How to teach a polyglot a new language?

Interview with Dmitry Petrov

Interview with a well-known psycholinguist, polyglot, simultaneous translator, TV and radio host, creator of a unique system of studying foreign languages, President of the Center for Innovative and Communicative Linguistics, a capitalized teacher and an excellent conversationalist. Dmitry Yurievich taught me the basic level of 4 foreign languages, and I tried to open the door for him in the fascinating world of programming. At the end of the article, a special present for geeks and Muggles →.



I decided to write this article because many still do not know about the unique system of accelerated learning a foreign language of a basic level for 16 lessons. The discovery of this system was a revelation for me. I recall learning German at a university, when in the second year of study I did not know how to build the future tense, I could only repeat Mein Vater ist Fräser (My father is a milling machine), but my father is not a milling machine! And the teacher inexorably insisted on studying a textbook thirty years ago: Mein Mutter ist Artz (My mother is a doctor), well, at least we got here, but there were less successful fellow students. No one taught me to speak, to speak without fear, to speak with errors, but to speak.

“Cleanliness is the guarantee of philanthropy”, “Soma grams - and there is no dram!”We were forced to repeat some rules, scared with accusations and scary stories about how complicated it was. After all this, I learned about learning languages ​​by the method of Dmitry Petrov. This post praises the mastery of the teacher, and perhaps someone will discover the same new opportunities that I saw.



Dmitry Petrov is a well-known psycholinguist, a world-famous scientist. Thanks to his own methodology of intensive teaching of foreign languages, he himself managed to learn more than 30 languages. Tens of thousands of people around the world have already been trained in this unique Methodology, and now they use the acquired skills, increasing their effectiveness and achieving a higher degree of internal freedom. To date, Dmitry Petrov’s teaching method has been recognized as the most effective for fast learning a foreign language, if you need to get the necessary communication skills in any foreign language of any difficulty level in a short time. The methodology of lessons allows you to speak a foreign language in a very short time. Usually an intensive course consists of 16 lessons.

“Freedom before correctness!” First you need to learn how to speak a foreign language, and then you need to learn how to speak correctly. ”

Dmitry Petrov is the author of the method of intensive teaching of foreign languages, the host of the popular Polyglot program on the TV channel Culture. As of December 2015, seven seasons of the program have been released: English, Italian, French, Spanish, German, Hindi / Urdu and Portuguese. The Chinese language season is being prepared for release.

In the classroom, Petrov helps to master the matrix of the language: basic grammar rules and structures, as well as remember the very first 300-400 words. This forms the basic “fireproof reserve”, the elementary language level. You can stay on it. And you can go further, deepen knowledge, constantly increasing the vocabulary.

“The whole secret is in the methodology. Its main principles are compactness in time, bringing basic grammatical structures to automatism, mastering the most common vocabulary, and figuratively emotional perception of the language. ”

Dmitry Petrov worked as a translator with top officials of the state. During his life he studied more than 100 languages ​​to varying degrees. He can read in 50 languages, but works with 8 languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Czech, Greek and Hindi.

“I do not consider language as a set of grammatical rules, it is a multidimensional space, a dimension that has color, smell, and taste. We must learn to feel comfortable in this environment. Language is not the rules written in the textbook, but the environment in which we must breathe. Exactly this happened with our native language, we did not learn it. ”
D.Yu. Petrov

Interview

You say that "learning a language is half mathematics, half psychology." Perhaps you could just as easily master the technical sciences? Do you feel a craving for natural or technical sciences?

In the first half of my life, I really was a pure humanitarian and did not feel much craving and interest in the exact sciences. At some point, a turning point or breakthrough occurred in me, and I experienced a wild attraction to the exact sciences. It all started with an interest in non-fiction, especially books by Stephen Hawking. Since then I have been reading a lot of literature on quantum mechanics. It can be said, on the other hand, I approached the humanities, considering them through the prism of the exact sciences. A lot of points that interested me in the field of linguistics, but went beyond the framework of the methodology of language learning, found very interesting parallels in the exact sciences.

