mean BokmÄl or Nynorsk?
@@mediocrity5693 thank u for explaining
@@michela389 bokmÄl and nynorsk are writing systems. Nobody speaks bokmÄl or nynorsk, they speak their own dialect and write in bokmÄl or nynorsk.
So cool to hear your story! It is super impressive!
If you feel like trying many languages, why not? It is your life, go for what feels right for you đ People will talk anyway no matter what you do đ
What a unique and beautiful and interesting language journey. Thank you for sharing! The Disney animated movie SOUL taught me that âlifeâ isnât the destinations we reach but all the time spent in between, that we think is just âfillerâ. âš
Love hearing your language journey Lindie! I love how you have had so much exposure through your childhood to languages and different cultures. I think it happens very often that language lovers have a language that they are successful in and really triggers their interest in learning more of them. It was exactly that way for me in German!
El acento no importa, lo que importa es poder comunicarnos con diferentes personas.
Now, sorry about my english...
I really admire you and the way you learning languages. I take a lot of your tips on how to study pretty serious. Just keep going and ignore those people.
Y tu español es muy bueno. :3
Como una hablante nativa de inglés, creo que tu inglés es muy bueno! (Lo siento por mi español jaja). Estoy de acuerdo que el acento no es la cosa mås importante. La cosa principal es la habilidad de comunicarnos con otras personas, como dijiste.
@@thestockimagequeen Tu español tambiĂ©n muy bueno, de no ser porque dijiste que tu idioma nativo es el inglĂ©s, no me habrĂa dado cuenta. Y este es un ejemplo muy bueno de que lo que importa es comunicarse. :)
@@perramaldita1 aww muchas gracias, estoy de acuerdo :)
Perra Maldita đlol
I think you are very, very inspiring. As a Hungarian, it was a pleasure to hear how beautiful your pronunciation is. Greetings from Hungary. Låtogass el egyszer nålunk és legyen tovåbbi szép napod!
Korean is really perfect in pronunciation and Japanese is also quite good.
thanks for sharing your stories in your language learning journey Lindie, we all appreciate it!đ
I don't mind when you learn several language at the same time. It's your Hobby, your Passion, not your job. And still to me you are the nicest polyglot because you show your humanity, the mistakes, the struggle. I'm really sick of this "I learned acrare hardly known somewhere special spoken languages within 24 hours and shock random persons in the street speaking it fluently" content. Whether it's content for people it makes me feel uncomfortable.
But you, Lindie, you inspire me.
I started learning languages by myself very late because of some issues and lack of confindence. You keep me going. And I'm so thankful for it.
I haven't uploaded as much because a lot of people criticize my dabbling... but I'm honestly to the point where I don't care. I'm going to do what makes me happy. I don't owe anyone an explanation of my levels in a language. This is a hobby, some people take it WAY too seriously when they leave comments.
Je apprecié tellement ton honneté et transparence avec tes expériences d'apprendre les langues. Je suis en train d'apprendre le français pour moi-meme et la vie professionnelle et parfois c'est difficile de rester motivé dans ma progression. Des vidéos comme celles-ci sont trÚs utiles et motivées !
You've been one of my biggest inspirations for keeping up with my Korean. I've watched your videos on Korean and I've applied some of your techniques to my studies.
I'm in awe with your years of studies, I love watching polygots but have always struggled learning just 1 new/old language due to shyness (relearning my first language Mexican Spanish)
I admire you for putting any effort into different languages with whatever effort you have. It's always refreshing to see people who don't aspire to be perfect, but just want to have fun meeting new people and learning about their cultures.
Lindie you are such an aspiration....don't let other people judgement affects you, you're doing great đ
"Language is the only thing worth knowing even poorly" PREACH!
Same here!
I love learning languages just for fun and I know I'll never use them for work except English, Spanish and maybe German, but it doesn't matter if it's romanian, Hungarian, Cantonese, Greek, if we're having a great time learning them, why not? Even just a couple of sentences.
