Immersion and Confidence
Language learning is a fascinating phenomenon to observe, and I have spent my entire life learning various languages, including attending formal education specifically for language learning. In my experience, the most effective way to acquire a new language is through immersion and building confidence in using the language. Retaining the knowledge is another matter but if you ask me the fastest way to learn language is always immersion and having confidence in using it.
As a child, I was often invited to give opening speeches in English, Bahasa Indonesia, and Arabic. While I don't know if others understood what I was saying nor did I, I presented the texts that were given to me with confidence. This experience taught me the importance of confidence in language learning, and how it can help improve communication even if you are not yet fluent in a language. At the same time, I was also learning Arabic at school and was rather fluent with it at some point. When the internet came into my life, it was one of the ways I talked to people from the Gulf and Levants. What I found was astonishing; the Arabic that I was taught and learned are not actually often used in regular conversation. In Syria for example, I learned they use romanized alphabets instead of Arabic writing to send texts. They were all really foreign to me and fascinating. That’s when I learned the idea of Immersion.
Have you ever noticed that people ask these following questions
- Are you from x (insert native country)
- Have you lived in x (insert native country)
- Have you visited x (insert native country?)
That’s one of the ways people refer to immersion. There is this common belief that you can pick up language faster when you live and immerse yourself in the culture. While it may not be wrong there are some outliers. The outliers are the people who have never lived in the native language, never visited it but they sounded fluent, and even had an accent, marker that you share the same geographical location. These outliers always piqued my interest and others too.
When I joined the language exchange app Tandem to improve my Spanish speaking fluency, I spoke with several people who had learned Spanish solely from the internet and were able to be understood by native speakers. They were mostly telling me that 1) their native language shared similarities with theirs, 2) they just learn it from watching shows, 3) having a partner from said countries that speaks the language, 4) mimicking the things that they see online, 5) interacting with those people online.
Shortly after, I quickly learned that Spanish can vary greatly from country to country, with different accents and intonations that can be confusing for a beginner like myself. When I attended a party hosted by a Spanish speaker, I initially felt lost and struggled to understand the conversations around me. However, I made an effort to take notes and learn a few key phrases, which allowed me to extend my conversations from just 5 minutes to 10 minutes. From listening, I eventually braced myself and built my confidence. I started participating in conversations with native speakers.
As a shy person, it took me some time to build the confidence to speak in Spanish. However, once I made the decision to try, I put aside my shyness and focused on my goals, which is, speaking the language as fluently as possible. I paid attention to the intonation and pronunciation of the native speakers around me, and tried to mimic their accent in order to sound less like a foreigner. This approach helped me to improve my fluency within a few days.
There’s one thing I believe in language learning: when learning a new language, it's important to be willing to try and make mistakes. It can be intimidating to speak a language that you are not fluent in, and you may be concerned that others will make fun of you. However, if you are surrounded by people who are also learning the language, you are likely to be in a safe and supportive environment where it is okay to make mistakes. Afterall, we are all in the same boat!
I often host parties and these conversations often come up too. We all mostly agree that making mistakes is part of learning. If you don’t make mistakes, then when will you learn?
Sometimes I also find myself at parties in overly crowded places. They are not my thing and often I find it hard to say something. So another thing is to try to find a place where you can practice the language that makes you comfortable. When I am a host, I try to create a welcoming and supportive environment. I want to help people to feel more comfortable speaking the language for the first time. But once again, it all comes down to confidence when speaking or learning a new language. But by being welcoming to others, it made it easier for them to open up. In short, find a place that fits you and is welcoming enough. Last but not least, speak up and don’t be afraid making mistakes.
In the coming week, I will be sharing more about my experiences with language learning. I will discuss some of the challenges and successes I have had in the past, as well as my current experiences with learning new languages. I hope that by sharing my experiences, I can inspire others to take on the challenge of learning a new language and diving into a new culture.
 | 𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢. 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭, 𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘴, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦, 𝘤𝘺𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. |
Recently, I had a video call conversation with the wife of a cousin who is in the United States, she is from there. I had spoken with her once before but that was several years ago, the truth is that at that time, even though I already spoke English, I could not converse much with her because of the embarrassment I felt.
