I love learning foreign languages. In fact, I love it so much that I like to learn a new language every two years, currently working on my eighth one. When people find that out about me, they always ask me, "How do you do that? What's your secret?" And to be honest, for many years, my answer would be, "I don't know. I simply love learning languages." But people were never happy with that answer. They wanted to know why they are spending years trying to learn even one language, never achieving fluency, and here I come, learning one language after another. They wanted to know the secret of polyglots, people who speak a lot of languages. And that made me wonder, too, how do actually other polyglots do it? What do we have in common? And what is it that enables us to learn languages so much faster than other people? I decided to meet other people like me and find that out.
Saya suka belajar bahasa asing. Malah, saya sangat suka hinggakan saya belajar bahasa baharu setiap dua tahun, kini, sedang belajar bahasa kelapan. Apabila orang dengar tentang ini, mereka tanya saya, "Bagaimana kamu belajar? Apa rahsia kamu?" Sejujurnya, selama bertahun-tahun, jawapan saya ialah, "Saya tak tahu. Saya hanya suka belajar bahasa." Tetapi orang tak berpuas hati dengan jawapan ini. Mereka ingin tahu kenapa mereka ambil masa bertahun-tahun untuk belajar satu bahasa. tidak pernah fasih, dan saya pula, belajar satu bahasa selepas bahasa yang lain. Mereka ingin tahu rahsia poliglot, penutur pelbagai bahasa. Ini membuatkan saya terfikir, bagaimana poliglot lain belajar bahasa? Apakah persamaan kami? Dan apakah yang membolehkan kami belajar bahasa lebih pantas daripada orang lain? Saya mengambil keputusan untuk bertemu orang seperti saya dan bertanya.
The best place to meet a lot of polyglots is an event where hundreds of language lovers meet in one place to practice their languages. There are several such polyglot events organized all around the world, and so I decided to go there and ask polyglots about the methods that they use.
Tempat terbaik untuk bertemu ramai poliglot ialah di program untuk ratusan pencinta bahasa bertemu untuk berlatih bahasa mereka. Terdapat pelbagai acara seperti ini yang dianjurkan di seluruh dunia. Saya ambil keputusan untuk pergi dan bertanya poliglot lain tentang kaedah mereka.
And so I met Benny from Ireland, who told me that his method is to start speaking from day one. He learns a few phrases from a travel phrasebook and goes to meet native speakers and starts having conversations with them right away. He doesn't mind making even 200 mistakes a day, because that's how he learns, based on the feedback. And the best thing is, he doesn't even need to travel a lot today, because you can easily have conversations with native speakers from the comfort of your living room, using websites.
Saya bertemu Benny dari Ireland, yang menyatakan dia mula bercakap dari hari pertama. Dia belajar beberapa frasa dari buku frasa pelancongan, pergi bertemu penutur jati dan terus berbual dengan mereka. Dia tidak kisah walaupun membuat 200 kesalahan sehari kerana itu cara dia belajar, berdasarkan maklum balas. Dan kini, dia tidak perlu banyak mengembara kerana anda boleh bertutur dengan penutur jati dari rumah anda, menggunakan laman web.
I also met Lucas from Brazil who had a really interesting method to learn Russian. He simply added a hundred random Russian speakers on Skype as friends, and then he opened a chat window with one of them and wrote "Hi" in Russian. And the person replied, "Hi, how are you?" Lucas copied this and put it into a text window with another person, and the person replied, "I'm fine, thank you, and how are you?" Lucas copied this back to the first person, and in this way, he had two strangers have a conversation with each other without knowing about it.
Saya juga bertemu Lucas dari Brazil. Kaedahnya belajar bahasa Rusia amat menarik. Dia menambah seratus orang penutur Rusia secara rawak sebagai rakan di Skype. Kemudian, dia membuka tetingkap sembang dengan salah seorang dan tulis "Hi" dalam bahasa Rusia. Orang tersebut menjawab, "Hi, apa khabar?" Lucas salin ayat ini dan masukkan dalam tetingkap sembang dengan orang lain, dan orang tersebut menjawab, "Saya baik, terima kasih. Awak pula?" Lucas salin ayat ini kepada orang pertama. Dengan cara ini, dia membuat dua orang asing berbual sesama mereka tanpa pengetahuan mereka.
