0:00:08.408,0:00:13.692
This T-shirt represents everything I'm going to say today.

0:00:13.692,0:00:14.801
Can you see the shirt?

0:00:14.801,0:00:16.535
Even at the back?

0:00:16.535,0:00:20.822
It's actually, it's a match, which is here on fire,

0:00:20.822,0:00:22.774
and there it's completely burned up.

0:00:22.774,0:00:25.814
and this represents language learning for me.

0:00:25.814,0:00:28.201
because when I study languages,

0:00:28.201,0:00:30.917
I'm enthusiastic and energetic,

0:00:30.917,0:00:34.091
then I feel like I'm on fire and burning and dying,

0:00:34.091,0:00:37.244
and I end up frazzled and at the end I have to lie down.

0:00:37.244,0:00:40.948
Whereas Richard, I heard him say that it's the opposite way around for him.

0:00:40.948,0:00:43.410
He comes home after a hard day's work

0:00:43.410,0:00:46.343
"Well, I feel on fire! I'm completely alive!"

0:00:46.343,0:00:50.210
And at the end of hard session, he's reinvigorated.

0:00:50.210,0:00:53.764
So, I want my language learning[br]to stop being like <i>that</i>

0:00:53.764,0:00:56.043
and to be more like <i>that</i>.

0:00:56.043,0:00:57.486
And I've always been fascinated

0:00:57.486,0:00:59.293
with this difference,

0:00:59.293,0:01:02.793
why some people frazzle at the end

0:01:02.793,0:01:04.892
and some people get energised.

0:01:04.892,0:01:09.533
OK. So my presentation touches a bit on that.

0:01:12.802,0:01:15.561
I have to be ambidextrous

0:01:17.037,0:01:18.543
which I'm not.

0:01:18.543,0:01:23.682
So, the number 262 is important

0:01:23.682,0:01:27.609
because that's how many slides I've got.

0:01:27.609,0:01:30.609
[Laughter]

0:01:30.609,0:01:32.126
Yeah.

0:01:33.340,0:01:36.850
Oops! Sorry. It's not doing anything.

0:01:36.850,0:01:39.427
[Audience member] - Try again!

0:01:39.427,0:01:41.028
No.

0:01:41.028,0:01:44.200
Yeah, all my slides say 262.

0:01:44.200,0:01:47.200
[Laughter]

0:01:48.769,0:01:50.326
Oh, is it up here?

0:01:50.326,0:01:52.674
Where does it point?

0:01:53.367,0:01:57.176
Oh, I was pressing the wrong button. OK.

0:01:58.436,0:02:01.052
I'm not good at technical stuff.

0:02:01.052,0:02:04.765
Yeah. And that's about how many minutes[br]I've got to do it.

0:02:04.765,0:02:07.827
So, if you're good at numbers. That's a lot of slides.

0:02:07.827,0:02:10.423
So I'll be talking quickly.

0:02:10.423,0:02:12.962
Anthony Lauder.[br]That's me.

0:02:12.962,0:02:16.634
Who?? Never heard of him.

0:02:16.634,0:02:21.742
I'm the only person here that I've never heard of.

0:02:21.742,0:02:24.652
This is a <i>polyglot</i> conference.

0:02:24.652,0:02:27.399
Polyglots? What? Why am <i>I</i> here?

0:02:27.399,0:02:28.312
[Laughter]

0:02:28.312,0:02:30.045
I'm a "poly<b>Not</b>".

0:02:30.045,0:02:32.998
I am useless at languages.

0:02:34.259,0:02:37.450
My <i>cats</i> are better polyglots than me.

0:02:37.450,0:02:40.019
If I say "food", they come running.

0:02:40.019,0:02:43.611
If I say "tickle", they roll on their backs.

0:02:43.611,0:02:48.356
If they say "Miaow", [br]I've got no idea what they're saying at all.

0:02:48.356,0:02:51.263
[Laughter]

0:02:51.843,0:02:55.239
I'm good at mathematics. OK?

0:02:55.239,0:02:59.389
So, you shouldn't invite me[br]to a conference to talk about languages.

0:02:59.389,0:03:04.100
Instead, I'm going to talk about [br]the Peano Axioms,

0:03:04.100,0:03:09.565
which were formulated by Giuseppe Peano[br]in 1889.

0:03:09.565,0:03:13.234
And the Peano Axioms, as you probably know,

0:03:13.234,0:03:15.908
[Laughter]

0:03:15.908,0:03:19.529
are the product of meta-mathematical research

0:03:19.529,0:03:24.806
into fundamental questions of consistency and completeness in number theory.

0:03:24.806,0:03:30.877
And specifically they state that all natural numbers are closed,

0:03:30.877,0:03:36.159
under an injective and non-zero successor function. Yeah?

0:03:36.159,0:03:40.473
And a reflexive, symmetric, transitive equality func...

0:03:40.473,0:03:42.596
Zzzzzzz [snoring]

0:03:42.596,0:03:44.239
[Laughter]

0:03:44.239,0:03:46.747
Sorry.

0:03:46.747,0:03:49.071
In other words...

0:03:49.071,0:03:50.343
[Audience Member] It was interesting!

0:03:50.343,0:03:52.558
Yeah, thank you.

0:03:52.558,0:03:56.009
Think... This is what it's saying in real English.

0:03:56.009,0:03:57.945
Think of a number.

0:03:57.945,0:04:01.730
41

0:04:01.730,0:04:03.949
Add one to it [br]and what do you get?

0:04:03.949,0:04:10.474
42

0:04:10.474,0:04:13.309
Brilliant. So, you're good at mathematics.

0:04:13.309,0:04:15.444
You can apply Peano's axioms

0:04:15.444,0:04:16.505
Because that's all they say.

0:04:16.505,0:04:18.049
You get another number.

0:04:18.049,0:04:20.385
And you can keep going.

0:04:20.385,0:04:25.388
41 plus 1 is 42 and if you add one again

0:04:25.388,0:04:31.462
you don't get 42, you get... 43.

0:04:31.462,0:04:33.297
Is it?

0:04:33.297,0:04:35.300
And you can keep going and going...

0:04:35.300,0:04:37.089
And this "Add 1" is all you need.

0:04:37.089,0:04:41.608
You can count to all the numbers in the universe, and beyond.

0:04:41.608,0:04:44.263
And what's the lesson from this?

0:04:44.263,0:04:48.307
When you're good at adding one,

0:04:48.307,0:04:50.877
numbers become really easy.

0:04:50.877,0:04:51.733
Great.

0:04:51.733,0:04:54.169
When you're bad at adding 1,

0:04:54.169,0:04:59.889
numbers are very hard.[br][Laughter]

0:04:59.889,0:05:05.054
So, how does this relate to polyglottery?

0:05:05.054,0:05:07.715
Well, it actually does.

0:05:07.715,0:05:11.756
I'm going to take my sandals off,[br]because they're slipping around a bit.

0:05:11.756,0:05:18.410
So, if you can smell anything bad,[br]it's Richard, it's not me.

0:05:18.410,0:05:21.256
I'm using Peano Axioms to understand

0:05:21.256,0:05:24.648
the easiest way to be able to speak <i><b>10 foreign languages</b></i>.

0:05:24.648,0:05:25.807
I see on the forums,

0:05:25.807,0:05:27.417
people always want to know what's the <i>easiest</i> way,

0:05:27.417,0:05:30.607
what's the <i>quickest</i> way, what's the best method.

0:05:30.607,0:05:32.430
I'm going to tell you now

0:05:32.430,0:05:34.007
with my strong mathematical background

0:05:34.007,0:05:36.007
- I have a PhD in Theoretical Computer Science.

0:05:36.007,0:05:37.393
I'm really good at this kinda stuff. -

0:05:37.393,0:05:38.994
And I'm gonna tell you how, using that,

0:05:38.994,0:05:43.772
to be good at speaking 10 foreign languages.

0:05:43.772,0:05:46.162
Are you ready?

0:05:46.162,0:05:48.274
Step 1...[br][Audience laughter]

0:05:48.274,0:05:56.034
[applause]

0:06:00.454,0:06:02.676
It's really easy. It's a 2 step plan.

0:06:02.676,0:06:04.754
Who could ask for more?

0:06:04.754,0:06:08.754
So, which is the hardest of those two steps?

0:06:08.754,0:06:11.774
I think it's probably step 1 is the hardest, yeah?

0:06:11.774,0:06:15.774
But once you've done that,[br]it's much easier to add one more.

0:06:16.016,0:06:18.506
OK. And how do you do <i>that?</i>

0:06:19.520,0:06:22.140
The way to be able to speak 9 languages is,

0:06:22.140,0:06:26.140
because that was the hard bit, is[br]speak 8 and add 1.

0:06:26.140,0:06:28.270
And you can keep going.

0:06:28.270,0:06:31.110
And the hardest step is always step 1.

0:06:31.110,0:06:34.610
And then adding one is easy...

0:06:35.502,0:06:39.502
until you get here.

0:06:39.502,0:06:42.062
Now step 2 is the hard one.

0:06:42.062,0:06:44.002
[Audience laughter]

0:06:44.002,0:06:44.912
Yeah?

0:06:45.672,0:06:47.482
And this is important!

0:06:48.337,0:06:53.907
Because for mega-polyglots, adding 1 is really easy.

0:06:53.907,0:06:57.157
But for people like me, "polyNots",

0:06:57.157,0:07:00.247
adding 1 is really hard.

0:07:00.247,0:07:04.344
And my speech is going to be about <i>why</i>.

0:07:05.238,0:07:07.178
Yeah, this is the big question.

0:07:07.209,0:07:11.569
Literally. It's a big question.[br][Audience laughter]

0:07:11.569,0:07:14.039
[Applause]

0:07:14.039,0:07:16.379
So, I don't know the answer!

0:07:16.379,0:07:18.109
I don't know anything about languages,

0:07:18.109,0:07:19.939
so I decided to do some research.

0:07:19.939,0:07:22.739
And I looked into Applied Linguistics,

0:07:22.739,0:07:23.889
and I found out that

0:07:23.889,0:07:26.399
Applied Linguistics is the branch of linguistics

0:07:26.399,0:07:30.399
that's actually useful to people who aren't linguists.

0:07:30.399,0:07:36.279
[laughter & applause]

0:07:36.279,0:07:38.889
So, the other advantage of this is

0:07:38.889,0:07:43.949
anything I say here might be nonsense

0:07:44.591,0:07:46.011
but all I have to do is

0:07:46.011,0:07:48.401
- like English newspapers when they are about to say

0:07:48.401,0:07:50.961
"That guy is a lying idiot" -

0:07:50.961,0:07:53.489
they just put the word "allegedly"[br]at the beginning

0:07:53.489,0:07:55.469
and don't have to worry about it.

0:07:55.469,0:07:59.469
So <i>allegedly</i>, this is how to be good at adding one.

0:08:00.068,0:08:03.148
So, applied linguistics isn't about theories.

0:08:03.148,0:08:06.078
It's not some people just thinking up[br]something that "sounds good".

0:08:06.078,0:08:08.438
Instead they do experiments in real life,

0:08:08.438,0:08:10.288
find results, and publish the results.

0:08:10.288,0:08:13.788
It's based on lots of evidence over decades.

0:08:13.788,0:08:17.707
I've read <i>mountains</i> of papers

0:08:17.899,0:08:21.569
and one great book.

