korrents

What Scott H. Young thinks about language learning

@scott-h-young · 22 positions · 2 changes of mind

Canadian writer on learning who taught himself MIT's computer-science curriculum in a year, then spent the following year travelling through Spain, Brazil, China and Korea trying not to speak English. Author of Ultralearning.

Everything they publish, on ppll ↗

Scott H. Young did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

4 dated positions, 2014, in their own words. Our reading of what Scott H. Young has said — not written or endorsed by them.

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  1. Our readingAsian languages are hard enough that arriving without preparation and refusing to speak English will not work.

    Their wordsThe main takeaway I made from all of this was: Asian languages are hard, and attempting full-immersion without sufficient preparation is usually not going to work.

    ↗Looking Back at a Year (Almost) Without Englishscotthyoung.com 1st of 4 in this piece

    Interesting

  3. Our reading · no longer heldReaching a conversational level in a language within three months of arriving is not something to expect.

    Recalls holdingWhen Vat and I initially made plans, neither of us were confident that it would be possible to reach a conversational level in any of the languages.

    SaidThe fact that I can confidently say I reached a conversational level in Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese, and a near-conversational level for Korean is far above what I originally thought was possible.

    ↗Looking Back at a Year (Almost) Without Englishscotthyoung.com 2nd of 4 in this piece

    Interesting

  5. Our readingRefusing to speak English is what makes immersion work: it compresses years of language learning into months.

    Their wordsThe no-English rule was largely what made the difference. Although there are many ways of learning a language, going for full immersion made it possible to learn what would have taken years in just a few months.

    ↗Looking Back at a Year (Almost) Without Englishscotthyoung.com 3rd of 4 in this piece

    Interesting

  7. Our readingLearning a language in a hurry and learning one by slow patient habit are both legitimate; neither refutes the other.

    Their wordsJust because we attempted to learn with intensity, doesn’t denigrate learning languages through slow, patient habit.

    ↗Looking Back at a Year (Almost) Without Englishscotthyoung.com 4th of 4 in this piece

    Interesting