Great video though ;)
Ek is mal oor jou suiwer Afrikaans, Lindie! Deesdae meng sĂł baie Afrikaans-sprekenes hulle taal ,sĂł dit is defnitief lekker om 'n gladde / "ou-tyds" aksent te hoor. En ek bedoel dit in die beste manier!đ
I'm a beginning Japanese speaker, but I like listening to other languages from around the world. The small amount of Hungarian words that I've been exposed to sound a lot like Japanese words. I can also understand a few common phrases from languages such as Spanish, Italian, and German. I think it helps that I already know French, and that Italian and Spanish come from the same Latin roots. English, of course, has old French and old Germanic roots, which makes German and French surprisingly familiar at times, if a little weird grammatically.
I never thought I would be interested in Japanese, but after reading an excellent book on Utagawa Hiroshige, I suddenly thought that I should learn. It did make me realise how many Japanese things I admire, from Danshari to wabi-sabi to kaizen. I have not gotten round to learning Japanese properly, but it's a nice thought.
I'm also a language lover and interested in different cultures. I'm currently learning 11 languages. haha... I don't obsess with the level of fluency, because learning languages is my hobby, it makes me happy đ I think it's better to know even just one phrase than nothing! Lindie, you always inspire me to learn languages, I love your videos đ Thank you so much đș
What languages are you learning?
@@firstthecoffeethenthething7514 I'm learning English, Russian, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Spanish, Turkish, Indonesian, Thai, Hindi, Mongolian and Georgian)
Your background and subsequent curiosity with a wide range of languages makes you (in my mind) the most interesting person I've come across. Don't change.....or maybe continue to change?
Thank you for your wholesome comment!
Lindie is the most wholesome content creator
đ„șđ„șđ„șđ„ș
You learning languages for fun inspired me to change my thinking about language learning for myself. Sometimes I get stressed, thinking "I'll never be able to learn all the languages I want well," but that's not really important. It's fine to learn just a little bit, for fun, to talk to people around you, or even to order food at my local Thai restaurant haha. So I try to learn the languages I'm interested when I want to learn them, and not worry so much about progress or how "good" I'll be able to get at the language.
So thank you for sharing your language journeys with us all this time. I hope this community you've cultivated inspires you to learn languages even half as much as you inspire us!
I love how you are just real and authentic and present yourself as you are. It's perfect that way! And that is how it feels inspiring....
Lindie, keep calm study and enjoy it, I'm korean but I can speak japanese level intermediate and I feel like italian also German. Go for it!
Learning other languages after you have learned some languages previously does not necessarily mean that you are spreading yourself too thin. What matters is whether you have the time to accomplish your goals and the time to fulfill any obligations or commitments that you might have.
You're a big inspiration to me Lindie! Thank you for your vids
Take care. The most important thing is family and mental and physical health. Studying âtoo manyâ languages is not in and of itself a problem, but it often leads to burnout. I experience this myself from time to time.
I smiled throughout this videođ. I don't think you are spreading yourself too thin, Lindie. You don't sound frustrated or overwhelmed. You love what you do and it makes you happy. I just would like to know how you maintain all these languages to avoid forgetting most of them due to lack of usage. â€ïž+âš
I'm a Spanish native speaker, and when you spoke in this language you did it quite well! Keep up the good work and inspiring us!
I really want to learn Spanish, but I have a massive mental block over doing it properly. One is that I have other languages that I wish to learn. But the other is that, thanks to knowing French, I can already read some Spanish. This takes away my motivation to actually learn the language properly, which has some key differences to French grammar. Any idea as to how I can overcome this?
Languages are so fascinating. I love how they can open your life to new experiences and worldviews.
My mother tongue is English. I have Mennonite heritage and I understand a lot of our Mennonite Low German,, but unfortunately I can't really speak it (I want to learn, but it's hard to start). I had to take four years of mandatory French in school, but at the time I wasn't really interested in it and the classes were useless in terms of conversation, so I only remember a few words; I am interested in properly learning it, but only if I can actually have real conversations. I started German in grade 10, because of my heritage and ancestry, and I've kept up with it on and off. I've only taken it really seriously for about a year, but I think I'm around a B1 or B2 level now. I also took Spanish in high school because I've always loved it, but I don't really remember much of that either, even though I really would like to become fluent in it someday. And my first real self-study language is Finnish; I started about 7 1/2 years ago, and according to Finnishpod101 I'm at a B2 level now.