0:08:21.569,0:08:24.069
This great book.

0:08:24.069,0:08:27.289
It's big and it's fat

0:08:27.289,0:08:32.879
and it's boring as hell.[br][Laughter]

0:08:34.530,0:08:38.530
But it's really good, if you don't mind being bored.

0:08:38.530,0:08:41.220
But it teaches a lot.

0:08:41.220,0:08:47.960
It actually surveys in great detail[br]600 research studies.

0:08:47.960,0:08:51.960
And it finds,[br]if you wade through all that,

0:08:51.960,0:08:57.330
that the main difference between[br]Polyglots and PolyNots - like me -

0:08:57.330,0:08:58.870
- so people like him, and people like me -

0:08:58.870,0:09:02.870
is... polyglots are good at...

0:09:02.870,0:09:06.870
[crowd makes inaudible suggestions]

0:09:06.870,0:09:09.710
guessing.

0:09:09.710,0:09:13.010
[Crowd laughs][br]Who got that then? Ha!

0:09:13.010,0:09:17.010
I bet Richard did![br]Okay...

0:09:19.960,0:09:23.960
And it turns out,[br]the reason they're good at guessing,

0:09:23.960,0:09:26.250
- Now don't say nonsense yet, just bear with me -

0:09:26.250,0:09:30.250
is because they have better memories.

0:09:30.250,0:09:34.250
Now you'll say[br]"No, my memory is no better than anybody else's."

0:09:34.250,0:09:35.860
And it might be true,

0:09:35.860,0:09:38.160
because polyglots do <i>not</i> have

0:09:38.160,0:09:41.990
better long term memory[br]than mere mortals.

0:09:41.990,0:09:45.990
[Laughing]

0:09:45.990,0:09:50.790
But they <i>do</i> have better <i>short</i>-term memories.

0:09:51.890,0:09:55.160
There's some geeky words here, for linguists only,

0:09:55.160,0:09:56.510
so I hope you can't read them.

0:09:56.510,0:09:59.510
It's qualifying it[br]in case there are any linguists here.

0:09:59.510,0:10:01.950
Short-term memories is good enough.

0:10:01.950,0:10:05.950
Polyglots can remember things for a few seconds,

0:10:05.950,0:10:09.950
and PolyNots forget them immediately.

0:10:11.095,0:10:15.545
Did I say this yet?[br][Laughter]

0:10:20.125,0:10:24.125
It's "in one ear and out the other",[br]literally.

0:10:24.125,0:10:27.615
So why is short term memory important?

0:10:27.615,0:10:28.685
Why does it matter?

0:10:28.685,0:10:31.095
You know, we learn all these things about

0:10:31.095,0:10:33.655
how to remember words years down the line,

0:10:33.655,0:10:34.655
but why is it important

0:10:34.655,0:10:37.645
to remember something[br]for 5 seconds or 10 seconds?

0:10:37.645,0:10:41.645
Well, it turns out that[br]short-term memory is essential to,

0:10:41.645,0:10:45.645
it supports,[br]3 <i>very</i> important language skills.

0:10:45.645,0:10:47.195
And those are

0:10:47.195,0:10:49.645
<b>noticing</b> things,

0:10:49.645,0:10:51.635
<b>processing</b> things, and

0:10:51.635,0:10:53.015
<b>guessing</b> things.

0:10:53.015,0:10:57.015
I'm gonna get into these in great detail.

0:10:57.015,0:10:59.215
So, without those three skills,

0:10:59.215,0:11:03.745
you can't use the methods that polyglots use.

0:11:03.745,0:11:08.105
And polyNots struggle with language learning because

0:11:08.105,0:11:10.945
they lack the three skills of...

0:11:10.945,0:11:13.585
What were they?[br][Laughter]

0:11:13.585,0:11:16.205
noticing, processing and guessing.

0:11:16.205,0:11:20.205
And that's great news for polyglots[br]and bad news for polyNots.

0:11:20.205,0:11:28.275
Therefore,[br]the road from polyNottery to polyglottery

0:11:28.275,0:11:32.129
is a process of[br]developing a better short term memory.

0:11:32.129,0:11:37.239
And <i>then</i> you can train in the skills of[br]noticing, processing and guessing.

0:11:37.239,0:11:41.239
And from <i>that</i>, you can apply the methods[br]that polyglots use.

0:11:41.239,0:11:44.879
If you try to apply them[br]<i>without</i> having those skills,

0:11:44.879,0:11:47.469
you're gonna burn up.

0:11:47.469,0:11:52.909
OK. Now, interestingly, this process[br]is iterative and bidirectional.

0:11:52.909,0:11:54.129
Oooh, whatever that means.[br][Laughter]

0:11:54.129,0:11:56.219
What it actually means is

0:11:56.229,0:11:58.287
the more you improve your memory,

0:11:58.287,0:12:02.657
the better your skills in processing,[br]and so on, and guessing become.

0:12:02.657,0:12:04.587
And then you can start to use the methods.

0:12:04.587,0:12:06.797
But, once you're using the methods,

0:12:06.797,0:12:10.237
they actually build the skills,[br]which builds the memory.

0:12:10.237,0:12:13.387
So it sort of snowballs.

0:12:13.387,0:12:14.247
And it turns out,

0:12:14.247,0:12:19.107
you actually only need a few <i>weeks</i> of training[br]to build these skills,

0:12:19.107,0:12:21.987
and then you can be pretty independent.

0:12:21.987,0:12:23.877
So, let's relate this to language learn--

0:12:23.877,0:12:26.370
... to learning vocabulary.

0:12:26.370,0:12:29.211
Now one reason that it's about vocabulary

0:12:29.211,0:12:32.171
Is because the big fat book I read[br]is about vocabulary.

0:12:32.171,0:12:33.871
If that book was about something else,

0:12:33.871,0:12:34.851
this speech would be about something else.

0:12:34.851,0:12:38.851
But it's because

0:12:38.851,0:12:41.241
loads and loads and loads of real research

0:12:41.241,0:12:43.501
from applied linguistics and not from theorists

0:12:43.501,0:12:47.501
has shown that in order to comprehend spoken stuff

0:12:47.501,0:12:49.141
and written stuff,

0:12:49.141,0:12:51.968
vocabulary is actually far more important

0:12:51.968,0:12:56.448
than subject knowledge ...[br]knowledge about the subject matter

0:12:56.448,0:13:01.768
and far more important than grammatical knowledge.

0:13:01.768,0:13:03.298
Now, how many words do you need?

0:13:03.298,0:13:05.388
I guess you people[br]know all these kind of numbers

0:13:05.388,0:13:06.638
that talk about things like

0:13:06.638,0:13:12.408
"Native speakers have[br]20,000-word vocabulary."

0:13:12.408,0:13:13.668
Ooh! That's a big number!

0:13:13.668,0:13:15.388
It actually turns out that

0:13:15.388,0:13:17.398
people learn around a thousand words a year

0:13:17.398,0:13:21.019
pretty consistently up until around university age.

0:13:21.019,0:13:23.659
So when a child goes to school for the first time,

0:13:23.659,0:13:25.029
they'll know 5,000 words.

0:13:25.029,0:13:27.149
mostly learned orally

0:13:27.149,0:13:28.399
from their parents,

0:13:28.399,0:13:30.299
and add a thousand words a year.

0:13:30.299,0:13:34.059
"I haven't got 20 years[br]to learn some foreign language!"

0:13:34.059,0:13:39.939
"Jesus Christ! I am an old man![br]I'll be dead by then." [Laughter]

0:13:39.939,0:13:42.469
But you need a very high vocabulary

0:13:42.469,0:13:44.799
in order to have "pleasant free reading",

0:13:44.799,0:13:47.399
for it not to be a frazzling experience,

0:13:47.399,0:13:49.495
for it to be a pleasurable experience.

0:13:49.495,0:13:53.495
If you have 95% coverage of the vocabulary

0:13:53.495,0:13:56.195
in a newspaper[br]like the Guardian or something,

0:13:56.195,0:13:58.125
You can understand it.

0:13:58.125,0:13:59.345
It's not easy.

0:13:59.345,0:14:03.185
If it's 90%,[br]understanding of the vocabulary in the Guardian,

0:14:03.185,0:14:05.425
you really know you're studying.

0:14:05.425,0:14:09.425
85% - it's for Richard Simcott and Luca only,

0:14:09.425,0:14:12.365
and even <i>those</i> guys are defeated when it's 80%.

0:14:12.365,0:14:15.295
Oooh, that's pretty spooky.

0:14:15.295,0:14:19.855
So, what's the polyNot approach to vocabulary?

0:14:19.855,0:14:24.983
Well, I didn't have to look very far to know that!

0:14:25.628,0:14:28.488
Yikes! 20,000 words!

0:14:28.718,0:14:31.028
That's a lot of flashcards![br][Laughter]

0:14:35.001,0:14:37.851
PolyNots tend to believe in the existence,

0:14:37.851,0:14:39.961
that there's one magic strategy

0:14:39.961,0:14:41.181
that's going to be the best one.

0:14:41.181,0:14:43.001
You see them asking this on forums.

0:14:43.001,0:14:47.001
Actually, interestingly,[br]people have spoken to polyNots

0:14:47.001,0:14:49.381
and found that[br]they don't really believe it

0:14:49.381,0:14:51.051
but they kid themselves into believing it.

0:14:51.051,0:14:55.051
They feel guilty they are not using[br]a wider range of strategies,

0:14:55.051,0:14:57.961
but they're more comforted by believing[br]they are using the best one.

0:14:57.961,0:15:01.021
So they seek confirmation[br]from people like Richard,

0:15:01.021,0:15:03.090
to say, "Yeah, that's a really good one."

0:15:03.090,0:15:05.060
Then they feel they're doing[br]what the masters do.

0:15:05.060,0:15:06.730
And they tend to stick with it then

0:15:06.730,0:15:08.570
despite all the evidence.

0:15:08.570,0:15:11.580
You know that definition of insanity is

0:15:11.580,0:15:13.570
doing the same thing over and over and over again

0:15:13.570,0:15:14.280
despite all the evidence

0:15:14.280,0:15:16.860
and expecting a different result.

0:15:16.860,0:15:20.860
That's what we do ... us polyNots.

0:15:20.860,0:15:22.700
So, they spend a mass amount of time

0:15:22.700,0:15:25.880
on learning single, unrelated words,

0:15:25.880,0:15:29.600
and you end up with things like "Anki addiction".

0:15:29.600,0:15:32.390
I've seen on Anki forums guys saying...

0:15:32.390,0:15:35.080
"I've spent 2 hours putting new words into Anki today...

0:15:35.080,0:15:37.300
and 15 minutes reviewing them."

0:15:37.300,0:15:41.300
They're just... addicted.

0:15:41.673,0:15:44.763
And they do these lengthy cramming sessions

0:15:44.763,0:15:47.253
when they want to be heroic.

0:15:47.253,0:15:50.253
"Ooh. I'll get as much energy as I can

0:15:50.253,0:15:52.963
and do a cramming session tonight."

0:15:53.833,0:15:57.833
And they want to pin down[br]the one true meaning of a word

0:15:57.833,0:16:01.833
and get that one simple definition[br]on their flashcard.

