00:00So when I started learning Spanish, I had already taken 3 years of Spanish classes in school.
00:05So I kind of already had like a guide when I decided I wanted to take that seriously.
00:10So I'm not going to say it was the easiest thing I ever did, but at least I already knew
00:14a little bit of the language here and there, you know what I'm saying.
00:17So then when I started learning French, I was like, bet, okay, I already know Spanish, you know, I'm a
00:23seasoned language learner.
00:25This is going to be a breeze.
00:26This is going to be a breeze.
00:28And, um, it was not.
00:29You know, I started listening to my little podcast here and there and I was like, why don't I understand
00:34anything?
00:35But the point is learning a language from zero is way different from learning a language you already have some
00:39familiarity with.
00:40So if I was to decide today that I wanted to learn a new language, let's say I just really
00:46develop a passion for Sweden and I want to learn Swedish.
00:50If I'm going to learn a new language today from zero, where would I start?
00:54So the first step in my opinion would be to develop a basic understanding of the language.
00:58I feel like it's only once you understand at least some of the language that you can begin to talk
01:04and form phrases and all that.
01:06That's exactly how babies learn to talk.
01:08They spend like two whole years just listening and taking in the language before they say their first word.
01:15So I feel like mimicking the natural process is the best way to go with this.
01:19Although, ideally, we would be saying some words before two years into the process.
01:23Developing a basic understanding.
01:25Okay, so how am I going to go about this?
01:26The very first thing I would do would be to look up a list of the thousand most common words
01:32in your target language and just start studying them.
01:36Yes, studying, you know, it's not, you know, it's not that fun.
01:39So I'm going to start studying these words.
01:42Anki is a good free option.
01:44If you have a little more of a budget, you know, working girl, I recommend the application Lingvist.
01:49You can import a list of words and start practicing them and it'll give you both context and the pronunciation
01:54of the words.
01:55And then if you're learning either English or Spanish, I definitely recommend the website SpanishDict.
02:01And they even have lists of 1,000 there in the application.
02:04They have like 1,000 beginner words, 1,000 intermediate words, and 1,000 advanced words.
02:10So once I have my list, I would spend about 30 minutes every day just learning that basic vocabulary.
02:15Then I would pair that with some input.
02:19So ideally, you should be listening to your target language every single day.
02:22Eventually, you should start like consuming things that you like already just in that target language.
02:28For example, news, music, YouTube videos, TikToks.
02:33But when you're starting out, that might be a little counterintuitive because all that organic content is a little out
02:40of our like understanding range.
02:42So I would start with a podcast, you know, a nice simple podcast with basic sentence structures, you know, all
02:49that.
02:49Alright, so we're listening to the podcast, you know, we're getting the input in.
02:54And any words I don't understand, I would be adding them to my deck or to my list of vocabulary
02:59words and keep practicing those.
03:00And before you know it, you're going to start understanding bits and phrases of the podcast or whatever you're listening
03:06to.
03:07And eventually, you'll be able to understand a lot of the language as long as it's spoken clearly and at
03:12a reasonable pace.
03:13Because honestly, I mean, in the English language, there's like more than a million words, I believe.
03:18Probably with a thousand, you could understand the majority of everyday conversations.
03:22In between the input stage and like the output stage, you're going to want to refine a little bit.
03:28And this just involves learning what is the actual sentence structure, basic conjugations, present tense.
03:34And I wouldn't stay on this too long either.
03:37Grammar is important because you want to sound like you know what you're saying.
03:40But at the same time, that's also going to come naturally with you practicing expressing yourself and with you submerging
03:47yourself in the language and listening to it every day.
03:49You're going to automatically catch on to those things.
03:52So it's good to have an understanding of the grammatical structures, but don't stay on it too long.
03:58But do touch on it, but don't stay on it too long.
04:00So how do you go from just being able to understand a language to being able to speak it?
04:06So the ideal way, obviously, is to talk with native speakers.
04:10Hopefully a person that can correct you and guide you.
04:12But now you say, but nobody speaks Swedish where I live.
04:17Understandable.
04:17Then I recommend finding a tutor that can correct you as you make mistakes and give you input.
04:23Now you say, well Vic, I don't have money to be paying a tutor.
04:27Well, you're lucky we live in the digital age.
04:30If there's nobody like around you that speaks a language and you can't find a tutor,
04:36I would recommend finding your way onto the internet and finding a language exchange partner
04:41because there's going to be somebody that wants to learn your language and that you want to learn their language.
04:46So you guys can help each other.
04:48And if none of that is working out for you, you're going to have to talk to yourself.
04:53I don't make the rules.
04:54So yes, basically the vocabulary and the input is where I would start if I were to learn a language
05:01from zero today.
05:02And remember the most important thing is to choose the methods that work for you and to be consistent with
05:07those methods.
05:08And if you do all that, I don't see why you shouldn't be talking fluent Swedish.
05:12Okay.
05:13If you found this video helpful, consider subscribing because you never know.
05:17I might pop out with a learning Swedish vlog.
05:21Vlog in Sweden.
05:22How I learned Swedish video.
05:24Thanks for watching as always and I will see you in the next video.
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