Let me give you a simple example with the well-known wave-particle dualism. From my point of view, this finds a fairly accurate analogy in the field of language learning. We can consider a word as a lexical unit of language, as an analogue of a point, and an emotionally-shaped system, a stream of consciousness and meanings is an analogue of a wave. The collapse of the wave, which quantum physics speaks of, is reflected in the field of linguistics, when in a certain situation we find a word expressing at the moment those or other emotions and thoughts that we want to convey.

You speak 30-40 languages ​​to varying degrees. Does this abundance bother you? For example, in Czech, the word homeland means family, maybe when you hear this word, the image that is associated with this word in your native language pops up intuitively?

No, because the first thing I do for myself and advise everyone is to find a password for myself that will help me “enter” a certain language, in the case when a person speaks several languages. You need to have your own mood and be able to rebuild consciousness in such a way as to perceive in the Czech “homeland” only as “family”. For me, “homeland” in Czech will mean only “family”, because the key is changing.

In one of the interviews you said that you are an absolute humanitarian, up to the point that you do not have a driver’s license. How do you get around the city?

The lack of rights is not entirely related to my membership in the humanities; rather, it is connected with logistics. I live near the metro, all my affairs are in the city center, i.e. It’s much more comfortable and convenient for me to travel by metro, or, if necessary, take a taxi. In this case, I know with accuracy up to a minute how much time it will take on the road.

Are you often recognized on public transport?

Yes, quite often.

Does it bring discomfort or amusement of pride?

Neither one nor the other. At the same time, they are often surprised and ask the same question: “How, do you really take the subway?”

You were and are the translator of all the presidents of the Russian Federation. I think your protection is a matter of state security. Does your bodyguard go with you?

I have a guardian angel, I trust him more. And so, maybe some invisible defense exists.

You claim that the language changes over time according to certain rules. In the language are reflected not only historical, but also many other phenomena. Is it possible to build a vector for the further development of the language?

There is such a science of glottochronology, which studies the changes in the phonetic and lexical component of languages ​​over a long period of time. Quite a lot of material has been accumulated about a whole series of ancient languages, and we can follow, based on available documents, how Hindi came from Sanskrit, from Latin - all Romance languages, from Gothic and Old English - modern English. Computer technologies came in handy here as well. Statistical analysis was performed to determine how much vocabulary changes over a given period of time. Over 1000 years, 15-20% of the lexical composition of the language changes. The phonetic component of the language is also predictable. Thus, it can be assumed how the language will develop further.

In connection with the Arabization of Europe, is it possible to assume that in 100-200 years Europeans will speak with an admixture of sounds characteristic of the Arabic language?

In part, what you said is showing up now. In some European countries where there are Arabic-speaking or Persian-speaking communities, it has been observed that young people and children born to European families imitate their peers from eastern countries, considering it fashionable. Thus, the sound environment has a strong effect on children.

We turn to the question of changing the language. How do you feel about the fact that we began to “dress better” and drink “good coffee” in the morning? How do you rate the introduction of an Internet meme and the legalization of medium coffee into our speech?

Of course, I cannot negatively relate to improvements in the domestic environment and I perceive them with pleasure. As for the reflection of these phenomena in the language, the language can be considered either as a mechanism that obeys certain laws, or as a living organism. Borrowing and interchange between languages ​​is an absolutely natural phenomenon. Very often there are bursts of struggle with the dominance of foreign words. I believe that this is absolutely groundless fear. First, a language must survive in order to survive with other languages. The power of the tongue, and we believe in the power of our great and powerful one, is that it will leave all the most necessary, and all that is not necessary and not important, it will be rejected. Borrowing new words when they go along with realities is a natural and positive process, thus enriching the language.

Those. Selfies in self-photo will not be renamed?

Do not.

I would like to say from the bot of may hart. There are many successful examples of how you teach famous languages ​​to foreign languages. Is it more difficult to teach the language to famous personalities, politicians? Do you have to look for a special approach?

