In a totally different area of my life, a friend exclaimed, "Stop shoulding all over yourself." She was right. So many times the "shoulds" are left-over excrement from ego- or fear-driven perfectionism. I'm doing my best to flush the "shoulds" from my personal mental commentary.
It reminds me of a counseling point for excessive worriers: "you can only worry for (say) 1 hour a day -- that's the rule". I think this 2-minute rule will work for a lot of people. It's good that you elaborated on the negative self-judgment aspect to list out examples of negative emotions. That gives the rule a lot of "bite", so to speak -- a lot to get its teeth into, so the rule can dismiss a lot of troublesome internal storms sweepingly, with one simple technique. Good stuff, thank you!
Not with language, but I will now. This video made me immediately think of an interaction I had in Mexico that was a fairly small mistake, but I've always felt sort of ashamed of--like I haven't completely let it go after all this time. I shouldn't even still remember it. I can only assume these things are impeding my courage... nice talk, thanks.
2-Minute Rule is not just for learning Spanish. It is for every learning process !!! Fantastic thing to apply in the school of life !!! Many thanks !!!
Yes, I’m from Spain and I write books, so one day I didn’t know if I have to use the verb ser or estar, hahaha, and that was so strange for me because I could use both verbs depending on the meaning that I want to give, hahaha
I see some advantage to the 2 minute rule. But you can use one secret, magic phrase in Spanish, so that you will never be embarrassed by your mistakes. This phrase also gets you instant forgiveness for your mistakes. And might get you the best service in restaurants. And locals will go out of their way to help your broken Spanish like mine. The magic phrase is simply “Estudio español en Estados Unidos.” In English: “I study Spanish in the United States.” Americans are known for not caring about others’ languages. But everyone takes pride in their language. Foreigners are extremely honored to hear that an American is studying Spanish back in the US. They will look past your mistakes and you won't be embarrassed again. It might even get you better service. I've had foreigners say that they never knew that anyone in the US cares about learning Spanish.
This video actually made me cry (in a good way) because it was a sort of a self reflection when it came to negative self-judgement. I’m a junior currently and am taking a Spanish class. I always wanted to learn Spanish or a second language in general because my family is Mexican-American and call speak Spanish most of the time. The reason I don’t is because my mom never really bothered to teach it to me (or my sisters) so I only have very basic knowledge of the Spanish language and have trouble with speaking and absolutely struggle reading words in Spanish. This causes me to always doubt myself because I feel bad that I can’t speak Spanish even though I feel like I should be able to (again, because I’m Mexican-American and was often teased by other Hispanics when I was younger because I could only speak English) and I get scared to speak what little knowledge I have of it. It feels like a one step forward, two steps back sort of thing. I do want to speak Spanish fluently, but the fear of messing up and just feeling bad that I can’t even speak it in general just makes me wanna give up. But watching this video gives me a sort of hope, that maybe I’ll be able to speak Spanish one day. (I’ll try to remember the two minute rule as well, thank you)
I’m also trying to learn Spanish because I don’t speak Spanish. But I get the opposite reaction that you do when I speak a little bit of Spanish because I’m not expected to speak Spanish because I’m white. My parents only speak English so it’s not like they speak a language that I don’t but it’s disappointing that your parents knowing Spanish didn’t also teach you Spanish because knowing more languages opens doors and opportunities and perspectives that you don’t have by only speaking English. I wish you the best at learning Spanish like I’m trying to do.
Hi, I read your comment with no little interest, and while I can't say I know how you feel, I can empathize with you as I underwent a similar experience when I was a young child. My dad has since passed away, but my parents were both bilingual, Spanish and English, and spoke Spanish regularly until I was about 6 or 7 at which point they stopped using Spanish and only spoke English from then on. I also endured the teasing for not speaking Spanish but when I joined the Army, many of my Spanish speaking friends encouraged me to speak Spanish and would offer correction or alternative ways to say something. When I was stationed In Germany, I learned survival German, which was very useful as I was a truck driver alone on the autobahn and more than once helped me to find the place I was looking for. That experience taught me the importance of knowing another language and inspired me to improve my Spanish. I moved to Texas and worked on a Ranch where most of the workers only spoke Spanish and the tiny little seed of Spanish that was in me sprouted into a big tree, today, in addition to English, I speak Spanish, Sign Language, and am an advanced beginner in French and Mandarin. Six months ago I did not know a word of Chinese, today I know and can speak about sixty simple phrases and sentences in Mandarin and learning more daily! Don't give up or be ashamed, you can do it, nurture that little seed of Spanish in you and watch it blossom and grow! Why am I here on Andrew's channel? I still make mistakes, in Spanish, Chinese, Sign Language, even in English, it's inevitable, learn from them, laugh about them, continue to learn and don't give up!
I know exactly how you feel. What I have found helpful is owning my current “no sabo kid”/“gringa” status while also being motivated to get out of said status into fluency. Despite having a hispanic family, I cannot practice my learning with them because of the years I spent growing up and being made fun of by the ones who were supposed to teach me in the first place. But I’m determined to succeed and it’s why I enjoy language exchange apps bc the native speakers for your target language language are also making silly mistakes with their target language that happens to be YOUR native language. It’s a judgement free zone aside from allowing for corrections and moving on. Also, if you’re ok with AI, ChatGPT can also help you in that regard with the right prompts, no shaming involved lol. It’s actually been very helpful for my VERY specific language questions that aren’t simply googleable.
One time, when I was just starting to learn Spanish, I was introducing myself to a Mexican gardener who was the brother of a lady I knew named Lily. I asked him, "¿Eres el hermoso de Lily?" The confused expression on his face and the embarassment I felt after Google translating what I had said was enough to deter me from speaking Spanish for a few months after.
Thank you Sir. I make mistakes when speaking to my mother and brother in law and it used to crush me. Your video and my husbands encouragement have helped me a lot thank you. I actually used "hoy" instead of "manana" when talking about when I needed to go to work. It was about 6 months ago and it still gets to me.
Thanks for this post Andrew and all your posts. I'm in a Spanish convo group (6 seniors, in total) and we meet every Friday morning for 2 hours in a local café. We all make many mistakes, but we get over them in a few seconds. We have huge fun and because no one is an expert, we correct one another. I use your posts almost every week and I'm going to forward this one to group members.
Hi, as a lifelong Spanish learner, I wanted to mention that your convo group may be hurting more than helping. I early discovered that group lessons (and even worse, group conversations without a teacher to correct *correctly*) are almost worse than no lessons. You will be exposed to many errors and bad pronunciation. Although you "correct" each other, the chances are good that any particular correction will be wrong, particularly on anything requiring a modicum of sophistication, e.g., uses of the subjunctive, or "aun" versus "aún," or verbs like "suponer" that have tortuous relationships with the subjunctive and indicative. For conversation, you'd be much better off with one-on-one lessons from a native speaker that you can get online for ~$13 per hour from teacher in Mexico or Guatemala. It's the difference between getting tennis lessons from a pro or from some random guy down the street.
This video was in my feed. I’m an ESL teacher and I’m learning Spanish. Currently all my students are Spanish speakers, and I plan to explain some of these concepts to them. Thanks so much!
I really needed this. I have actually cried after an hour online class thinking I SHOULDN'T STILL make mistakes with es/está or tenia/tuve. It makes me feel SO stupid. Once a talked to a woman from Guatemala in a yoga class - we had a nice chat and she complimented my accent. On the way home I realized I had said a word wrong and I felt horrible and embarrassed for a long time. I will TRYYYYY to use the 2 minute rule! I think I feel a need to criticize myself as a statement that I know better! If I don't berate myself maybe I didn't really realize it was wrong? Or something?
