#AskSteve

🔥 Learn languages like I do: https://www.lingq.com/learn-languages-like-steve-kaufmann?utm_source=yt&utm_medium=desc&utm_campaign=syt&utm_content=1jTFo4B-cmM CC subtitles available in multiple languages. In this video, I discuss why reading feels effortless in some languages and slow in others—and what to do about it. ⏲️ TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Transparent and opaque languages 1:34 English, French and inconsistent spelling 3:10 Why I read Arabic and Persian online 4:20 How to approach opaque writing systems 8:40 Getting used to a new writing system 📺 WATCH NEXT: https://youtu.be/o4fKOnbLZjU?si=Xeyhr6WPxOYAEjSj https://youtu.be/b-1OyRE53Zc?si=1HGmBwdjyMPLQbui 📌 SOURCES: https://theconversation.com/why-we-can-read-finnish-without-understanding-it-a-look-at-transparent-languages-231628 🎙️ LISTEN TO MY PODCAST: Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/3iZsbic Apple: https://apple.co/3z1F1lD Google: https://bit.ly/2W3DYmK Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4TbcX8ilVmVTi6jdQVHuwK 💡 LEARN MORE: Get my 10 Secrets of Language Learning: https://www.thelinguist.com Download my FREE grammar guides: https://www.lingq.com/en/grammar-resource/ Join the LingQ Discord server: https://discord.gg/ShPTjyhwTN Read my language learning blog on The Linguist: https://bit.ly/2MW83Ab Read the LingQ language learning blog: https://bit.ly/35yvaqK ✅ FOLLOW ME: My Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/lingosteve_ My TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lingosteve

🔥 Learn languages like I do: https://www.lingq.com/learn-languages-like-steve-kaufmann?utm_source=yt&utm_medium=desc&utm_campaign=syt&utm_content=o4fKOnbLZjU CC subtitles available in multiple languages. Friction is what reduces our enjoyment of language learning, so in this video I go through the nine forms it takes and what I do about each one. ⏲️ TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Motivation divided by friction 0:40 Sounding foolish, perfectionism and ambiguity 2:30 Boring content, grammar rules and your first language 4:22 No one to speak to, second-guessing and impatience 5:46 Why language learning is like falling snow 📺 WATCH NEXT: https://youtu.be/v5WkWmea3hw?si=nzalVKEVIVA7dyUu https://youtu.be/sedFgAJ9tFE?si=mbEk6MITYY819CBV 🎙️ LISTEN TO MY PODCAST: Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/3iZsbic Apple: https://apple.co/3z1F1lD Google: https://bit.ly/2W3DYmK Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4TbcX8ilVmVTi6jdQVHuwK 💡 LEARN MORE: Get my 10 Secrets of Language Learning: https://www.thelinguist.com Download my FREE grammar guides: https://www.lingq.com/en/grammar-resource/ Join the LingQ Discord server: https://discord.gg/ShPTjyhwTN Read my language learning blog on The Linguist: https://bit.ly/2MW83Ab Read the LingQ language learning blog: https://bit.ly/35yvaqK ✅ FOLLOW ME: My Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/lingosteve_ My TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lingosteve

🔥 Learn languages like I do: https://www.lingq.com/learn-languages-like-steve-kaufmann?utm_source=yt&utm_medium=desc&utm_campaign=syt&utm_content=v5WkWmea3hw CC subtitles available in multiple languages. Should you focus on words or grammar? Here's how I approach grammar as an input-based learner, and why most corrections never stick. ⏲️ TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Words or grammar: what really matters? 0:31 The mistakes learners actually make 1:47 Grammar-light vs grammar-heavy languages 5:35 Why speaking is where grammar breaks down 8:19 Noticing, grammar books, and being realistic 📺 WATCH NEXT: https://youtu.be/B2zRk4PqMSA?si=N94l8blh1aYayBNM https://youtu.be/ac1f8qa30Bg?si=V37iiztz57IgWZy4 🎙️ LISTEN TO MY PODCAST: Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/3iZsbic Apple: https://apple.co/3z1F1lD Google: https://bit.ly/2W3DYmK Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4TbcX8ilVmVTi6jdQVHuwK 💡 LEARN MORE: Get my 10 Secrets of Language Learning: https://www.thelinguist.com Download my FREE grammar guides: https://www.lingq.com/en/grammar-resource/ Join the LingQ Discord server: https://discord.gg/ShPTjyhwTN Read my language learning blog on The Linguist: https://bit.ly/2MW83Ab Read the LingQ language learning blog: https://bit.ly/35yvaqK ✅ FOLLOW ME: My Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/lingosteve_ My TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lingosteve

