How to learn any language in six months | Chris Lonsdale | TEDxLingnanUn...

Chris Lonsdale is Managing Director of Chris Lonsdale & Associates, a company established to catalyse breakthrough performance for individuals and senior teams. In addition, he has also developed a unique and integrated approach to learning that gives people the means to acquire language or complex technical knowledge in short periods of time



5 Principles of Rapid Language Acquisition:

1. Focus on language content that is relevant to you

2. Use Your New Language as a Tool to Communicate from the very start

3. Understand then acquire the language Unconsciously  (Comprehensive Input Approach)

4. Do Physiological Training, learn how to pronounce the words that you would need

5. Express your psycho-physiological state and avoid getting overwhelmed



7 Actions for Rapid Language Acquisition:

1. Listen a lot, the tones, pronunciations, other auditory clues 

2. Focus on getting the meaning first, for some reason swear words are easily learned more than the important words, just a personal observation

3. Start mixing the words you learn, formula for 1000 phrases = (10 verbs)(10 nouns)(10 pronouns)

4. Focus on the core words, around 3000 words will allow you to speak almost 98% of the language (know what phrases to say, then the pronouns+common verbs + adjectives, lastly glue or combine what you've learned previously)

5. Get a language parent aka a native speaker who: 1) works to understand what you want to say 2)tolerates your mistakes in speech and grammar 3) affirmatively shows he/she understands what you are trying to say correctly 4) matches your vocabulary level when you speak to each other

6. Copy their facial expression when they say words and phrases and if they are not present practice with a visual aid

7. Directly connect words to mental images, for example when you try to remember "fire" in the language, visualize it as well.