Yes, I completely understand Kim! The ego plays many tricks on us including convincing us that we need to berate ourselves! As I mentioned in the video, the 2-minute rule is a practice and a skill that you can improve and what should find is that in the long run you'll enjoy learning Spanish more and you'll improve faster too!
have you tried speaking incorrectly on purpose? If not then I totally recommend it. Tell people you are learning a language and start speaking incorrectly on purpose and watch what happens. The reaction you will get is ether support or they will not care at all. Try it allow yourself to make mistakes. When I was learning English I said broken instead or ripped. O No! I was wrong and? I got corrected, Now I know Cheers!
Great tips Andrew. I get so frustrated when I cannot recall a meaning fast enough and feel "I should have known that". I am highly motivated to learn Spanish because I live in Chile - so I have to. But it is difficult to stay consistent when you knock yourself back. Also, living somewhere you think you it will just happen, but it does require hard work!
Thanks Kat!! 😊 Yes, any sentence starting with "I should..." in relation to our Spanish abilities can be a huge source of frustration and demotivation. If we can use the 2-min rule to remove negative self-judgement it should help make the journey easier and more enjoyable.
I have only discovered your videos yesterday. Firstly, I think you are an amazing teacher and explain things in a way which I can easily understand. It really is difficult learning a second language when older and your methodology is perfect for me. I am an Australian who moved to Lima Peru last year, I only knew the basics before arriving so I am very keen to now watch all your videos to improve my conversational skills.
Loved it, Andrew! Thanks! For me it doesn't show up as fear of making mistakes, but shame. Being ashamed of not being good enough, smart enough, or quick enough, or just not doing it well enough. Since I've had lots of years to come to know this negative self talk it doesn't hold the same power as it did years ago. But it's still there in my Spanish learning when I don't speak Spanish as well as I know how to or when I am looking up the same word for the umpteenth time. I have to let it go every time. Another one for me, is that I can read Spanish really well but then carry an expectation that I should be able to speak it as well. NOT. I have to let that expectation go all the time, too. I shared this video with friends. It's great.
I have the same problem reading (comprehending words someone else pulls together from the ethers and puts in black and white in front of me) MUCH better than speaking (pulling the words from my own mind/memory and stringing them together myself) and listening (hearing the words someone else speaks FAST ENOUGH TO FOLLOW ALONG)! Duolingo is helping me with that a lot... but only by experiencing a language with ALL of our senses will we increase our ability to interact in that way... ie: if we never talk to or listen to Spanish (especially native speakers) we never exercise those language 'muscles'. Reading is the LEAST scary way to interact with a language... no one to judge my mistakes but me! But no one can correct my mistakes, either! I will be adding tv novellas to my study time to help with listening practice... nothing cures the speaking issue except speaking to someone more advanced than yourself, though! Good luck! Don't give up! 🙌
I'm in the same boat as you about reading vs speaking. My wife doesn't read well but she speaks better because she has a lot less shame or expectations of herself knowing. =). I feel this is the case beyond Spanish when one starts to acquire higher levels of education and then they start to be more difficult on themselves for not achieving the kind of success they "should've" or "could've." I think it helps to redefine the ego as a student of life and keep the plato/socrates mindset of "to know is not to know."
Tip I use: I type into Spanish translator the sentences I make up on the spot as I type my thoughts out and then click on English/Spanish translations to see if I have chosen correct Spanish. It is enjoyable and helpful in between reading Spanish literature and listening comprehension. The translator also has audio to assist with pronunciation.😊
I do this too! My thinking is that if the translator understood me, then a real person probably would have too (even if the grammar I used wasn’t 100% perfect).
Wonderful video! Muchas gracias! I’m a 56 year old American who moved to Barcelona a year and a half ago. My learning of Spanish has been painfully slow. And when I make a very silly mistake in Spanish, I beat myself up over it for far too long and then I clam up and become afraid to speak in public. From now on, two minutes only!
I am a Spanish teacher myself living in Jamaica and I am still struggling to learn the language, but ever since I found your channel I feel so much more confident. I love love your content. Thank you so much for sharing ❤❗
That was encouragement that was really needed. After having learned 2 languages besides my mother´s tongue, I recognize some kind of struggle at the age of 70, trying to learn spanish. I already thought of giving up. Well, now I shall give it another try. Thank you so much!
Andrew, I loved his video... super clear and one of the few that deal head on with the fact that kids in a second-language-learning situation aren't actually learning all that much (in terms of vocab, grammar, etc). Most people have the mistaken impression that children learn a second language faster than adults. They don't realize, as you pointed out, that children are learning a tiny subset of the language. I remember a proud mom in Washington DC, the snobbery capital of the US when it comes to language learning, that announced to me that her daughter was trilingual. She insisted, contrary to what second language studies show, that children learn a second language faster than adults. When I challenged her, based on the extensive review I had done on the literature on second language acquisition, she cited her daughter as proof that kids learn faster than adults. Apparently, she spoke to her daughter in English, her husband in French, and the maid in Spanish. When I asked how old her daughter was, she said, "two." Hysterical! Because her daughter could babble a few words in three different languages, she was supposedly trilingual. BTW, you probably know that junior high kids learn faster than grade school, high school faster still, and college-age faster still. It apparently has to do with maturing of the brain and our ability to organize and use new information. People confuse the fact that there is a window of opportunity before adolescence where a child's brain internalizes the correct accent with better ability to learn the language. Adults may never develop a "native" accent, but they can acquire functional language much faster than a child, even given the very real barriers you point out. Great job! And this ability of adults to learn quickly should be encouraging. I hear so many adults say, I should have learned when I was a child when it would have been easier, so now it's not worth the trouble.
Wow, dwelling on my mistakes or fear of making them is definitely holding me back. I guess I see it as "why would I be motivated to fail?" I love these videos! Where have they been all my life?! Thank you!
Hi Andrew, I really appreciate this video! I speak English, Spanish, Sign Language, learned survival German when stationed in Germany and am learning French and Mandarin. I love languages and am not afraid to try to speak what I have learned. Mistakes happen and can be very funny, especially in a language I use frequently. I was in San Francisco and went to a Subway to get a sandwich. The woman at the counter greeted me in Spanish and asked what I wanted. I told her in Spanish my order and then she asked what kind of bread, to which I replied, pan de arena, she looked confused and I kept sayin pan de arena, finally, I said white bread, she shook her head and said, pan de harina, which I knew, but for some reason was stuck on the pronunciation as arena, I was quiet for a few seconds and said in English, oh, you don't have any sand bread, huh, at which we both started laughing, now I am more careful to order white bread instead of sand bread!
Thank you for this video. I completely agree. I recently took an intensive Spanish class and I had a teacher who got clearly frustrated when any of the students made a mistake. Unfortunately, I constantly made mistakes and his displeasure was apparent. I eventually left the class in tears with 6 hours to go. It bummed me out because I really want to learn Spanish. It’s important to give yourself two minutes but what about the instructor? He should not make the students feel bad because they do not understand what he is teaching.
Find a different teacher and try again. Teachers I know at the K-12 level these days really emphasize the power of having a “growth mindset” for their students and themselves. College professors don’t always know about best practices for teaching (pedagogy) as they may have been hired primarily because they are experts in their field. Search online for “growth mindset” to get a description of what it teaches. It may be able to help you.
This is brilliant, thank you for doing it! I'm also an adult foreign language teacher, and this is essential information for grown-ups. I've said these things in many different ways, but you've put it together so well! The 2-minute rule is new to me, this is great! I'll use this! Thank you.
I love this . I needed to see this I feel bad for a while when I mess up or I'm around Spanish speaking people and I don't understand anything they are saying. Thank you
ALL THUMBS UP!! I have prepared myself for it since day 1 of studying German. There are things that children can beat us well and we have to admit that they are the ones teaching us some lessons. Thanks for sharing this insight for the language learners' community.
Also, as an adult, I find myself wanting to converse but knowing I will fail at some point in the conversation so sometimes I will not make the attempt. The most success I have is when I pre-compose what I want to ask or say, use that composition and try to understand the flood of information that comes as a result..I used to keep a notebook while travelling so I could do that. Also ''pre-pologizing'' with ''sorry, i'm learning'' or '' I don't know much Spanish'' helps take the edge off the anxiety and people are almost always kind in response.
