Hello everybody, my name is Sam and welcome back to English Bunch.
Today I am making a little journey through the mountains and I thought, whilst I do so, that I would share with you my thoughts and my experiences on just how far comprehensible input can take you.
So, as always, if you like clear, slow and understandable English videos, make sure to check out the English Sponge website, where we have over 500 comprehensible input videos ready for you right now.
So let's get into it.
You have decided to learn a new language and you don't know how to do it.
Maybe you should study grammar.
Maybe you should I almost fell.
Maybe you should learn vocabulary lists, but it all just seems a bit boring, doesn't it?
What if you could learn a language by listening, watching videos, and being a little bit lazy?
Sounds incredible, right?
But it almost sounds too easy, right?
Well, I learnt Spanish entirely through comprehensible input.
Never studied grammar, never looked at a vocabulary list, never did anything like that at all.
So today I'm going to walk you through the experience of learning a language through comprehensible input, from the beginning all the way up to fluency.
Let's go.
Starting off with the comprehensible input method is not easy.
Trust me, I'm learning Chinese.
But in the first stages, the first 100 hours in a familiar language, the first 300 hours in an unfamiliar language, Progress feels slow.
In fact, it feels like you're not even making progress at all.
But progress is happening deep below the surface.
Your brain is forming connections without you even realising.
But the difference between learning a language through comprehensible input and learning a language naturally is that your brain is forming connections, but with the word itself, not with a translation of the word.
Now, the first stages of learning a language can be frustrating.
It feels like things aren't going away.
Maybe things just aren't clicking like you expected to, but that's okay, because one day you'll look back at this part of the process and remember how fun it all was.
How fun it was to be a beginner in something.
Once we become adults, it's very rare that we start new things.
It's very rare that we are beginners in something yet again.
Languages are very humbling, like that.
No matter how smart you think you are, no matter how gifted you believe yourself to be at languages, the truth is There's no shortcuts, and comprehensible input is a method that really shows that to you.
Comprehensible input rewards patience more than anything else.
It rewards dedication, focus and trust in the process.
This is the biggest thing I say to my students, trust the process.
Even if it feels like it isn't working, deep down below the surface, I promise you it is.
It's not easy, but you'll get there.
So now we get on to the first reward stage, what I call the first click with the language.
Now, this isn't fluency yet, but it's the first time you start to feel a little bit more comfortable with the language.
You don't have to translate those most common words, those most common verbs.
You're starting to get a better feeling for the flow, the sounds, the romance even of the language.
I remember the exact moment where I felt that first click, when I was learning Spanish through Comprehensible Input.
And it was a really special feeling.
I was having a lesson with one of my conversation teachers.
And for the first time, I didn't have to fight so hard with the language.
I didn't have to wrestle each word out of my brain like before.
I simply spoke and it came out.
Now, of course, this wasn't fluency.
There was still lots of translating.
I was getting things wrong, making mistakes, but I was getting there.
I was very clearly making progress.
Comprehensible input is a method that you need to have a lot of faith.
You need to trust, really believe that it's working, even if it feels like it doesn't.
And when you have that first feeling, that first moment where you're like, I got it.
Maybe it's understanding a word that you didn't before.
Maybe it's overhearing a conversation on the subway and realizing you understand more of it than you thought.
Maybe it's doing something like going to the bank and not having to use your translator app.
Whatever it is, that first click is incredible.
It's super, super motivating and undoubtedly it's the thing that keeps you going in language learning.
Those first moments, those first rewarding feelings are incredible.
It feels a little bit like being in front of a beautiful natural space like this.
But what I want to make sure you understand here is that this is not fluency.
This is probably right when you're crossing from that A2 to B1 boundary.
The language doesn't feel quite so foreign.
It's becoming internalized, but you still have a long, long way to go if you want to reach the promised land, if you want to reach a place of fluency and a place of true comfort in the language.
Why did i do that?
That was so weird.
I'm gonna keep it in anyways.
That's funny.
So congratulations.
You had the first click, probably the first moment where you felt like yeah, i've got this whole language thing.
But unfortunately, the first click is only a milestone, because what comes next is what i like to call the grind, which is why i chose oh god, this section of the hike to discuss it, because this part of language learning is hard.
This is the part of language learning where most people fail.
You have to put so many hours, you have to dedicate so much of your life to learning a language and i always say getting to be one is easy, getting to be two.
That's where things get difficult because, as i struggle up this mountain at nine in the morning, because progress goes from being fast and clear to slow and unpredictable some weeks, you're gonna feel amazing.
You're gonna feel like you have it all, but you're basically there already and then, with no warning at all, it becomes difficult again, almost like you're halfway through a difficult track up the andes mountains, on your own.
Things get tough.
This is where consistency is rewarded consistency and faith.
Every hour is like a step up the path and each step you take it doesn't feel like it's really moving you forwards.
It doesn't feel like a single step.
It's really changing anything at all, right?
