The secrets of learning a new language | Lýdia Machová | TED

Prevoditelj: Vilma Milatić Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

I love learning foreign languages.

Volim učiti strane jezike.

In fact, I love it so much that I like to learn a new language every two years,

U biti, toliko to volim da učim novi jezik svake dvije godine,

currently working on my eighth one.

trenutno učim svoj osmi jezik.

When people find that out about me, they always ask me,

Kada ljudi to otkriju o meni, uvijek pitaju,

"How do you do that? What's your secret?"

„Kako to radiš? Koja je tvoja tajna?"

And to be honest, for many years, my answer would be,

Da budem iskrena, tokom mnogo godina moj odgovor bi bio,

"I don't know. I simply love learning languages."

„Ne znam. Ja jednostavno volim učiti jezike."

But people were never happy with that answer.

No ljudi nikada ne bi bili sretni tim odgovorom.

They wanted to know why they are spending years trying to learn even one language,

Željeli bi znati zašto provode godine pokušavajući naučiti bar jedan jezik,

never achieving fluency,

ne postižući tečnost,

and here I come, learning one language after another.

a ja tu učim jedan jezik iza drugog.

They wanted to know the secret of polyglots,

Željeli su doznati tajnu poliglota,

people who speak a lot of languages.

ljudi koji govore mnogo jezika,

And that made me wonder, too,

I zato sam se i ja zapitala

how do actually other polyglots do it?

kako to drugi poligloti u stvari rade?

What do we have in common?

Što nam je zajedničko?

And what is it that enables us

I što nam to omogućava

to learn languages so much faster than other people?

da učimo nove jezike brže nego ostali ljudi?

I decided to meet other people like me and find that out.

Odlučila sam upoznati druge ljude poput mene i doznati to.

The best place to meet a lot of polyglots

Najbolje mjesto za upoznati puno poliglota

is an event where hundreds of language lovers

je događaj gdje se stotine ljubitelja jezika

meet in one place to practice their languages.

sastaju na jednom mjestu da bi vježbali jezike.

There are several such polyglot events organized all around the world,

Postoji nekoliko takvih događanja za poliglote diljem svijeta,

and so I decided to go there

pa sam odlučila otići tamo

and ask polyglots about the methods that they use.

i pitati poliglote o metodama koje koriste.

And so I met Benny from Ireland,

Tako sam upoznala Bennyja iz Irske

who told me that his method is to start speaking from day one.

koji mi je rekao da je njegova metoda početi pričati od prvog dana.

He learns a few phrases from a travel phrasebook

On nauči nekoliko fraza iz turističkog vodiča

and goes to meet native speakers

te ode upoznati izvorne govornike

and starts having conversations with them right away.

i odmah s njima započne razgovore.

He doesn't mind making even 200 mistakes a day,

Ne smeta mu ako napravi i 200 pogrešaka dnevno,

because that's how he learns, based on the feedback.

jer on tako uči, na temelju povratnih informacija.

And the best thing is, he doesn't even need to travel a lot today,

Najbolje od svega je što danas ne treba mnogo putovati,

because you can easily have conversations with native speakers

jer možete jednostavno razgovarati s izvornim govornicima

from the comfort of your living room, using websites.

iz udobnosti svoje dnevne sobe, koristeći web stranice.

I also met Lucas from Brazil

Upoznala sam i Lucasa iz Brazila

who had a really interesting method to learn Russian.

koji je imao jako zanimljivu metodu za učenje ruskog.

He simply added a hundred random Russian speakers on Skype as friends,

Jednostavno je nasumce dodao stotinu ruskih govornika na Skypu za prijatelje,

and then he opened a chat window with one of them

otvorio je prozor za razgovor s jednim od njih

and wrote "Hi" in Russian.

i napisao „Bok" na ruskom.

And the person replied, "Hi, how are you?"

Osoba je odgovorila, „Bok, kako si?"