Affective filter in your way. I used to be nervous whenever I had to talk in my French class, for fear that I might be corrected. Then my teacher suggested me to read Le petit Nicolas aloud and it really helped. I guess what comes in your way are ego (dislike being corrected), lack of confidence (not sure about how to say it correctly), and perfectionism (not allowing yourself room for errors). Yet a part of language learning is just like life: learning from errors and mistakes. We make a mistake, learn from it, let it go, and focus on the present moment.
It is interesting to hear your point about adults learning a new language and their Fear of Making a mistake. I found the exact same issue for adults when trying to learn a musical instrument. Especially compared to children. Adults get frustrated with the process of learning an instrument because they know how it should sound and they are not happy with their ability. This can hold them back and that 2 minute rule will likely work for this learning process.
yes and let us not forget. chldren's lives are so different. how eager they are to find favorable countenance from their mother and father. a smile from my father would have certainly outweighed the ability to conjugate 3rd person present indicative. what we lose when we grow up.
Great tip thank you! Fear of making mistakes has definitely hindered my Spanish acquisition. I have tried to implement similar strategies of allowing emotions and then moving on but never with a time limit.
Andrew you make some good points and the two minute rule is a great idea. Let me share a thought. A few years back I decided to learn Spanish in anticipation of retiring to a South American country (I have done this!). I shared my plans with a friend who told me that learning a language as an adult especially at my age was horribly difficult because I'm not a child with a spongelike mind. I gave this some thought and later I realized something that I think is worth sharing. Why do children learn so quickly and absolutely?? Well if you have read Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers" he talks about the 10,000 hour rule. Someone who practices a skill diligently for 10,000 hours obtains mastery. Well a child hears and interacts in his/her language 12 hours a day (or more) and so 12 X 365 x 3 = 13,140 hours. So within 3 years a child has that 10,000 hours of concerted practice...is it any surprise children learn their first language so quickly?? What about my efforts trying to learn a new language? Well I was working full time so on average I would study about 1 hour a day and I had an online tutor to work with me on weekends also for about an hour each day. So, 1 x 365 x 27.4 years and I get to that same 10,000 hours of concerted practice. The key is when you. immerse yourself by living in a country where they speak the language and you need the language skills to get along, communicate etc well your learning curve ascends incredibly rapidly....because you get to that 10,000 hour level in a few years instead of 27!
Hola Mark, thanks for the comment!! To work for the US government as a diplomate in a Spanish speaking country, the Foreign Services Institute recommends 575-600 hours of class time to learn Spanish to a "General Professional Proficiency (S3)" (www.mustgo.com/worldlanguages/language-difficulty/). I've read Gladwell's book, and it's important to note that the book tries to answer the question "what makes the world's best violinist/golfer/basketballer/etc. different from the rest?" and it is often due to circumstances and early opportunities but it also comes down to the fact that it takes about 10,000 hours of hard work to master something. And that the 10,000 hours is correlation not causation for the "outliers" in society. So, if you want to be the world's best "something", you'll need to spend 10,000 hours of hard work plus luck and timing and often genetics and early opportunities. But, this certainly is not required to achieve a high level of Spanish based on my own experience and the recommendations of the Foreign Services Institue.
@@realfastspanish love this response because I've been wondering if it's possible for me to become proficient in a year. I've already got nearly a year under my belt of studying leisurely, but I want to really become proficient and wondered if I can do that within this upcoming year. This number from the Foreign Services Institute suggests that I can! Now I'm even more motivated now that I have that perspective. Thanks!
This is the FIRST video I understand completely. My Spanish is coming along well. It felt like the video was in English that’s how good I felt about it. I understood it all. My first time.
I have a somewhat different approach that comes to the same thing in practice. If I get a sentence wrong (and realize it) I will take a moment (circumstances permitting) to learn what I should have said, and then practice the correct sentence for a minute of two, until I can say it both fluently and correctly. Then I just forget about it. So, the test I apply is not just an arbitrary time limit, but is actually based upon learning to say the one sentence correctly. The time involved is still about two minutes, or so, and I actually take a concrete corrective action, but without either agonizing over it emotionally or investing a lot of time in an unproductive manner. Also, if I make the same mistake again, I just practice the correct sentence again, and over time I do stop making that mistake, but I never waste time doing something that is not productive. In other words, instead of feeling embarrassed or defensive, I just do something effective to correct the problem, which is the real test of a competent adult human being - namely, taking responsibility in a business-like fashion. So, no need to feel stupid about it. Point is, it is this specific sense of taking concrete, practical action that short-circuits any feeling of embarrassment.
I’ve once was told by a store associate buenas tardes and I said bien 😂😂😂😂I 100% just went into fight or flight and said the first thing that came to mind when I knew I should’ve said the same thing back. Only thing I have problems with is just being calm to think/say what I know instead of panicking
Try this -- consider language learning to be an Easter egg hunt. What are the Easter eggs? Mistakes due to lack of rock solid knowledge. These mistakes expose what you need to work on. Just quickly document these mistakes, and then focus on them by practicing them. Anki is a great tool. Uncovering these "Easter eggs" is actually great -- it is your key to master the language. It is feedback that exposes the constraints on your way to fluency. There is no negativity here.
Something that I noticed about myself while learning Spanish, is that when faced with a complex sentence to translate on my app, if I get something basic wrong, I allow myself one single eye-roll 🙄because what I'm more focused on is that I got the grammar, sentence structure and trickier parts accurate. That makes me much happier and confident. Other times, I just tell myself "wow you're really off your game today; too tired; too distracted." I don't dwell on it. Where I really need help is with listening comprehension, and not translating in my head!
Me gustaba tratar de evitar hacer errors pero parece los más errors hago el más me aprendo. Tuve un profesor de matemáticas que ha dicho, "he aprendido de mis errores, he cometido muchos errores, por eso soy tan inteligente."
As usual, an excellent video. Some people need more practice, and time, than others in order to solidify a new word, phrase, or concept in Spanish, or whatever you're trying to master. We're only human, not machines. If you, or I, need more time, then so be it. You WILL learn what you want to learn...as long as you don't give up. Accept yourself...you're a beautiful creation, and you CAN do anything in this world if you really want to. It just takes time.
Great point - and there are many things in life that should be guided by the Two Minute Rule - not just lanaguage learing. (When I was a child I had a fight at school. I was brought into the Principal's office and she told me that the next time I get mad I have to count to 10 before I reacted. This ten second rule resulted in me never having a fight again at school)
Muchísimas gracias Andrew. I mix up Spanish words and Italian words because I learned Italian last year, and I started Spanish in September. And I'm forever being corrected by my Spanish friends when I used Italian words by mistake, and again corrected by my Italian friends when I used Spanish words by mistake. I've developed a thick skin. I laugh a lot whenever I was corrected, and say "oh yeah of course" and corrected my mistake and move on. But afterwards, I still think "I shouldn't have.. etc etc". But I like this 2 minute rule. I will apply it in my language learning and hopefully in the future, stop berating myself internally so much 😅 I appreciate all your videos. On behalf of all quiet viewers, muchas gracias Andrew 👍
Good stuff this.. I have taught Spanish kids English for 20 years.. The one thing I learned at the tefl college that stands up is NEVER INTERUPT FLUENCY. If they say for example " milk glass of want I " let them continue speaking PLEASE.. you can correct the word order later.. regards , John.
Terrific video. I think that it's terrific that you address the mental challenges to tackling a foreign language. I'm glad I discovered the channel and will explore many more of your videos!
I've been studying Spanish every day for the past two years and ego is definitely an issue for me. I feel like I should be to a C1 by now but still struggle understanding spoken Spanish. And when it comes to speaking - no lo se, no puedo penso como dice nada.
