5 Techniques to speak any languages or 5 techniques that help us learn and speak any language from someone who has actually succeeded, Sid Efromovich. His methods should be useful for Thai people, especially working people.
Because the problem of language, especially English, is considered an obstacle that prevents many working people from accessing more or better opportunities than before, especially in the present day where life is full of competition. Language is one of the qualities that many people want to work with. The better you can speak, the more you can speak, the more advantages you will have, not just in terms of job options, but also in the amount of money offered.
I have heard many people say that language is a barrier to communication. But in fact, it is a bridge of learning. Some people choose to throw it away because they were born speaking their native language, and that should be enough. However, they may forget that in this era, there are no more borders. If we have more knowledge of languages than our own country’s language,
But in reality, it is difficult to learn just a second language, let alone a third, fourth, or other language. Because if we cannot overcome the second language, it will be even more difficult to learn the next language. Or is it that we cannot overcome the language barrier because our learning methods are not suitable or ineffective?
So, let’s start over and try to understand the methods of people who have succeeded and are multilingual. How did they do it?
Sid Efromovich grew up in a multilingual environment. He spoke four languages by the time he was 18, and three more three years later. People ask him about his language-learning secrets as often as they ask for his phone number.
The question is, how did he do it?
“My language learning is different from others.”
He said that for other people, learning a language is stressful, requires a lot of effort, makes it difficult to understand, and is impossible for many people. But he sees this matter differently from other people. For him, learning a language is very enjoyable. It is fun, exciting, and he enjoys every moment of learning it.
In his TEDxUpperEastSide talk, he shared five techniques for speaking any language that will make learning a language easier. And once we learn these techniques, we might just fall in love with learning languages like Sid Efromovich did.
1. Dare to be wrong, dare to make mistakes.
To do technique number 1, we have to take a deep breath and throw away what we have been taught because we are always conditioned and framed as to what we can and cannot do, and we must always do the right thing. But the main rule of learning a language is that we must dare to make mistakes and must be able to learn from those mistakes.
“There is nothing within our knowledge that tells us that we are doing the right thing.”
Every language database is created by combining structure with pronunciation. Often, we encounter structures or pronunciations that exceed the database we have learned. Therefore, if we limit our learning to the language database, we will never succeed in learning a language.
“When we say it perfectly but think there are still mistakes, remember that feeling.”
The feeling of fear, insecurity or embarrassment when we do something wrong – that feeling can motivate us. It’s a signal that we are stepping out of our comfort zone, we are entering new territory, we need to correct our old understanding and replace it with something new and correct.
“We have to allow ourselves to dare to break the old, old frameworks of the language database.”
From learning a language, whether it is memorization or understanding, we must dare to accept novelty or new things beyond what we have learned before. For example, the word Puerta is Spanish for door. Of course, if we have studied English, we will definitely be able to pronounce Pu, e, and ta. But if we still hold on to our old knowledge of r from English, we will immediately pronounce this word incorrectly because this r in Spanish has to be rolled down the tongue and is pronounced similar to rr.
2. Leave the consonants of the language you want to learn for now.
It is difficult to learn to speak different languages when the consonants of each language are different. Some languages are written the same but pronounced in completely different directions, in ways we would not expect. Therefore, in this second technique, we will throw those consonants away for now and write the pronunciation in the language that we know. For example, if we are learning English, we will write the pronunciation in Thai first, as in the example below.
- Tiger = Tiger
- Passion = Passion
- Black = Black
- Business = Business
At least when we are learning English, we can still pronounce these words without getting confused about how each consonant must be pronounced. When we start to mark words that we are unsure of the pronunciation by writing the pronunciation in a way that we can understand, we are successfully entering into learning a language in an unfamiliar way, which means that we have broken through the walls of our old database.
3. Check the incentive errors
The motivation we need to look for here does not mean a lover, money or fame, but someone with whom we feel comfortable learning to speak, to speak in the language we are learning, to trust him, and who can correct our mistakes when we make them, without both parties feeling bored, embarrassed or dissatisfied with each other. It would be great if that person is the one who invited you to go outside your learning frame in the first place, such as a teacher at school, a private tutor, a friend or a parent.
“Language is more than a relationship, it is about learning from each other.”
4. Conversation while taking a shower
Many people say that shower time is like a concert, dance practice, music video, or some people say that it is a singing practice room. In this 4th technique, we have to try to change the bathroom into a conversation situation with someone, which is ourselves.
This may sound funny, but it definitely works. Normally, when we practice speaking with someone, we tend to be the one asking or answering. But if we ask and answer ourselves, we will practice both asking and answering at the same time.
“It worked for him, it worked for me, and it will work for you.”
Now, this may sound like an embarrassing story to tell yourself in the shower, but Michael Phelps, an American swimmer who is widely regarded as the greatest swimmer in history, once did it. He said that he would visualize himself doing the race over and over again before he jumped in the water. It was like he had practiced swimming with the image in his head. And yes, this method really works.
5. Buddy Formula
Now that we have practiced this much and used all 4 techniques, it is time for technique number 5, which is practical use. The formula is to have a friend. What I am talking about is finding someone to talk back and talk to you in the language that you are learning. However, this step is different from technique number 3 because this is practical use and you will only talk to your friend in the language that you are learning.
“Our conversation partner should be proficient and comfortable speaking the language we are learning.”
An effective conversation is one where, when we encounter a point outside our knowledge base, we do not revert to our native language, but instead use the language we are learning to try to explain. Therefore, when choosing a conversation partner, choose someone who is truly comfortable with the language we are learning and who is ready to communicate with us in that language, because there is a high percentage of us who will revert to our native language when we both do not know how to communicate in the language we are learning.
When we have completed all 5 techniques, we will arrive at a beautiful place where we will find that learning a language is no longer stressful, difficult or boring, but it is possible.
And it will make our new world more open, a world where we will have the opportunity to explore new cultures and different ways of life. New opportunities are available for us to explore.
The best reward for learning is not the number of languages we speak, but the more we learn about ourselves through learning languages.
Conclusion
Learning a language is difficult because we think it is difficult. Of the 5 techniques that Sid Efromovich gives us, nothing is beyond our ability.
Whether we are high school students, preparing to study at university, or students preparing to enter the workforce, or may be working hard every day, if we try to manage our time well and add these 5 techniques, the admin thinks that it will definitely give us worthwhile results.
“It may sound difficult now, but it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. A long journey always starts with the first step, and it won’t be a problem if we already know how to walk.”Sid Efromovich
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