I would say that a special approach needs to be found in general for any person. One of the fundamental postulates of my methodology for studying foreign languages ​​is that it is impossible to create a single methodology for everyone. Each person has an absolutely unique perception of the world, including language. As for high-ranking people who differ in a number of parameters from the bulk of the population, this is especially important to consider.

Sports practiced If so, what kind?

In general, I try to maintain a healthy lifestyle. In different periods I was engaged in various sports, most often they were martial arts: wrestling, karate, wushu.

You once mentioned the esoteric practices that you apply. Tell us more about this, please.

Almost always, when studying foreign languages, physiology is ignored. During training, we use not only the brain, but our entire body. When I conduct the trainings, I ask the first question: “Where was it physically uncomfortable for you to try to speak a foreign language?” And people show points on the body, basically these are three points: head, throat and stomach. Those. places where blocks are formed during the perception of information. I use the principle borrowed from yoga - this is free breathing and getting rid of the blocks that interfere with the free flow of information. I use the same thing when I train interpreters, I explain to them how to breathe correctly. You need to study in comfortable conditions and with pleasure.

You once mentioned that you learned Hungarian in two weeks, having one art book and a dictionary. Are you a gambling person?

Yes.

Do you encounter copying of your foreign language teaching methodology by outside teachers?

I come across. I take this philosophically, believing that this is inevitable. Most of all, it bothers me that very often a distortion of the original idea occurs. If someone gains knowledge, albeit in a different way, that’s good. But it is not uncommon that when copying a methodology without any reason, people or entire companies distort and distort the very essence of the idea.

According to the school curriculum, there are 30 people in the classroom, and foreign language lessons 2 hours a week. Maybe the conditions initially do not have the right to learn the language of schoolchildren?

This is not about the number of pupils or students. I conduct trainings and lectures for a very large number of people, more than 100 people. The way of perception is different for everyone. Someone reaches out to answer first, someone prefers to remain silent. This is not a measure of academic achievement. Equality in assimilation cannot be by definition, but there must be equality of opportunity. The teacher must provide everyone with the opportunity, understanding in advance that not everyone will take advantage of it. The second task is to give such an opportunity to those who really need it, who are capable and want, so that they do not miss it because the teacher will push the others.

I know about your positive attitude towards learning a second language at school. In your opinion, could a second language be applied to your methodology? Are such negotiations underway with the Ministry of Education?

I very much support the idea of ​​learning 2-3 languages ​​at school, but at the same time I understand that it is extremely difficult to realize this idea on a national scale, at least because of the lack of teachers. As for the very idea of ​​connecting my method, I think that it would be ideal, since one of the main advantages of my method is compactness. We could give a huge number of students with a small investment of resources and time to learn more than one language, even to a basic level.

Periodically, communicating with representatives of various government agencies, the question of using my methodology arises. Moreover, it always arises in a positive way, but the state education system is a huge mechanism that is difficult to transform.



At the beginning of 2016, a big movie should be released about your visit to China. You set an ambitious task to teach the basics of the Chinese language in 16 lessons. I have seen a lot of skepticism on the Internet about this.
The task is really ambitious, but the task of teaching Hindi or Portuguese was no less ambitious. There is a certain basic level of language, which by definition is available to anyone who is interested in it. I use the same principles: the principle of frequency, the principle of algorithms and the principle of automation of basic structures. At the first (basic) level, I set the task to speak, because language above all is spoken language. Therefore, at the first level, with regard to the Chinese language, we hieroglyphs out of brackets. Thank God, in order to facilitate our task, the Chinese themselves invented the system of Latin ping-yin graphics, which we will use.

Do you have a craving for Chinese culture, language and history? Did she appear immediately or gradually?

I decided to take up the Chinese language after learning a number of other languages. I never tear off the language from everything that is connected with the people who speak this language, because language is as much an integral part of the people’s being as its customs, mentality, behaviors, including kitchen, music and everything else.