(Laughter)
(Gelak tawa)
And soon he would start typing himself, because he had so many of these conversations that he figured out how the Russian conversation usually starts. What an ingenious method, right?
Akhirnya, dia mula menaip sendiri, kerana dia melihat banyak perbualan ini hinggakan dia belajar bagaimana perbualan dalam Rusia bermula. Bijakkan kaedah ini?
And then I met polyglots who always start by imitating sounds of the language, and others who always learn the 500 most frequent words of the language, and yet others who always start by reading about the grammar. If I asked a hundred different polyglots, I heard a hundred different approaches to learning languages. Everybody seems to have a unique way they learn a language, and yet we all come to the same result of speaking several languages fluently.
Kemudian saya bertemu poliglot yang mula dengan meniru bunyi bahasa tersebut, dan yang belajar 500 perkataan yang sering digunakan dalam bahasa tersebut, dan yang bermula dengan membaca tentang tatabahasa. Jika saya bertanya seratus poliglot berbeza, saya mendengar seratus kaedah berbeza untuk mempelajari bahasa. Semua orang mempunyai cara tersendiri mempelajari bahasa, tetapi kami akhirnya dapat bertutur dalam pelbagai bahasa dengan fasih.
And as I was listening to these polyglots telling me about their methods, it suddenly dawned on me: the one thing we all have in common is that we simply found ways to enjoy the language-learning process. All of these polyglots were talking about language learning as if it was great fun. You should have seen their faces when they were showing me their colorful grammar charts and their carefully handmade flash cards, and their statistics about learning vocabulary using apps, or even how they love to cook based on recipes in a foreign language. All of them use different methods, but they always make sure it's something that they personally enjoy.
Semasa saya mendengar kaedah pembelajaran poliglot-poliglot ini, akhirnya saya tersedar: satu perkara yang sama tentang kami ialah kami jumpa cara menyeronokkan untuk belajar bahasa. Semua poliglot ini bercakap tentang pembelajaran bahasa seperti ia amat menyeronokkan. Anda patut lihat wajah mereka semasa menunjukkan saya carta tatabahasa berwarna-warni, dan kad imbas buatan sendiri, dan statistik pembelajaran kosa kata menggunakan aplikasi, atau bagaimana mereka suka memasak menggunakan resipi dalam bahasa asing. Semua orang mempunyai cara berbeza, tetapi mereka sering memastikan cara itu menyeronokkan bagi mereka.
I realized that this is actually how I learn languages myself. When I was learning Spanish, I was bored with the text in the textbook. I mean, who wants to read about Jose asking about the directions to the train station. Right? I wanted to read "Harry Potter" instead, because that was my favorite book as a child, and I have read it many times. So I got the Spanish translation of "Harry Potter" and started reading, and sure enough, I didn't understand almost anything at the beginning, but I kept on reading because I loved the book, and by the end of the book, I was able to follow it almost without any problems. And the same thing happened when I was learning German. I decided to watch "Friends," my favorite sitcom, in German, and again, at the beginning it was all just gibberish. I didn't know where one word finished and another one started, but I kept on watching every day because it's "Friends." I can watch it in any language. I love it so much. And after the second or third season, seriously, the dialogue started to make sense.
Saya tersedar bahawa saya sendiri belajar seperti ini. Semasa belajar bahasa Sepanyol, saya bosan dengan buku teks. Siapa yang mahu membaca tentang Jose bertanya tentang arah ke stesen kereta api. Betul tak? Saya mahu membaca "Harry Potter" kerana itu buku kegemaran saya semasa kecil dan saya telah baca banyak kali. Jadi, saya dapatkan buku "Harry Potter" terjemahan Sepanyol dan mula membaca, dan sudah tentu saya tidak faham satu pun pada mulanya. Tetapi saya terus baca kerana saya suka buku itu, dan pada penghujungnya, saya hampir memahaminya tanpa masalah. Perkara sama berlaku semasa saya belajar bahasa Jerman. Saya mengambil keputusan untuk menonton "Friends" dalam bahasa Jerman. Sekali lagi, pada awalnya, semuanya merapu. Saya tidak tahu bila satu perkataan berakhir dan satu lagi bermula. Saya terus tonton setiap hari kerana ini "Friends", saya boleh tonton dalam bahasa apapun. Saya sangat sukakannya. Dan selepas musim kedua atau ketiga, saya mula faham dialognya.