But before you know it, one hour turns into 10, 10 turns into 50, and 50 turns into 100.
And then you start to see progress.
If you forget about how is my English doing today?
If you forget about, oh, I made a mistake when I spoke to somebody today.
If you leave all of that in the past, you will get there eventually.
Language learning is like anything else hours, equal progress.
You ask a professional tennis player, professional athlete, a world-class writer, how many hours do they have in their skill?
Hundreds thousands, maybe even tens of thousands.
And english is the same between b1 and b2.
You stop translating.
And this is, for me, the most important part of becoming a fluent and confident speaker is that between these two stages, you begin speaking the language, not translating the language.
Speaking the language.
What you must understand is you are changing your brain every single day.
You do comprehensible input, you are creating pathways in your brain and probably, if this is the first new language you've learned, you haven't had to create these pathways.
You haven't needed to create these pathways since you're a baby, since you're a child.
The unfortunate truth is language learning gets harder the further we go on.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel and often you only see that light in your darkest moment.
You only start to see the light when your frustration is highest and you're really struggling up the mountain.
That one's about me, not you.
But occasionally, especially when you're frustrated, it is really valuable to Take a step back and look just how far you have gone.
Now for me on this hike, it's about five kilometers.
That's how far I've gone.
Each step feels insignificant, each step feels like it's not really taking me closer to the goal.
But the steps add up.
B1 to b2 is not about putting in 10 hours a day.
It's not about working as hard as you humanly can and Only only living in English and nothing else.
B1 to B2 is where consistency is rewarded.
More important than consistency is habit and routine.
My most successful students have English as a part of their routine, one step at a time, because eventually you will get that.
That is something I can promise you If you put 1000 hours into comprehensible input, your English will improve.
There's no ifs, buts, or maybes.
You will get better.
Okay.
I will see you guys at the top.
And then eventually after the long grind is over, you make it.
You get to the point where you have wanted to be for ages, the thing that you have been working towards for so long.
So many hours, so much time spent listening to podcasts, watching videos, moments of frustration highs lows, everything.
Eventually, with comprehensible input, you reach a truly beautiful place.
And instead of giving you some long-winded explanation, what I'm going to do here is just talk to you about my own experiences.
Now.
I started learning Spanish through the comprehensible input method about four and a half five years ago.
Within, I'd say two years, I reached fluency, maybe about 1500, 1300 hours around that.
And the main question of today's video was how far can comprehensible input take you?
I think the life I live is a perfect example of just how far, because it can take you to places that you never thought you would get to be.
At 25 years old.
Entirely thanks to the Comprehensible Input Method, I am living independently financially, free from my parents, from everybody.
I have lived in two different countries.
I lived in Argentina.
Now I live in Chile.
And it's truly amazing.
Thanks to Comprehensible Input.
Thanks to Learning Languages, I have made many, many lifelong friends, people I consider to be some of the best people that I have ever met, and I have never spoken a single word to them in my native language.
So yeah, we're asking the question today, how far can comprehensible input take you?
I guess this is the answer, as you see this beautiful waterfall behind me, hopefully it's not too loud for you.
It can take you as far as you want to take it.
Learning a new language, especially English, opens up so many doors, it gives you so many opportunities and Comprehensible input might change your job, might change your location, might change your friends.
It might bring you to places that you never thought you'd see.
A couple of years ago I was just an average lost guy, 22 23 years old, without a plan, without a vision for my life.
Comprehensible input isn't just about learning a language.
It's about giving your life structure, giving you meaning.
There are tough moments, there are great moments, but it does all become worth it.
It becomes easier.
Once you hit B2, you can begin to understand natives in a wide range of different scenarios and situations.
You can begin to have really deep and meaningful conversations with people entirely in their native language.
And that's something special.
As we move forward in the world, the world of AI, the world of translation, people don't value languages as much as they should.
The connections you create with somebody speaking in their native language is not something to look past.
It's something truly, truly incredible.
The important thing with this method is no matter what, you will get there.
Like I said in the grind section, each step you take is one step closer to the goal, one step closer to this feeling of fluency.
So yeah, there we have it.
This right here.
This is how far comprehensible input can take you.
Thank you guys so much for watching today's video.
I really, really hope you enjoyed it.
As i'm sure you can tell, it was a lot of fun to make.
Of course, this was a slightly different video to what i'm used to making, so please let me know any feedback you guys have in the comments down below.
If you enjoyed it, of course, let me know.
If there are some things that you think I could have done a little bit better, please let me know as well.
I want to make the best videos possible for you guys watching.
As always, if you did enjoy the video and you do enjoy comprehensible input don't forget to check out the English Sponge website, where we have over 140 premium videos ready for our premium members right now.
Or if you're not ready to check out the website yet, don't worry.
We have lots of amazing content here on YouTube as well.
Maybe check out this B1 playlist.
I'm sure it will be a great level for you.
So that's it.
My name is Sam and I will see you in the next video.
Bye.