Having fun is the most important part! Great video!
Amazing video Lindie. You are an inspiration for those of who are learning language. đ
Thank you for sharing your journey, it's incredible. You are an inspiration. :)
There are always people who just like to be critical of others, sometimes out of jealousy. You enjoy learning languages so you should attempt to learn as many as you want to. I personally get a lot of pleasure out of learning a little about a lot of languages because it gives you a glimpse into the culture and makes you appreciate the great diversity in languages. I "dabbled" a little in Chinese and Japanese before I got into K-dramas and K-pop, and decided to focus on Korean right now because I'm immersed in Korean at this time due to my consuming those drama and music offerings. But I'm glad I have a little background in the other two languages when I watch Japanese anime or a C-drama for a change of pace. I know you say that people are entitled to their own opinions and I agree. But I also think that sometimes people feel the need to comment negatively on things when there is no reason to do so, and make it hard for other people to stay positive. I'm way old enough to know not to let these things bother me, but I still find myself paying too much attention to these negative people and I'm still learning how to not let them get me down. I enjoy your interesting and inspiring videos and you are someone that encourages people in language learning and in faith so I appreciate that very much.
Thanks for sharing Lindie :) you have such an interesting life and your language learning journey is always inspiring.
You are an inspiration to me, Lindie!
I love your language learning state of mind, you just have fun and that's all, I think the same as you.
hiiii lindie! I'm a new follower, I found your channel since I've started my own journey in learning french. your videos have been really helpful/encouraging so thank you for sharing â€ïž
ps, keep doing whatever makes you happy! people will always have an opinion & it doesn't matter what it is as long as you're enjoying things ~
You're just an incredible human being and a true inspirational person! Thank you very much for sharing your experiences with us!
Thank you for this video, your openness actually makes me feel better about my own journey and the languages I've had to leave on the back burner while I shift my focus elsewhere.
Great video! So interesting that you got to learn so many languages in school when you were young! Also don't let anyone else define your 'why' to learn a language and at what level you have to learn it. You inspire me so much Lindie đ€ especially with the Thai!!
Iâm glad I found your channel. You have led me to a few resources I didnât know about that I plan to try and you have inspired me to seriously look at Afrikaans. Iâve studied French and Russian ( in high school and college) and more recently Hungarian and German. Iâm probably most familiar with Hungarian as I have many contacts that I work with in Hungary and Iâve been there 3 times fairly recently. Your videos of your own experiences have reminded me of mine although you have been better at developing the speaking skills.
Iâm working my way through your videos and enjoying them, although I felt very sad when you revealed the struggles youâve faced this year. Iâm glad you found others to help you through it.
Legyen szĂ©p napod.đ
Lindie is so amazing she really is an inspiration and a bubble of positivity I hope you achieve all the success coming your way. I was inspired by you to learn Japanese
Dear Lindie, thank you for your very honest video! You stand out with humility and remain for me a genuine source of inspiration as multi-language learner!
Love to hear your story from a fellow foreign language enthusiast. Especially when it is personable, these videos really help me motivate myself to get back to my studies to go even further. Thank you for the videos, as always. It's always a treat to watch.
Thnks for making your video. My journey in languages has a lot of similarities to yours. These days, I study 19 languages - while I put various amounts of emphasis on them, I am actively studying them all.
I got tired of learning one language, while letting previous ones get rusty.
Yes, I get the same criticism, about spreading my self too thin. In addition, I teach all 19 of these languages. This gives people the notion that I am bragging about being a polyglot - but no, I just love to teach whatever I know.
Also, I consider myself the top language learning expert on earth, and spread myself even thinner since I spend so much time trying to teach people how to learn languages. I teach people how to learn languages because I stumbled on a better way, back in 2018 / 2019, as I was then intested in 12 languages, and using various methods to learn them. Over several months, one discovery led to the next, and voila, my system was born, which I share for free with anyone who asks - or anyone who listens to me.
