Always giving output in a very humble way. Never pretends to be someone he is not. I have moved on to graded reading on past 6 months with vocabulary and grammar only on a review basis.
Thanks John. I think internet trolls would be chasing me with pitch forks if I tried to pretend to be anyone else! Enjoy the graded reading - such a good use of your time when you find enjoyable content
The question about translating was very interesting. I found that, starting with duolingo, I was relying a lot on translating everything. As I progressed, I felt like this was holding me back. A full video in the future on learning not to rely on translating would be very helpful! Thanks!
Hi Rachel! Yeah it's a really interesting subject. I am planning on a video in the future on this one but want to get some more experience through Spanish so I can give an opinion having tried to learn mostly avoiding translations vs using translation
Thank you for taking the time to answer my question! I grew up bilingually speaking both Welsh and English, so I acquired both languages instead of learning them. So whenever I'm asked how one would go about learning Welsh, I have no idea how to answer because I recognize that everyone has their own unique way of learning. The "go to" at the moment for learning Welsh seems to be "say something in Welsh", which is something similar to the Michel Thomas Method or Pimsleur. But those methods might not be everyone's cup of tea, which is why I was curious of how you would approach it. I've been really interested lately in a method that Tony Marsh teaches called the language matrix method, so I'm trying to introduce my American wife to Welsh using that method.
You're welcome. It's certainly a very interesting question. Irish is a long way away for me but it'll be an obstacle to overcome for sure. I spent some time in Wales last year going down the Wye - absolutely beautiful. Good luck teaching your wife. Let us know how she gets on!
Great video! I've been studying Mandarin for 8 months now -- progress is definitely slow but I do an hour or two a day. Thanks for the channel recommendations, I'll look them up.
Thanks Dan. Yeah, have a look at those channels for sure. If you enjoy reading I would really recommend trying to follow the HSK syllabus to some degree just so you are in a better position to access graded readers when you're ready
Hi, just a quick big thank you for providing these high quality videos. I too am trying to 'acquire' Spanish as my second language. I can therefore totally relate to what you are saying. Since watching your videos, I have been inspired to try different learning techniques. The key message I have learnt from your broadcasts is to keep the daily input going in what ever format you find interesting at that given time. Thankfully, your videos have finally stopped me thinking all the time that 'I should be better than I actually am' and now I just look to enjoy the journey. Thanks again for all your time and effort producing these videos. Keep up the good work! 👍
I know the feeling! Have you tried the channel @FrenchComprehensibleInput ? Luca's stuff looks really cool and I will use it a lot at the point I start learning French (many years away!)
@@matt_brooks-green Yes, i have and i have his videos regularly. And there is also a wonderful free course on RU-vid called "French in action" I am also trying to complete that course. You can check it out if you'd like to.
Please may I recommend Alice Ayel. She is a wonderful french lady who teaches using drawings. You can find a lot of her resources free on RU-vid. I am a member of her website, and my french has really come at a faster pace since joining. A year membership was around £45. Seriously well worth it. However, check her out for free first on RU-vid.
The question about preschool level comprehensible input was interesting. What would you recommend to people who struggle to find other forms of comprehensible input for less represented languages in the learning community? For example, I’m learning Tamil and I struggle to find enough lower level comprehensible input for beginners.
Hi Ashley, thanks for checking out the video. I think that I would largely use a combination of crosstalk and then trying to create my own comprehensible input by recording the audio for crosstalk sessions to listen to again later; I would also probably pay tutors to read out text I provide or stories we create in a class which I would also record and listen to again later. It's a lot more work but I think could be an interesting approach. It's definitely difficult but a language exchange where the other learner who speaks your TL and you speak their TL, doesn't have to be that expensive.
@@matt_brooks-green Thank you! I enjoyed your video on crosstalk and found a new exchange partner to start doing crosstalk with and even asked them to watch your video to confirm they would be willing to do it😅 I like your idea of recording the sessions and will make a point to do that as well for later review.
That's tough. Maybe children's books. Personally I would really recommend crosstalk. Explain your fears to the tutor first and they should be patient with you
Hi Sam I would start with a basic textbook and then use Lingq from Steve Kaufmann for your reading/ listening comprehension. Begin with the Mini Stories. For beginning listening comprehension I would use Bahasa Indonesia with Winda on Spotify/ You Tube. If you become a patreon you also get a transcript for the audio. After that just start reading/ listening to Indonesian media oneline and watching Indonesian You Tube videos. Succes with your Indonesian learning Sam!😁
Very interesting and thoughtful as always. One thing I regret after discovering the power of input that I used material that was too advanced. I'm sure it will help me in the long run, but I spent a long time stalled. I'm starting to dabble in Korea and I'm hoping to avoid that pitfall (I'm sure there are others...). Btw, curious to hear you want to learn Irish - its a tough language! I did it at school - one day I'll return to it, but it will take a big commitment, its significanty tougher than Romance languages.
Hey Philip. Thank you. Just making noise on the internet and pleased some people are there to hear it! Yeah, I find it make such a huge difference. I am jumping between advanced learner materials and native stuff in Spanish. I can follow much of the native content I listen to but I don't feel it helps me in the same way. Good luck with your Korean! I've heard Irish is pretty hard but I'll deal with that one when I get there!
@@matt_brooks-green My problem is that I get very impatient with 'simple' stories so I want to jump to something more interesting in the hope that I will learn my way into it, but its not working that way so far (although I'm hopeful that its not time wasted). Of course with Japanese the particular problem is all those characters, its far harder to read into it than a European language. btw, you are doing more than making noise! There is so much rubbish out there on learning languages (including from people who should know better), its a huge relief to find very low key and sensible science based advice. Its so annoying when even very experienced language learners and teachers give sub-optimal advice. Just because something 'works' doesn't mean its the best way to do it.
@@philipdavis7521 Thanks Philip! Yeah, it's tough to get the balance right some times. I'm actually using some comics at the minute instead which is quite fun (same problem with Japanese and characters sadly but at least there is more context): currently reading Dune in Spanish