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

Translator: Haslina Abdul Hardy Reviewer: Aznah Arshad

I love learning foreign languages.

Saya suka belajar bahasa asing.

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

Malah, saya sangat suka hinggakan saya belajar bahasa baharu setiap dua tahun,

currently working on my eighth one.

kini, sedang belajar bahasa kelapan.

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

Apabila orang dengar tentang ini, mereka tanya saya,

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

"Bagaimana kamu belajar? Apa rahsia kamu?"

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

Sejujurnya, selama bertahun-tahun, jawapan saya ialah,

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

"Saya tak tahu. Saya hanya suka belajar bahasa."

But people were never happy with that answer.

Tetapi orang tak berpuas hati dengan jawapan ini.

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

Mereka ingin tahu kenapa mereka ambil masa bertahun-tahun untuk belajar satu bahasa.

never achieving fluency,

tidak pernah fasih,

and here I come, learning one language after another.

dan saya pula, belajar satu bahasa selepas bahasa yang lain.

They wanted to know the secret of polyglots,

Mereka ingin tahu rahsia poliglot,

people who speak a lot of languages.

penutur pelbagai bahasa.

And that made me wonder, too,

Ini membuatkan saya terfikir,

how do actually other polyglots do it?

bagaimana poliglot lain belajar bahasa?

What do we have in common?

Apakah persamaan kami?

And what is it that enables us

Dan apakah yang membolehkan kami

to learn languages so much faster than other people?

belajar bahasa lebih pantas daripada orang lain?

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

Saya mengambil keputusan untuk bertemu orang seperti saya dan bertanya.

The best place to meet a lot of polyglots

Tempat terbaik untuk bertemu ramai poliglot

is an event where hundreds of language lovers

ialah di program untuk ratusan pencinta bahasa

meet in one place to practice their languages.

bertemu untuk berlatih bahasa mereka.

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

Terdapat pelbagai acara seperti ini yang dianjurkan di seluruh dunia.

and so I decided to go there

Saya ambil keputusan untuk pergi

and ask polyglots about the methods that they use.

dan bertanya poliglot lain tentang kaedah mereka.

And so I met Benny from Ireland,

Saya bertemu Benny dari Ireland,

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

yang menyatakan dia mula bercakap dari hari pertama.

He learns a few phrases from a travel phrasebook

Dia belajar beberapa frasa dari buku frasa pelancongan,

pergi bertemu penutur jati

and goes to meet native speakers

and starts having conversations with them right away.

dan terus berbual dengan mereka.

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

Dia tidak kisah walaupun membuat 200 kesalahan sehari

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

kerana itu cara dia belajar, berdasarkan maklum balas.

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

Dan kini, dia tidak perlu banyak mengembara

because you can easily have conversations with native speakers

kerana anda boleh bertutur dengan penutur jati

from the comfort of your living room, using websites.

dari rumah anda, menggunakan laman web.

I also met Lucas from Brazil

Saya juga bertemu Lucas dari Brazil.

who had a really interesting method to learn Russian.

Kaedahnya belajar bahasa Rusia amat menarik.

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

Dia menambah seratus orang penutur Rusia secara rawak sebagai rakan di Skype.

and then he opened a chat window with one of them

Kemudian, dia membuka tetingkap sembang dengan salah seorang

and wrote "Hi" in Russian.

dan tulis "Hi" dalam bahasa Rusia.

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

Orang tersebut menjawab, "Hi, apa khabar?"

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

Lucas salin ayat ini dan masukkan dalam tetingkap sembang dengan orang lain,

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

dan orang tersebut menjawab, "Saya baik, terima kasih. Awak pula?"

Lucas copied this back to the first person,

Lucas salin ayat ini kepada orang pertama.

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

Dengan cara ini, dia membuat dua orang asing berbual sesama mereka

without knowing about it.

tanpa pengetahuan mereka.

(Laughter)

(Gelak tawa)

And soon he would start typing himself,

Akhirnya, dia mula menaip sendiri,

because he had so many of these conversations

kerana dia melihat banyak perbualan ini

that he figured out how the Russian conversation usually starts.

hinggakan dia belajar bagaimana perbualan dalam Rusia bermula.

Bijakkan kaedah ini?

What an ingenious method, right?

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

Kemudian saya bertemu poliglot yang mula dengan meniru bunyi bahasa tersebut,

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

dan yang belajar 500 perkataan yang sering digunakan dalam bahasa tersebut,

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

dan yang bermula dengan membaca tentang tatabahasa.

