German neuroscientist Manfred Spitzer says that the brain requires repetition, but also novelty. Learning a language is like a cow eating grass because you got to keep moving. If you stay in the same sort of part of the field, all the grass will be gone. You got to move to some other areas, eat some grass. In the meantime, that area will have grown some more grass. So there you go. Chew on the language, swallow it, leave it, let your stomach try and digest it, bring it back up. That's how it works. I like it. It's a little disgusting, but I guess it works. Yeah. The brain wants new
Steve Kaufmann is a very prolific language learner. He has learned at least 20 languages to varying degrees during his life. Some of them he learned during his career as an international diplomat and businessman, and others he has learned during his (semi) retirement. In this interview Steve talks about his language learning experiences, methods and motivations. We talk about various metaphors and similes for language learning including ocean voyages ๐ข, cows ๐ฎ, skiing โท and cutting grass๐ก and and I ask Steve about cross-cultural experiences he has had during his career.
There is a video version on YouTube but only the audio version contains my intro and ending rambles about getting my hair cut and how you need to remember that you're a baby cow-shark on skis ๐๐ฆ๐ฟ๐
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