I love learning foreign languages. In fact, I love it so much that I like to learn a new language every two years, currently working on my eighth one. When people find that out about me, they always ask me, 'How do you do that? What's your secret?' And to be honest, for many years, my answer would be, 'I don't know. I simply love learning languages.' But people were never happy with that answer. They wanted to know why they are spending years trying to learn even one language, never achieving fluency, and here I come, learning one language after another. They wanted to know the secret of polyglots, people who speak a lot of languages. And that made me wonder, too, how do actually other polyglots do it? What do we have in common? And what is it that enables us to learn languages so much faster than other people? I decided to meet other people like me and find that out.
我喜欢学外语。 实际上，这种痴迷让我 每两年就想学一门新的外语， 现在我正在学第八门外语。 当人们得知此事后，总是问我， “你怎么做到的？你的秘诀是什么？” 说实话，这么多年来， 我的回答总是， “我不知道啊。我只是喜欢学语言。” 但是人们从来都不会对 这个回答感到满意。 他们想知道为何他们花了多年 试着学习哪怕只有一门语言， 却从未达到流利的程度， 而我却能够学了一门再学一门。 他们想知道多语言者， 即说多种语言的人的秘密。 我也对此感到好奇， 其他的多语言者到底是怎么做的？ 我们有什么共同点吗？ 是什么让我们 较之他人能够更快的学习语言？ 我决定见见其他像我一样的人， 并试着找寻背后的答案。
The best place to meet a lot of polyglots is an event where hundreds of language lovers meet in one place to practice their languages. There are several such polyglot events organized all around the world, and so I decided to go there and ask polyglots about the methods that they use.
能够遇到很多多语言者的最佳地点 是聚集了数百名多语言者的地方， 他们在那里进行练习。 世界各地有许多类似的多语言者活动， 所以我决定去看看， 打听一下他们各自使用的方法。
And so I met Benny from Ireland, who told me that his method is to start speaking from day one. He learns a few phrases from a travel phrasebook and goes to meet native speakers and starts having conversations with them right away. He doesn't mind making even 200 mistakes a day, because that's how he learns, based on the feedback. And the best thing is, he doesn't even need to travel a lot today, because you can easily have conversations with native speakers from the comfort of your living room, using websites.
我遇到了来自爱尔兰的本尼， 他告诉我他用的方法是 从第一天就开始说出口。 他从一本旅游指南上学了一些词组， 然后就去见母语者， 立马和他们展开对话。 他不介意一天犯 200 个错误， 因为这就是他 基于反馈的学习方式。 最棒的一点是， 如今他甚至不需要出游， 因为你只需要呆在惬意的房间中， 就能在网络上和母语者进行交谈。
I also met Lucas from Brazil who had a really interesting method to learn Russian. He simply added a hundred random Russian speakers on Skype as friends, and then he opened a chat window with one of them and wrote 'Hi' in Russian. And the person replied, 'Hi, how are you?' Lucas copied this and put it into a text window with another person, and the person replied, 'I'm fine, thank you, and how are you?' Lucas copied this back to the first person, and in this way, he had two strangers have a conversation with each other without knowing about it. And soon he would start typing himself, because he had so many of these conversations that he figured out how the Russian conversation usually starts. What an ingenious method, right?
我还遇到了来自巴西的卢卡斯， 他学习俄语的方法很有意思。 他就在 随机添加了 上百个说俄语的人， 然后打开其中一个人的聊天框， 用俄语写下“嗨”。 然后对方回复，“嗨，你好吗？” 卢卡斯了复制这段话， 再把它发给另一个人， 然后另一个人回复， “我很好，谢谢，你怎么样？” 卢卡斯又把这段话复制发给第一个人， 这样，他就让两个陌生人 在完全不知情的情况下 展开了交谈。 过不了多久，他就可以自己打字了， 因为他看了那么多的对话， 已经知道俄语的交流 大概是怎么开始的了。 很聪明的办法，是吧？
And then I met polyglots who always start by imitating sounds of the language, and others who always learn the 500 most frequent words of the language, and yet others who always start by reading about the grammar. If I asked a hundred different polyglots, I heard a hundred different approaches to learning languages. Everybody seems to have a unique way they learn a language, and yet we all come to the same result of speaking several languages fluently.
