Most language learning programs are implicitly built on top of a language learning philosophy
that I like to call the [skill building model].
So, the skill building model doesn't make a distinction between [learning] and [acquisition].
It kind of just implicitly assumes that these two are one and the same.
The basic idea is that, initially, you will consciously study things like vocabulary and grammar rules,
and then you will do a lot of practice using these grammar rules and the vocabulary
to speak the language, and if you simply get enough practice
then you will build strong speaking skills,
and eventually using the language will become intuitive and natural similar to your native language.
Hence the name of the skill building model.
In theory, this might sound pretty nice at first, but the reality is that in practice
this model is completely and utterly ineffective at helping people reach high levels in foreign languages.
So, the first main problem with the skill building model is that it implicitly assumes that
human language can be abstracted down into essentially
[vocabulary] and [grammar rules].
So basically, what I mean by this is that according to this model,
as long as you have memorized the relevant vocabulary and grammar rules, then in theory,
you should be able to use these to successfully translate any thought that you have into the target language.
But in reality, this could never work because human language is
[highly specific in unpredictable ways].
So, let me explain what I mean by this.
So, one aspect of this is that different languages express the same basic ideas in entirely unique ways.
So, I'm gonna give some examples now between Japanese and English,
because English is my native language and Japanese is the foreign language that I'm most familiar with,
but these same basic principles apply to essentially any language.
So in English, we normally say I ["play the piano"] or you know: "You play the piano."
"Hey, do you play the piano?"
Whereas in Japanese, they normally say:
["PIANO O HIKU"]
which essentially means to ["pluck the piano"] because
technically pianos have strings, right?
Now, there's no real rhyme or reason to this, just in English we say "play the piano",
in Japanese they say "pluck the piano".
Another example is that in English, we usually say, you know:
"I'm hungry." "Are you hungry?"
Whereas in Japanese, they say:
["ONAKA SUITA"] which literally would translate to:
["My stomach has become empty."]
Again, no real rhyme or reason, that's just how they say it and that's just how we say "I'm hungry".
Another example is in English, you know, if I am looking for my phone,
I can't find it and my friend comes by, I might ask him:
["Hey, have you seen my phone?"]
Whereas in Japanese, in the same situation, they would say:
["KEITAI SHIRANAI?"] which literally would translate to:
["Do you know my phone?"]
Now again, this sounds weird in English, right? "Hey, do you know my phone?"
But really, in Japanese, that's just understood to mean: "Oh, do you know where my phone is right now?"
"Have you seen my phone?" -- right?
Now, a corollary concept to this is that native speakers
tend to express common ideas in kind of arbitrary set phrases.
So for example, in English, it's very common to say:
["I need to go to the bathroom."]
Right? If you are a native speaker of English,
you've probably said this exact phrase word-for-word hundreds of times throughout your life.
"Um, I need to go to the bathroom." "Do you need to go to the bathroom?"
Now in Japanese, they normally say:
["TOIRE IKITAI"] which literally would translate to:
["I want to go to the bathroom."]
And in Japanese, it's possible to say literally "I need to go to the bathroom",
but if you said that it would sound unnatural.
Whereas just like in English we can say: "Hey, I want to go to the bathroom."
But that's just normally not how we say it. Normally it's just: "I need to go to the bathroom."
Another example is, in English, there's the set phrase:
"Hey, can I get your phone number?" ["Can I get your number?"]
Whereas in Japanese, they would say:
["DENWA BANGO OSHIETE"] which literally means:
["Can you teach me your phone number?"]
And so again, there's no real rhyme or reason to this, they're just arbitrary set phrases,
except native speakers almost always express these ideas in the same way
with the exact same words in the same order every time.
It's not a creative process. It's just set in stone. And that's just how we do it.
We all do it the same way. We always do it the same way every time.