Andrew this session and the one on confidence was just what I needed for my stage of learning. Yes I am in fear of the face to face conversation for all the reasons. Now I am still nervous but know I can do it. Plus while listening to your confidence session I realized that in my corporate life (I am now retired) I was able to speak in front of 100s of people on financial topics and provided training to many. I remembered how I was usually nervous before things started but because I had prepared the material once I got going it went well. There were times I got sent for a toss but by making fun of that it always was a nothing in the end. Thank you for reminding me I have done things harder than this and just need to be prepared a bit. Then when I leap for the first time on video chat it will be just fine!! I subscribe to your weekly newsletter and find every bit of it so helpful too. Muchas Gracias!!
a great video and it reminded me of a dream i had not so long ago - i was at a language exchange evening and a girl came and sat down to talk to me in spanish and i couldn't get my words out properly, so she just got up and left to and talk to someone else.
LOL! Last week, on March 15, the teacher asked us what the date was. I said aloud, in class, "diez y cinco de marzo." What the heck?! I know it's quince, but in that moment, the right answer wasn't in my head, and the wrong answer felt right. I was so embarrassed! But then I laughed at myself and thought, "You're a 60 year old+ person learning a new language and taking a college-level class. You're doing fine!" :) Learning another language is probably the hardest and most rewarding project I've ever undertaken. Encouragement like this is important for when the inevitable mistakes come... and come, they will. :) Thanks for the lessons!
I'm an adult college student that was horrible in high school. Im often humbled by my younger peers and that's ok, because I have a rule that is similar to the 2 minute rule - always be on your own side! Forgive yourself, shrug it off, because the aspects of life outside yourself are hard enough already!
Thanks. This is a good rule and it works for so many other things in life. All the time I've spent over the years beating myself up I could have been using to get better, but I'm not going to beat myself up over that either! :)
Estoy aprendiendo español, y no voy a mentir, necesitaba esto. Recientemente, estaba practicando con una hispanohablante sobre mis vacaciones de la primavera (en universidad), y por accidente, le dije, “Vacaciones del invierno.” Recuerdo que estaba tan enojado conmigo mismo. Pero después unos minutos, me di cuenta de que está bien, porque estoy aprendiendo y es bueno que puedo practicar con hablantes nativos. Gracias por este video y tu consejo!!
My father was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the early 90s and once one of the church's leaders Russel M. Nelson made a similar proposal for missionary work: "you're allowed to be discouraged. For twenty minutes. Then get back to work." This is an important principal. Everyone gets discouraged and you shouldn't bottle it up, but don't let it overwhelm you for too long.
Also, people make ”mistakes” or say the wrong thing in their native language as well. I can’t count the amounts of time when I can’t really find the words I’m looking for in Swedish (my native language) but I’m often understood anyways. And I mean, I forget my lefts and rights alllll the time in both swedish and english (my second language, started learning it when I was 7-8) You would never blame a native speaker for forgetting a word once in a while, so why would you with someone who isn’t a native speaker?!
Oh my gosh you’re underestimating yourself. !!!!!! You made the mistake left versus right but your pronunciation sounded perfect to me. I’m not a native French speaker, I am a native English speaker but I’ve lived near France for many years so I know what good pronunciation sounds like and if what little French I know I would’ve just answered; to the right instead of complete sentences like you. But my goal is just to learn simple tourist phrases instead of being fluent like I am in Spanish and German.
Not more difficult for adults to learn. I crossed the line regarding French & Latin at school but should have failed both. Interesting...an Antipodean doing teaching Spanish. As an adult my interest developed. I took evening classes in Spanish (reasonable B1/B2) and German (B2/C1). Also Welsh, enough to understand sports commentary. I never had fear of making mistakes as I'm not English.
Hola, pues solo queria comentar que tengo una clienta que esta muy motivada a aprender Espanol pues su novio es Venezolano. Estudiamos dos veces por semana y se molesta tanto cuando no puede recordar algo que acabamos de practicar. Su molestia va al punto de que se llama nombres a si misma, cuando no recuerda algo. Le digo que toma tiempo, que no se preocupe, que yo estoy para ayudarla. La informacion sobre la atencion que un nino tiene vs. la atencion de un adulto, y la extension de exposicion de un nino al idioma es una excelente manera de hacerla sentir mejor. Muchas gracias.
After 6 years of countless lessons and living in spain i consider that i "get by" quite well yet i still beat myself up over my grammatical errors, even after a perfectly successful exchange from a communication point of view. Definitely going to try to use your 2 minute rule. And going to share this video with all who tell me that learning Spanish is just a matter of hanging out in a bar and "picking it up" the way children do. I too have done the calculation and at max a few hours a week I defy any retiree to have enough life left to learn it that way.
It's been said that "you don't know you mother language until you know a second language", meaning that when one only knows one's mother tongue, one is continually trapped within its contours and limitations, not really knowing it other than from within, as the language tells you itself how to understand it. When one knows a second language, one is able to look at one's mother tongue from outside, so to speak, from the perspective of the second language, thus seeing and knowing the mother language more completely, for the first time. I can't remember who made the point originally -- I think either Ernst Cassirir or Edward Sapir, but can't recall exactly; whoever originally said it certainly was making an interesting point.
Having learnt Spanish to such a high level, vamos casi nivel nativo, you would find French easy to learn. The difficulty would be the pronunciation and some of the grammar, but vocabulary would be picked up quickly.
Have you tried a technique like the 2-Minute Rule before?
In a totally different area of my life, a friend exclaimed, "Stop shoulding all over yourself." She was right. So many times the "shoulds" are left-over excrement from ego- or fear-driven perfectionism. I'm doing my best to flush the "shoulds" from my personal mental commentary.
Why does it take you over 10 minutes to talk about a 2 minute rule? I like the content and clear explanations but the intros are WAY too long.....
It reminds me of a counseling point for excessive worriers: "you can only worry for (say) 1 hour a day -- that's the rule". I think this 2-minute rule will work for a lot of people. It's good that you elaborated on the negative self-judgment aspect to list out examples of negative emotions. That gives the rule a lot of "bite", so to speak -- a lot to get its teeth into, so the rule can dismiss a lot of troublesome internal storms sweepingly, with one simple technique. Good stuff, thank you!
I agree. It is what it is, so no worries, mate. Love, laugh, and get on with it, eh?
Not with language, but I will now. This video made me immediately think of an interaction I had in Mexico that was a fairly small mistake, but I've always felt sort of ashamed of--like I haven't completely let it go after all this time. I shouldn't even still remember it. I can only assume these things are impeding my courage... nice talk, thanks.
2-Minute Rule is not just for learning Spanish. It is for every learning process !!! Fantastic thing to apply in the school of life !!! Many thanks !!!
Thanks Carlos! 😊
Excellent point and effective tip. Also good to remember that one never “knows” a language completely. Only a subset of it. Even your native language.
Yes, I’m from Spain and I write books, so one day I didn’t know if I have to use the verb ser or estar, hahaha, and that was so strange for me because I could use both verbs depending on the meaning that I want to give, hahaha
This made me feel better about my English because I am working on speaking properly even though I am a native speaker.
I see some advantage to the 2 minute rule. But you can use one secret, magic phrase in Spanish, so that you will never be embarrassed by your mistakes. This phrase also gets you instant forgiveness for your mistakes. And might get you the best service in restaurants. And locals will go out of their way to help your broken Spanish like mine.
The magic phrase is simply “Estudio español en Estados Unidos.” In English: “I study Spanish in the United States.”
Americans are known for not caring about others’ languages. But everyone takes pride in their language. Foreigners are extremely honored to hear that an American is studying Spanish back in the US. They will look past your mistakes and you won't be embarrassed again. It might even get you better service.
I've had foreigners say that they never knew that anyone in the US cares about learning Spanish.
When you get old enough, you can’t remember what happened two minutes ago LOL.