0:16:01.833,0:16:04.553
They see dictionaries as authoritative,

0:16:04.553,0:16:08.553
so that, if they think they know[br]what a word means,

0:16:08.553,0:16:11.923
but they see a different definition[br]of the word in the dictionary

0:16:11.923,0:16:15.923
they'll <i>abandon</i> their own understanding of the word[br]as completely wrong.

0:16:15.923,0:16:17.373
"Oh no! I'm an idiot."

0:16:17.373,0:16:18.073
"I've got it wrong."

0:16:18.073,0:16:20.593
"It means something else[br]because the dictionary tells me so."

0:16:20.593,0:16:23.433
And they beat themselves up[br]when they forget a word.

0:16:23.433,0:16:28.283
As you can imagine,[br]I'm beating myself up a <i>lot</i>.

0:16:28.298,0:16:30.958
The idea then is that[br]you either know a word or you don't.

0:16:30.958,0:16:33.018
It's black or white.

0:16:33.200,0:16:36.280
And you stop reviewing a word[br]once you know it.

0:16:36.280,0:16:37.390
"Oh, I know that word now,

0:16:37.390,0:16:40.280
time for me to move on to another one."

0:16:40.280,0:16:43.480
And where do they decide[br]what words they're gonna work on?

0:16:43.480,0:16:45.370
Those that are given to them[br]in homework

0:16:45.370,0:16:48.770
or in the textbook[br]are the most important by far,

0:16:48.770,0:16:51.930
even when they know[br]they're not interesting.

0:16:51.930,0:16:54.790
Things that are in thematic groups.

0:16:54.790,0:16:57.310
I remember when I was studying French,

0:16:57.310,0:17:01.310
and we were given a list of all the[br]different words for different fishes.

0:17:01.310,0:17:03.530
And it had their English translations,

0:17:03.530,0:17:06.720
and I'd never heard of half of[br]the <i>English</i> names for the fishes,

0:17:06.720,0:17:09.140
but was still learning the French ones.

0:17:09.140,0:17:10.130
What?!

0:17:10.130,0:17:10.950
This is interesting:

0:17:10.950,0:17:14.300
ones that "sound nice".

0:17:14.300,0:17:15.290
Pampeliška.

0:17:15.290,0:17:17.830
Who knows what pampeliška means?

0:17:17.830,0:17:20.210
It's a nice sounding word...

0:17:20.210,0:17:22.210
You should go and look up what it means.

0:17:22.210,0:17:23.960
Vulgar or unusual words.

0:17:23.960,0:17:25.520
"Eeeee! Let's get the slang book."

0:17:25.520,0:17:26.800
"I can learn the swear words!"

0:17:26.800,0:17:28.520
"Won't that be good?"

0:17:28.520,0:17:32.840
And none of this is about whether the words are <i>useful</i>.

0:17:32.840,0:17:36.780
So, they shun output quite a lot[br]as <i>too painful</i>

0:17:36.811,0:17:38.891
"Oh no, that's going to remind me[br]of what I don't know!"

0:17:38.891,0:17:39.621
"I'm going to look like an idiot!"

0:17:39.621,0:17:42.281
"I'm not going to do any output."

0:17:42.281,0:17:45.711
One day I'll know 20,000 words

0:17:45.711,0:17:47.381
and then I'll be fluent.

0:17:47.381,0:17:48.421
It'll be easy.

0:17:48.421,0:17:51.001
I won't need to go through all that output.

0:17:51.001,0:17:54.371
It'll just be easy all of a sudden.

0:17:54.371,0:17:56.161
So, like one of my friends,

0:17:56.161,0:17:57.841
you can say 'octopus'...

0:17:57.841,0:17:59.651
you can say 'hovercraft'...

0:17:59.651,0:18:03.691
but you can't say[br]"Can you help me, please?"

0:18:03.691,0:18:05.341
[Laughter]

0:18:05.341,0:18:08.571
If only they'd learned[br]the word for 'helicopter',

0:18:08.571,0:18:12.221
that would have been it!

0:18:12.221,0:18:14.411
So, the polyglot approach to vocabulary

0:18:14.411,0:18:16.481
according to that book

0:18:16.481,0:18:18.541
is very different.

0:18:20.176,0:18:24.176
Vocabulary learning is not an end goal[br]for polyglots.

0:18:24.176,0:18:27.596
It's not about[br]"I've got 20,000 words in Anki!"

0:18:27.596,0:18:32.026
No, it's about[br]effective control over vocabulary

0:18:32.026,0:18:34.856
for confident and fluent use

0:18:34.856,0:18:36.976
in listening, speaking,[br]reading, and writing,

0:18:36.976,0:18:40.566
not just for getting high scores on Anki.

0:18:40.566,0:18:45.276
So, knowing a word[br]is not an all or nothing affair.

0:18:45.276,0:18:48.506
Words sink in over time.

0:18:48.506,0:18:51.346
You get <i>repeated</i> viewings,[br]like on an Anki card,

0:18:51.346,0:18:55.346
but you also get a broader,[br]more diverse viewing of a word

0:18:55.346,0:18:57.656
from different contexts

0:18:57.656,0:19:00.046
to teach you the wide meanings

0:19:00.046,0:19:03.226
and the broad meanings of words.

0:19:03.226,0:19:09.086
In particular, polyglots see knowing a word[br]as multidimensional:

0:19:09.086,0:19:10.906
form, meaning, and use.

0:19:10.906,0:19:11.856
Which means,

0:19:11.856,0:19:13.096
the spelling of the word,

0:19:13.096,0:19:15.476
the parts the word is made up of,

0:19:15.476,0:19:16.636
... the word ...

0:19:16.636,0:19:18.186
and the pronunciation of the word,

0:19:18.186,0:19:19.226
what the tone is,

0:19:19.226,0:19:20.356
where the emphasis is,

0:19:20.356,0:19:22.116
all these kind of things.

0:19:22.116,0:19:23.546
And the <i>meaning</i>...

0:19:23.546,0:19:25.666
Maybe there's a central concept to the word,

0:19:25.666,0:19:28.546
but there can be[br]<i>very</i> diverse meanings as well

0:19:28.546,0:19:29.576
and you have learn all of these.

0:19:29.576,0:19:33.406
You don't reject all of them[br]apart from the "one true one".

0:19:33.406,0:19:35.716
And words have lots of associations

0:19:35.716,0:19:37.496
- We saw this[br]in one of the speeches yesterday -

0:19:37.496,0:19:39.276
If you use the wrong word[br]in the wrong context,

0:19:39.276,0:19:41.856
it'll cause all sorts of[br]strange associations to people

0:19:41.856,0:19:44.286
that were unexpected to you.

0:19:44.286,0:19:45.776
And <i>use</i>...

0:19:45.776,0:19:48.856
So, is this a high frequency word?

0:19:48.856,0:19:52.196
And in what context is it high frequency?

0:19:52.196,0:19:57.996
"How's it hangin'?"[br]isn't very high frequency in written form

0:19:57.996,0:19:59.696
for example.

0:19:59.696,0:20:01.246
How formal is it?

0:20:01.246,0:20:05.472
"Hey man, give me five"[br]isn't very good at a job interview.

0:20:05.472,0:20:07.612
[Laughter]

0:20:07.612,0:20:09.002
Oh, <i>medium</i>, yes...

0:20:09.002,0:20:11.042
Is it spoken form or written form?

0:20:11.042,0:20:12.412
And <i>collocations</i>

0:20:12.412,0:20:13.942
- I don't even know if I'm saying that correctly -

0:20:13.942,0:20:16.822
- I've always said it /kɑləˈkeɪʃənz/ -

0:20:16.822,0:20:19.962
is a thing that polyNots tend to ignore

0:20:19.962,0:20:24.512
but polyglots, even without realising it

0:20:24.526,0:20:28.526
- we'll see - place a lot of emphasis on these.

0:20:28.526,0:20:30.256
So, polyglots cover <i>all those</i> by

0:20:30.256,0:20:34.186
balancing <i><b>four</b></i> strands of study:

0:20:34.186,0:20:36.496
<b>Intensive vocabulary study</b>

0:20:36.496,0:20:40.976
This is the stuff that polyNots like me[br]over-focus on

0:20:40.976,0:20:42.696
<b>Extensive listening and reading</b>

0:20:42.696,0:20:43.556
<b>Speaking and writing</b>

0:20:43.556,0:20:44.606
and <b>Fluency development</b>

0:20:44.606,0:20:46.636
I'll come to these in detail.

0:20:46.636,0:20:49.346
Strand 1: <b>Intensive vocabulary study</b>

0:20:49.346,0:20:51.786
Choose words based on frequency.

0:20:51.786,0:20:55.786
Frequency really means usefulness.

0:20:56.894,0:21:00.114
You need 20,000 words to get 98% coverage.

0:21:00.114,0:21:02.494
"Ha! No! I've got to learn all of them!"

0:21:02.494,0:21:06.784
No. Because even just knowing 10 words,[br]you can get 24% coverage.

0:21:06.784,0:21:14.874
So, learn those 10 words <i>first</i>.[br][Laughter]

0:21:14.874,0:21:19.394
[applause]

0:21:19.394,0:21:21.916
So, it's been shown in research

0:21:21.936,0:21:25.936
that you should study quite intensively the first

0:21:25.936,0:21:28.406
highest frequency 2,000 to 4,000 words

0:21:28.406,0:21:30.076
That's <i>worth</i> putting time in.

0:21:30.076,0:21:31.766
That's worth sticking into Anki.

0:21:31.766,0:21:33.606
In fact, it's very interesting,

0:21:33.606,0:21:36.706
polyglots, perhaps from their vast experience,

0:21:36.706,0:21:38.886
have a general sense[br]for what's high frequency,

0:21:38.886,0:21:40.646
for what's worth knowing.

0:21:40.646,0:21:41.536
PolyNots don't.

0:21:41.536,0:21:44.046
They see every word[br]as equally worth knowing

0:21:44.046,0:21:46.176
so they just take other people's lists.

0:21:46.176,0:21:48.486
So, they should probably use frequency dictionaries.

0:21:48.486,0:21:49.466
There are some brilliant ones

0:21:49.466,0:21:50.556
With the most 4,000 ...

0:21:50.556,0:21:54.556
4,000 most important words[br]in Spanish, or French, or German, ...

0:21:54.556,0:21:55.876
Just go with those.

0:21:55.876,0:21:59.036
Make that your order[br]rather than randomness.

0:21:59.036,0:22:05.166
But then, rather than learning the <i>next</i> 2,000[br]high-frequency general words,

0:22:05.166,0:22:07.386
it's far more useful to you to focus on

0:22:07.386,0:22:09.706
the 2,000 most frequent words

0:22:09.706,0:22:13.706
in your specialist field[br]of personal interest.

0:22:13.706,0:22:15.206
So, for example,

0:22:15.206,0:22:17.486
there's something called the "Academic Word List"

0:22:17.486,0:22:19.966
which has got about 350 words.

0:22:19.966,0:22:20.766
If you learn those

0:22:20.766,0:22:22.676
- There are books on this actually,[br]things like

0:22:22.676,0:22:24.826
<i>French for Reading</i>,[br]or <i>German for Reading</i> -

0:22:24.826,0:22:26.856
and they train you to be very good

0:22:26.856,0:22:32.226
with the academic vocabulary[br]for reading scientific papers.