If I asked a hundred different polyglots,

Jika saya bertanya seratus poliglot berbeza,

I heard a hundred different approaches to learning languages.

saya mendengar seratus kaedah berbeza untuk mempelajari bahasa.

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

Semua orang mempunyai cara tersendiri mempelajari bahasa,

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

tetapi kami akhirnya dapat bertutur dalam pelbagai bahasa dengan fasih.

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

Semasa saya mendengar kaedah pembelajaran poliglot-poliglot ini,

it suddenly dawned on me:

akhirnya saya tersedar:

the one thing we all have in common

satu perkara yang sama tentang kami

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

ialah kami jumpa cara menyeronokkan untuk belajar bahasa.

All of these polyglots were talking about language learning

Semua poliglot ini bercakap tentang pembelajaran bahasa

seperti ia amat menyeronokkan.

as if it was great fun.

You should have seen their faces

Anda patut lihat wajah mereka

semasa menunjukkan saya carta tatabahasa berwarna-warni,

when they were showing me their colorful grammar charts

and their carefully handmade flash cards,

dan kad imbas buatan sendiri,

and their statistics about learning vocabulary using apps,

dan statistik pembelajaran kosa kata menggunakan aplikasi,

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

atau bagaimana mereka suka memasak menggunakan resipi dalam bahasa asing.

All of them use different methods,

Semua orang mempunyai cara berbeza,

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

tetapi mereka sering memastikan cara itu menyeronokkan bagi mereka.

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

Saya tersedar bahawa saya sendiri belajar seperti ini.

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

Semasa belajar bahasa Sepanyol, saya bosan dengan buku teks.

I mean, who wants to read about Jose

Siapa yang mahu membaca tentang Jose

asking about the directions to the train station. Right?

bertanya tentang arah ke stesen kereta api. Betul tak?

I wanted to read "Harry Potter" instead,

Saya mahu membaca "Harry Potter"

because that was my favorite book as a child,

kerana itu buku kegemaran saya semasa kecil

and I have read it many times.

dan saya telah baca banyak kali.

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

Jadi, saya dapatkan buku "Harry Potter" terjemahan Sepanyol dan mula membaca,

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

dan sudah tentu saya tidak faham satu pun pada mulanya.

but I kept on reading because I loved the book,

Tetapi saya terus baca kerana saya suka buku itu,

dan pada penghujungnya, saya hampir memahaminya tanpa masalah.

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.

Perkara sama berlaku semasa saya belajar bahasa Jerman.

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

Saya mengambil keputusan untuk menonton "Friends" dalam bahasa Jerman.

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

Sekali lagi, pada awalnya, semuanya merapu.

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

Saya tidak tahu bila satu perkataan berakhir dan satu lagi bermula.

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

Saya terus tonton setiap hari kerana ini "Friends",

saya boleh tonton dalam bahasa apapun. Saya sangat sukakannya.

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

And after the second or third season,

Dan selepas musim kedua atau ketiga,

seriously, the dialogue started to make sense.

saya mula faham dialognya.

I only realized this after meeting other polyglots.

Saya sedar tentang perkara ini selepas bertemu poliglot lain.

We are no geniuses

Kami bukan genius

and we have no shortcut to learning languages.

dan kami tiada jalan singkat untuk belajar bahasa.

We simply found ways how to enjoy the process,

Kami hanya jumpa cara untuk menjadikan proses ini seronok,

how to turn language learning from a boring school subject

cara mengubah pembelajaran bahasa daripada sebuah subjek membosankan

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

menjadi aktiviti menyeronokkan hinggakan anda tidak kisah buat setiap hari.

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

Jika anda tidak suka menulis di atas kertas,

you can always type them in an app.

anda boleh taip dalam aplikasi.

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

Jika anda tidak suka mendengar bahan buku teks yang membosankan,

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

cari kandungan menarik dalam YouTube atau podcast dalam apapun bahasa.

If you're a more introverted person

Jika anda seorang introvert

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

dan tidak dapat membayangkan terus bercakap dengan penutur jati,

you can apply the method of self-talk.

anda boleh bercakap dengan diri sendiri.

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

Anda boleh bercakap dengan diri sendiri di dalam bilik,

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

menerangkan rancangan anda pada hujung minggu, bagaimana hari anda,

or even take a random picture from your phone

ataupun ambil gambar dengan telefon anda

and describe the picture to your imaginary friend.

dan terangkan gambar tersebut kepada teman khayalan anda.