Now, plucking up the courage, I asked my cousin if he could tell his wife that I wanted to talk to her a little in English, because I don't want this embarrassment I feel to be an impediment to connecting with my loved ones. Besides, you always have to start at some point and break those mental barriers, because that's what they are many times, mental barriers.
I was very happy because I was able to have a conversation with her without any problem, we understood each other perfectly and she even told me that my English was very good. Even my cousin was surprised, maybe because due to the accent she has, he expected that it would be a little more complicated for me to understand her.
I am very glad that you are accomplishing your goals with Spanish, I have been reading your posts for a while now and you seem to be a very determined person, I have no doubt that you are going to achieve what you set out to do, in spite of everything. The fact that you want to push others to feel comfortable to begin with says a lot, honestly it's great.
¡Muchas gracias por este contenido!
You should really practice with her more when you can. That certainly would help you increase your fluency. Also true, there's something called mental barriers, it is uncomfortable but if you really mean it, you can actually overcome it. Because it's your goal to be fluent in the language.
I made a bet with a random person that I met in that app. I do not want to lose the bet and now I am studying it very seriously. I try to converse daily for 2 hours and hopefully by March, I can reach B1 fluency or more. I think exchange of knowledge and information happens when you make others feel confident and comfortable. Thanks for sharing your experience. It's really valuable!
There is a type of intelligence that not everyone has developed to the same level (like all other intelligences) but this specific one is not as common as the others, it is called "Linguistic Intelligence".
This type of intelligence makes it easier for some people to express themselves through spoken or written language and to learn other languages. I firmly believe that you have this intelligence more developed than most of us Mac, learning languages is not easy for everyone and especially Spanish is complicated for many, but you show progress quite fast.
I only speak English as a second language and I mainly listen to it, I understand it, I write it a little, but speaking it makes me absolutely embarrassed, I definitely do not have that kind of intelligence developed, in fact I like to express myself writing, but you can even realize that it is difficult for me to express myself with written words because I do not know how to communicate ideas in a summarized way.
I definitely want to keep reading about your progress in Spanish, maybe someday I will have a conversation with you, although I will be very embarrassed with you too, hahaha.
Greetings @macchiata 🤗💞.
I heard about that intelligence and I think at some point, I believed I have/had it. I generally pick up language faster and it's very easy for me to learn any language. But my problem is always retention because I don't always expose myself to the people who speak the language. This is something I want to change because I am jealous with people who can speak multiple language and still have have some retention🤣
You can certainly improve with English. Although people say it's complicate, one thing to learn is to never complicate anything 😂. Even now, I am still learning perfecting my American accent because there are words when I mix it up with British accent. So, I want to stick with just American accents instead of mixing it up.
YES! actually I made a bet with a new friend I met at that app that by March, we have to be able to speak fluently. So, I am trying my best not to lose to the bet😂. You should help me win that bet!!!
my partner speaks Spanish as well but, I never made an effort to learn. that's why I only speak "poquito" Spanish after living with him for several years. I guess I need to find my motivation. Without it, I think it quite hard to keep up with my learning progress.
If I may ask, is your partner from Spanish speaking countries or does he pick it up from learning? you break the rule of "dating" helps improve speaking and learning it 😂 but maybe with a bit more of willingness you can do that. When I was dating a french guy, my french was better than now just cause I have someone to practice. So, yeah maybe this is a signal you can pick up the language.
he is Spanish native speaker. We speak English with each other but after living with each other for 5 years, sometimes I don't even need to speak and he could understand me so well hehe. Any way, I want to learn Spanish to prepare for my upcoming trip in 2024, hopefully by that time, I can speak some Spanish
😄 You've got more time to practice! are you going to travel for long?
Yes, that's right. Still have more than a year. I hope we can have one month over there as we would love to travel outside of Buenos Aires and explore Argentina.
he is Spanish native speaker. We speak English with each other but after living with each other for 5 years, sometimes I don't even need to speak and he could understand me so well hehe. Any way, I want to learn Spanish to prepare for my upcoming trip in 2024, hopefully by that time, I can speak some Spanish
You are giving great advice to learn a language. Confidence is the thing my students struggle with the most when speaking in English. In my case, I don't think myself as fluent since I've never lived or visited any other country. I don't know any native people to practice with, so I wish one day I could visit an English speaking country to test myself.