0:22:32.226,0:22:34.116
You'll learn a few hundred words

0:22:34.116,0:22:36.176
that'll be <i>really</i> useful in that field.

0:22:36.176,0:22:37.786
Conversational vocab

0:22:37.786,0:22:38.186
This is what ...

0:22:38.186,0:22:39.056
- I don't know if anybody knows

0:22:39.056,0:22:40.326
what my "conversational connectors" are -

0:22:40.326,0:22:42.416
This is focusing on stuff that

0:22:42.416,0:22:44.056
you say a lot in conversations

0:22:44.056,0:22:46.726
but you <i>never</i> see in written form.

0:22:46.726,0:22:49.076
So, a lot of people just read textbooks

0:22:49.076,0:22:50.566
or study literature or something,

0:22:50.566,0:22:52.176
and they can't hold a conversation

0:22:52.176,0:22:53.416
because they've never been exposed to

0:22:53.416,0:22:55.116
conversational vocabulary.

0:22:55.116,0:22:58.586
Journalism - It turns out there are[br]just a few hundred words

0:22:58.586,0:23:00.406
that appear <i>constantly</i> across journalism,

0:23:00.406,0:23:02.936
and you need to know them[br]to work in that area.

0:23:02.936,0:23:07.546
Fiction.[br]Fiction has its own vocabulary.

0:23:07.546,0:23:09.786
Shoe selling

0:23:09.786,0:23:12.776
It's worth knowing the word "shoelace"

0:23:12.776,0:23:14.336
if you're doing shoe selling,

0:23:14.336,0:23:18.746
but not if you're reading Tolstoy.

0:23:18.746,0:23:21.586
There was a personal stab[br]at a specific person there

0:23:21.586,0:23:23.326
I won't say who.

0:23:23.740,0:23:24.980
OK

0:23:26.311,0:23:30.311
Now, some researchers[br]looked at this whole field

0:23:30.311,0:23:33.021
and they found, for example,[br]there's a very important textbook

0:23:33.021,0:23:34.431
with 300,000 words.

0:23:34.431,0:23:36.931
- It's a big, fat[br]telephone directory kind of book

0:23:36.931,0:23:38.451
for macroeconomics -

0:23:38.451,0:23:41.571
and they found that[br]just 34 specialist words

0:23:41.571,0:23:45.571
covered 10% of that textbook

0:23:45.571,0:23:48.211
Learn those

0:23:48.211,0:23:52.211
if you are interested in macroeconomics.

0:23:52.986,0:23:53.566
Has it stopped? OK.

0:23:53.928,0:23:57.208
Then, beyond those 6000 words,

0:23:57.208,0:24:02.478
"Ankimania" is probably not worth it.

0:24:02.478,0:24:05.678
The words are going to come up too rarely

0:24:05.678,0:24:08.158
to make that intensive study worth it.

0:24:08.158,0:24:11.688
Just let yourself get exposed to them[br]naturally,

0:24:11.688,0:24:13.928
through [Strand 2] <b>Extensive listening and reading</b>.

0:24:13.928,0:24:16.228
Again, according to the book, not according to me.

0:24:16.228,0:24:19.498
So, extensive listening and reading[br]does three things.

0:24:19.498,0:24:24.158
It helps you encounter[br]low frequency words.

0:24:24.158,0:24:27.322
It helps you enrich and deepen[br]- This is so vital! -

0:24:27.322,0:24:30.362
enrich and deepen[br]your knowledge of high frequency words.

0:24:30.362,0:24:33.242
It's not, "I know that now.[br]It's a waste of time me seeing it again."

0:24:33.242,0:24:34.892
It needs to be enriched and deepened.

0:24:34.892,0:24:36.472
And it helps you to master collocations.

0:24:36.472,0:24:38.212
I'm going to come back to those.

0:24:39.002,0:24:42.342
So, unfortunately[br]to learn words from context,

0:24:42.342,0:24:43.972
from reading and listening,

0:24:43.972,0:24:47.152
you need about 95 to 98% coverage.

0:24:47.152,0:24:52.202
Supergeniuses...[br]of which there are many in this room

0:24:52.202,0:24:55.282
but none standing up here on the platform

0:24:55.282,0:24:59.282
can manage with 90%.

0:24:59.282,0:25:00.542
So does that mean you've got to have

0:25:00.542,0:25:03.302
20,000-word vocabulary before you start?

0:25:03.302,0:25:04.852
No. It turns out that polyglots

0:25:04.852,0:25:06.912
have this fantastic ability

0:25:06.912,0:25:10.052
at sniffing out manageable material:

0:25:10.052,0:25:14.007
Things they can handle.[br]Things that don't intimidate them.

0:25:14.007,0:25:17.277
I say,[br]and many other people have said actually,

0:25:17.277,0:25:20.257
that one of the best things a teacher can do,[br]is not lecture you on grammar,

0:25:20.257,0:25:22.937
but point out to you

0:25:22.937,0:25:25.057
appropriate material[br]for you to be working with.

0:25:25.057,0:25:26.517
"You're ready for this now."

0:25:26.517,0:25:28.047
"Go and look at that, now."

0:25:28.047,0:25:31.583
"You won't be overwhelmed and[br]you won't be underwhelmed."

0:25:31.583,0:25:33.023
An example: graded readers.

0:25:33.023,0:25:34.973
Great, if you are learning English, by the way,

0:25:34.973,0:25:39.673
bad if you're learning[br]Dzongkha from Bhutan.

0:25:39.673,0:25:41.443
Unfortunately there aren't any.

0:25:41.443,0:25:45.443
But the Oxford Bookworm series[br]has 6 levels

0:25:45.443,0:25:49.343
each introducing 400 words only.

0:25:49.343,0:25:52.728
Level 1 requires a vocabulary[br]of only 400 words.

0:25:52.728,0:25:55.498
And by the end of the 6 levels,

0:25:55.498,0:25:57.348
about 10 books in each level,

0:25:57.348,0:26:00.828
you've learned 2,500 high frequency words.

0:26:00.828,0:26:02.498
And they are not baby books.

0:26:02.498,0:26:06.498
It's not "Spot the Dog" or[br]"Here is Peter and Jane".

0:26:06.498,0:26:09.668
It's things like "Mutiny on the Bounty"[br]and "The Phantom of the Opera"

0:26:09.668,0:26:11.418
and stuff like that, stuff that adults...

0:26:11.418,0:26:13.428
stuff that's not going to[br]bore the pants off you.

0:26:13.428,0:26:16.848
And the aim here is not to make it easy.

0:26:16.848,0:26:20.848
The aim here is to help you[br]develop vocabulary control

0:26:20.848,0:26:26.688
by eliminating the deleterious superfluity[br]of very low frequency vocabulary,

0:26:26.688,0:26:30.038
such as "deleterious superfluity".

0:26:30.038,0:26:32.978
[Laughter]

0:26:32.978,0:26:36.608
[Applause]

0:26:36.608,0:26:38.598
The idea here is that you hit words

0:26:38.598,0:26:41.928
from many, many, many different angles.

0:26:41.928,0:26:45.192
And you deepen and broaden[br]your knowledge of it.

0:26:45.192,0:26:45.822
OK?

0:26:45.822,0:26:47.822
Then after those graded readers,

0:26:47.822,0:26:50.082
then you are ready for authentic materials

0:26:50.082,0:26:51.792
in your specialist area.

0:26:51.792,0:26:52.582
You can dive in.

0:26:52.582,0:26:54.472
They've prepared you.

0:26:55.818,0:26:59.818
Now, unfortunately, it takes a long time.

0:26:59.818,0:27:03.818
To learn 1,000 low-frequency words a year

0:27:03.818,0:27:06.338
needs <i>massive</i> amounts of exposure.

0:27:06.338,0:27:10.338
You need - Oh My God! -[br]one million words

0:27:10.338,0:27:13.998
reading or listening, or a combination

0:27:13.998,0:27:15.888
to give you sufficient repetition

0:27:15.888,0:27:18.278
to absorb 1,000 words a year.

0:27:18.288,0:27:19.998
So, I think that's a realistic goal.

0:27:19.998,0:27:25.298
People want to become masters in days.

0:27:25.298,0:27:27.658
Be realistic.

0:27:27.658,0:27:29.246
OK, that means you have got to read

0:27:29.246,0:27:30.676
one or two books a month,

0:27:30.676,0:27:33.496
or read a magazine like <i>Newsweek</i>[br]every week,

0:27:33.496,0:27:35.296
to steadily increase your vocabulary

0:27:35.296,0:27:38.526
rather than just maintain your current level.

0:27:38.526,0:27:43.196
OK, so how do you deal with[br]unknown vocabulary?

0:27:43.196,0:27:47.501
Well, polyNots - like me - rely on a gloss

0:27:47.501,0:27:49.179
that's some kind of cheat-sheet

0:27:49.179,0:27:50.439
with the words in it,

0:27:50.439,0:27:51.779
which is good for textbooks,

0:27:51.779,0:27:53.519
bad when you're reading Harry Potter.

0:27:53.519,0:27:54.819
There isn't a cheat-sheet.

0:27:54.819,0:27:56.489
So then you jump to the dictionary

0:27:56.489,0:27:57.349
and look every word up

0:27:57.349,0:27:59.379
and it's bloody slow.

0:27:59.379,0:28:01.899
It doesn't half make the book far less interesting

0:28:01.899,0:28:05.079
But polyglots, though...

0:28:05.079,0:28:06.909
guess!

0:28:07.615,0:28:09.615
And this is the central thing.

0:28:09.615,0:28:11.895
<i>Guessing</i> is what it's about.

0:28:11.895,0:28:14.065
Guessing, it has been shown

0:28:14.065,0:28:18.065
- with probes in the brain, apparently -

0:28:18.065,0:28:22.065
[Laughter][br]- I've had probes in many places, but not yet in my brain. -

0:28:22.065,0:28:26.065
- But that's enough bedroom talk. -[br][Laughter]

0:28:26.065,0:28:28.215
So, guessing, it turns out,

0:28:28.215,0:28:30.295
gives longer-lasting and[br]deeper meaning over time.

0:28:30.295,0:28:31.765
You remember things for longer

0:28:31.765,0:28:34.755
and your understanding of them gets much deeper,

0:28:34.755,0:28:38.755
because you've... thought it through.

0:28:38.755,0:28:40.835
And, yeah, there you go

0:28:40.835,0:28:42.805
and repeated encounters with the words

0:28:42.805,0:28:43.985
in different contexts

0:28:43.985,0:28:46.745
mean you think my guess was probably wrong before

0:28:46.745,0:28:48.605
because now the word means something else

0:28:48.605,0:28:49.325
in this context.

0:28:49.325,0:28:51.285
Oh! That doesn't mean you[br]reject the old meaning.

0:28:51.285,0:28:56.015
That means enhance it, enrich it,[br]elaborate it, and broaden it.

0:28:56.015,0:28:57.835
Now good guessing, how does it happen?

0:28:57.835,0:29:00.325
It's not... random guessing.

0:29:00.325,0:29:03.015
It's based on good clues.

0:29:03.015,0:29:05.015
Now knowing similar languages can help.

0:29:05.015,0:29:08.235
"Ah! It's easier for him.[br]He already speaks... whatever."

0:29:08.235,0:29:09.575
Because, you know, it's easy

0:29:09.575,0:29:11.635
'cause that language has got cognates in it

0:29:11.635,0:29:12.775
- words that are similar.