😂
I'm 73 and trying to learn Spanish so you know quite well that I needed to hear what you said about the two-minute rule. Thanks! Jack
72 and also learning some spanish--tho I have little faith in my memory :)
@@vivthespiv1 Good for you. Us old guys still have it!
Same, but I'm determined and do delighted in what I can remember.
Skip to 05:55 for the 2 minute rule.
tnx i was already watching on 1.25x speed
Thanks
And then go back for the rest bc it’s actually valuable information.
This video actually made me cry (in a good way) because it was a sort of a self reflection when it came to negative self-judgement. I’m a junior currently and am taking a Spanish class. I always wanted to learn Spanish or a second language in general because my family is Mexican-American and call speak Spanish most of the time. The reason I don’t is because my mom never really bothered to teach it to me (or my sisters) so I only have very basic knowledge of the Spanish language and have trouble with speaking and absolutely struggle reading words in Spanish. This causes me to always doubt myself because I feel bad that I can’t speak Spanish even though I feel like I should be able to (again, because I’m Mexican-American and was often teased by other Hispanics when I was younger because I could only speak English) and I get scared to speak what little knowledge I have of it. It feels like a one step forward, two steps back sort of thing. I do want to speak Spanish fluently, but the fear of messing up and just feeling bad that I can’t even speak it in general just makes me wanna give up. But watching this video gives me a sort of hope, that maybe I’ll be able to speak Spanish one day. (I’ll try to remember the two minute rule as well, thank you)
I’m also trying to learn Spanish because I don’t speak Spanish. But I get the opposite reaction that you do when I speak a little bit of Spanish because I’m not expected to speak Spanish because I’m white. My parents only speak English so it’s not like they speak a language that I don’t but it’s disappointing that your parents knowing Spanish didn’t also teach you Spanish because knowing more languages opens doors and opportunities and perspectives that you don’t have by only speaking English. I wish you the best at learning Spanish like I’m trying to do.
Hi, I read your comment with no little interest, and while I can't say I know how you feel, I can empathize with you as I underwent a similar experience when I was a young child. My dad has since passed away, but my parents were both bilingual, Spanish and English, and spoke Spanish regularly until I was about 6 or 7 at which point they stopped using Spanish and only spoke English from then on. I also endured the teasing for not speaking Spanish but when I joined the Army, many of my Spanish speaking friends encouraged me to speak Spanish and would offer correction or alternative ways to say something. When I was stationed In Germany, I learned survival German, which was very useful as I was a truck driver alone on the autobahn and more than once helped me to find the place I was looking for. That experience taught me the importance of knowing another language and inspired me to improve my Spanish. I moved to Texas and worked on a Ranch where most of the workers only spoke Spanish and the tiny little seed of Spanish that was in me sprouted into a big tree, today, in addition to English, I speak Spanish, Sign Language, and am an advanced beginner in French and Mandarin. Six months ago I did not know a word of Chinese, today I know and can speak about sixty simple phrases and sentences in Mandarin and learning more daily! Don't give up or be ashamed, you can do it, nurture that little seed of Spanish in you and watch it blossom and grow! Why am I here on Andrew's channel? I still make mistakes, in Spanish, Chinese, Sign Language, even in English, it's inevitable, learn from them, laugh about them, continue to learn and don't give up!
I know exactly how you feel. What I have found helpful is owning my current “no sabo kid”/“gringa” status while also being motivated to get out of said status into fluency. Despite having a hispanic family, I cannot practice my learning with them because of the years I spent growing up and being made fun of by the ones who were supposed to teach me in the first place. But I’m determined to succeed and it’s why I enjoy language exchange apps bc the native speakers for your target language language are also making silly mistakes with their target language that happens to be YOUR native language. It’s a judgement free zone aside from allowing for corrections and moving on. Also, if you’re ok with AI, ChatGPT can also help you in that regard with the right prompts, no shaming involved lol. It’s actually been very helpful for my VERY specific language questions that aren’t simply googleable.
One time, when I was just starting to learn Spanish, I was introducing myself to a Mexican gardener who was the brother of a lady I knew named Lily. I asked him, "¿Eres el hermoso de Lily?" The confused expression on his face and the embarassment I felt after Google translating what I had said was enough to deter me from speaking Spanish for a few months after.
I mix up hermoso y hermano too
Thank you Sir. I make mistakes when speaking to my mother and brother in law and it used to crush me. Your video and my husbands encouragement have helped me a lot thank you. I actually used "hoy" instead of "manana" when talking about when I needed to go to work. It was about 6 months ago and it still gets to me.
Thanks for this post Andrew and all your posts. I'm in a Spanish convo group (6 seniors, in total) and we meet every Friday morning for 2 hours in a local café. We all make many mistakes, but we get over them in a few seconds. We have huge fun and because no one is an expert, we correct one another.
I use your posts almost every week and I'm going to forward this one to group members.
Thanks for sharing Jenny!! 🙏😊
Hi, as a lifelong Spanish learner, I wanted to mention that your convo group may be hurting more than helping. I early discovered that group lessons (and even worse, group conversations without a teacher to correct *correctly*) are almost worse than no lessons. You will be exposed to many errors and bad pronunciation. Although you "correct" each other, the chances are good that any particular correction will be wrong, particularly on anything requiring a modicum of sophistication, e.g., uses of the subjunctive, or "aun" versus "aún," or verbs like "suponer" that have tortuous relationships with the subjunctive and indicative. For conversation, you'd be much better off with one-on-one lessons from a native speaker that you can get online for ~$13 per hour from teacher in Mexico or Guatemala. It's the difference between getting tennis lessons from a pro or from some random guy down the street.
@Rob wow great point :)
This video was in my feed. I’m an ESL teacher and I’m learning Spanish. Currently all my students are Spanish speakers, and I plan to explain some of these concepts to them. Thanks so much!
Agreed. Children are better at learning because they don't question so much as an adult.
I really needed this. I have actually cried after an hour online class thinking I SHOULDN'T STILL make mistakes with es/está or tenia/tuve. It makes me feel SO stupid. Once a talked to a woman from Guatemala in a yoga class - we had a nice chat and she complimented my accent. On the way home I realized I had said a word wrong and I felt horrible and embarrassed for a long time. I will TRYYYYY to use the 2 minute rule! I think I feel a need to criticize myself as a statement that I know better! If I don't berate myself maybe I didn't really realize it was wrong? Or something?
Yes, I completely understand Kim! The ego plays many tricks on us including convincing us that we need to berate ourselves! As I mentioned in the video, the 2-minute rule is a practice and a skill that you can improve and what should find is that in the long run you'll enjoy learning Spanish more and you'll improve faster too!
have you tried speaking incorrectly on purpose? If not then I totally recommend it.
Tell people you are learning a language and start speaking incorrectly on purpose and watch what happens.
The reaction you will get is ether support or they will not care at all. Try it
allow yourself to make mistakes.
When I was learning English I said broken instead or ripped. O No! I was wrong and? I got corrected, Now I know
Cheers!
Great tips Andrew. I get so frustrated when I cannot recall a meaning fast enough and feel "I should have known that". I am highly motivated to learn Spanish because I live in Chile - so I have to. But it is difficult to stay consistent when you knock yourself back. Also, living somewhere you think you it will just happen, but it does require hard work!
Thanks Kat!! 😊 Yes, any sentence starting with "I should..." in relation to our Spanish abilities can be a huge source of frustration and demotivation. If we can use the 2-min rule to remove negative self-judgement it should help make the journey easier and more enjoyable.
I have only discovered your videos yesterday. Firstly, I think you are an amazing teacher and explain things in a way which I can easily understand. It really is difficult learning a second language when older and your methodology is perfect for me. I am an Australian who moved to Lima Peru last year, I only knew the basics before arriving so I am very keen to now watch all your videos to improve my conversational skills.