This is how polyglots learn languages,

Beginilah cara poliglot belajar bahasa,

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

dan berita terbaik adalah semua orang boleh

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

jika mereka sanggup mencari kaedah belajar sendiri.

So meeting other polyglots helped me realize

Bertemu dengan poliglot lain menyedarkan saya

that it is really crucial to find enjoyment

bahawa amat penting mencari keseronokan

in the process of learning languages,

dalam proses mempelajari bahasa,

but also that joy in itself is not enough.

tetapi juga keseronokan sahaja tidak cukup.

If you want to achieve fluency in a foreign language,

Jika anda ingin fasih berbahasa asing,

you'll also need to apply three more principles.

anda juga perlu mempunyai tiga lagi prinsip.

First of all, you'll need effective methods.

Pertama, kaedah berkesan.

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

Jika anda cuba menghafal senarai perkataan untuk ujian esok,

the words will be stored in your short-term memory

perkataan itu akan disimpan dalam memori jangka pendek

and you'll forget them after a few days.

dan anda akan lupa selepas beberapa hari.

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

Jika anda ingin menyimpan perkataan untuk jangka masa panjang,

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

anda perlu mengulang kaji selama beberapa hari

using the so-called space repetition.

menggunakan kaedah pengulangan berkala.

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

Anda boleh menggunakan aplikasi berasaskan sistem ini seperti Anki atau Memrise.

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

Atau tulis senarai perkataan dalam buku menggunakan kaedah Goldlist

which is also very popular with many polyglots.

yang juga sangat terkenal dalam kalangan ramai poliglot.

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

Jika anda tidak pasti kaedah mana berkesan dan apa kaedah lain yang ada,

just check out polyglots' YouTube channels and websites

lihat saluran YouTube dan laman web poliglot

and get inspiration from them.

dan dapatkan inspirasi daripada mereka.

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

Jika ia berkesan untuk mereka, ia kemungkinan akan berkesan untuk anda.

The third principle to follow

Prinsip ketiga untuk diikuti

is to create a system in your learning.

ialah mencipta sistem dalam pembelajaran anda.

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

Kita semua sangat sibuk dan tiada masa untuk belajar bahasa pada hari ini.

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

Tetapi kita boleh meluangkan masa jika kita merancang sedikit awal.

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

Bolehkah anda bangun 15 minit lebih awal daripada kebiasaan?

That would be the perfect time to revise some vocabulary.

Itu merupakan masa terbaik untuk mengulang kaji kosa kata.

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

Bolehkah anda mendengar podcast semasa memandu ke tempat kerja?

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

Itu masa terbaik untuk mendapatkan pengalaman mendengar.

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

Banyak perkara boleh kita lakukan tanpa merancang masa tambahan

such as listening to podcasts on our way to work

seperti mendengar podcast semasa ke tempat kerja,

or doing our household chores.

atau semasa membuat kerja rumah.

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

Perkara penting ialah menyediakan rancangan pembelajaran.

"I will practice speaking every Tuesday and Thursday

"Saya akan berlatih bertutur setiap Selasa dan Khamis

with a friend for 20 minutes.

dengan seorang kawan selama 20 minit."

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

"Saya akan mendengar video Youtube semasa bersarapan."

If you create a system in your learning,

Jika anda menyediakan sistem pembelajaran,

you don't need to find that extra time,

anda tidak perlu mencari masa tambahan

because it will become a part of your everyday life.

kerana ia akan menjadi sebahagian daripada hidup anda sehari-hari.

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

Akhirnya, jika anda ingin fasih berbahasa asing,

you need also a bit of patience.

anda memerlukan sedikit kesabaran.

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

Mustahil untuk belajar bahasa dalam masa dua bulan,

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

tetapi kita boleh melihat peningkatan ketara dalam dua bulan,

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

jika anda belajar sedikit demi sedikit setiap hari dengan penuh keseronokan.

And there is nothing that motivates us more

Tiada yang lebih memotivasikan kita

than our own success.

berbanding kejayaan kita sendiri.

I vividly remember the moment

Saya ingat dengan jelas saat

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

saya memahami jenaka pertama dalam bahasa Jerman semasa menonton "Friends".

I was so happy and motivated

Saya sangat gembira dan termotivasi,

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

dan terus menonton dua lagi episod pada hari tersebut.

and as I kept watching,

Semakin lama saya menonton.