0:29:12.794,0:29:14.474
But it can also hinder

0:29:14.474,0:29:16.134
due to interference between languages.

0:29:16.134,0:29:18.864
And polyglots, though, are aware of this

0:29:18.864,0:29:21.564
and they have mechanisms for managing it

0:29:21.564,0:29:23.724
and that awareness comes from

0:29:23.724,0:29:24.774
guessing lots of times

0:29:24.774,0:29:27.824
and learning when to be careful.

0:29:28.614,0:29:31.324
They rely <i>far</i> more

0:29:31.324,0:29:33.924
on a wide variety of contextual clues

0:29:33.924,0:29:36.154
to make their guesses sensible,

0:29:36.154,0:29:38.764
rather than just on their backgrounds.

0:29:38.764,0:29:41.434
And they evaluate these clues[br]against each another.

0:29:41.434,0:29:42.774
There've been loads of studies

0:29:42.774,0:29:43.534
looking at eye movements

0:29:43.534,0:29:45.874
and all these kinda things

0:29:45.874,0:29:47.494
showing people broadening out

0:29:47.494,0:29:48.794
and narrowing in

0:29:48.794,0:29:50.734
to look for new guesses...

0:29:50.734,0:29:52.304
- And it's an automatic process. -

0:29:52.304,0:29:55.974
- You don't even know you're doing it,[br]once you're doing it. -

0:29:55.974,0:29:58.535
... until they feel that their guess

0:29:58.535,0:30:00.115
is sufficiently well founded,

0:30:00.115,0:30:01.345
or at least as well founded

0:30:01.345,0:30:04.145
as they can make it now.

0:30:05.059,0:30:06.769
So they don't guess randomly.

0:30:06.769,0:30:08.359
They're actually <i>inferring</i> things

0:30:08.359,0:30:09.259
from the context.

0:30:09.259,0:30:11.029
It's informed guessing,

0:30:11.070,0:30:14.710
which increases the chance[br]that the guessing is sensible.

0:30:14.710,0:30:17.514
And, importantly,[br]they're happy not to know <i>everything</i>!

0:30:17.514,0:30:20.084
They will leave things for another time.

0:30:20.084,0:30:21.944
Happy with partial understanding.

0:30:21.944,0:30:24.524
PolyNots <i>hate</i> that.

0:30:25.248,0:30:26.638
All the research, though, shows

0:30:26.638,0:30:28.525
that to notice clues,

0:30:28.525,0:30:30.705
and to evaluate them against one another,

0:30:30.705,0:30:32.345
and then to make good guesses,[br]you need...

0:30:32.345,0:30:35.025
a very strong short term memory.

0:30:35.025,0:30:37.075
And without it,[br]you don't notice the clues.

0:30:37.075,0:30:38.694
You can't remember them.

0:30:38.694,0:30:40.564
You forget them[br]as soon as you've seen them.

0:30:40.564,0:30:42.414
And so you can't evaluate them[br]against each other

0:30:42.414,0:30:45.864
And so your guesses[br]are absolutely useless!

0:30:45.864,0:30:47.444
Like my guesses.

0:30:47.444,0:30:51.444
Thankfully, short term memory[br]can be trained.

0:30:51.444,0:30:52.354
The downside, though,

0:30:52.354,0:30:54.754
is that it gets a lot harder[br]as you get older.

0:30:54.754,0:30:57.274
There's been research by neurologists

0:30:57.274,0:30:59.755
that shows that old guys like me

0:30:59.755,0:31:04.524
have an ever-decreasing[br]short term memory.

0:31:04.524,0:31:08.489
I'm just hoping to hold on to[br]the bits I've got left!

0:31:08.489,0:31:09.739
If you're young like half the pe---

0:31:09.739,0:31:11.389
90 percent of the people here,

0:31:11.389,0:31:14.259
compared to me, are very young.

0:31:14.259,0:31:16.728
Train your memory now, if you need to.

0:31:16.728,0:31:18.385
So, the idea though,

0:31:18.385,0:31:22.415
is to gradually increase[br]your reading span, <i>with recall</i>.

0:31:22.415,0:31:24.485
Just start on a couple of words,

0:31:24.485,0:31:25.725
look away

0:31:25.725,0:31:27.995
and recall what you've just read.

0:31:27.995,0:31:30.595
It doesn't have to be word-for-word,[br]but close.

0:31:30.595,0:31:32.698
Then broaden it, broaden it,[br]and broaden it.

0:31:32.698,0:31:34.148
And it has been found that just doing this

0:31:34.148,0:31:36.928
for 10 minutes a day for 6 weeks

0:31:36.928,0:31:40.718
will make you into a good guesser.

0:31:40.718,0:31:42.404
I guess.[br][Laughter]

0:31:43.714,0:31:44.724
And then...

0:31:45.404,0:31:49.404
So, once you've got the[br]noticing and recall bit,

0:31:49.404,0:31:53.214
then you can start to apply guessing.[br]Yeah?

0:31:53.214,0:31:55.004
You can now recall the clues

0:31:55.004,0:31:56.994
and then you can guess based on them.

0:31:56.994,0:31:58.704
And again, go back to going small,

0:31:58.704,0:32:01.464
expand it out again

0:32:01.464,0:32:04.544
until the guessing becomes <i>automatic</i>.

0:32:04.544,0:32:06.484
And this is what's important:

0:32:06.484,0:32:09.024
<i>automaticity</i>,[br]doing things without thinking anymore.

0:32:09.024,0:32:13.024
By the way, this is where[br]you cannot compress experience.

0:32:13.024,0:32:14.044
You can go through the motions,

0:32:14.044,0:32:15.494
but you can't compress experience,

0:32:15.494,0:32:18.684
because it's automaticity of guessing[br]that you really need.

0:32:18.684,0:32:21.634
Strand 3: <b>Speaking and Writing</b>

0:32:21.634,0:32:24.674
Activation is <i>really hard!</i>

0:32:24.674,0:32:29.624
Learning thousands of words does not mean[br]you'll be able to <i>speak</i> them.

0:32:29.624,0:32:30.848
It doesn't happen magically.

0:32:30.848,0:32:35.458
And polyglots are very good at feeling the fear and doing it anyway.

0:32:35.458,0:32:37.832
This is a Benny type of thing here:[br]["Benny" = Benny Lewis, a well-known polyglot]

0:32:37.832,0:32:40.052
Speak early; speak often!

0:32:40.052,0:32:45.324
10 words is enough to have a good conversation.

0:32:45.324,0:32:48.924
Thankfully for me![br][Laughter]

0:32:48.924,0:32:56.484
2,000 words is considered a mature adult vocabulary[br]for colloquial conversations.

0:32:56.484,0:32:58.201
You don't need 20,000.

0:32:58.201,0:33:01.451
You might for reading literature, but <i>not</i> for talking.

0:33:01.451,0:33:03.521
So how do you activate?

0:33:03.521,0:33:06.041
You saw my big fat book there[br]on vocabulary,

0:33:06.041,0:33:07.831
which is dull and boring.

0:33:07.831,0:33:11.831
Here's my favourite book on activating.

0:33:11.831,0:33:18.411
<i>"How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately"</i>[br]by Boris Shekhtman

0:33:18.411,0:33:22.828
You can search on my name and[br]I've got a video about it.

0:33:22.828,0:33:25.478
Why is that book so thin?!

0:33:25.478,0:33:28.958
I want a fat book that... tells me how to activate!

0:33:28.958,0:33:31.258
But there's very little research on this

0:33:31.258,0:33:33.618
and one reason is thought to be

0:33:33.618,0:33:34.508
that historically,

0:33:34.508,0:33:39.008
language teaching is about[br]keeping the student quiet,

0:33:39.008,0:33:41.818
so that they can focus on[br]what they're being taught.

0:33:41.818,0:33:44.398
And there's a load of research[br]in teaching vocabulary,

0:33:44.398,0:33:49.428
very little in the student[br]actually becoming <i>active</i>.

0:33:51.788,0:33:53.660
Richard...

0:33:53.660,0:33:56.852
[Laughter]

0:33:56.852,0:34:00.822
Rehearsing at home helps!

0:34:00.822,0:34:01.554
Just talk to yourself,

0:34:01.554,0:34:03.634
make a fool of yourself,[br]laugh at yourself in the mirror.

0:34:03.634,0:34:07.144
Actually, talking to yourself[br]in front of the mirror

0:34:07.144,0:34:10.704
is one of the best ways[br]to get over the fear of talking in public,

0:34:10.704,0:34:11.634
it turns out.

0:34:11.634,0:34:13.694
Seeing another face.

0:34:13.694,0:34:16.784
Looking yourself in the eye.

0:34:16.784,0:34:17.965
OK.

0:34:17.965,0:34:19.583
Self-talk

0:34:19.583,0:34:22.923
Just repeating everything you see in your daily life

0:34:22.923,0:34:26.943
and these are things[br]that polyNots <i>do not do</i>.

0:34:26.943,0:34:30.310
Poly<i>glots</i>, it turns out,[br]often do these things

0:34:30.310,0:34:32.070
without even realising[br]they're doing them.

0:34:32.070,0:34:34.520
When they are studying vocabulary,[br]very often,

0:34:34.520,0:34:36.050
automatically in the back of their head

0:34:36.050,0:34:38.180
they'll be thinking of[br]how to apply the vocabulary

0:34:38.180,0:34:39.460
and just using it automatically

0:34:39.460,0:34:42.360
rather than thinking,[br]"I've just learned it."

0:34:42.360,0:34:44.020
And this is[br]- perhaps the number one thing -

0:34:44.020,0:34:46.710
is to <i>summarize</i> things.

0:34:46.710,0:34:48.447
We've seen you can use 400 words

0:34:48.447,0:34:51.037
to write <i>Moby Dick</i>[br]and these kinds of books.

0:34:51.037,0:34:54.487
So you can use 400 words to summarize[br]pretty much anything.

0:34:54.487,0:34:56.917
Simplify, simplify, simplify!

0:34:56.917,0:35:00.647
Please practice,[br]to all the PolyNots out there,

0:35:00.647,0:35:02.425
and just... do it.

0:35:02.425,0:35:05.665
And this is another one, <b>"Islands"</b> mean...

0:35:05.665,0:35:08.999
- this is from here -[br]something very important.

0:35:08.999,0:35:10.929
And I'm not going to tell you[br]what it means.

0:35:10.929,0:35:12.929
I want you to buy the book.

0:35:12.929,0:35:15.959
That author deserves it.

0:35:15.959,0:35:17.939
Ok, there you go.

0:35:17.939,0:35:21.939
For <i>writing</i>, again, you only need 400 words[br]to write some pretty good stuff.

0:35:21.939,0:35:25.049
You can write <i>Phantom of the Opera</i>.

0:35:25.049,0:35:28.022
And then you keep elaborating[br]what you've written

0:35:28.022,0:35:29.712
as your vocabulary grows.

0:35:29.712,0:35:31.382
So you could write <i>Phantom of the Opera</i>

0:35:31.382,0:35:32.793
with a 400-word vocabulary,

0:35:32.793,0:35:33.963
and then come back to it

0:35:33.963,0:35:36.433
and write a better version.

0:35:36.433,0:35:38.363
This is what "islands" are about.