I only realized this after meeting other polyglots. We are no geniuses and we have no shortcut to learning languages. We simply found ways how to enjoy the process, how to turn language learning from a boring school subject into a pleasant activity which you don't mind doing every day. If you don't like writing words down on paper, you can always type them in an app. If you don't like listening to boring textbook material, find interesting content on YouTube or in podcasts for any language. If you're a more introverted person and you can't imagine speaking to native speakers right away, you can apply the method of self-talk. You can talk to yourself in the comfort of your room, describing your plans for the weekend, how your day has been, or even take a random picture from your phone and describe the picture to your imaginary friend. This is how polyglots learn languages, and the best news is, it's available to anyone who is willing to take the learning into their own hands.
Saya sedar tentang perkara ini selepas bertemu poliglot lain. Kami bukan genius dan kami tiada jalan singkat untuk belajar bahasa. Kami hanya jumpa cara untuk menjadikan proses ini seronok, cara mengubah pembelajaran bahasa daripada sebuah subjek membosankan menjadi aktiviti menyeronokkan hinggakan anda tidak kisah buat setiap hari. Jika anda tidak suka menulis di atas kertas, anda boleh taip dalam aplikasi. Jika anda tidak suka mendengar bahan buku teks yang membosankan, cari kandungan menarik dalam YouTube atau podcast dalam apapun bahasa. Jika anda seorang introvert dan tidak dapat membayangkan terus bercakap dengan penutur jati, anda boleh bercakap dengan diri sendiri. Anda boleh bercakap dengan diri sendiri di dalam bilik, menerangkan rancangan anda pada hujung minggu, bagaimana hari anda, ataupun ambil gambar dengan telefon anda dan terangkan gambar tersebut kepada teman khayalan anda. Beginilah cara poliglot belajar bahasa, dan berita terbaik adalah semua orang boleh jika mereka sanggup mencari kaedah belajar sendiri.
So meeting other polyglots helped me realize that it is really crucial to find enjoyment in the process of learning languages, but also that joy in itself is not enough. If you want to achieve fluency in a foreign language, you'll also need to apply three more principles.
Bertemu dengan poliglot lain menyedarkan saya bahawa amat penting mencari keseronokan dalam proses mempelajari bahasa, tetapi juga keseronokan sahaja tidak cukup. Jika anda ingin fasih berbahasa asing, anda juga perlu mempunyai tiga lagi prinsip.
First of all, you'll need effective methods. If you try to memorize a list of words for a test tomorrow, the words will be stored in your short-term memory and you'll forget them after a few days. If you, however, want to keep words long term, you need to revise them in the course of a few days repeatedly using the so-called space repetition. You can use apps which are based on this system such as Anki or Memrise, or you can write lists of word in a notebook using the Goldlist method, which is also very popular with many polyglots. If you're not sure which methods are effective and what is available out there, just check out polyglots' YouTube channels and websites and get inspiration from them. If it works for them, it will most probably work for you too.
Pertama, kaedah berkesan. Jika anda cuba menghafal senarai perkataan untuk ujian esok, perkataan itu akan disimpan dalam memori jangka pendek dan anda akan lupa selepas beberapa hari. Jika anda ingin menyimpan perkataan untuk jangka masa panjang, anda perlu mengulang kaji selama beberapa hari menggunakan kaedah pengulangan berkala. Anda boleh menggunakan aplikasi berasaskan sistem ini seperti Anki atau Memrise. Atau tulis senarai perkataan dalam buku menggunakan kaedah Goldlist yang juga sangat terkenal dalam kalangan ramai poliglot. Jika anda tidak pasti kaedah mana berkesan dan apa kaedah lain yang ada, lihat saluran YouTube dan laman web poliglot dan dapatkan inspirasi daripada mereka. Jika ia berkesan untuk mereka, ia kemungkinan akan berkesan untuk anda.