Lucas copied this and put it into a text window with another person,

Lukas je to kopirao i stavio u razgovor s drugom osobom,

and the person replied, "I'm fine, thank you, and how are you?"

i ta osoba je odgovorila, „Dobro sam, hvala, a kako si ti?

Lucas copied this back to the first person,

Lukas je to kopirao natrag prvoj osobi,

and in this way, he had two strangers have a conversation with each other

i na taj način su dva stranca razgovarala međusobno

without knowing about it.

bez da su tog bila svjesna.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And soon he would start typing himself,

Uskoro je i sam počeo tipkata,

because he had so many of these conversations

jer je imao toliko ovakvih razgovora

that he figured out how the Russian conversation usually starts.

da je shvatio kako razgovori na ruskom obično započinju.

What an ingenious method, right?

Koja genijalna metoda, zar ne?

And then I met polyglots who always start by imitating sounds of the language,

Zatim sam upoznala poliglote koji uvijek započinju imitirajući zvukove jezika,

and others who always learn the 500 most frequent words of the language,

i ostale koji uvijek nauče 500 najčešćih riječi jezika,

and yet others who always start by reading about the grammar.

i druge koji uvijek započinju proučavajući gramatiku.

If I asked a hundred different polyglots,

Da pitam stotinu različitih poliglota,

I heard a hundred different approaches to learning languages.

čula bih stotinu različitih pristupa učenju jezika.

Everybody seems to have a unique way they learn a language,

Čini se da svatko ima jedinstven način učenja jezika,

and yet we all come to the same result of speaking several languages fluently.

a opet svi dođemo do istog rezultata tečnog govorenja nekoliko jezika.

And as I was listening to these polyglots telling me about their methods,

Dok sam slušala te poliglote dok govore o svojim metodama,

it suddenly dawned on me:

iznenada mi je sinulo:

the one thing we all have in common

jedna stvar koja nam je zajednička

is that we simply found ways to enjoy the language-learning process.

je da smo jednostavno našli načine kako uživati u učenju jezika.

All of these polyglots were talking about language learning

Svi ti poligloti su govorili o učenju jezika

as if it was great fun.

kao o zabavi.

You should have seen their faces

Trebali ste im vidjeti lica

when they were showing me their colorful grammar charts

dok su mi pokazivali šarene gramatičke bilješke

and their carefully handmade flash cards,

i pažljivo ispisane memorijske kartice,

and their statistics about learning vocabulary using apps,

i njihove statistike o učenju vokabulara koristeći aplikacije,

or even how they love to cook based on recipes in a foreign language.

ili čak kako vole kuhati prema receptima na stranom jeziku.

All of them use different methods,

Svi oni koriste različite metode,

but they always make sure it's something that they personally enjoy.

ali uvijek vode računa da rade ono u čemu uživaju.

I realized that this is actually how I learn languages myself.

Shvatila sam da i ja u stvari tako učim jezike.

When I was learning Spanish, I was bored with the text in the textbook.

Dok sam učila Španjolski, tekstovi iz udžbenika su mi bili dosadni.

I mean, who wants to read about Jose

Mislim, tko želi čitati o Joseu

asking about the directions to the train station. Right?

kako traži upute za doći do željezničke stanice. Zar ne?

I wanted to read "Harry Potter" instead,

Radije sam htjela čitati "Harry Pottera",

because that was my favorite book as a child,

to mi je bila najdraža knjiga u djetinjstvu,

and I have read it many times.

i čitala sam je mnogo puta.

So I got the Spanish translation of "Harry Potter" and started reading,

Pa sam uzela španjolski prijevod "Harry Pottera" i počela čitati,

and sure enough, I didn't understand almost anything at the beginning,

i naravno, nisam razumjela skoro ništa na početku,

but I kept on reading because I loved the book,

ali sam nastavila čitati jer volim tu knjigu,

and by the end of the book, I was able to follow it almost without any problems.

i do kraja knjige, mogla sam pratiti skoro bez ikakvih problema.

And the same thing happened when I was learning German.

Ista stvar mi se dogodila kad sam učila njemački.