0:35:38.363,0:35:42.345
Write loads of things;[br]keep elaborating them.

0:35:42.345,0:35:44.655
Strand 4: <b>Fluency Development</b>

0:35:44.655,0:35:46.455
Oh, what's "fluency"?

0:35:46.455,0:35:49.375
I'm going to go with a <i>really</i> simple definition.

0:35:49.375,0:35:51.485
Fluency is not a magical process

0:35:51.485,0:35:53.135
of sounding like a native. No.

0:35:53.135,0:35:55.995
Fluency is not about a big vocabulary.

0:35:55.995,0:36:02.225
Fluency is about being <i>quick</i>,[br]and <i>smooth</i>, and <i>in control</i>...

0:36:02.225,0:36:04.680
with what you already have.

0:36:04.680,0:36:09.740
You can be fluent with your 10-word[br]vocabulary in conversations.

0:36:09.740,0:36:12.770
And it's training for automaticity.

0:36:12.770,0:36:14.170
People have asked me in the past,

0:36:14.170,0:36:16.320
"How do you think in a foreign language?"

0:36:16.320,0:36:17.810
And my answer is always:

0:36:17.810,0:36:20.810
The aim is to learn <i>not to think at all</i>,

0:36:20.810,0:36:24.306
for the words just to[br]come out automatically.

0:36:24.306,0:36:31.326
Because, it's shown that thinking is[br]too slow for real life. [Laughter]

0:36:31.326,0:36:35.539
And 4 practices have been shown as[br]<i>essential</i> to gaining fluency

0:36:35.539,0:36:38.677
without needing to <i>think</i>[br]when you're having conversations.

0:36:38.677,0:36:40.581
So the first one: <b>Overlearning</b>

0:36:40.581,0:36:42.461
Learn and learn and learn and learn.

0:36:42.461,0:36:44.911
Just because you know a word,[br]you don't <i>know</i> it.

0:36:44.911,0:36:47.744
Keep hitting the word from different angles.

0:36:47.744,0:36:49.524
It'll get deeper inside you.

0:36:49.524,0:36:51.974
Do things at a higher speed[br]than you're comfortable with.

0:36:51.974,0:36:54.014
PolyNots will listen to the radio[br]and think,

0:36:54.014,0:36:56.044
"I can't understand it.[br]It's too quick."

0:36:56.044,0:36:59.014
put it aside, and go back to something[br]really slow in the textbook.

0:36:59.014,0:37:01.584
They never expose themselves[br]to the <i>hard</i> stuff.

0:37:01.584,0:37:03.854
You <i>need</i> to.

0:37:05.191,0:37:08.031
Do "time-boxed" reading and writing:

0:37:08.031,0:37:10.611
"I'm going to read as much as I can[br]in five minutes".

0:37:10.611,0:37:12.201
And you're going for speed.

0:37:12.201,0:37:13.771
Speak. Speak quickly.

0:37:13.771,0:37:15.611
And <i>try</i> not to make stupid errors,

0:37:15.611,0:37:17.049
but <i>mostly</i> go for speed.

0:37:17.049,0:37:17.839
And writing...

0:37:17.839,0:37:20.809
Write an essay as long as you can[br]in five minutes.

0:37:20.809,0:37:22.939
And these prepare you for real life,

0:37:22.939,0:37:25.219
even though you're going to make mistakes.

0:37:25.219,0:37:27.389
And then - another Benny thing -

0:37:27.389,0:37:29.379
get out there in <i>real life</i>

0:37:29.379,0:37:32.269
and have lots of real-life encounters.

0:37:32.269,0:37:36.684
Because <i>that</i> is where all your theory[br]comes into practice

0:37:36.684,0:37:38.722
and you realise you're tongue-tied.

0:37:38.722,0:37:41.152
And the only way to <i>not</i> be tongue-tied

0:37:41.152,0:37:43.082
is to get out there and do it.

0:37:43.082,0:37:46.402
However, even gaining[br]automaticity with <i>words</i>,

0:37:46.402,0:37:48.182
you're still not fast enough.

0:37:48.182,0:37:50.262
Thinking's too slow.

0:37:50.262,0:37:54.262
Automaticity with <i>words</i> is too slow.

0:37:54.262,0:37:59.022
You need automaticity[br]with <i>clusters of words</i>.

0:37:59.022,0:37:59.962
And it's been shown ...

0:37:59.962,0:38:01.612
In other words, these are collocations

0:38:01.612,0:38:02.972
I'm going to use this word[br]"collocations" to mean

0:38:02.972,0:38:08.312
to mean "clusters of words[br]that tend to go together in real life".

0:38:08.312,0:38:10.352
Because research has shown

0:38:10.352,0:38:11.742
that in <i>real-life</i> speech

0:38:11.742,0:38:14.642
- they've recorded native speakers, and so on -

0:38:14.642,0:38:15.922
in authentic speech ...

0:38:15.922,0:38:19.922
and found that they are speaking at rates

0:38:19.922,0:38:21.212
faster than the ...

0:38:21.212,0:38:24.782
[video skipped; see slide: "...brain could possibly recreate..."][br]just building it on grammar and individual words.

0:38:24.782,0:38:26.958
So you need to be able to say things like,

0:38:26.958,0:38:33.768
"You need to be able to say things like".[br][Laughter]

0:38:35.778,0:38:38.175
But collocations are about far more

0:38:38.175,0:38:39.565
than just speed.

0:38:39.565,0:38:41.506
It's not just speed training.

0:38:41.506,0:38:43.336
They deepen our understanding

0:38:43.336,0:38:45.726
of the rich meanings of individual words.

0:38:45.726,0:38:47.886
So, learning <i>chunks</i>[br]also teaches about individual words.

0:38:47.886,0:38:50.806
For example, the word "cause".

0:38:50.806,0:38:53.946
This is just a pretty[br]neutral-sounding word.

0:38:53.946,0:38:56.356
Does "cause" sound positive,[br]or negative, or neutral?

0:38:56.356,0:38:57.366
I'd say neutral.

0:38:57.366,0:39:00.401
But, actually, it turns out it collocates

0:39:00.401,0:39:02.391
with <i>undesirable</i> situations.

0:39:02.391,0:39:04.971
You very rarely say,[br]"That causes happiness."

0:39:04.971,0:39:06.331
But you would say, things like

0:39:06.331,0:39:08.131
"Ooh, that causes concern."

0:39:08.131,0:39:10.041
"He's causing trouble."

0:39:10.041,0:39:11.854
"Oh, that's are real cause[br]for embarrassment."

0:39:11.854,0:39:15.344
"Cause" tends to collocate[br]with negative stuff.

0:39:15.344,0:39:19.344
So <i>don't</i> use it talking about[br]positive stuff so much.

0:39:19.344,0:39:21.234
"Signal" - This is a good word.

0:39:21.234,0:39:23.304
Who knows what "signal" means?

0:39:23.304,0:39:27.304
Oh, nobody?[br][Laughter]

0:39:27.304,0:39:28.404
"Thank you for the signal."

0:39:28.404,0:39:30.464
What does it mean?

0:39:30.464,0:39:36.514
[muffled answer from the audience]

0:39:36.514,0:39:39.916
"She sent the king a signal."

0:39:39.916,0:39:43.326
A message! It's a <i>noun</i>, isn't it?

0:39:43.326,0:39:46.966
"Then saw him signal back."

0:39:46.966,0:39:49.886
Oh, it's a <i>verb!</i>

0:39:49.886,0:39:51.486
Oh, I was wrong!

0:39:51.486,0:39:53.196
Here's a very good one

0:39:53.196,0:39:53.986
that you probably don't know

0:39:53.986,0:39:55.456
unless you're a native speaker.

0:39:55.456,0:39:57.726
"It was a signal honour."

0:39:57.726,0:39:59.196
It's an <i>adjective!</i>

0:39:59.196,0:40:02.996
It means "significant or important".

0:40:02.996,0:40:05.036
And only by hitting the word

0:40:05.036,0:40:07.106
through <i>massive</i> exposure in many contexts

0:40:07.106,0:40:10.326
and understanding[br]the various meanings of things.

0:40:10.326,0:40:13.184
Like, "signal honour" is a collocation

0:40:13.184,0:40:14.574
you see all the time

0:40:14.574,0:40:18.574
if you... read books about signal honours.

0:40:18.574,0:40:22.514
[Laughter]

0:40:23.674,0:40:28.304
And collocations are necessary[br]to sound <i>authentic</i>,

0:40:28.304,0:40:30.414
because a great many things

0:40:30.414,0:40:32.114
that are <i>grammatically</i> correct,

0:40:32.114,0:40:35.874
even if you know[br]all the grammar and the vocabulary,

0:40:35.874,0:40:37.621
well, we just don't say it that way!

0:40:37.621,0:40:39.721
"I want some speedy food."

0:40:39.721,0:40:40.851
"I've not got time,

0:40:40.851,0:40:43.371
I'm gonna get some quick food for lunch."

0:40:43.371,0:40:45.251
Why do they only say "fast food"?

0:40:45.251,0:40:46.871
Because they <i>do!</i>

0:40:48.979,0:40:54.339
And many collocations are grammatically <i>incorrect</i>,

0:40:54.339,0:40:56.995
and you might not even realise it.

0:40:56.995,0:40:58.415
"Go to bed."

0:40:58.415,0:41:01.127
That's grammatically incorrect.

0:41:01.127,0:41:05.761
You don't say, "Go to kitchen."

0:41:05.761,0:41:08.781
It's "Go to <i><b>the</b></i> kitchen".

0:41:08.781,0:41:10.151
Why isn't it "Go to <i>the</i> bed"?

0:41:10.151,0:41:15.491
Because it isn't![br][Laughter and clapping]

0:41:15.491,0:41:17.350
Some are just weird...

0:41:17.350,0:41:18.750
"hell for leather"

0:41:18.750,0:41:21.440
Who knows what that even means?

0:41:21.440,0:41:24.300
It means "go fast".

0:41:24.300,0:41:25.950
"He's running hell for leather."

0:41:25.950,0:41:27.410
Quite a rare one,

0:41:27.410,0:41:31.730
but you'll sound bloody authentic[br]if you use it!

0:41:31.730,0:41:33.580
Plenty of them are fossilised...

0:41:33.580,0:41:34.740
"by and large"

0:41:34.740,0:41:37.900
You can't say "by and big".[br][Laughter]

0:41:37.900,0:41:38.780
"Law and order"

0:41:38.780,0:41:39.890
"Bird's eye view"

0:41:39.890,0:41:42.342
If you say "Ooh, let's take[br]a <i>bird's eye <b>look</b></i> at this,"

0:41:42.342,0:41:44.632
it won't quite sound the same will it?

0:41:44.632,0:41:48.502
"raise an eyebrow" [Laughter]

0:41:48.502,0:41:49.822
But if you say "lift an eyebrow"

0:41:49.822,0:41:50.982
it means the same thing,

0:41:50.982,0:41:53.757
but people will think you're a weirdo.

0:41:53.757,0:41:55.817
That was a very good[br]eyebrow raising there.

0:41:55.817,0:41:57.627
(Audience member) Thank you very much.

0:41:57.627,0:42:01.077
He's got really good eyebrows.

