My name is Idahosa (pronounced ee-DOW-ssah) Ness and I am the founder of The Mimic Method.
Currently, I speak five languages fluently - Spanish, French, Portuguese, German and Mandarin Chinese. In each one, people have mistaken me before for a native speaker (but for Chinese it only works on the phone).
The secret to my language learning success is my focus on “Learning by Ear.” My primary focus is on the sounds. how to hear them, and how to pronounce them. Once I master the sounds, I pick up new words and phrases by mimicking people in conversation. The Mimic Method is my system for you to learn a language by ear.
On this channel you'll find lots of valuable language learning & pronunciation tips (by yours truly), language missions & case studies with our method, and interviews with popular channels in the language learning & travel space.
You can learn more about myself and The Mimic Method products at www.mimicmethod.com
Hey there, glad I found this channel! This "first principles"(at least phonetically) approach is also what I do when learning a new language. Great job breaking this down phonemes wise! Since my native language is Portuguese(the European-Lisbon variant) I think you did an amazing job and your ears did not deceive you at all(althoughone small correction is that it should be "... - ð̼ɐv - ..." instead of "... - ð̼ɨv - ...")! What's funny is that originally it should be "dɐv". So you're actually hearing what's believed to be a recent phenomenon in European Portuguese, where the articulation for some voiced fricatives relaxes and changes the phoneme slightly when the fricative is located between vowels creating allophonnes like these. Some examples are this "d" into "ð̼", "g" into "ɣ" and "v/b" into "ʋ". Bear in mind, though, that the proper pronunciation should be "d", "g" and "b/v", at least according to the documented phonology. Dialects and allophones can still happen.
Also y’all need to relax. In Costa Rica and in Argentina the r’s are not rolled. Just listen to someone from Argentina in RU-vid. Also the double L and the Y are pronounced more like a zh sound. Yo is pronounced zho. And it’s absolutely correct.
The single r in Spanish is exactly like a “d” in Eddie. As a matter of fact, I was saying the word “caro” to a native English speaker and he though it was spelled c-a-d-o.
Thank you. I've been looking for that explanation for years. I'm a big fan of Timba/Salsa and Flamenco and always wondered about the mechanics of how it puts you into a DANCE TRANCE. You've explained it better than anybody else..... and you explained it real clear. I was a Grad Student at UCBerkeley Linguistics, where NOBODY has any clue about such phenomena, and DONT CARE cuz they're NOT INTERESTED.... You should be teaching there...not them..... but they have tenure.....
Amazing video as always! Idahosa, could you please share with me the name of the software you were using in this video? I also need a software to record myself while sharing my screen. Thanks in advance!
The part that dealt with transitions was exactly what I needed. Thank you! I get stuck with words like „sprechen“, „welches“ and my favorite: „Eichhörnchen“ 😂
I'm very intrigued by the practices in mimicmethod. Idahosa, do you mind sharing the results of your students? The method is quite revolutionary, it's not based on heavy reading for words acquisition. However, what are the differences in the results? Do students who did the mimicmethod have native pronunciation? Do they form better connection with the people they are talking to? I couldn't find mimicmethod alumnis demonstrating their progress and their results. This is a huge selling point of any method.
Yes with our new coaching method we are collecting lots of before after videos that we'll start publishing by end of summer. By end of year we'll have a system in place where we just regularly publish student results and highlights from student-coach interactions. Just haven't had the content systems in place - and i personally get drained from that type of editing work, so not gonna happen until someone else is doing it!
Hey Idahosa, inspirational video as always, thanks for sharing such good content. As uplifting other people is already a step ahead after engaging with people, what would you suggest for quite/introvert people that tend to avoid interactions especially in certain type of environment? What could be an action plan/guide/method to start feeling free to interact with people, and eventually start enjoying interaction as much as an extrovert could enjoy? What's your suggestion to overcome also these blocks that are also part of the communication and flow? What about the art of being an extrovert ?
Great questions. Maybe i'll make an extended video on it. But some quick ideas - i think it's important to make a distinction between introversion and shyness. Introversion/extraversion refers to deeper structures of the personality and how it deals with energy. Whereas shyness is a more superficial trait that can changed dramatically with enough practice. Believe it or not, I was extremely shy growing up, despite always being an extravert. One angle you can consider is mastering the art of charismatic listening. You may notice that some people rarely speak, yet they can get everyone to like them, because they know how to encourage other to speak more with their facial expressions, non-verbal vocalizations, and questions. See if you notice anyone like that, then try to figure out what they're doing, then mimic it.