I decided to watch "Friends," my favorite sitcom, in German,

Odlučila sam gledati "Prijatelje", moju najdražu seriju, na njemačkom,

and again, at the beginning it was all just gibberish.

i opet, na početku mi ništa nije imalo smisla.

I didn't know where one word finished and another one started,

Nisam znala gdje jedna riječ završava, a druga počinje,

but I kept on watching every day because it's "Friends."

no i dalje sam gledala svaki dan jer su to "Prijatelji".

I can watch it in any language. I love it so much.

Mogu ih gledati na bilo kojem jeziku. Obožavam ih.

And after the second or third season,

I nakon druge ili treće sezone,

seriously, the dialogue started to make sense.

ozbiljno, razgovor je počeo imati smisla.

I only realized this after meeting other polyglots.

Ovo sam shvatila nakon što sam upoznala druge poliglote.

We are no geniuses

Mi nismo genijalci

and we have no shortcut to learning languages.

i nemamo prečac za učenje jezika.

We simply found ways how to enjoy the process,

Jednostavno smo našli načine kako uživati u procesu,

how to turn language learning from a boring school subject

kako pretvoriti učenje jezika iz jednostavnog školskog predmeta

into a pleasant activity which you don't mind doing every day.

u ugodnu aktivnost koju vam nije teško raditi svaki dan.

If you don't like writing words down on paper,

Ako ne volite zapisivati riječi na papir,

you can always type them in an app.

možete ih zapisati u aplikaciju.

If you don't like listening to boring textbook material,

Ako ne volite slušati dosadan materijal iz udžbenika,

find interesting content on YouTube or in podcasts for any language.

nađite zanimljiv sadržaj na YouTube-u ili na podcastu bilo kojeg jezika.

If you're a more introverted person

Ako ste više introvertirana osoba

and you can't imagine speaking to native speakers right away,

i ne možete zamisliti da odmah razgovarate s izvornim govornikom

you can apply the method of self-talk.

možete razgovarati sami sa sobom.

You can talk to yourself in the comfort of your room,

Možete razgovarati sa sobom u udobnosti vlastite sobe,

describing your plans for the weekend, how your day has been,

opisujući svoje planove za vikend, kako ste proveli dan,

or even take a random picture from your phone

ili uzeti nasumično sliku s mobitela

and describe the picture to your imaginary friend.

i opisati sliku imaginarnom prijatelju.

This is how polyglots learn languages,

Tako poligloti uče jezike,

and the best news is, it's available to anyone

i što je najbolje od svega, to je dostupno svakome

who is willing to take the learning into their own hands.

tko je voljan uzeti učenje u vlastite ruke.

So meeting other polyglots helped me realize

Upoznavanje drugih poliglota pomoglo mi je shvatim

that it is really crucial to find enjoyment

da je ključno pronaći užitak

in the process of learning languages,

u procesu učenja stranog jezika,

but also that joy in itself is not enough.

ali isto tako sam užitak nije dovoljan.

If you want to achieve fluency in a foreign language,

Ako želite postići tečnost u stranom jeziku,

you'll also need to apply three more principles.

trebat ćete primijeniti još tri načela.

First of all, you'll need effective methods.

Kao prvo, trebat će vam učinkovite metode.

If you try to memorize a list of words for a test tomorrow,

Ako pokušate zapamtiti listu riječi za sutrašnji test,

the words will be stored in your short-term memory

riječi će biti pohranjene u vašem kratkoročnom pamćenju

and you'll forget them after a few days.

i za par dana ćete ih zaboraviti.

If you, however, want to keep words long term,

Ako ih, međutim, želite zadržati dugoročno,

you need to revise them in the course of a few days repeatedly

trebate ih stalno ponavljati tokom nekoliko dana

using the so-called space repetition.

koristeći takozvano prostorno ponavljanje.