In Chinese, many are scared by the presence of several tones. One and the same word spoken with different intonation can mean completely different things. Why do you think the Chinese chose such a complicated way of communication?

Not a single nation in the world has created its language difficult for foreigners to do evil, so that it would be difficult for enemies to learn it. Each nation in the course of its history is looking for the best way for him to express the same ... In the Chinese language there are 4 basic tones: rising intonation, falling, even and wavy, on which the meaning depends. The fact is that in the Chinese language it is impossible to create new units of the language. As 5-6 thousand years ago, a set of (elements of the language) for this puzzle was formed, so the Chinese use it to describe all modern words. One of the difficulties of the Chinese language is not so much the tone, it can be understood and logically reproduced, but the fact that we cannot use any borrowings, that is, the names of countries, the names of people cannot be borrowed in Chinese. For everything, you have to find equivalents from Chinese combinations of sounds. Example: Russia in Chinese sounds like "Eguo." And there is an explanation for this, “guo” means a country. When the Chinese were looking for variants of the name for other countries, they took the first letter or a sound close to them from the name of the country and added it to “guo”. The Chinese do not have the sound "P". Russia, which used to be called Rus, went into Chinese as "E Luo Sy", hence the name "Eguo"



Have you ever tried to learn programming languages?

I didn’t do this on purpose, but over the past 15 years I have worked with a group of colleagues at most international conferences of companies such as Intel, Oracle, SAP, Microsoft. My first program, written by me, is still ahead of me.

What programs and applications do you use?

I use WhatsApp, Viber, various language programs and dictionaries, Yandex.Taxi, etc.

Do you participate in social networks on your own behalf?

Personally, I don’t participate in social networks, but on behalf of the Linguistics Center we communicate and keep in touch.

Do you think that with modern technologies and globalization it has become easier to learn foreign languages?
Undoubtedly. It has become an order of magnitude easier to learn the language and use it, but on the one hand, devices make our life much easier, on the other hand, we delegate to them those natural properties that were given to us: intuition, memory. Previously, people knew dozens of phone numbers as a keepsake, but now some people hardly remember their own. What will happen with the widespread use of video chat services with simultaneous automatic translation?

As for the opportunities to learn a language with the help of technologies, I personally, mastering a new language, watch series in that language on Youtube. Live communication will not replace anything, but I really like to read different chats and forums in different foreign languages. With the help of forums, you can track language changes in real time.

Do you spend a lot of time at the computer?

2-3 hours a day. This is work with documents, watching videos. I do not play computer games, believing that this is required for people with an unsaturated life in order to compensate for the lack of emotions.

Dmitry Yurievich recognizes the dialect by one phrase

How to teach a polyglot a new language?

According to your programs, I mastered French, Spanish, German at a basic level. I'm learning Italian now. For my part, I would like to open the door for you into the world of programming languages.

In any programming language, there is a special syntax that must be followed. Commands and function names are different, but there are some basic concepts that can be found everywhere. I want to tell you about the PHP programming language. Since I am developing sites, in my work most often I use this programming language. PHP has been consistently on the list of the most popular programming and web development languages ​​for many years. PHP stands for Hypertext PreProcessor.

All commands and scripts written in PHP are executed on the server, i.e. we as clients in the browser already get the result of our program.



Let's look at the program a bit more complicated. I prepared the code for a simple program that parses text from a text file uploaded to the server. In the program, all the text turns into an array of characters. Processing each element of the resulting array, we create a new (resulting) array, where the keys will be the protrusions of the letter of the Latin alphabet, and the value will be the number of references to this letter in the text. Then we display the resulting values ​​in a graph.



An example of processing a program: red shows the density of letters in the English text, yellow in Spanish. When analyzing two texts in English, the graph remains almost unchanged.



As you can see, even a program that does not seem to be a trivial task at first glance is quite simple to understand and consists of a small set of functions.

Dmitry Yurievich turned out to be an excellent conversationalist and a talented junior php developer. I hope someone will really discover the same new opportunities in learning languages ​​that I saw.