🔥 Learn languages like I do: https://www.lingq.com/learn-languages-like-steve-kaufmann?utm_source=yt&utm_medium=desc&utm_campaign=syt&utm_content=oL2EwWQTP7U CC subtitles available in multiple languages. In this video I'll you how I'm getting ready for my trip to Portugal by using point-of-view stories, circling questions, and AI to create custom lessons. ⏲️ TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 My upcoming trip to Portugal 0:34 How mini-stories and circling questions work 3:23 Creating stories about the town I'll visit with AI 5:31 Why AI-generated lessons work so well now 📺 WATCH NEXT: https://youtu.be/IFNkhFEpWNI?si=Gb5TKzAX_Rx05HaQ https://youtu.be/a3RYTmVHTGI?si=yPaIzPmwkNEvYXcc 🎙️ LISTEN TO MY PODCAST: Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/3iZsbic Apple: https://apple.co/3z1F1lD Google: https://bit.ly/2W3DYmK Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4TbcX8ilVmVTi6jdQVHuwK 💡 LEARN MORE: Get my 10 Secrets of Language Learning: https://www.thelinguist.com Download my FREE grammar guides: https://www.lingq.com/en/grammar-resource/ Join the LingQ Discord server: https://discord.gg/ShPTjyhwTN Read my language learning blog on The Linguist: https://bit.ly/2MW83Ab Read the LingQ language learning blog: https://bit.ly/35yvaqK ✅ FOLLOW ME: My Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/lingosteve_ My TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lingosteve

🔥 Learn languages like I do: https://www.lingq.com/learn-languages-like-steve-kaufmann?utm_source=yt&utm_medium=desc&utm_campaign=syt&utm_content=mE3qTLUpBhY CC subtitles available in multiple languages. Today I want to talk about the fifth language skill — the one nobody teaches alongside reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and the one that might matter just as much. ⏲️ TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 The fifth language skill 00:48 How the brain builds language 02:09 Losing languages you're not using 02:39 The joy of coming back to a language 06:06 Involuntary memory 📺 WATCH NEXT: https://youtu.be/bXuJ-q03bGw?si=w1SL37qKFDo_Kvem https://youtu.be/I5jpKlKcAf4?si=rMVvueVO2JX-8aIC 🎙️ LISTEN TO MY PODCAST: Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/3iZsbic Apple: https://apple.co/3z1F1lD Google: https://bit.ly/2W3DYmK Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4TbcX8ilVmVTi6jdQVHuwK 💡 LEARN MORE: Get my 10 Secrets of Language Learning: https://www.thelinguist.com Download my FREE grammar guides: https://www.lingq.com/en/grammar-resource/ Join the LingQ Discord server: https://discord.gg/ShPTjyhwTN Read my language learning blog on The Linguist: https://bit.ly/2MW83Ab Read the LingQ language learning blog: https://bit.ly/35yvaqK ✅ FOLLOW ME: My Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/lingosteve_ My TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lingosteve

For me, the number of words you know is the clearest sign of where you really are in a language. But I don't get there by drilling word lists or grinding through spaced repetition. I pick up most of my vocabulary by reading and listening to things I actually find interesting, and I only review in quick, low-pressure ways. Forgetting words and stumbling doesn't worry me, it's all part of getting better. How do you like to review the words you're learning?

🔥 Learn languages like I do: https://www.lingq.com/learn-languages-like-steve-kaufmann?utm_source=yt&utm_medium=desc&utm_campaign=syt&utm_content=UOpvIXpFnj0 CC subtitles available in multiple languages. Today I want to talk about the state of flow — that feeling of being completely absorbed in what you're doing — and how you can use it to become a better language learner. ⏲️ TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 What is the state of flow? 2:04 Choosing meaningful, challenging content 3:57 Building up to flow: the scaffolding process 5:45 Staying in flow: values, variety and pacing 9:24 My Persian experiment with NotebookLM 📺 WATCH NEXT: https://youtu.be/bXuJ-q03bGw?si=LIm7yc9N2022GzOr https://youtu.be/mPiwdoyUeoA?si=y2X9uweuGdrJErMZ 🎙️ LISTEN TO MY PODCAST: Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/3iZsbic Apple: https://apple.co/3z1F1lD Google: https://bit.ly/2W3DYmK Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4TbcX8ilVmVTi6jdQVHuwK 💡 LEARN MORE: Get my 10 Secrets of Language Learning: https://www.thelinguist.com Download my FREE grammar guides: https://www.lingq.com/en/grammar-resource/ Join the LingQ Discord server: https://discord.gg/ShPTjyhwTN Read my language learning blog on The Linguist: https://bit.ly/2MW83Ab Read the LingQ language learning blog: https://bit.ly/35yvaqK ✅ FOLLOW ME: My Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/lingosteve_ My TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lingosteve

After 60+ years of learning languages, here's the truth about low frequency words: you can't flashcard your way through them. There are tens of thousands of them, each one showing up only now and again, and a word drilled with no context around it just won't stick. I've tried, many times, in many languages. What works is meeting those words where they actually live — in the books, podcasts, and videos you already want to consume. The context does the heavy lifting, and if a word matters to what you enjoy, you'll meet it again until it's simply yours. So stop forcing rare words into your head — read more, listen more, and let them come to you.

Language learning isn't a solo journey—it's a team sport. The more you learn together, the further everyone goes. 🚀