You can use apps which are based on this system such as Anki or Memrise,

Možete koristiti aplikacije bazirane na ovom sistemu poput Anki ili Memrise

or you can write lists of word in a notebook using the Goldlist method,

ili možete pisati liste riječi u bilježnicu koristeći Goldlist metodu,

which is also very popular with many polyglots.

koja je također popularna kod mnogih poliglota.

If you're not sure which methods are effective and what is available out there,

Ako niste sigurni koje metode su učinkovite i što je dostupno,

just check out polyglots' YouTube channels and websites

provjerite naš YouTube kanal za poliglote i web stranice

and get inspiration from them.

i tamo dobijte inspiraciju.

If it works for them, it will most probably work for you too.

Ako njima funkcionira, vjerojatno će funkcionirati i za vas.

The third principle to follow

Treće načelo

is to create a system in your learning.

je organizirati svoje učenje.

We're all very busy and no one really has time to learn a language today.

Svi smo vrlo zauzeti i nitko u biti nema vremena učiti jezik danas.

But we can create that time if we just plan a bit ahead.

No, možemo stvoriti vrijeme ako planiramo samo malo unaprijed.

Can you wake up 15 minutes earlier than you normally do?

Možete li se probuditi 15 minuta ranije nego inače?

That would be the perfect time to revise some vocabulary.

To bi bilo savršeno vrijeme za ponoviti vokabular.

Can you listen to a podcast on your way to work while driving?

Možete li slušati podcast dok se vozite na posao?

Well, that would be great to get some listening experience.

To bi bilo odlično da steknete iskustvo slušanja.

There are so many things we can do without even planning that extra time,

Toliko stvari možemo raditi bez da uopće planiramo dodatno vrijeme,

such as listening to podcasts on our way to work

kao što je slušanje podcasta na putu za posao

or doing our household chores.

ili dok obavljamo kućanske poslove.

The important thing is to create a plan in the learning.

Važno je napraviti plan za učenje.

"I will practice speaking every Tuesday and Thursday

„Vježbat ću razgovarati svaki utorak i četvrtak

with a friend for 20 minutes.

sa prijateljima po 20 minuta.

I will listen to a YouTube video while having breakfast."

Slušat ću YouTube video dok doručkujem."

If you create a system in your learning,

Ako organizirate svoje učenje,

you don't need to find that extra time,

ne morate pronaći dodatno vrijeme,

because it will become a part of your everyday life.

jer će postati dio svakodnevnog života.

And finally, if you want to learn a language fluently,

I na kraju, ako želite naučiti jezik tečno,

you need also a bit of patience.

trebate biti strpljivi.

It's not possible to learn a language within two months,

Nije moguće naučiti jezik u dva mjeseca,

but it's definitely possible to make a visible improvement in two months,

ali je svakako moguće vidljivo napredovati u dva mjeseca,

if you learn in small chunks every day in a way that you enjoy.

ako svaki dan učite male dijelove u kojima uživate.

And there is nothing that motivates us more

I ništa nas ne motivira više

than our own success.

nego vlastiti uspjeh.

I vividly remember the moment

Živo se sjećam trenutka

when I understood the first joke in German when watching "Friends."

kada sam razumjela prvu šalu na njemačkom gledajući "Prijatelje".

I was so happy and motivated

Bila sam tako sretna i motivirana

that I just kept on watching that day two more episodes,

da sam taj dan pogledala još dvije epizode,

and as I kept watching,

i dok sam gledala,

I had more and more of those moments of understanding, these little victories,

razumjela sam sve više i više, to su bile male pobjede,

and step by step, I got to a level where I could use the language

i korak po korak, došla sam do razine da mogu koristiti jezik

freely and fluently to express anything.

slobodno i tečno da izrazim bilo što.

This is a wonderful feeling.

To je predivan osjećaj.

I can't get enough of that feeling,

Ne mogu ga se zasititi,

and that's why I learn a language every two years.

i zato učim jezik svake dvije godine.

So this is the whole polyglot secret.

I to je cijela tajna poliglota.

