When you want to learn a new language and you go to YouTube so you can find people who can teach you a language via vlogs or via 10 minute lesson videos, you'll actually find people who are also learning the language or they have learned the language and they're actually giving you tips of how to learn that language, and if you search a little bit more, you'll find polyglots that can even teach you (in their own way) how to learn a language, multiple languages or any language at all. If you have encounter one of them, he's probably from the not so famous community of YouTube polyglots.
Now you can find a whole community of polyglots on YouTube, members that post really interesting and helpful videos about language learning, some of the most popular and influential polyglots on YouTube are: Moses McCormick (username: laoshu50500), Luca (poliglotta80), Richard Simcott (Torbyrne), Steve Kaufmann (lingosteve), Felix (loki2504) and the legendary Professor Alexander Arguelles (ProfASAr).
All of them are a true inspiration if you want to learn languages, they're always giving you advices on the subject or sharing their experiences or showing you their method. Almost all of them, use (as far as I'm concern) the liberal method that I already explained on a previous post. They use a liberal listening-reading-speaking method, without focusing on grammar.
However, despite all of the videos that they make and all of the good advices that they give, sometimes I think that they miss a really important factor about the people who are watching their videos. Sometimes, some of these polyglots like Kaufmann, try to impose you a predetermined way of how you should learn a language, and I don't blame Kaufmann because his method is actually very good but, I feel that they miss a really important question.
And this is that important question:
If you want to learn a new language, the first and the most important thing that you have to ask yourself is: "Why do I want to learn this language?" that's the single most important thing that you have to know, why do you want to learn this language?.
You must completely define the reason why you want to learn that language, that's the first and the most important step of all. Why is the most important step of all? Because is going to completely define the organization, style, material, time and methodology that you're going to use for learning that language.
Define the reason.
Now, maybe you don't really know why do you want to learn this language, well I will help you, and I will explain to you the most common reasons for why somebody would want to learn a language.
Why do you want to learn a language?
Well... maybe you like the language, maybe you like or you're interested in the language, in the country, in the people, in the culture. Maybe you fell in love with the women of that country and what better way to hit on them that speaking their own language and being an exotic foreigner :D, or maybe you have friends or family who speak that language and you want to communicate with them in that way. Maybe you want to travel over there for a few weeks or for a few months and you want be able to communicate with the natives.
All of those reasons that I just mentioned, enter in the "SOCIAL REASONS" cabinet: You want to learn the language because you're interested in the social aspect of the language. You're interested in meeting people, maybe making friends. For this you don't need to learn in an official way or anything, you don't need to take exams or anything, you can learn just by using almost completely the Liberal Method. You just want to learn it so you can interact with people in a normal social way. A lot of people have all of these reasons, however if you want to live in that country or if you want to work in that country or in a company of that country, I'm afraid that for these you'll need official studies or you will need to take official tests regarding that language, what brings me to the second most important cabinet of reasons which is:
The "BUSINESS REASONS"cabinet:
Let's say that you already have a profession, you're already working in some place or looking for a job, and maybe you say, "Hey, I want to learn a new language so I can expand my curriculum", "I want to learn that language because I want to work on that country", nowadays is common fact that people who can speak another language or multiple languages don't struggle to get a job as much as people who only speak one language, so maybe you can say: "I want to learn a new language because I want to get a job". You wont believe how many windows of opportunities begin to emerge when you learn a new language, is almost like a new work horizon and a new language is a definitive big plus on your Curriculum Vitae. The more languages you know, the less competition you'll have during job interviews.
However, for this cabinet of reasons, you'll mandatory need two things.
First, you'll need official studies of this language or official recognition, now hang on a little bit!, official recognition is not as hard as you may think. First of all, you're probably asking right now, why do I need official recognition in the first place?, Well, when you're in a job interview, you can say: I know Chinese, I know Swedish, I know Russian, I know Spanish; and the interviewer is going to be like "Ok" but he will search on your Curriculum for documented evidence that proves that you can speak that language. He will search for a diploma, for a test, for a course, for any kind of official valid recognition that proves that you indeed speak that language in x level, and if he doesn't find any, he will not take that aspect into consideration. You need official studies or official recognition so you can prove to the company, institution or people who are going to hire you that you can speak the language.
But, how do you get that?
How do you get official studies or official recognition?, well there are basically three ways: you can study in a Language Institute, finish your studies and earn a diploma, certificate, a bachelor degree, whatever. Other way is to go study on that country, receiving at the end of your studies there; a certificate or a recognition of one of the country's universities.
And the third, possibly the cheapest one but also possibly the hardest one is; to study for yourself and to take one of the official certification exams on that language and to approve it.
I'm going to make a little explanation here; almost every popular language out there has it's own certification exam, English has the famous TOEFL (for US English) IELTS (for UK English) and a few others. French has the DELF and DALF, Spanish has the DELE, Portuguese has the CELPE-Bras, Chinese has the HNK, German has the TestDaf, well I think you get the idea now.