0:42:01.077,0:42:04.207
But as well as understanding fossilisation,

0:42:04.207,0:42:06.720
these ones are the hardest ones[br]to deal with:

0:42:06.720,0:42:08.670
<i>Flexible</i> collocations

0:42:08.670,0:42:11.090
This is the real mark of authenticity.

0:42:11.090,0:42:13.090
You can "<i>entertain</i> an idea".

0:42:13.090,0:42:15.600
You can also "entertain a belief",

0:42:15.600,0:42:17.560
a bit less frequently.

0:42:17.560,0:42:19.430
Entertain a <i>thought</i>,

0:42:19.430,0:42:21.260
a bit less frequent.

0:42:21.260,0:42:23.600
You can say it.

0:42:23.600,0:42:25.870
But these are all collations you'd see.

0:42:25.870,0:42:28.380
And why are you saying <i>"entertain"</i>[br]related to these words??

0:42:28.380,0:42:30.280
You're not doing a song or dance,

0:42:30.280,0:42:32.560
but it's what people say.

0:42:32.560,0:42:35.390
Now, polyglots, then, actually focus

0:42:35.390,0:42:38.050
and favour, often without realising it

0:42:38.050,0:42:40.120
high-frequency collocations

0:42:40.120,0:42:43.150
over low-frequency words.

0:42:43.150,0:42:46.020
Don't bother learning[br]the rare names of fish

0:42:46.020,0:42:47.150
when you can learn things like

0:42:47.150,0:42:48.730
"raise an eyebrow".

0:42:48.730,0:42:49.560
This is important,

0:42:49.560,0:42:51.370
because research has shown <i>repeatedly</i>,

0:42:51.370,0:42:53.970
over about thirty years of research,

0:42:53.970,0:42:57.970
the greatest increases[br]in fluency and authenticity

0:42:57.970,0:43:00.390
come when learners switch their focus

0:43:00.390,0:43:02.354
from yet more low-frequency words

0:43:02.354,0:43:05.264
to automaticity of[br]high-frequency collocations.

0:43:05.264,0:43:07.494
And again, polyglots seems to know this

0:43:07.494,0:43:08.774
and do it automatically.

0:43:08.774,0:43:12.544
PolyNots don't.[br]They add more words to Anki.

0:43:12.544,0:43:15.334
In short, more than 30 years of research

0:43:15.334,0:43:17.874
tells us that native speakers know

0:43:17.874,0:43:20.834
around 20,000 individual words

0:43:20.834,0:43:23.574
but several <i>hundred thousand</i> collocations.

0:43:23.574,0:43:24.634
Can you believe it?

0:43:24.634,0:43:27.144
That's what they're doing[br]all the rest of the time.

0:43:27.144,0:43:28.884
That's what their[br]24-hours-a-day exposure

0:43:28.884,0:43:30.814
for their whole adult life[br]is teaching them.

0:43:30.814,0:43:32.704
Not more vocabulary, but richer, deeper

0:43:32.704,0:43:35.784
meaning in collocations.

0:43:35.784,0:43:37.524
So, to be highly functional in a language,

0:43:37.524,0:43:38.804
whatever that means,

0:43:38.804,0:43:40.184
a learner needs to have

0:43:40.184,0:43:42.964
gained automaticity with <i>about</i>

0:43:42.964,0:43:45.894
4.000 general high-frequency words,

0:43:45.894,0:43:49.894
2,000 specialist words[br]in whatever their area is,

0:43:49.894,0:43:53.674
and <i>tens of thousands</i>[br]of high-frequency collocations.

0:43:53.674,0:43:56.374
And <i>this</i> is what reading[br]all that literature is doing,

0:43:56.374,0:43:59.374
listening to all those materials is doing.

0:43:59.374,0:44:02.280
And then <i>continually</i> enriching[br]through exposure

0:44:02.280,0:44:08.050
the breadth and depth of their knowledge[br]of all that stuff.

0:44:08.050,0:44:11.296
There you go, through life-long exposure.

0:44:11.296,0:44:14.726
And the key to achieving all this

0:44:14.726,0:44:17.266
is to be able to ...

0:44:17.266,0:44:19.986
Guess!

0:44:19.986,0:44:21.796
That's it!

0:44:21.796,0:44:27.596
(applause from the audience)

0:44:27.596,0:44:33.746
(cheers from the audience)

0:44:33.746,0:44:36.746
I'm afraid there's no time for questions.

0:44:36.746,0:44:44.912
(applause and cheers from the audience)

0:44:44.912,0:44:54.992
(continuing applause)

0:44:54.992,0:45:01.772
More![br][Laughter]

0:45:01.772,0:45:04.400
I can't hear my wife clapping![br][Laughter]

0:45:04.400,0:45:05.980
(Richard) I don't think there's going to be any questions.

0:45:05.980,0:45:12.280
I don't think that was a very popular speech, to be honest.[br][Laughter]

0:45:12.280,0:45:18.130
(Richard) Fantastic! I've just realised that I'm a poly<i>not</i>.[br][Laughter]

0:45:18.130,0:45:21.118
I'd never have guessed!

0:45:21.118,0:45:23.678
(Richard) And proud!

0:45:23.678,0:45:26.228
So, no, thank you very much.

0:45:26.228,0:45:29.758
I've got to say, just in preface to this,

0:45:29.758,0:45:31.948
we're friends on Facebook

0:45:31.948,0:45:35.948
(Anthony) Oh no! Don't tell them about my Facebook posts, please!

0:45:35.948,0:45:38.368
I'm keeping everything secret.

0:45:38.368,0:45:40.108
But I did see one post saying

0:45:40.108,0:45:43.836
"I've got three hundred and twenty slides"

0:45:43.836,0:45:46.766
(Anthony) "[unclear] ... and I'm only half way through!"

0:45:46.766,0:45:47.346
And I just thought...

0:45:47.346,0:45:51.216
"Oh my God. What the hell is he going to talk about?"

0:45:51.216,0:45:52.726
(Anthony) So I trimmed it right back down to

0:45:52.726,0:45:55.746
the bare minimum of 262.

0:45:55.746,0:45:58.409
So, um, yeah, imagine my relief

0:45:58.409,0:46:03.629
when I saw it was just 262.[br][Laughter]

0:46:03.629,0:46:05.328
So, I didn't see <i>any</i> of this before

0:46:05.328,0:46:06.528
you saw it today.

0:46:06.528,0:46:08.858
It's all new to me too.

0:46:08.858,0:46:11.633
So, I'm looking forward to questions.

0:46:11.633,0:46:13.003
I'll start at the front.

0:46:13.003,0:46:15.013
Less for me to walk.

0:46:15.013,0:46:17.353
(Q1) First of all, Anthony, that was fabulous.

0:46:17.353,0:46:19.193
- That was absolutely fabulous. [br]- Thank you.

0:46:19.193,0:46:22.293
Second of all, I just wanted to add maybe,

0:46:22.293,0:46:23.883
I have a comment more than a question.

0:46:23.883,0:46:28.943
just... Mezzofanti and Emil Krebs both

0:46:28.943,0:46:32.313
did a lot of this stuff through parallel texts.

0:46:32.313,0:46:33.753
When Emil Krebs died,

0:46:33.753,0:46:38.463
they found a gazillion different copies[br]of the New Testament in his chambers.

0:46:38.463,0:46:42.463
And it is said that Mezzofanti also learned different languages

0:46:42.463,0:46:47.073
through these chunks, these collocations as you're talking about.

0:46:47.073,0:46:50.283
He would perform the last rites and hear confessions

0:46:50.283,0:46:53.133
from soldiers from all over the world.

0:46:53.133,0:46:58.743
- Anyway, it sounds like it was good research. [br]- Thank you.

0:47:00.628,0:47:01.688
(Q2) Hello, Anthony.

0:47:01.688,0:47:03.778
First of all, I want to say thank you for your presentation.

0:47:03.778,0:47:07.257
You were one of the first people that I encountered on YouTube, when I

0:47:07.257,0:47:12.393
- you know - first started to learn languages, and you provided me with some inspiration.

0:47:12.393,0:47:15.259
And so, I'm interested in... I can relate to your experience

0:47:15.259,0:47:18.369
because I believe that when I,... my first encounter with langauge learning

0:47:18.369,0:47:20.305
was when I was at school trying to learn German

0:47:20.305,0:47:24.809
and I believed I had absolutely no talent whatsoever.

0:47:24.809,0:47:30.567
And, I've made significant progress with my Spanish.

0:47:30.567,0:47:32.276
And now I'm living in Madrid.

0:47:32.276,0:47:34.907
I want to hear about your experience

0:47:34.907,0:47:39.387
going from or being a "polynot", as you describe it,

0:47:39.387,0:47:41.667
and - you know - how your process of learning languages has changed,

0:47:41.667,0:47:44.527
and do you feel that you have grown as a language learner

0:47:44.527,0:47:50.357
and that - you know - there's potential for you to become a poly<i>glot</i> one day?

0:47:50.357,0:47:52.362
Um, ok.

0:47:52.362,0:47:54.582
I'm an old man.

0:47:54.582,0:47:58.342
Now, you are supposed to say "Noooo..."

0:47:58.342,0:48:00.139
[Laughter]

0:48:00.139,0:48:04.819
Huh! Thanks!

0:48:04.819,0:48:06.659
Um, yeah.

0:48:06.659,0:48:09.269
I have a twin brother.

0:48:09.269,0:48:13.675
And he saw a very beautiful woman around 18 years old working in a pub.

0:48:13.675,0:48:17.675
And he was speaking to this young woman and flirting a bit and she was flirting back.

0:48:17.675,0:48:22.325
And it hit him. She could be my <i>granddaughter</i>.

0:48:22.325,0:48:26.325
And he said, "Do I seem like a dirty old man to you?"

0:48:26.325,0:48:30.325
And she said, "Yes, but you're a customer so I've got to be nice."

0:48:30.325,0:48:32.685
[Laughter]

0:48:32.685,0:48:33.945
Yeah. And, um...

0:48:33.945,0:48:37.825
I feel a little bit like that with language learning in a way. That...

0:48:37.825,0:48:42.975
I'm sort of the dirty pervert, the peeping tom, [br]looking at all you people

0:48:42.975,0:48:46.919
and enjoying it vicariously. There's a good word.

0:48:46.919,0:48:51.319
But I think I'm getting a little bit better in language learning,

0:48:51.319,0:48:55.129
mainly through learning to be patient.

0:48:55.129,0:48:58.474
But I think I'm too old to ever be fantastic.

0:48:58.474,0:49:01.904
I recently saw some videos by a man who,

0:49:01.904,0:49:07.134
I won't name him, but you may know who he is because of what I'm about to say.

0:49:07.134,0:49:11.559
And he had a list of something like <i><b>80</b></i> languages he wants to learn in the next 10 or 20 years.

0:49:11.559,0:49:14.423
And he said, "I realise that's unrealistic.

0:49:14.423,0:49:20.173
I've trimmed it down to 72." [Laughter]

0:49:21.628,0:49:23.528
It's great to be ambitious.

0:49:23.528,0:49:26.548
But I don't have <i>time</i> to be ambitious.

0:49:26.548,0:49:29.618
So, I am <i>reasonably</i> good in Czech now

0:49:29.618,0:49:32.538
so that I'm not studying it anymore[br]and I can just live the language.