The third principle to follow is to create a system in your learning. We're all very busy and no one really has time to learn a language today. But we can create that time if we just plan a bit ahead. Can you wake up 15 minutes earlier than you normally do? That would be the perfect time to revise some vocabulary. Can you listen to a podcast on your way to work while driving? Well, that would be great to get some listening experience. There are so many things we can do without even planning that extra time, such as listening to podcasts on our way to work or doing our household chores. The important thing is to create a plan in the learning. "I will practice speaking every Tuesday and Thursday with a friend for 20 minutes. I will listen to a YouTube video while having breakfast." If you create a system in your learning, you don't need to find that extra time, because it will become a part of your everyday life.
Prinsip ketiga untuk diikuti ialah mencipta sistem dalam pembelajaran anda. Kita semua sangat sibuk dan tiada masa untuk belajar bahasa pada hari ini. Tetapi kita boleh meluangkan masa jika kita merancang sedikit awal. Bolehkah anda bangun 15 minit lebih awal daripada kebiasaan? Itu merupakan masa terbaik untuk mengulang kaji kosa kata. Bolehkah anda mendengar podcast semasa memandu ke tempat kerja? Itu masa terbaik untuk mendapatkan pengalaman mendengar. Banyak perkara boleh kita lakukan tanpa merancang masa tambahan seperti mendengar podcast semasa ke tempat kerja, atau semasa membuat kerja rumah. Perkara penting ialah menyediakan rancangan pembelajaran. "Saya akan berlatih bertutur setiap Selasa dan Khamis dengan seorang kawan selama 20 minit." "Saya akan mendengar video Youtube semasa bersarapan." Jika anda menyediakan sistem pembelajaran, anda tidak perlu mencari masa tambahan kerana ia akan menjadi sebahagian daripada hidup anda sehari-hari.
And finally, if you want to learn a language fluently, you need also a bit of patience. It's not possible to learn a language within two months, but it's definitely possible to make a visible improvement in two months, if you learn in small chunks every day in a way that you enjoy. And there is nothing that motivates us more than our own success.
Akhirnya, jika anda ingin fasih berbahasa asing, anda memerlukan sedikit kesabaran. Mustahil untuk belajar bahasa dalam masa dua bulan, tetapi kita boleh melihat peningkatan ketara dalam dua bulan, jika anda belajar sedikit demi sedikit setiap hari dengan penuh keseronokan. Tiada yang lebih memotivasikan kita berbanding kejayaan kita sendiri.
I vividly remember the moment when I understood the first joke in German when watching "Friends." I was so happy and motivated that I just kept on watching that day two more episodes, and as I kept watching, I had more and more of those moments of understanding, these little victories, and step by step, I got to a level where I could use the language freely and fluently to express anything. This is a wonderful feeling. I can't get enough of that feeling, and that's why I learn a language every two years.
Saya ingat dengan jelas saat saya memahami jenaka pertama dalam bahasa Jerman semasa menonton "Friends". Saya sangat gembira dan termotivasi, dan terus menonton dua lagi episod pada hari tersebut. Semakin lama saya menonton. lebih banyak saat yang saya fahami, kejayaan-kejayaan kecil. Selangkah demi selangkah, saya mencapai tahap saya boleh bertutur secara bebas dan fasih untuk menyampaikan apa-apa sahaja. Perasaan ini sangat hebat. Saya tak puas dengan perasaan ini dan kerana itulah saya belajar bahasa setiap dua tahun.
So this is the whole polyglot secret. Find effective methods which you can use systematically over the period of some time in a way which you enjoy, and this is how polyglots learn languages within months, not years.
Inilah rahsia keseluruhan poliglot. Cari kaedah berkesan yang anda boleh gunakan secara bersistem untuk tempoh tertentu dengan cara yang menyeronokkan. Beginilah poliglot belajar bahasa dalam beberapa bulan bukan beberapa tahun.
