“Oooh but YOU have such a talent for languages”, she said.
“I don’t have the same talent as you do, I couldn’t possibly manage to learn a language as quickly as you…”
FALSE.
Do I have a talent for languages? Maybe, but probably not.
The above conversation occurred on a recent trip to France.
I speak French like a developmentally impaired three-year-old.
But I don’t care.
And perhaps that, my friends, is my ONLY talent.
I wish had the same carefree attitude towards failure in other areas of my life. Somehow when it comes to learning languages, I don’t care to make a fool of myself.
So I talk like shit. My grammar is non-existent. My words are nonsensical. But somehow I do manage to make myself understood and to carry out some semblance of conversation.
Many years ago, when my friend Steve came to Israel to study Hebrew in an Ulpan (language learning school for Hebrew), I knew before he started that he would succeed in learning the language.
When he came to Israel, he knew very few words. Hello (“Shalom”), thank you (“Toda”) and maybe a couple more. And he used them (somehow a ride on a minibus stands out, where he strung his 4-word vocabulary together…)
Did he sound like a fool?
YES. (Sorry Steve, but its true… J )
But the fact that he was willing to sound like a fool and make mistakes and actually TALK was why I knew he would succeed in learning the language.
And after his short stint at the Ulpan, he did indeed come out speaking fluently.
It was “remarkable”.
So if you want to learn a language, you’ve got to let go of your fragile ego and be willing to go back to being a beginner, to being a baby.
TALK, no matter how stupid you may sound.
Talking with other humans is what language is all about, after all.
It isn’t about doing your grammar homework. It isn’t about memorizing reams of words. It isn’t about perfecting your spelling. Throw these out the door!
Just TALK.
In the end, people love it when you make the effort to speak their language.
It is remarkable how much people open up and soften when they see someone is making the effort, no matter how hard it is to understand.
And beyond language learning, being willing to experiment and take action is so so so important. You can apply the same thing to learning a new skill, a new sport, a new hobby or launching a new business.