Find effective methods which you can use systematically

Nađite učinkovite metode koje možete sustavno koristiti

over the period of some time in a way which you enjoy,

tokom određenog vremenskog perioda i uživati u njima,

and this is how polyglots learn languages within months, not years.

i tako poligloti nauče jezike tokom nekoliko mjeseci, ne godina.

Now, some of you may be thinking,

Sada, neki od vas sigurno misle,

"That's all very nice to enjoy language learning,

„Jako je lijepo uživati u učenju jezika,

but isn't the real secret that you polyglots

ali zar nije prava tajna da ste vi poligloti

are just super talented and most of us aren't?"

samo jako nadareni dok većina nas nije?"

Well, there's one thing I haven't told you about Benny and Lucas.

Pa, postoji jedna stvar koju vam nisam rekla o Bennyju i Lucasu.

Benny had 11 years of Irish Gaelic and five years of German at school.

Benny je u školi učio irski galješki 11 godina i njemački pet godina.

He couldn't speak them at all when graduating.

Nije ih uopće znao govoriti kada je maturirao.

Up to the age of 21, he thought he didn't have the language gene

Do 21. godine, mislio je da nema talent za jezike

and he could not speak another language.

i da ne može pričati drugi jezik.

Then he started to look for his way of learning languages,

Tada je počeo tražiti svoj način učenja jezika,

which was speaking to native speakers and getting feedback from them,

koji je bio razgovor s izvornim govornicima i njihove povratne informacije,

and today Benny can easily have a conversation in 10 languages.

i danas Benny može lako voditi razgovor na 10 jezika.

Lucas tried to learn English at school for 10 years.

Lucas je 10 godina pokušavao naučiti engleski u školi.

He was one of the worst students in class.

Bio je jedan od najgorih učenika u razredu.

His friends even made fun of him

Prijatelji su mu se rugali

and gave him a Russian textbook as a joke

i iz šale mu dali ruski udžbenik

because they thought he would never learn that language, or any language.

jer su mislili da nikad neće naučiti taj jezik, ni ijedan drugi.

And then Lucas started to experiment with methods,

Tada je Lucas počeo isprobavati metode,

looking for his own way to learn,

tražeći svoj način učenja,

for example, by having Skype chat conversations with strangers.

na primjer, vodeći na Skypeu razgovore sa strancima.

And after just 10 years,

I nakon samo 10 godina,

Lucas is able to speak 11 languages fluently.

Lucas može pričati 11 jezika tečno.

Does that sound like a miracle?

Zvuči li to kao čudo?

Well, I see such miracles every single day.

Pa, vidim takva čuda svaki dan.

As a language mentor,

Kao jezični mentor,

I help people learn languages by themselves,

pomažem ljudima da samostalno nauče jezike,

and I see this every day.

i vidim to svaki dan.

People struggle with language learning for five, 10, even 20 years,

Ljudi se muče sa učenjem jezika 5, 10, čak i 20 godina,

and then they suddenly take their learning into their own hands,

i onda odjednom preuzmu učenje u svoje ruke,

start using materials which they enjoy, more effective methods,

počnu koristiti materijale u kojima uživaju, učinkovitije metode,

or they start tracking their learning

ili počnu pratiti vlastito učenje

so that they can appreciate their own progress,

pa mogu cijeniti svoj napredak,

and that's when suddenly

i onda kada odjednom

they magically find the language talent that they were missing all their lives.

magično pronađu talent za jezik koji im je nedostajao cijeli život.

So if you've also tried to learn a language

Ako ste i vi pokušali učiti jezik

and you gave up, thinking it's too difficult

i odustali ste, misleći da je preteško

or you don't have the language talent,

ili da nemate talent za jezik,

give it another try.

pokušajte ponovno.

Maybe you're also just one enjoyable method away

Možda vas samo jedna ugodna metoda dijeli

from learning that language fluently.

od tečnog učenja jezika.

Maybe you're just one method away from becoming a polyglot.

Možda vas samo jedna metoda dijeli da postanete poligloti.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)