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

lebih banyak saat yang saya fahami, kejayaan-kejayaan kecil.

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

Selangkah demi selangkah, saya mencapai tahap saya boleh bertutur

freely and fluently to express anything.

secara bebas dan fasih untuk menyampaikan apa-apa sahaja.

This is a wonderful feeling.

Perasaan ini sangat hebat.

I can't get enough of that feeling,

Saya tak puas dengan perasaan ini

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

dan kerana itulah saya belajar bahasa setiap dua tahun.

So this is the whole polyglot secret.

Inilah rahsia keseluruhan poliglot.

Find effective methods which you can use systematically

Cari kaedah berkesan yang anda boleh gunakan secara bersistem

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

untuk tempoh tertentu dengan cara yang menyeronokkan.

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

Beginilah poliglot belajar bahasa dalam beberapa bulan bukan beberapa tahun.

Now, some of you may be thinking,

Anda mungkin terfikir,

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

"Bagusnya belajar bahasa dengan seronok,

tetapi bukankah rahsia sebenar ialah

but isn't the real secret that you polyglots

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

poliglot lebih berbakat dan kebanyakan daripada kami tidak?"

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

Ada satu perkara lagi yang saya tidak beritahu tentang Benny dan Lucas.

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

Benny ada 11 tahun pengalaman Irish Gaelic dan lima tahun Jerman di sekolah.

Dia langsung tidak boleh bertutur bahasa tersebut semasa tamat sekolah.

He couldn't speak them at all when graduating.

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

Sehingga umur 21 tahun, dia ingat dia tiada gen bahasa

and he could not speak another language.

dan dia tidak boleh bertutur bahasa lain.

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

Kemudian, dia mula mencari cara tersendiri mempelajari bahasa

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

iaitu bercakap dengan penutur jati dan mendapatkan maklum balas mereka.

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

Hari ini, Benny boleh bertutur dalam 10 bahasa dengan mudah.

Lucas tried to learn English at school for 10 years.

Lucas cuba belajar bahasa Inggeris di sekolah selama 10 tahun.

He was one of the worst students in class.

Dia salah seorang pelajar paling teruk dalam kelas.

His friends even made fun of him

Malah, kawan-kawannya mengejeknya

and gave him a Russian textbook as a joke

dan memberikannya buku teks Rusia sebagai jenaka

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

kerana mereka sangka dia tidak akan belajar bahasa tersebut, atau bahasa lain.

And then Lucas started to experiment with methods,

Kemudian Lucas mula menguji pelbagai kaedah,

looking for his own way to learn,

mencari cara belajarnya sendiri,

for example, by having Skype chat conversations with strangers.

contohnya dengan bersembang di Skype dengan orang asing.

And after just 10 years,

Dan selepas 10 tahun,

Lucas is able to speak 11 languages fluently.

Lucas boleh bertutur 11 bahasa dengan fasih.

Does that sound like a miracle?

Bunyi seperti keajaiban?

Well, I see such miracles every single day.

Saya lihat keajaiban seperti ini setiap hari.

As a language mentor,

Sebagai mentor bahasa,

I help people learn languages by themselves,

saya membantu orang belajar bahasa secara sendiri.

and I see this every day.

Saya lihatnya setiap hari.

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

Orang bersusah payah mempelajari bahasa selama lima, 10, malah 20 tahun,

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

kemudian, mereka mula belajar mengikut cara mereka sendiri,

start using materials which they enjoy, more effective methods,

mula menggunakan bahan yang menyeronokkan, kaedah yang lebih berkesan,

or they start tracking their learning

atau mula menjejak pembelajaran mereka

so that they can appreciate their own progress,

agar mereka dapat menghargai pencapaian mereka sendiri,

and that's when suddenly

dan ketika itulah tiba-tiba

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

mereka menemui bakat bahasa mereka yang hilang sebelum ini.

So if you've also tried to learn a language

Jadi, jika anda pernah cuba mempelajari bahasa

and you gave up, thinking it's too difficult

dan berputus asa, merasakannya sangat susah

or you don't have the language talent,

atau anda tidak mempunyai bakat bahasa,

give it another try.

cuba sekali lagi.

Maybe you're also just one enjoyable method away

Mungkin anda hanya satu langkah menyeronokkan

from learning that language fluently.

daripada mempelajari bahasa dengan fasih.

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

Mungkin anda hanya satu langkah daripada menjadi seorang poliglot.

Thank you.

Terima kasih.

(Applause)

(Tepukan)