此外，我还遇到了总是从 模仿声音开始学习语言的多语言者， 从学习 500 个最常用词 开始的多语言者， 以及总是从学习语法开始的多语言者。 如果我去询问一百个多语言者， 我会听到关于学习语言方式的 一百种不同的答案。 每个人似乎都对学习语言 有着独门秘笈， 但是我们最终都能 流利的说多种语言。
And as I was listening to these polyglots telling me about their methods, it suddenly dawned on me: the one thing we all have in common is that we simply found ways to enjoy the language-learning process. All of these polyglots were talking about language learning as if it was great fun. You should have seen their faces when they were showing me their colorful grammar charts and their carefully handmade flash cards, and their statistics about learning vocabulary using apps, or even how they love to cook based on recipes in a foreign language. All of them use different methods, but they always make sure it's something that they personally enjoy.
当我倾听着这些多语言者 讲述他们学习语言方法的时候， 我突然意识到： 我们有一个共同点， 那就是我们找到了享受 学习语言这一过程的方法。 所有这些多语言者 在谈论语言学习的时候， 都表现得像那是一种趣事。 你们应该看看当他们 向我展示他们多彩的语法表， 专心制作的语言卡片， 他们语言学习软件上的统计量， 甚至他们是如何爱上用外文菜谱 烧菜时，脸上自豪的神情。 每个人都用着不同的方法， 但是他们做到了 让这件事情变成一种享受。
I realized that this is actually how I learn languages myself. When I was learning Spanish, I was bored with the text in the textbook. I mean, who wants to read about Jose asking about the directions to the train station. Right? I wanted to read 'Harry Potter' instead, because that was my favorite book as a child, and I have read it many times. So I got the Spanish translation of 'Harry Potter' and started reading, and sure enough, I didn't understand almost anything at the beginning, but I kept on reading because I loved the book, and by the end of the book, I was able to follow it almost without any problems. And the same thing happened when I was learning German. I decided to watch 'Friends,' my favorite sitcom, in German, and again, at the beginning it was all just gibberish. I didn't know where one word finished and another one started, but I kept on watching every day because it's 'Friends.' I can watch it in any language. I love it so much. And after the second or third season, seriously, the dialogue started to make sense.
我意识到，这实际上也是 我学习语言的方式。 当我学习西班牙语时， 我对书本上的文章没什么兴趣。 我想说，谁想学胡赛 是怎么问去火车站的路的啊。对吧？ 相反，我想读《哈利·波特》， 因为这是我孩童时期最喜欢的书， 而且我已经阅读了很多遍。 所以我买了本西语版的 《哈利·波特》开始阅读， 毫无疑问，最开始我几乎什么都看不懂， 但是我坚持读了下来， 因为我喜欢这本书， 直到读完此书，我基本可以 不费力的跟上故事情节。 同样的事情也发生在我学德语的时候。 我决定看我最喜欢的电视剧 《老友记》的德语版本， 同样的，最开始我基本上听不懂。 我不知道一个单词在何处结束， 另一个单词在何处开始， 但是我坚持每天观看， 因为这是《老友记》。 我可以看不同的语言版本。 我太喜欢这部剧了。 在看完两季或三季之后， 说真的，我能渐渐听明白对话了。
I only realized this after meeting other polyglots. We are no geniuses and we have no shortcut to learning languages. We simply found ways how to enjoy the process, how to turn language learning from a boring school subject into a pleasant activity which you don't mind doing every day. If you don't like writing words down on paper, you can always type them in an app. If you don't like listening to boring textbook material, find interesting content on YouTube or in podcasts for any language. If you're a more introverted person and you can't imagine speaking to native speakers right away, you can apply the method of selftalk. You can talk to yourself in the comfort of your room, describing your plans for the weekend, how your day has been, or even take a random picture from your phone and describe the picture to your imaginary friend. This is how polyglots learn languages, and the best news is, it's available to anyone who is willing to take the learning into their own hands.
在我遇到了其他多语言者之后， 我才明白这一点。 我们不是天才， 我们也没有学习语言的捷径。 我们只是找到了 享受这一过程的方式， 以及如何将语言学习从 一项枯燥的学校课程 转变为一项你不介意 每天都做的有趣活动。 如果你不喜欢在纸上写单词， 那你可以在软件里面打单词。 如果你不喜欢听无聊的课程材料， 你总是可以在 YouTube 上或 播客里找到任何一种语言的有趣内容。 如果你是个内向的人， 不愿意马上就和母语者交谈， 你总可以和自己练习对话。 你可以在自己的房间里， 对自己说话， 描述你的周末计划， 一天过得怎么样， 甚至是从你的手机里 随便选一张照片， 然后把它描述给你想象中的朋友。 这就是多语言者学习语言的方式， 而好消息是，这种方法对每个 想要自主学习语言的人 来说，都是可行的。
So meeting other polyglots helped me realize that it is really crucial to find enjoyment in the process of learning languages。
所以，遇到其他的 多语言者让我意识到 在学习语言的过程中， 找到乐趣是十分重要的。