Almost all of these exams are divided into 6 levels: A1 (Beginner), A2 (Intermediate Beginner), B1 (Intermediate), B2 (Intermediate Advance), C1 (Really Advance), C2 (You can even correct a native).
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="478"]
If you study and if you're really serious about this; you can get one of these :D[/caption]
These are official exams and if you approve one of them you'll get and official certification valid anywhere. Now these exams aren't really cheap, and is really probable that you will need to travel to a city where you can take this test. So I would recommend to find out where can you take the exam and how much does it cost, once that you know that, you can start saving some money.
You need to study a lot for these tests, you can find guides and other material like books that can help you for preparing yourself. Generally the B1 and B2 levels are the most demanded levels, I don't know how it is in other countries but in France, you need the B2 level if you want to study over there.
Second, you need to learn the vocabulary of your area of work. For example, maybe you're an engineer, and you know German, you presented the TestDaf B1 and you passed it and now a German Industrial Company at Munich has hired you. Knowing the language is of course the most important thing but while you're working, you also need to know the vocabulary or terminology that is use on your area of work. If you're a doctor you should know medical vocabulary, if you are a lawyer you should learn law terminology, if you're an engineer you should know engineering terminology, etc, etc. Learn the vocabulary, learn the terminology that is used on that area of work in that language.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="225"]
Yep, you'll have to study on of these, on your respective area of work of course[/caption]
EDUCATIONAL REASONS
But a lot of people may be asking:
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="255"]
But what about if I want to become a teacher?[/caption]
Well, when it comes to teachers it tends to vary a lot, first of all where did you want to teach? Here? in other country? in Kindergarten? in Elementary School? in Junior High? High School? College? other kind of institution? everything seems to vary a lot. There are some places that will hire you as a teacher just by the simple fact that you kinda know the language. There are other way more respectable places that will ask you for official certifications (even if it's your own native language). There are other places that will actually demand you a Bachelor on Languages to work there as a teacher, and there are other high ranking places that will demand you a Masters degree (that is actually what every institution should ask for). So yeah, when it comes to teachers it all depends in where do you want to work.
But if you want to become a teacher, working at a respectable place; you need official studies or official certifications, as simple as that.
And of course if you want to become a translator, an interpreter, a professional linguist, if you want to work on an embassy or something like that, you need official studies for that, you need a career.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="392"]
You need studies, but it's truly a beautiful job and they worth it.[/caption]
And that's everything that I have to say. Define why do you want to learn a language, it can be for the social reasons (meeting/speaking with natives on a normal social way, or just learning it because you want to learn it), for business reasons (applying a language on your work or career) , for educational reasons (becoming a teacher) or for working reasons (becoming a translator, interpreter, professional linguist, etc).
And now you know what do you really have to do in each one of them.
Thanks for reading :D
Now you can find a whole community of polyglots on YouTube, members that post really interesting and helpful videos about language learning, some of the most popular and influential polyglots on YouTube are: Moses McCormick (username: laoshu50500), Luca (poliglotta80), Richard Simcott (Torbyrne), Steve Kaufmann (lingosteve), Felix (loki2504) and the legendary Professor Alexander Arguelles (ProfASAr).
All of them are a true inspiration if you want to learn languages, they're always giving you advices on the subject or sharing their experiences or showing you their method. Almost all of them, use (as far as I'm concern) the liberal method that I already explained on a previous post. They use a liberal listening-reading-speaking method, without focusing on grammar.
However, despite all of the videos that they make and all of the good advices that they give, sometimes I think that they miss a really important factor about the people who are watching their videos. Sometimes, some of these polyglots like Kaufmann, try to impose you a predetermined way of how you should learn a language, and I don't blame Kaufmann because his method is actually very good but, I feel that they miss a really important question.
And this is that important question:
If you want to learn a new language, the first and the most important thing that you have to ask yourself is: "Why do I want to learn this language?" that's the single most important thing that you have to know, why do you want to learn this language?.
You must completely define the reason why you want to learn that language, that's the first and the most important step of all. Why is the most important step of all? Because is going to completely define the organization, style, material, time and methodology that you're going to use for learning that language.
Define the reason.
Now, maybe you don't really know why do you want to learn this language, well I will help you, and I will explain to you the most common reasons for why somebody would want to learn a language.
Why do you want to learn a language?
Well... maybe you like the language, maybe you like or you're interested in the language, in the country, in the people, in the culture. Maybe you fell in love with the women of that country and what better way to hit on them that speaking their own language and being an exotic foreigner :D, or maybe you have friends or family who speak that language and you want to communicate with them in that way. Maybe you want to travel over there for a few weeks or for a few months and you want be able to communicate with the natives.