Great insight, thank you. Yes it would be great if you can expand the topic in a video. Also yes it is very hard to believe, please to share your story/path/suggestions on treating shyness overall as it could be extremely helpful and inspiring.
Very cool video, Idahosa! The Bible calls encouragement a spiritual gift, so I believe it’s something God wants us to cultivate and use daily to show others the love of God. This video was a good reminder to look for opportunities to be encouraging and grow in my ability to encourage others. I appreciate all of the time and effort you put into consistently putting out useful content for us. You are chosen for this man!
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29
Great projects you got coming! Unfortunately I live in Italy so this one’s not for me, but one thing I am curious about, are you ever going to offer 1:1 accent coaching sessions online?
Hi Idahosa, been following you for a while and while I definitely agree with you regarding your perspective on the benefits of clarifying thinking, I'm not sure what the key step to achieve it is in the video as you demonstrate it. I.e., how does ChatGPT as a means of clarifying language thought translates into more ergonomical language expression over time? So far I could say that all that it proves, is that ChatGPT is good at the clarification, and that it can provide elements that refine the thought such as new vocab or concepts, but there's no guarantee that those stick around. I think it's a matter of where to draw the line when it comes to do the heavy lifting yourself, or outsource it to IA.
today i had a conversation with a friend who was extremely insightful and articulate. I would express myself, and then she echoed back her understanding in different words, and the mere act of me hearing her express the thoughts i was getting at in a different and articulate way, led me to more clarity around the ideas. And if i were to explain the same ideas again to another person now, i would do so slightly better. I experience the same thing when i read a book or listen to a podcast by someone who is extremely insightful and articulate, but I'm not able to engage podcast or book the way I would a human. AI represents the merger between the two - it's extremely insightful and articulate, like a good author, but it's also interactive, like a real human. But even more than that, it's infinitely patient, so i can ramble as much as I want. It doesn't replace live interaction with a human, or doing solo thinking on your own, but it undoubtedly enhances the process. After using it for several months now, I am way more articulate and knowledgable on subjects i would not have been otherwise. Hope that answers your question!
MimicMethod, hello! I really like your content and especially your last video. By the way, you are promoting your channel to the masses, I know how to increase the conversion rate and the number of views on your videos. My name is Vladislav, I create design and editing, after which even the most inactive user will watch your video from beginning to end. And also if you will not be satisfied with the result - return 100% Are you interested in working together?
Kinda like this, programming is essentially communicating precisely with a computer but also with future programmers who read your code. If I write some complex code I sometimes copy-paste it into ChatGPT and ask it if it is clear and readable code- and how I could improve it. Obviously just like with what you showed in this video- it recommends some things that aren't useful to me, or just aren't my style, but it also sometimes recommends some valuable stuff I can pick out of it.
"die deutsche Bühnenaussprache" (=stage pronunciation), the first standard pronunciation, which was standardized by Theodor Siebs in 1898 and which was formally used in Germany until 1950s said these words like this: Schule [ˈʃuːlə], stark [ʃtark] ich [ɪç], fertig [ˈfɛrtɪç] hoch [hoːx], machen [ˈmaxən] trozdem [trɔts'deːm], kraß [kras] This kind of artificial pronunciation for actors and actresses on stage is easier for Indonesians as it uses an alveolar trill "r" if compared with today's standard pronunciation called "Deutsche Hochsprache" (now named "Deutsche Aussprache"), which uses a uvular fricative "r" and a vocalized "r": Schule [ˈʃuːlə], stark [ʃtaɐk] ich [ɪç], fertig [ˈfɛɐtɪç] hoch [hoːx], machen [ˈmaxən] trozdem [tʁɔts'deːm], krass [kʁas]
I read recently that laughter is a sign that everything is okay and it used to be formed as a method of communication. Quoted: "The idea was that laughter was an external signal that can tell the group everything is OK, we can relax. (There is) no need to be anxious or threatened by what’s happening around us."