Comparing me to you: Finnish is one of my top studies now. I am Finnish American so its something I always wanted to do. Hungarian is a related language.
I have studied Spanish for over two decades. Then Italian and Portuguese off the Spanish. (I knew French before studying Spanish.)
I have studied Korean for 7 years now, Arabic for 5, Mandarin for 3. Filipino for a year altogether. French for 7. Afrikaans for 2, but mostly off my dutch which I have studied for 4. (I studied German for 20 years and then learned Dutch from it. Then Swedish, Norwegian and Danish from the Dutch and German. And now learning Luxembourgish from all these, especially German.)
I am an English native speaker.
I have studied Hindi for 2 years. (close to Urdu)
I also have studied Greek and Russian for a few years now. About the only things you have not studied something similar to me.
And while I do not study Japanese, Lithuanian, nor Hungarian, I do help people to gain a better ear for these.
I am Lee Sohlden. Anyone can contact me on facebook messenger if they want to discuss languages with me, including how to go about learning them.
I totally agree with you, Lindie. There are so many languages on this planet and so few hours a day, I can't get fluent in all the languages I (want to) study but I just love discovering new languages. I start, I stop, I eventually restart! It's a hobby, it's for my pleasure, I do it just for myself, for the incredible pleasure of understanding a piece of literature or a chat with a local. This makes my day. It's not a competition, don't bother about those who want to compete. I really enjoy your videos, you are a real source of motivation. Thanks!
thanks for your honesty. People have different priorities when it comes to learning languages and we need to respect that.
Not that I follow many polyglots but you definitely keep it real and honest and I love that. I can tell that you don't try to be like those people that I always see video previews for that say "I can speak x amount of languages" and try to show off like that. Your goal is to get to know the language and the culture and I appreciate you for that! Being a polyglot isn't about becoming "fluent" in as many languages as possible, it's about the love of languages. Thank you for all you do, Lindie! đââ
Lindie, I just read your blog post about your journey on your website. I'm so happy and proud of you, and I hope I can say roughly the same in about a decade (I'm 24 now).
My native language is Dutch and I'm fluent in English, these are the only two languages I feel fully comfortable and confident in. I had French and German in high school and though I liked learning new languages and wasn't bad at it, I also got the feeling that they were "just subjects that I needed to pass" and they deteriorated a LOT since I graduated high school 6 years ago.
Now that I've been learning Korean on and off for the last two years and even did an exchange semester in Seoul this spring, I am slowly gaining back the interest and motivation to do more and go further. I want to finally get past that upper beginner level, pick French and German back up and get to intermediate, and possibly learn other languages I've been interested in for ages - namely Japanese and Spanish. Knowing some Korean while in Korea has been SO helpful in countless situations, I've made some Korean friends and also liked dabbling in the languages that my exchange friends spoke. It's helped me be alot more social and proactive.
You are one of the reasons I get motivated for language learning and I'm always in awe when I see how fast you're picking up new languages and how proficient you are with ones you've been learning for longer. I'm never jealous or envious of it, you're just someone I look up to a lot and you inspire me to just do the thing - even if I don't feel like I'm improving much at all. Thanks for everything so far and I can't wait to see what else you have in store!
LĂĄttalak a tĂ©vĂ©ben Ă©s nagyon jĂłl beszĂ©lsz magyarul!! đ Nagyon szeretem a videĂłidat. Sokat segĂtenek nekem, inspirĂĄlĂłak, motivĂĄlĂłak szĂĄmomra.