Thank you! 🙏
Loved it, Andrew! Thanks! For me it doesn't show up as fear of making mistakes, but shame. Being ashamed of not being good enough, smart enough, or quick enough, or just not doing it well enough. Since I've had lots of years to come to know this negative self talk it doesn't hold the same power as it did years ago. But it's still there in my Spanish learning when I don't speak Spanish as well as I know how to or when I am looking up the same word for the umpteenth time. I have to let it go every time. Another one for me, is that I can read Spanish really well but then carry an expectation that I should be able to speak it as well. NOT. I have to let that expectation go all the time, too. I shared this video with friends. It's great.
Thanks for sharing Robin! I really appreciate they way you have interpreted how this shows up for you because shows up for everyone differently!!
I have the same problem reading (comprehending words someone else pulls together from the ethers and puts in black and white in front of me) MUCH better than speaking (pulling the words from my own mind/memory and stringing them together myself) and listening (hearing the words someone else speaks FAST ENOUGH TO FOLLOW ALONG)!
Duolingo is helping me with that a lot... but only by experiencing a language with ALL of our senses will we increase our ability to interact in that way... ie: if we never talk to or listen to Spanish (especially native speakers) we never exercise those language 'muscles'. Reading is the LEAST scary way to interact with a language... no one to judge my mistakes but me! But no one can correct my mistakes, either!
I will be adding tv novellas to my study time to help with listening practice... nothing cures the speaking issue except speaking to someone more advanced than yourself, though!
Good luck! Don't give up! 🙌
I'm in the same boat as you about reading vs speaking. My wife doesn't read well but she speaks better because she has a lot less shame or expectations of herself knowing. =). I feel this is the case beyond Spanish when one starts to acquire higher levels of education and then they start to be more difficult on themselves for not achieving the kind of success they "should've" or "could've." I think it helps to redefine the ego as a student of life and keep the plato/socrates mindset of "to know is not to know."
Tip I use: I type into Spanish translator the sentences I make up on the spot as I type my thoughts out and then click on English/Spanish translations to see if I have chosen correct Spanish. It is enjoyable and helpful in between reading Spanish literature and listening comprehension. The translator also has audio to assist with pronunciation.😊
I do this too! My thinking is that if the translator understood me, then a real person probably would have too (even if the grammar I used wasn’t 100% perfect).
Wonderful video! Muchas gracias! I’m a 56 year old American who moved to Barcelona a year and a half ago. My learning of Spanish has been painfully slow. And when I make a very silly mistake in Spanish, I beat myself up over it for far too long and then I clam up and become afraid to speak in public. From now on, two minutes only!
I started learning Spanish at age 19 years old in January 2022 now I’m 20 years old and I speak Spanish beautifully
I am a Spanish teacher myself living in Jamaica and I am still struggling to learn the language, but ever since I found your channel I feel so much more confident. I love love your content. Thank you so much for sharing ❤❗
I'm going to enjoy my mistakes as I learn, that's where you learn the best lessons
Probably one of the best practical reasonable lectures to approach anger rising by Ego. Gracias
That was encouragement that was really needed. After having learned 2 languages besides my mother´s tongue, I recognize some kind of struggle at the age of 70, trying to learn spanish. I already thought of giving up. Well, now I shall give it another try. Thank you so much!
How did it go
Andrew, I loved his video... super clear and one of the few that deal head on with the fact that kids in a second-language-learning situation aren't actually learning all that much (in terms of vocab, grammar, etc). Most people have the mistaken impression that children learn a second language faster than adults. They don't realize, as you pointed out, that children are learning a tiny subset of the language. I remember a proud mom in Washington DC, the snobbery capital of the US when it comes to language learning, that announced to me that her daughter was trilingual. She insisted, contrary to what second language studies show, that children learn a second language faster than adults. When I challenged her, based on the extensive review I had done on the literature on second language acquisition, she cited her daughter as proof that kids learn faster than adults. Apparently, she spoke to her daughter in English, her husband in French, and the maid in Spanish. When I asked how old her daughter was, she said, "two." Hysterical! Because her daughter could babble a few words in three different languages, she was supposedly trilingual. BTW, you probably know that junior high kids learn faster than grade school, high school faster still, and college-age faster still. It apparently has to do with maturing of the brain and our ability to organize and use new information. People confuse the fact that there is a window of opportunity before adolescence where a child's brain internalizes the correct accent with better ability to learn the language. Adults may never develop a "native" accent, but they can acquire functional language much faster than a child, even given the very real barriers you point out. Great job! And this ability of adults to learn quickly should be encouraging. I hear so many adults say, I should have learned when I was a child when it would have been easier, so now it's not worth the trouble.
Wow, dwelling on my mistakes or fear of making them is definitely holding me back. I guess I see it as "why would I be motivated to fail?" I love these videos! Where have they been all my life?! Thank you!
Hi Andrew, I really appreciate this video! I speak English, Spanish, Sign Language, learned survival German when stationed in Germany and am learning French and Mandarin. I love languages and am not afraid to try to speak what I have learned. Mistakes happen and can be very funny, especially in a language I use frequently. I was in San Francisco and went to a Subway to get a sandwich. The woman at the counter greeted me in Spanish and asked what I wanted. I told her in Spanish my order and then she asked what kind of bread, to which I replied, pan de arena, she looked confused and I kept sayin pan de arena, finally, I said white bread, she shook her head and said, pan de harina, which I knew, but for some reason was stuck on the pronunciation as arena, I was quiet for a few seconds and said in English, oh, you don't have any sand bread, huh, at which we both started laughing, now I am more careful to order white bread instead of sand bread!
Applicable to more than language learning! Thank you for making this
wow that is one great quote re: be humble in our aspirations, etc. !!
Thank you for this video. I completely agree. I recently took an intensive Spanish class and I had a teacher who got clearly frustrated when any of the students made a mistake. Unfortunately, I constantly made mistakes and his displeasure was apparent. I eventually left the class in tears with 6 hours to go. It bummed me out because I really want to learn Spanish. It’s important to give yourself two minutes but what about the instructor? He should not make the students feel bad because they do not understand what he is teaching.
Yes, I can’t comment on that teacher but I do believe the primary job of a teacher is to make students feel comfortable.
Find a different teacher and try again. Teachers I know at the K-12 level these days really emphasize the power of having a “growth mindset” for their students and themselves. College professors don’t always know about best practices for teaching (pedagogy) as they may have been hired primarily because they are experts in their field. Search online for “growth mindset” to get a description of what it teaches. It may be able to help you.
studying polish right now (although spanish started my love of language in high school), and this hits home. good stuff mate
This is brilliant, thank you for doing it! I'm also an adult foreign language teacher, and this is essential information for grown-ups. I've said these things in many different ways, but you've put it together so well! The 2-minute rule is new to me, this is great! I'll use this! Thank you.
I love this . I needed to see this I feel bad for a while when I mess up or I'm around Spanish speaking people and I don't understand anything they are saying. Thank you
ALL THUMBS UP!! I have prepared myself for it since day 1 of studying German. There are things that children can beat us well and we have to admit that they are the ones teaching us some lessons. Thanks for sharing this insight for the language learners' community.
Also, as an adult, I find myself wanting to converse but knowing I will fail at some point in the conversation so sometimes I will not make the attempt. The most success I have is when I pre-compose what I want to ask or say, use that composition and try to understand the flood of information that comes as a result..I used to keep a notebook while travelling so I could do that. Also ''pre-pologizing'' with ''sorry, i'm learning'' or '' I don't know much Spanish'' helps take the edge off the anxiety and people are almost always kind in response.
Affective filter in your way. I used to be nervous whenever I had to talk in my French class, for fear that I might be corrected. Then my teacher suggested me to read Le petit Nicolas aloud and it really helped.
I guess what comes in your way are ego (dislike being corrected), lack of confidence (not sure about how to say it correctly), and perfectionism (not allowing yourself room for errors). Yet a part of language learning is just like life: learning from errors and mistakes. We make a mistake, learn from it, let it go, and focus on the present moment.