You have to provide a space for them to speak up which I think will help increasing their confidence. Are there places where you can connect with foreigners in your country? I also see many teachers befriending native speaker and sometimes invite them online through zoom or skype to speak with their students. Perhaps, you can try this option.
Now I am curious if how many languages you can speak, hehe
I know only English and of course Tagalog but I am interested in Spanish as it sounds good in the ears .
Thus, yeah if we really involved ourselves in a specific language that we wanted to learn, the we could learn easily..like using it in conversing with someone who are good at it 😁
I think you can speak spanish and learn faster than I do because many words in tagalog are also similar and even same in Spanish. They sound the same. One tiny little example is kamusta ka? and in Spanish, it's como esta?. There's also the word Pero that in tagalog/spanish are the same meaning.
Having conversation in the language that you're leaning is certainly more ideal than just learning from formal education. I know many languages but in different levels but I speak comfortably in English and I am at C2 with my English.
For example, my French is only A2 My Spanish is B1 but I am going to B2 because I can understand many technical things but not enough to create a spontaneous conversation. My German is A2, my Arabic is also A2. Esperanto is still A1 same with Russian🤣. Now I really want to improve my Spanish to C1 so that's gonna take a bit more effort on my part. You really should try learning spanish, trust me it sounds easier than you think.
I am actually not so confident in speaking English.. I can write, but hesitant to speak as there might be errors lol.. But on some occasions, I feel comfortable speaking with foreigners 😅..
What about in HK? how do you speak with other people, don't they use English too?
Terimakasih atas informasinya,saya juga ingin belajar bahasa Inggris tapi saya selalu bergantung dengan google translate, seandainya saya dari dulu mengafal dan mengingat satu per satu bahasa pasti sekarang saya sudah pintar bahasa Inggris,salah saya adalah masih bergantung pada translate dan malas
Sama-sama. Coba pelan-pelan tidak bergantung dng google translate. Asal ada kemauan pasti bisa.
Terimakasih banyak atas saran dan pelajaran nya🙏👏👏
I absolutely agree, the best way to learn a language is to speak it and you can't afford to make mistakes while speaking. I have been speaking English for about 7-8 years and I still make mistakes. Because why shouldn't I?
On our Hive Gaming discord server, I speak out loud with my Spanish and Venezuelan friends. Maybe you can join us haha.
Exactly! you have to be willing to make mistakes to improve. How's your spanish now? did you learn some useful words?
Hmm, yes, I learnt some basics. Like Buenos dias, hola, como estas? bien, muy bien xd, some items, some food etc.
🤣 did they teach you some slangs or bad words?
Hahaha no, but I guess you know some 😂
maybe if you say puta, they will kick you out 😂
No I'll never say that. I heard that somewhere.
Hi @macchiata
My friend told me you wanted to have a chat with me here
https://hive.blog/introduceyourself/@lovesniper/re-ubie-rmjhu7
Please let's connect on discord
Here's my username
empatochain#8489
Do well to send me a request and hello!
I was wondering if you're doing some onboarding. Good to know that you're confirming if that is your friend.
Yeah I have onboarding program at Chaindustry web3 academy.
You might wanna send me some docs that I'll need to use in getting them up to speed on hive. They seem to really love hive when I mentioned and a lot would be sending out their intro post this month.
We have some resources that you can use for onboarding or at least refers to.
For tips and information as a Hive newbie, click here: newbie guide.
The important thing is Hive is a bit different from other social media platforms since you are monetizing your blog. You can't include content that you don't own without sources. For more information, check this post: Why and How People Abuse and Plagiarise. Not to mention, overall plagiarized content is bad for your credibility and visibility too.
As a sample of what an intro post is, you can refer to this intro post for reference:
Keeping Up With the Buzz - My Introduction to the Hive Community
There's no specific format on how you do your intro post, but there is some suggested content that we would love to see in your post. Information like who are you and where you're from, how did you discover Hive or who invited you, what types of content you want to see here and the types that you want to produce, and what are your expectations in this platform. There's no pressure on this. You can choose whatever information you would like to share.
I hope those resources help you!
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