All of those reasons that I just mentioned, enter in the "SOCIAL REASONS" cabinet: You want to learn the language because you're interested in the social aspect of the language. You're interested in meeting people, maybe making friends. For this you don't need to learn in an official way or anything, you don't need to take exams or anything, you can learn just by using almost completely the Liberal Method. You just want to learn it so you can interact with people in a normal social way. A lot of people have all of these reasons, however if you want to live in that country or if you want to work in that country or in a company of that country, I'm afraid that for these you'll need official studies or you will need to take official tests regarding that language, what brings me to the second most important cabinet of reasons which is:
The "BUSINESS REASONS"cabinet:
Let's say that you already have a profession, you're already working in some place or looking for a job, and maybe you say, "Hey, I want to learn a new language so I can expand my curriculum", "I want to learn that language because I want to work on that country", nowadays is common fact that people who can speak another language or multiple languages don't struggle to get a job as much as people who only speak one language, so maybe you can say: "I want to learn a new language because I want to get a job". You wont believe how many windows of opportunities begin to emerge when you learn a new language, is almost like a new work horizon and a new language is a definitive big plus on your Curriculum Vitae. The more languages you know, the less competition you'll have during job interviews.
However, for this cabinet of reasons, you'll mandatory need two things.
First, you'll need official studies of this language or official recognition, now hang on a little bit!, official recognition is not as hard as you may think. First of all, you're probably asking right now, why do I need official recognition in the first place?, Well, when you're in a job interview, you can say: I know Chinese, I know Swedish, I know Russian, I know Spanish; and the interviewer is going to be like "Ok" but he will search on your Curriculum for documented evidence that proves that you can speak that language. He will search for a diploma, for a test, for a course, for any kind of official valid recognition that proves that you indeed speak that language in x level, and if he doesn't find any, he will not take that aspect into consideration. You need official studies or official recognition so you can prove to the company, institution or people who are going to hire you that you can speak the language.
But, how do you get that?
How do you get official studies or official recognition?, well there are basically three ways: you can study in a Language Institute, finish your studies and earn a diploma, certificate, a bachelor degree, whatever. Other way is to go study on that country, receiving at the end of your studies there; a certificate or a recognition of one of the country's universities.
And the third, possibly the cheapest one but also possibly the hardest one is; to study for yourself and to take one of the official certification exams on that language and to approve it.
I'm going to make a little explanation here; almost every popular language out there has it's own certification exam, English has the famous TOEFL (for US English) IELTS (for UK English) and a few others. French has the DELF and DALF, Spanish has the DELE, Portuguese has the CELPE-Bras, Chinese has the HNK, German has the TestDaf, well I think you get the idea now.
Almost all of these exams are divided into 6 levels: A1 (Beginner), A2 (Intermediate Beginner), B1 (Intermediate), B2 (Intermediate Advance), C1 (Really Advance), C2 (You can even correct a native).
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="478"]
If you study and if you're really serious about this; you can get one of these :D[/caption]These are official exams and if you approve one of them you'll get and official certification valid anywhere. Now these exams aren't really cheap, and is really probable that you will need to travel to a city where you can take this test. So I would recommend to find out where can you take the exam and how much does it cost, once that you know that, you can start saving some money.
You need to study a lot for these tests, you can find guides and other material like books that can help you for preparing yourself. Generally the B1 and B2 levels are the most demanded levels, I don't know how it is in other countries but in France, you need the B2 level if you want to study over there.
Second, you need to learn the vocabulary of your area of work. For example, maybe you're an engineer, and you know German, you presented the TestDaf B1 and you passed it and now a German Industrial Company at Munich has hired you. Knowing the language is of course the most important thing but while you're working, you also need to know the vocabulary or terminology that is use on your area of work. If you're a doctor you should know medical vocabulary, if you are a lawyer you should learn law terminology, if you're an engineer you should know engineering terminology, etc, etc. Learn the vocabulary, learn the terminology that is used on that area of work in that language.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="225"]
Yep, you'll have to study on of these, on your respective area of work of course[/caption]EDUCATIONAL REASONS
But a lot of people may be asking:
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="255"]
But what about if I want to become a teacher?[/caption]Well, when it comes to teachers it tends to vary a lot, first of all where did you want to teach? Here? in other country? in Kindergarten? in Elementary School? in Junior High? High School? College? other kind of institution? everything seems to vary a lot. There are some places that will hire you as a teacher just by the simple fact that you kinda know the language. There are other way more respectable places that will ask you for official certifications (even if it's your own native language). There are other places that will actually demand you a Bachelor on Languages to work there as a teacher, and there are other high ranking places that will demand you a Masters degree (that is actually what every institution should ask for). So yeah, when it comes to teachers it all depends in where do you want to work.
But if you want to become a teacher, working at a respectable place; you need official studies or official certifications, as simple as that.
And of course if you want to become a translator, an interpreter, a professional linguist, if you want to work on an embassy or something like that, you need official studies for that, you need a career.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="392"]
You need studies, but it's truly a beautiful job and they worth it.[/caption]And that's everything that I have to say. Define why do you want to learn a language, it can be for the social reasons (meeting/speaking with natives on a normal social way, or just learning it because you want to learn it), for business reasons (applying a language on your work or career) , for educational reasons (becoming a teacher) or for working reasons (becoming a translator, interpreter, professional linguist, etc).
And now you know what do you really have to do in each one of them.
Thanks for reading :D