It is interesting to hear your point about adults learning a new language and their Fear of Making a mistake. I found the exact same issue for adults when trying to learn a musical instrument. Especially compared to children. Adults get frustrated with the process of learning an instrument because they know how it should sound and they are not happy with their ability. This can hold them back and that 2 minute rule will likely work for this learning process.
yes and let us not forget. chldren's lives are so different. how eager they are to find favorable countenance from their mother and father. a smile from my father would have certainly outweighed the ability to conjugate 3rd person present indicative.
what we lose when we grow up.
I’m so glad I found your channel.
I’m using Duolingo, and these videos are really helpful alongside it.
Great tip thank you! Fear of making mistakes has definitely hindered my Spanish acquisition. I have tried to implement similar strategies of allowing emotions and then moving on but never with a time limit.
Please give it a try and remember it is a skill you can get better at!! Thanks Beverley!
Honestly this is great advice for any mistake in life really.
Andrew!!! This rule making me feel so comfortable! Thanks to you! You are a the BEST Teacher! You positiveness is my encouragement!
I'll definitely try work on this. I have a major stutter when it comes to speaking any language...so that's another hurdle
Andrew you make some good points and the two minute rule is a great idea. Let me share a thought. A few years back I decided to learn Spanish in anticipation of retiring to a South American country (I have done this!). I shared my plans with a friend who told me that learning a language as an adult especially at my age was horribly difficult because I'm not a child with a spongelike mind. I gave this some thought and later I realized something that I think is worth sharing. Why do children learn so quickly and absolutely?? Well if you have read Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers" he talks about the 10,000 hour rule. Someone who practices a skill diligently for 10,000 hours obtains mastery. Well a child hears and interacts in his/her language 12 hours a day (or more) and so 12 X 365 x 3 = 13,140 hours. So within 3 years a child has that 10,000 hours of concerted practice...is it any surprise children learn their first language so quickly?? What about my efforts trying to learn a new language? Well I was working full time so on average I would study about 1 hour a day and I had an online tutor to work with me on weekends also for about an hour each day. So, 1 x 365 x 27.4 years and I get to that same 10,000 hours of concerted practice. The key is when you. immerse yourself by living in a country where they speak the language and you need the language skills to get along, communicate etc well your learning curve ascends incredibly rapidly....because you get to that 10,000 hour level in a few years instead of 27!
Hola Mark, thanks for the comment!!
To work for the US government as a diplomate in a Spanish speaking country, the Foreign Services Institute recommends 575-600 hours of class time to learn Spanish to a "General Professional Proficiency (S3)" (www.mustgo.com/worldlanguages/language-difficulty/).
I've read Gladwell's book, and it's important to note that the book tries to answer the question "what makes the world's best violinist/golfer/basketballer/etc. different from the rest?" and it is often due to circumstances and early opportunities but it also comes down to the fact that it takes about 10,000 hours of hard work to master something. And that the 10,000 hours is correlation not causation for the "outliers" in society.
So, if you want to be the world's best "something", you'll need to spend 10,000 hours of hard work plus luck and timing and often genetics and early opportunities. But, this certainly is not required to achieve a high level of Spanish based on my own experience and the recommendations of the Foreign Services Institue.
Good going.
@@realfastspanish love this response because I've been wondering if it's possible for me to become proficient in a year. I've already got nearly a year under my belt of studying leisurely, but I want to really become proficient and wondered if I can do that within this upcoming year. This number from the Foreign Services Institute suggests that I can! Now I'm even more motivated now that I have that perspective. Thanks!
This is the FIRST video I understand completely. My Spanish is coming along well. It felt like the video was in English that’s how good I felt about it. I understood it all. My first time.
I have a somewhat different approach that comes to the same thing in practice. If I get a sentence wrong (and realize it) I will take a moment (circumstances permitting) to learn what I should have said, and then practice the correct sentence for a minute of two, until I can say it both fluently and correctly. Then I just forget about it. So, the test I apply is not just an arbitrary time limit, but is actually based upon learning to say the one sentence correctly. The time involved is still about two minutes, or so, and I actually take a concrete corrective action, but without either agonizing over it emotionally or investing a lot of time in an unproductive manner. Also, if I make the same mistake again, I just practice the correct sentence again, and over time I do stop making that mistake, but I never waste time doing something that is not productive.
In other words, instead of feeling embarrassed or defensive, I just do something effective to correct the problem, which is the real test of a competent adult human being - namely, taking responsibility in a business-like fashion. So, no need to feel stupid about it.
Point is, it is this specific sense of taking concrete, practical action that short-circuits any feeling of embarrassment.
Great. Insteda of "I should have known that" I say "I know this"... because, even if because of the mistake, I now do.
Video Summary: the rule is: don’t dwell on mistakes more than 2 minutes. You’re welcome.
Loving these. You have a great way about you and teach so much more than Spanish!
I’ve once was told by a store associate buenas tardes and I said bien 😂😂😂😂I 100% just went into fight or flight and said the first thing that came to mind when I knew I should’ve said the same thing back. Only thing I have problems with is just being calm to think/say what I know instead of panicking
I've been through the same thing!! It comes with practice! The more you put yourself in those situations the easier they will become.
This is a great video just for the lesson on how helpful it is to get over your mistakes quickly
Try this -- consider language learning to be an Easter egg hunt.
What are the Easter eggs? Mistakes due to lack of rock solid knowledge.
These mistakes expose what you need to work on. Just quickly document these mistakes, and then focus on them by practicing them. Anki is a great tool.
Uncovering these "Easter eggs" is actually great -- it is your key to master the language. It is feedback that exposes the constraints on your way to fluency. There is no negativity here.
Really good comments!!!!!gracias
Something that I noticed about myself while learning Spanish, is that when faced with a complex sentence to translate on my app, if I get something basic wrong, I allow myself one single eye-roll 🙄because what I'm more focused on is that I got the grammar, sentence structure and trickier parts accurate. That makes me much happier and confident. Other times, I just tell myself "wow you're really off your game today; too tired; too distracted." I don't dwell on it. Where I really need help is with listening comprehension, and not translating in my head!
Love your intro lesson and your style of leadership... very empathic.
Me gustaba tratar de evitar hacer errors pero parece los más errors hago el más me aprendo. Tuve un profesor de matemáticas que ha dicho, "he aprendido de mis errores, he cometido muchos errores, por eso soy tan inteligente."
Good psychological approach to learning a new language. @ minute rule for max self-criticism is invaluable.
Thanks Andrew for this wonderful explanation.
I was about to surrender my desire to learn your language.
I am exactly on this stage.
As usual, an excellent video. Some people need more practice, and time, than others in order to solidify a new word, phrase, or concept in Spanish, or whatever you're trying to master. We're only human, not machines. If you, or I, need more time, then so be it. You WILL learn what you want to learn...as long as you don't give up. Accept yourself...you're a beautiful creation, and you CAN do anything in this world if you really want to. It just takes time.
Thank you for your psychology to learning another language. I was just about to quit learning Spanish. This has motivated me to continue with it.
Great point - and there are many things in life that should be guided by the Two Minute Rule - not just lanaguage learing. (When I was a child I had a fight at school. I was brought into the Principal's office and she told me that the next time I get mad I have to count to 10 before I reacted. This ten second rule resulted in me never having a fight again at school)
Hi Andrew, can't agree more with you in 'negative self-judgement' or 'should have..'. But then I smiled at your 2-minute rule. Thanks for that!
Voy a implementar 'la norma de dos minutos' y desarrollar la destreza de dejar ir mis errores en español. Gracias por tu aviso.👍
Really, great video! Thanks for the tip. You are really good at what you doing. Thank you for helping so many people.