So basically, what this means is that if your strategy when speaking a foreign language
is to essentially think in your native language,
and then use grammar rules and vocabulary that you have memorized to
translate those thoughts into the target language, then best-case scenario you'll still be understood
although you'll probably end up sounding pretty weird and funny,
and worst case scenario you actually won't be understood at all.
So for example, let's say I'm a Japanese person who's thinking in Japanese
and then using the English grammar rules and vocabulary that I've memorized to try to speak English --
then, you know, I might end up saying something like: "Hey, can you teach me your phone number?"
Now, you know, in this case you probably would still understand me,
although, you know, it sounds a little bit funny.
But, you know, another time I might end up saying: "Hey, do you know my phone?"
when I really need to say, you know: "Have you seen my phone?"
And in this case, you might actually not be able to tell what I'm talking about
because that's just not how we express that idea in English.
But the thing is this problem actually doesn't end here,
because not only do different languages express the same ideas in different ways,
but different languages also just express different ideas in the first place.
So for example, there are many words in Japanese that just have no English equivalent.
They're just ideas that Japanese people tend to express all the time that we just never express as English speakers.
So for example, there is word in Japanese:
["SOKUDOU"] which literally means:
["instant response"]
So let's just say that I asked you out on a date and the second I asked you, like:
"Hey, do you want to go on a date with me?"
you immediately just go: "No."
Then if I was a Japanese person, a common response might be to go:
"SOKUDOU" meaning, like, "instant response"
which basically means, like, you didn't even think about it -- you responded so quickly, right?
You were so confident you didn't want to go on a date with me,
you didn't even have to think about it for a second.
And this is a common thing that happens in Japanese interactions and it's you know, quite funny.
Or for example, let's say that you put a yogurt in the fridge and you told me, like:
"Hey Matt, don't eat my yogurt."
and then I go and eat your yogurt anyway.
And then the next day you come and you're like: "Matt. What the heck?"
"I told you not to eat my yogurt."
and then let's say that I get mad at you being like:
"Well, if you didn't want me to eat your yogurt, you shouldn't have put it in the fridge in the first place!"
Right? So really, I am clearly in the wrong, but for some reason I am getting mad, kind of to defend myself, right?
And there's a word for this in Japanese called
["GYAKUGIRE"] which literally translates to:
["reverse anger"] It's when someone who is in the wrong
gets angry anyway, kind of in an attempt to defend themself.
And so, if we were Japanese speakers and I am doing this reverse anger,
you would say: "GYAKUGIRE KAYO"
which means: "What the heck, dude? Why are you getting reverse angry? You're clearly in the wrong!"
And so there's just a word for this, and so as you can see,
Japanese people... they just say different things in the first place than English speakers tend to say.
So basically, what I'm trying to get across with all these examples is that because native speech is:
1) set in stone, meaning that native speakers tend to say the same things in the same ways every time,
and 2) highly specific in unpredictable ways ... abstraction just isn't gonna get you very far.
If you want to express an idea in a way that's gonna sound natural to native speakers,
then you just have to know ahead of time the exact and specific way
that native speakers tend to express that idea. And if you really want to speak like a native,
then you also just have to know what kind of ideas native speakers tend to express in the first place.
Either you already know how native speakers tend to speak and you're able to imitate that,
or you don't know how native speakers tend to speak
and you're essentially making blind guesses based off of your native language.
And whenever you're doing this, you're gonna end up being wrong in a large majority of cases.
Language just simply isn't like math, where you can use a formula to deduce the answer.
Either you already know the answer ahead of time, or you're just gonna be screwed.
There's just simply no room for guessing or for getting creative.
Now, of course there is a lot of room to be clever and creative when it comes to language use, right?
Otherwise things like poetry wouldn't exist.
But what I'm really trying to express here really boils down to that quote by Picasso:
["Learn the rules like a pro
so that you can break them like an artist."]
If you try to get creative with your use of language before you have essentially
mastered whatever your target language is,
then you're gonna end up sounding weird and unnatural at best, and at worst, not be understood at all.
Subtitles by @hakanai_mia