0:49:32.538,0:49:35.368
And I <i>do</i> study a several other languages

0:49:35.368,0:49:39.028
and if I can get <i>anywhere</i> with them before I die, I'll be happy,

0:49:39.028,0:49:45.128
because now I'm enjoying the journey, not just focusing on the destination.

0:49:45.128,0:49:46.182
Yeah, that's it.

0:49:46.182,0:49:48.082
- (Q3) Hello.[br]- Who's that?

0:49:48.082,0:49:49.732
(Unlear) Iversen and I'm

0:49:49.732,0:49:58.652
And I'm so probably your best example of [... unclear ...] gone mad.

0:49:58.652,0:50:01.532
Because you may know that I have made word lists

0:50:01.532,0:50:07.032
that I've made about... I've counted how many Russian words I've printed on word lists

0:50:07.032,0:50:11.582
since I started my holiday, 14 days ago, that's about 1500.

0:50:11.582,0:50:14.949
But, I have the idea.

0:50:14.949,0:50:18.079
I think that I know what I am now. I'm not a polyglot.

0:50:18.079,0:50:21.069
I'm a polynot, but in 12 different languages.

0:50:21.069,0:50:27.399
- Yeah.[br]- Because everything I see hear and read, I forget.

0:50:27.399,0:50:31.519
But I note it down.[br]And once I've written it down, I remember it.

0:50:31.519,0:50:33.899
And that's why I write all my words down,

0:50:33.899,0:50:36.179
because then I can start guessing.

0:50:36.179,0:50:38.796
And I can't start guessing just because

0:50:38.796,0:50:42.636
I really learned one thing from all your, what was it, 200

0:50:42.636,0:50:46.636
slides, and that was the word polynot.

0:50:46.636,0:50:50.636
[...unclear...] but that's enough.

0:50:50.636,0:50:53.466
Have you thought about different ways

0:50:53.466,0:50:56.366
of getting to the guessing stage...

0:50:56.366,0:51:01.956
apart from being a born polyglot or somebody who works through paper like me.

0:51:01.956,0:51:07.846
But for instance, people who live in places where they have to guess

0:51:07.846,0:51:11.566
because they never know what the next person is going to say to them.

0:51:11.566,0:51:12.996
India, places like that.

0:51:12.996,0:51:16.996
What do they do in a situation where they cannot read,

0:51:16.996,0:51:20.996
they cannot write everything down, and they are not polyglots?

0:51:20.996,0:51:26.276
Yeah. So, I have... sometimes people say,

0:51:26.289,0:51:31.369
on these forums they say, "What language should I learn next?"

0:51:31.369,0:51:33.494
How do I know?!

0:51:33.494,0:51:36.054
The two reasons to learn a language are

0:51:36.054,0:51:37.594
because you <i>have</i> to,

0:51:37.594,0:51:42.424
which provides masses of <i>external</i> force on you to do it,

0:51:42.424,0:51:44.394
or because you <i>want</i> to,

0:51:44.394,0:51:48.604
which provides lots of <i>internal</i> force on you to do it.

0:51:48.604,0:51:52.604
And I think with those pressures, internal and external,

0:51:52.604,0:51:54.404
you'll find a way.

0:51:54.404,0:51:56.874
But when you're at school,

0:51:56.874,0:51:58.284
and somebody's telling you,

0:51:58.284,0:52:00.044
"Now you're learning German."

0:52:00.044,0:52:04.044
There's no actual <i>need</i>.

0:52:04.044,0:52:07.354
So I don't think the automatic - all the antennas are up

0:52:07.354,0:52:11.354
and your guessing abilities will become automatic - will be there.

0:52:11.354,0:52:12.564
Now,

0:52:12.564,0:52:16.511
I am no expert in all this... in this guessing game.

0:52:16.511,0:52:20.691
So you asked what are the different ways of being good at guessing. And I can't guess.

0:52:20.691,0:52:24.557
I don't know. I got most of what I talked about,

0:52:24.557,0:52:29.537
especially the jokes, from this boring textbook.

0:52:29.537,0:52:31.947
But now that I know that guessing is important

0:52:31.947,0:52:34.797
- and I think it's a pretty convincing argument -

0:52:34.797,0:52:39.417
the next stage for me is, how can I transform myself into a good guesser.

0:52:39.417,0:52:40.550
And I don't know.

0:52:40.550,0:52:42.510
If I come to another conference, hopefully I will.

0:52:42.510,0:52:44.730
Maybe I'll be able to give a presentation

0:52:44.730,0:52:50.520
on how a useless guesser became a good guesser in a year.

0:52:50.520,0:52:56.562
[Applause]

0:52:57.549,0:52:59.409
(Q4) Hi. Um...

0:52:59.409,0:53:03.362
I suspect many people may know the answer to this question in the room,

0:53:03.362,0:53:08.762
but I'm curious about how do you quantify how many words you're fluent in.

0:53:08.762,0:53:10.392
You speak about 2000, 4000...

0:53:10.392,0:53:14.742
I have no idea what my vocabulary is even in my native language.

0:53:14.742,0:53:16.072
One very interesting thing is,

0:53:16.072,0:53:17.972
there were a lot of studies

0:53:17.972,0:53:20.972
in the 80s and before that

0:53:20.972,0:53:24.194
about people's vocabulary knowledge.

0:53:24.194,0:53:25.954
And that's because, as I said,

0:53:25.954,0:53:29.254
the main aim of languages then

0:53:29.254,0:53:31.864
was about language <i>teaching</i>[br]and language <i>testing</i>

0:53:31.864,0:53:33.804
rather than language <i>using</i>.

0:53:33.804,0:53:36.744
And they constantly invented tests

0:53:36.744,0:53:39.864
for judging people's vocabulary.

0:53:39.864,0:53:42.444
And, I think it was as late as 1980,

0:53:42.444,0:53:46.444
it was estimated that native speakers at an adult level

0:53:46.444,0:53:50.444
would have a rich vocabulary of around 90,000 words.

0:53:50.444,0:53:54.444
And now that's realised that's a massive overestimate.

0:53:54.444,0:53:59.334
And the tests of vocabulary have become much much much better.

0:53:59.334,0:54:01.493
So that now they estimate it's 20,000.

0:54:01.493,0:54:05.083
And the way they have tested it,

0:54:05.083,0:54:08.793
is by applying lots and lots and lots and lots[br]of different tests

0:54:08.793,0:54:12.553
to find tests that give consistent results.

0:54:12.553,0:54:13.608
Know what I mean?

0:54:13.608,0:54:17.008
So, and then that tells them what the good tests are

0:54:17.008,0:54:19.208
and gives them confidence that their measures are correct.

0:54:19.208,0:54:22.338
And so there are actually papers that test things,

0:54:22.338,0:54:25.438
they show you a shape and say,

0:54:25.438,0:54:30.808
"If this one is smaller than this, then the other one is ...."

0:54:30.808,0:54:33.919
...bigger. Or something like that.

0:54:33.919,0:54:37.609
And I would put "shoe lace". I don't know.

0:54:37.609,0:54:39.779
So, but, there were many many tests, and

0:54:39.779,0:54:41.089
in the back of that book

0:54:41.089,0:54:43.479
it actually has a couple of sample tests

0:54:43.479,0:54:46.629
and refers to loads and loads and loads of others.

0:54:46.629,0:54:53.619
So there were people whose <i>whole career</i> is working out good tests, yeah.

0:54:53.619,0:54:57.636
- (Q5) Um, I was wondering what is the [br]- Who is that?

0:54:57.636,0:55:00.739
- I was wondering what's the title of that thin book that you recommend

0:55:00.739,0:55:03.329
because I didn't get it when you were talking about it.

0:55:03.329,0:55:07.329
Yeah. It's called "How to Improve..."

0:55:07.329,0:55:09.979
Now, the polyglots will remember this title

0:55:09.979,0:55:15.959
and the polynots will have forgotten the first word already,[br][Laughter]

0:55:15.959,0:55:20.699
"How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately"

0:55:20.699,0:55:24.963
by Boris Shekhtman. It costs around $10.

0:55:24.963,0:55:28.963
The guy, actually, um...

0:55:28.963,0:55:32.653
is Russian by birth. And he was

0:55:32.653,0:55:35.173
employed by the Foreign Service Institute

0:55:35.173,0:55:37.403
to teach Russian.

0:55:37.403,0:55:40.240
He was the head of teaching Russian

0:55:40.240,0:55:43.390
for diplomats in the US.

0:55:43.390,0:55:45.610
And he taught there for many many many years.

0:55:45.610,0:55:49.610
And he realised that certain practices

0:55:49.610,0:55:52.940
were common to the students that were doing the best.

0:55:52.940,0:55:55.280
And so, when he left the FSI,

0:55:55.280,0:55:56.910
he made his own company

0:55:56.910,0:55:58.290
teaching some of these practices.

0:55:58.290,0:56:01.686
And the main part of it is <i>activating</i> vocabulary:

0:56:01.686,0:56:04.076
how to get passive knowledge into active knowledge.

0:56:04.076,0:56:05.186
And this book,

0:56:05.186,0:56:07.216
there's actually a second edition,

0:56:07.216,0:56:10.066
which apparently has a few more wisdoms in it

0:56:10.066,0:56:13.126
- I don't have that - um...

0:56:13.126,0:56:14.460
But this captures

0:56:14.460,0:56:16.250
practices that you can do

0:56:16.250,0:56:18.370
on your own or with a friend or with a teacher

0:56:18.370,0:56:19.980
on how to activate vocabulary.

0:56:19.980,0:56:22.600
So, "How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately".

0:56:22.600,0:56:26.600
Please buy it and support him.

0:56:26.600,0:56:30.600
I learned of him, by the way, from...

0:56:30.600,0:56:34.600
what's his name? Harold...

0:56:34.600,0:56:36.670
who did the Chinese

0:56:36.670,0:56:38.220
- course. [br]- for Michel Thomas.

0:56:38.220,0:56:39.100
Michel Thomas Chinese course.

0:56:39.100,0:56:41.160
- Goodman. Harold Goodman.[br]- Harold Goodman. Yeah.

0:56:41.160,0:56:42.870
So he liked some of my videos

0:56:42.870,0:56:44.790
and said, "Oh, I like your videos."[br]Blah, blah, blah...

0:56:44.790,0:56:47.920
And started... so I had some email exchanges with him.

0:56:47.920,0:56:53.050
And, he was taught languages first by Michel Thomas,

0:56:53.050,0:56:57.050
and said "Michel Thomas died, so I needed a new teacher."

0:56:57.050,0:56:59.860
And he searched high and low and he found Boris Shekhtman,

0:56:59.860,0:57:03.590
and he said, "This guy is phenomenal."

0:57:03.590,0:57:05.180
That got me into buying that book.

0:57:05.180,0:57:07.230
And I agree.

0:57:07.230,0:57:12.015
- Yeah. [br]- (Q6) Hi. So, going back to 'seppe Peano,

0:57:12.015,0:57:13.215
my question is

0:57:13.215,0:57:18.795
which is the influence[br]of the Axiomatic Theory of 'seppe Peano

0:57:18.795,0:57:21.485
on the Axiomatic...

0:57:21.485,0:57:24.785
No, just joking.

0:57:24.785,0:57:30.622
- That's a very interesting question <i>because</i>...[br]- 'seppe Peano invented... No, I'm not finished.

0:57:30.622,0:57:33.542
'seppe Peano invented a language you know....