Great point - applies to many things in life
Yep, agree
Just don't focus on they mistakes or lack of words, focus on the desire to get better and learn more words so you don't get choked 👍
Muchísimas gracias Andrew. I mix up Spanish words and Italian words because I learned Italian last year, and I started Spanish in September. And I'm forever being corrected by my Spanish friends when I used Italian words by mistake, and again corrected by my Italian friends when I used Spanish words by mistake. I've developed a thick skin. I laugh a lot whenever I was corrected, and say "oh yeah of course" and corrected my mistake and move on. But afterwards, I still think "I shouldn't have.. etc etc". But I like this 2 minute rule. I will apply it in my language learning and hopefully in the future, stop berating myself internally so much 😅
I appreciate all your videos. On behalf of all quiet viewers, muchas gracias Andrew 👍
Thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it! 😊
I'm enjoying your videos and I love the 2-minute tool. I'm going to give this a try with everything; not just learning Spanish. 🙂 Thanks!
Good stuff this.. I have taught Spanish kids English for 20 years.. The one thing I learned at the tefl college that stands up is NEVER INTERUPT FLUENCY. If they say for example " milk glass of want I " let them continue speaking PLEASE.. you can correct the word order later.. regards , John.
Terrific video. I think that it's terrific that you address the mental challenges to tackling a foreign language. I'm glad I discovered the channel and will explore many more of your videos!
You're always so kind and patient with us.
Thanks Larry!! 😊
I've been studying Spanish every day for the past two years and ego is definitely an issue for me. I feel like I should be to a C1 by now but still struggle understanding spoken Spanish. And when it comes to speaking - no lo se, no puedo penso como dice nada.
Andrew this session and the one on confidence was just what I needed for my stage of learning. Yes I am in fear of the face to face conversation for all the reasons. Now I am still nervous but know I can do it. Plus while listening to your confidence session I realized that in my corporate life (I am now retired) I was able to speak in front of 100s of people on financial topics and provided training to many. I remembered how I was usually nervous before things started but because I had prepared the material once I got going it went well. There were times I got sent for a toss but by making fun of that it always was a nothing in the end.
Thank you for reminding me I have done things harder than this and just need to be prepared a bit. Then when I leap for the first time on video chat it will be just fine!! I subscribe to your weekly newsletter and find every bit of it so helpful too. Muchas Gracias!!
I'm going to have to find the confidence video you mentioned !... And find how to subscribe to his news letter ! ☺️😁
Very interesting video. I really enjoyed it.
Excellent advice, I am always kicking myself when I make mistakes.
Thanks Jennifer, you’re not alone!! 😊
a great video and it reminded me of a dream i had not so long ago - i was at a language exchange evening and a girl came and sat down to talk to me in spanish and i couldn't get my words out properly, so she just got up and left to and talk to someone else.
This was excellent and i could apply it to so many things! I really do let ego get in the way but this suggestion will hopefully help me.
LOL! Last week, on March 15, the teacher asked us what the date was. I said aloud, in class, "diez y cinco de marzo." What the heck?! I know it's quince, but in that moment, the right answer wasn't in my head, and the wrong answer felt right. I was so embarrassed! But then I laughed at myself and thought, "You're a 60 year old+ person learning a new language and taking a college-level class. You're doing fine!" :) Learning another language is probably the hardest and most rewarding project I've ever undertaken. Encouragement like this is important for when the inevitable mistakes come... and come, they will. :) Thanks for the lessons!
I love making mistakes! It's all part of getting better! Love the process baby I'm learning 5 languages
Thanks again, Andrew. Nice one.
Thankyou. You are such an evolved soul.
I'm an adult college student that was horrible in high school. Im often humbled by my younger peers and that's ok, because I have a rule that is similar to the 2 minute rule - always be on your own side! Forgive yourself, shrug it off, because the aspects of life outside yourself are hard enough already!
good advice and for life in general
Thanks. This is a good rule and it works for so many other things in life. All the time I've spent over the years beating myself up I could have been using to get better, but I'm not going to beat myself up over that either! :)
Estoy aprendiendo español, y no voy a mentir, necesitaba esto. Recientemente, estaba practicando con una hispanohablante sobre mis vacaciones de la primavera (en universidad), y por accidente, le dije, “Vacaciones del invierno.” Recuerdo que estaba tan enojado conmigo mismo. Pero después unos minutos, me di cuenta de que está bien, porque estoy aprendiendo y es bueno que puedo practicar con hablantes nativos.
Gracias por este video y tu consejo!!
¡Muy bien Reid! Bien dicho. Me alegro 😊
Vas por muy buen camino. Escribes muy bien
My father was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the early 90s and once one of the church's leaders Russel M. Nelson made a similar proposal for missionary work: "you're allowed to be discouraged. For twenty minutes. Then get back to work." This is an important principal. Everyone gets discouraged and you shouldn't bottle it up, but don't let it overwhelm you for too long.
Love the 2 minute rule... I am going to use this for everything!
Also, people make ”mistakes” or say the wrong thing in their native language as well. I can’t count the amounts of time when I can’t really find the words I’m looking for in Swedish (my native language) but I’m often understood anyways. And I mean, I forget my lefts and rights alllll the time in both swedish and english (my second language, started learning it when I was 7-8) You would never blame a native speaker for forgetting a word once in a while, so why would you with someone who isn’t a native speaker?!
Very well spoken.
Oh my gosh you’re underestimating yourself. !!!!!! You made the mistake left versus right but your pronunciation sounded perfect to me. I’m not a native French speaker, I am a native English speaker but I’ve lived near France for many years so I know what good pronunciation sounds like and if what little French I know I would’ve just answered; to the right instead of complete sentences like you. But my goal is just to learn simple tourist phrases instead of being fluent like I am in Spanish and German.
I was beating myself up every time I mess up while I was studying. Thanks to this tip I will give it a try.
Thanks for this, very helpful.
Just discovered your channel and I LOVE YOUR CONTENT!
Thanks Christina!! 😊
Not more difficult for adults to learn. I crossed the line regarding French & Latin at school but should have failed both. Interesting...an Antipodean doing teaching Spanish. As an adult my interest developed. I took evening classes in Spanish (reasonable B1/B2) and German (B2/C1). Also Welsh, enough to understand sports commentary. I never had fear of making mistakes as I'm not English.
Could you explain your Spanish Class and how to enroll.
This lesson helped me in other areas.
Hola, pues solo queria comentar que tengo una clienta que esta muy motivada a aprender Espanol pues su novio es Venezolano. Estudiamos dos veces por semana y se molesta tanto cuando no puede recordar algo que acabamos de practicar. Su molestia va al punto de que se llama nombres a si misma, cuando no recuerda algo. Le digo que toma tiempo, que no se preocupe, que yo estoy para ayudarla. La informacion sobre la atencion que un nino tiene vs. la atencion de un adulto, y la extension de exposicion de un nino al idioma es una excelente manera de hacerla sentir mejor.
Muchas gracias.
You finally uploaded a video, I thought you left the channel.😄Will there be new videos?
Yes, that is the plan! 😊
After 6 years of countless lessons and living in spain i consider that i "get by" quite well yet i still beat myself up over my grammatical errors, even after a perfectly successful exchange from a communication point of view. Definitely going to try to use your 2 minute rule. And going to share this video with all who tell me that learning Spanish is just a matter of hanging out in a bar and "picking it up" the way children do. I too have done the calculation and at max a few hours a week I defy any retiree to have enough life left to learn it that way.
I just accept I am human I will do my best but a person who never made a mistake never made anything
❤️
It's been said that "you don't know you mother language until you know a second language", meaning that when one only knows one's mother tongue, one is continually trapped within its contours and limitations, not really knowing it other than from within, as the language tells you itself how to understand it. When one knows a second language, one is able to look at one's mother tongue from outside, so to speak, from the perspective of the second language, thus seeing and knowing the mother language more completely, for the first time. I can't remember who made the point originally -- I think either Ernst Cassirir or Edward Sapir, but can't recall exactly; whoever originally said it certainly was making an interesting point.
Having learnt Spanish to such a high level, vamos casi nivel nativo, you would find French easy to learn. The difficulty would be the pronunciation and some of the grammar, but vocabulary would be picked up quickly.