Hi Lindie. Itâs really inspiring to watch your video, the most important thing is the joy and positivity in every stage of your language journey. Of course it takes time and lots of concentration to reach a proficient level, but it does not matter as who will never know when any experience in your life would be beneficial at some point. Even you are a designer, not a linguist, but in the future there might be opportunities to work or partner with a foreigner or even business travel to a country and Iâm sure you would comprehend and appreciate more when you can express just a basic communication level to the locals. Iâm Vietnamese and I can tell you got the tones in your Vietnamese sentence spot on like a native, although the accent still sounds pretty much like a foreigner but thatâs completely fine. I donât think any Vietnamese would mind or expect perfect pronunciation and grammar to be friends with any foreigner. Vietnamese is highly influenced by Chinese cultures like Korean and Japanese, then we find it easier to learn Mandarin, Korean and Japanese due to the similarities in Sino-origin lexicon such as Hanja in Korean and Kanji in Japanese, although we still struggle with their grammar and writing. On the other side, as your native language is Afrikaan, you find it easier with Dutch, Bahasa Indonesian and other European languages. South Africa also has so many fascinating language such as click sounds in Xhosa, so I hope you enjoy your language journey ahead and do not be dissuaded by other comments.
loved the video
point well made
hope you are well Lindie
What an amazing journeyđI try not to learn more languages (currently studying 4 languages), but it's so tempting!!!
This may sound weird, but Iâm thankful to those who had this question of too much languages for her, because it was wonderful to hear her go through her various levels of the languages sheâs had experience with.
I'm so envious of how much of the world you were able to see at such a young age! It's so clear that early exposure to different languages and cultures fostered a love of language. I grew up only hearing Spanish in nowhere, Texas. And I never truly learned it! I'm doing the Lingoda sprint right now and loving it. Just getting it confused with the small bit of Italian that I learned in college. đ« I totally agree with your "degrees" of learning. My goal is to know many languages in a "friendly traveler" capacity and then to have a handful that I'm fluent in.
You're amazing & so inspiring!
I've just finished up a block of Korean lessons, so now I think I'll finally make the leap and take on Spanish as well...
I struggled with languages at school as I couldn't concentrate (had no idea I had ADHD) and now that I've recently found out these things and am in my 30s, I feel better equipped to handle learning đ.
One on one with a tutor and learning visually is working wonders so far!
Me encanta este video. ÂĄMucha suerte Lindie!
It seems to me that many polyglots on YT are driven to learn for the accomplishment. This is their kind of personal challenge, their Everest so to speak. There is a deep sense of self-pride involved, especially for the "hard" target languages. You appear to be attracted more by interest in different cultures and new ways of thinking. And it is an entirely different thing if learning multiple languages is the basis for a career in teaching.
Two questions.
1) What initially attracted you to the languages you put a lot of effort into learning? and
2) Do you think the English has become such a global lingua franca that it may be better for the non-English speaker to concentrate on it and devote only a secondary effort to other languages, in particular those with a very limited number of speakers or no specific interest to the learner?
Thanks for your insights and stimulating videos. Next stop Navajo, as they say :)
You are an inspiration to many! You are surely a great polyglot also, those who don't see it, well, their problem ;) It's important to know it oneself. I hope you are doing well and keep up with all your beautiful life proyects! Saludos desde Suecia, Ceci
You said exactly what I was thinking right at the very end - you said you are having fun. I don't know why anyone would care about whether it's good or bad that you have learned so many languages. It doesn't hurt anyone, you enjoy it, and time spent learning is not time wasted. Keep doing what you love!
thank you for sharing. you are an inspiration to me and to many others. ignore the comments of people who cant be bothered to learn anything and just comment on other people
se dice :"no es muy bueno" pero en realidad me parece que tu español es bastante bueno
I loved this video! Love the storytelling vibe
My favorite language learning youtuber â€
Hi, Lindie! Hello from the eastern USA! I just wanted to comment on how much I enjoy your language videos:) You seem like such a sweet, kind, down to earth soul:) I love that you live your life for you and no one else:) You've inspired me, when I either start learning/dabbling with a new language, or I pick up a new one I'm interested in. You are my go-to language person online, and I like how you keep language learning real. As it is definately a very personal, emotional, and challenging joruney. And your Afrikaans videos helped me alot when I was self studying the language:) South Africa looks beautiful, too! Keep doing you! I love your channel!
You do you - I totally understand. Iâve realized that I am interested in languages didnât know it. I have a few languages on my list I want to try - but not because of fluency but to learn more about how they âworkâ - what is so special about them. And even if I just say basic stuff, I am happy and maybe I meet someone and I can say something nice to them.
