Gabriel Gelman is the founder of Sprachheld, a popular language learning website for Germans learning foreign languages (and―as an added bonus―non-Germans learning German as a foreign language). On the site, Gabriel shares useful language learning tips and tools, inspirational interviews with polyglots and linguists, and a dialogue-based Spanish course (with other languages slated for production in the future). I’ve followed his work for some time and was delighted to finally meet him in person at the 2019 Polyglot Gathering in Bratislava.
“Whenever you’re learning or whenever you’re spending time on learning that language, ask yourself, are you doing one of those four core activities: are you listening, speaking, writing, or reading? And if that’s not the core of everything that you do, then you’re doing it wrong. Or not right.” —Gabriel Gelman
In the interview, we discuss:
- Gabriel’s foreign language “origin story.”
- How―like many eventual polyglots―he didn’t do very well in foreign languages in school.
- How the “nuclear option” of studying abroad finally helped him reach fluency in English and French.
- How his view on language learning shifted somewhat when he began learning Spanish outside of Spain.
- Why most people struggle to learn languages in school and why language should not be thought of as an academic subject like biology or mathematics.
- The critical importance of real-life application when learning languages and having specific, short-term goals, and milestones.
- Why Gabriel only learns languages when they are directly, immediately useful in his life (he doesn’t learn “just in case” or “just for fun”).
- Gabriel’s current milestones for learning Polish.
- Gabriel’s tips for minitoring your progress and making incremental improvement more visible but why he himself no longer tracks progress.
- How your efficiency rate will increase with each new language you learn.
- Why at least 80% of your learning time should be spent on language input (listening and reading) first and output practice (speaking and writing), with language “study” as “seasoning” on top.
- Why you should focus on only listening first (for at least a month) to avoid accent issues and developing incorrect pronunciation habits.
- But, on the other hand, why you probably need to start speaking way before you feel “ready.”
- What a typical day of language learning looks like for Gabriel.
- Gabriel’s favorite language learning resources and tools.
- Why you should limit yourself to 3-5 language resources or activities at a time to maintain your focus and momentum.
- The importance of continually re-asking yourself, “Am I actually practicing the four core language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing?”
- Gabriel’s “old school” approach to learning vocabulary (“It doesn’t work for most people but it works really well for me”).
- Why “paper is powerful” (and often faster than digital tools).
- Balancing efficiency and motivation (i.e. the imperfect method you stick to is better than the perfect method or you quit).
- How and why to create a weekly learning plan and how it helps with motivation and consistency.
- Why conscious study of grammar and vocabulary can be a shortcut to fluency, but not a replacement for authentic input and output.
People, Places & Resources Mentioned
- Joseph Campbell (see his book The Hero’s with a Thousand Faces for more on the hero’s journey concept).
- Academic grading in Germany (Wikipedia)
- Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Wikipedia)
- Erasmus Programme (an EU student exchange programme)
- Toulouse, France (Wikipedia)
- RealPolish.pl (a podcast for learning Polish)
- Richard Simcott (a hyper-polyglot who uses more than 14 languages professionaly)
- Dr. Stephen Krashen (an applied linguist and educational researcher known for his Input Hypothesis)
- Interlanguage fossilization (Wikipedia)
- Antonio Graceffo (a writer, fighter & linguist previously interviewed on The Language Mastery Show)
- LingQ (a site, app, and language learning community focused on input and learning languages through interesting, authentic content)
- The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future (The Analog Method for the Digital Age)
- Chunking (Wikipedia)
- Minimum Viable Habits (tiny daily language habits you’ll complete no matter what)
- Gretchen Rubin (for more on the “habit of the habit” concept, see her great book Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits—to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life)
- Venn diagram (Wikipedia)
- Language acquisition (Wikipedia)
- Gabriel’s interview with Dr. Stephen Krashen (YouTube)
- Radical Honesty (for more on this topic, read Radical Honesty: How to Transform Your Life by Telling the Truth by Brad Blanton. Warning: It is an INTENSE read!)
- 2020 Polyglot Gathering in Poland | Teresin, Poland | May 26–30, 2020
- Master Japanese: How to Learn Japanese through Anywhere Immersion (my how-to manual and resource guide for learning Japanese)
Connect with Gabriel
- Sprachheld (website)
- Die Sprachheld-SpanischSchule (Gabriel’s Spanish course)
- YouTube
John,
Talking to polyglots is interesting; however, it has little pragmatic value since there is something that distinguishes hyper polyglots neurologically.
Self-taught polyglot Ray Gillon (he speaks 18 languages) says he has no idea what the secret to his success is. In this article: //www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17101370 Gillon makes an important statement: “I can’t explain it – if I could, I would bottle and sell it.”
In your interview with Gabriel you stress the importance of continually re-asking yourself, “Am I actually practicing the four core language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing?”
If you would modify your question and ask: “Am I actually practicing all four language skills – reading, listening, speaking and writing – simultaneously and subconsciously? You would find the solution to the modern problem that all adults are facing when learning a foreign language.
Arkady, I disagree that polyglots have unique cognitive abilities that separate them from non-polyglots and that sharing their stories has “little pragmatic value.” The common thread among successful language learners is attitude, not aptitude. While their methods may differ, all of the polyglots I’ve interviewed share a passion for learning, a belief they can acquire foreign languages if they do the right things, a focus on choosing comprehensible input that fits their interests, and the willingness to make lots of mistakes along the way.
John,
If two people have a different opinion on a topic, nothing can change their opinions whatever facts or logical consideration they will use to persuade the opponent that he is wrong. I am not going to do this wasteful persuasion.
I suggest looking at this discussion from a different angle. Please, consider only one paragraph in my comment and elaborate on it.
“If you would modify your question and ask: “Am I actually practicing all four language skills – reading, listening, speaking and writing – simultaneously and subconsciously? You would find the solution to the modern problem that all adults are facing when learning a foreign language.”
I regularly change my opinions and positions when presented with new evidence or compelling arguments that make sense to me. For example, I’ve adjusted my position on the right timing and balance of input and output as I’ve talked with more learners who have reached fluency using methods different to my own. I am happy to consider other ideas and have debates on differing points of view. However, I have little tolerance for comments unrelated to the blog post in question or that are posted simply to promote the commentor’s blog or product.