Now, some of you may be thinking, "That's all very nice to enjoy language learning, but isn't the real secret that you polyglots are just super talented and most of us aren't?"
Anda mungkin terfikir, "Bagusnya belajar bahasa dengan seronok, tetapi bukankah rahsia sebenar ialah poliglot lebih berbakat dan kebanyakan daripada kami tidak?"
Well, there's one thing I haven't told you about Benny and Lucas. Benny had 11 years of Irish Gaelic and five years of German at school. He couldn't speak them at all when graduating. Up to the age of 21, he thought he didn't have the language gene and he could not speak another language. Then he started to look for his way of learning languages, which was speaking to native speakers and getting feedback from them, and today Benny can easily have a conversation in 10 languages. Lucas tried to learn English at school for 10 years. He was one of the worst students in class. His friends even made fun of him and gave him a Russian textbook as a joke because they thought he would never learn that language, or any language. And then Lucas started to experiment with methods, looking for his own way to learn, for example, by having Skype chat conversations with strangers. And after just 10 years, Lucas is able to speak 11 languages fluently.
Ada satu perkara lagi yang saya tidak beritahu tentang Benny dan Lucas. Benny ada 11 tahun pengalaman Irish Gaelic dan lima tahun Jerman di sekolah. Dia langsung tidak boleh bertutur bahasa tersebut semasa tamat sekolah. Sehingga umur 21 tahun, dia ingat dia tiada gen bahasa dan dia tidak boleh bertutur bahasa lain. Kemudian, dia mula mencari cara tersendiri mempelajari bahasa iaitu bercakap dengan penutur jati dan mendapatkan maklum balas mereka. Hari ini, Benny boleh bertutur dalam 10 bahasa dengan mudah. Lucas cuba belajar bahasa Inggeris di sekolah selama 10 tahun. Dia salah seorang pelajar paling teruk dalam kelas. Malah, kawan-kawannya mengejeknya dan memberikannya buku teks Rusia sebagai jenaka kerana mereka sangka dia tidak akan belajar bahasa tersebut, atau bahasa lain. Kemudian Lucas mula menguji pelbagai kaedah, mencari cara belajarnya sendiri, contohnya dengan bersembang di Skype dengan orang asing. Dan selepas 10 tahun, Lucas boleh bertutur 11 bahasa dengan fasih.
Does that sound like a miracle? Well, I see such miracles every single day. As a language mentor, I help people learn languages by themselves, and I see this every day. People struggle with language learning for five, 10, even 20 years, and then they suddenly take their learning into their own hands, start using materials which they enjoy, more effective methods, or they start tracking their learning so that they can appreciate their own progress, and that's when suddenly they magically find the language talent that they were missing all their lives.
Bunyi seperti keajaiban? Saya lihat keajaiban seperti ini setiap hari. Sebagai mentor bahasa, saya membantu orang belajar bahasa secara sendiri. Saya lihatnya setiap hari. Orang bersusah payah mempelajari bahasa selama lima, 10, malah 20 tahun, kemudian, mereka mula belajar mengikut cara mereka sendiri, mula menggunakan bahan yang menyeronokkan, kaedah yang lebih berkesan, atau mula menjejak pembelajaran mereka agar mereka dapat menghargai pencapaian mereka sendiri, dan ketika itulah tiba-tiba mereka menemui bakat bahasa mereka yang hilang sebelum ini.
So if you've also tried to learn a language and you gave up, thinking it's too difficult or you don't have the language talent, give it another try. Maybe you're also just one enjoyable method away from learning that language fluently. Maybe you're just one method away from becoming a polyglot.
Jadi, jika anda pernah cuba mempelajari bahasa dan berputus asa, merasakannya sangat susah atau anda tidak mempunyai bakat bahasa, cuba sekali lagi. Mungkin anda hanya satu langkah menyeronokkan daripada mempelajari bahasa dengan fasih. Mungkin anda hanya satu langkah daripada menjadi seorang poliglot.
Thank you.
Terima kasih.
(Applause)
(Tepukan)