But my goal is become better in Korean, French and Icelandic. And⊠lose my fear of speaking đ
Thank you for your video - love from Berlin
Iâm the same way! I get so excited about so many languages which is probably why Iâm not very fluent in any of them. As long as you are having fun and enjoying the journey, then what other people think doesnât matter.
This is a great video Lindi, thank-you! I used to watch all your videos years ago but had to completely step away from the CZcams language community because I found it too toxic. I learn for fun and I'm learning lots of different languages, fourteen at the moment, and I hate talking about it with anyone because of the immediate hostility and judgement it seems to generate. It's nice to see someone talking about something other than 'how to be fluent in X days' as if everything is a race or competition
Salut Lindie! Merci pour ta vidĂ©o! J'avais besoin d'ĂȘtre rassurĂ©e. J'apprends plein de langues (French speaker, fluent in English, speaking some spanish and German, and going crazy on Duolingo with Italian, Portuguese, Japanese and now Mandarin. Also tried Arabic, Turkish, Dutch, Russian and Persian). You've reassured me that it's ok to be chaotic and drop a language for the next one. What matters is having fun and connecting with people.
Learning new languages is so much fun, getting to fluency or at least conversational level is so difficult tho, but if your goal is just to have fun and spend your time doing the thing you love, nobody should judge you imo
Loved loved loved the honesty here and I completely agree, I would rather remain a beginner/early intermediate in multiple languages than be incredibly fluent in one because what every language offers is so different and interesting.
I spread myself too thin sometimes too because I view this as a fun hobby. I'm pretty introverted so I'm not great at speaking in languages. That is something I want to focus on by overcoming my shyness.
Japanese is probably my best foreign language. This is the language I have spent time in off and on again for years. I'm somewhere in the A2/B1 range. I really need to work on grammer.
Hebrew and Russian are two languages I love. They both sound beautiful to me and I do dabble in them, but I haven't dedicated enough time to them. I enjoy listening to Messianic Jewish songs. I just enjoy the cultures, history, literature, and arts in these languages.
I have dabbled in French and Spanish as an American. I can comprehend a lot of what I read in writing, but my level of speaking is not very good for either. I enjoy music in these languages, but I don't see myself learning them fluently unless I need them in my life.
The one language I have started learning that really surprises me is German. I'm 1/4 German, but I did not learn it growing up because my mom was not really taught it. I always thought I wouldn't learn it because I haven't had a use for it and I honestly have felt very disconnected from German culture despite my grandmother being German. It has actually been fun to play around with this language. I usually gravitate towards non-European languages, but it has been nice to learn something closer to English. It is still challenging, but I feel somewhat braver when speaking it because it more familiar to me.
Languages are just beautiful and interesting to me. There are languages I think that are really cool that I will most likely never learn. Greek, Georgian, Armenian, Persian, and Portuguese are all really pretty to me in different ways.
I want to focus on Japanese, Hebrew, Russian, and German. Maybe I'll learn more and I know I'll dabble and have fun with different cultures. I just hope to put in more work on these four languages so that I can gain a better understanding and fluency in them. I need to get over my fear of speaking lol.
Even if you had stopped after Afrikaans/English, and your current level of Korean, it would be impressive, the fact that you keep going and study other languages is great. Who cares if you donât get them all up to a high-professional level knowledge, any knowledge is great and helpful! Continue following whatever motivates you and makes you happy!
Thatâs so wonderful to hear, this fascination with languages. Your want for knowledge is very infectious! đHave you ever heard of Lithuanian? Itâs a language of a small country and is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, languages in Europe. It most closely resembles Sanskrit out of all living languages today. Thereâs not many resources or learners out there, but it is a beautiful, flowing language, and the literature is rich. If youâre ever looking for something less common, I think you might enjoy this one.
It's quite suprising the way the pitch of your voice sounded higher when you switched to japanese ! I wonder if it's related to the way sounds are produced !
Thanks for all your videos and articles. You truly are an amazing and inspiring person.