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Areyoueverheldaquestioninmindforsolongthatitbecomespartofhowyouthink?Maybeevenpartofwhoyouareasaperson?WellI’vehadaquestioninmymindformany,manyyearsandthatishowcanyouspeeduplearning?Now,thisisaninterestingquestionbecauseifyouspeeduplearningyoucanspendlesstimeatschool.Andifyoulearnreallyfastyouprobablywouldn’thavetogotoschoolatall.Now,whenIwasyoung,schoolwassortofokaybutIfoundquiteoftenthatschoolgotinthewayoflearningsoIhadthisquestioninmind:howdoyoulearnfaster?AndthisbeganwhenIwasvery,veryyoung.WhenIwasaboutelevenyearsoldIwrotealettertoresearchersintheSovietUnion,askingabouthypnopaedia,thisissleeplearning,whereyougetataperecorder,youputitbesideyourbedanditturnsoninthemiddleofthenightwhenyouaresleeping,andyouaresupposedtobelearningfromthis.Agoodidea,unfortunatelyitdoesn’twork.But,hypnopaediadidopenthedoorstoresearchinotherareas.Andwe’vehadincrediblediscoveriesaboutlearningthatbeganwiththatfirstquestion.IwentonfromtheretobecomepassionateaboutpsychologyandIhavebeeninvolvedinpsychologyinmanywaysfortherestofmylifeupuntilthispoint.In1981ItookmyselftoChinaandIdecidedthatIwasgoingtobenativelevelinChineseinsidetwoyears.Now,youneedtounderstandthatin1981,everybodythoughtChinesewasreally,reallydifficultandthatawesternercouldstudyfortenyearsormoreandneverreallygetverygoodatit.AndIalsowentinwithadifferentideawhichwas:takingalloftheconclusionsfrompsychologicalresearchuptothatpointandapplyingthemtothelearningprocess.Whatwasreallycoolwasthatinsixmonths,IwasfluentinMandarinChineseandtookalittlebitlongertogetuptonative.ButIlookedaroundandIsawallofthesepeoplefromdifferentcountriesstrugglingterriblywithChinese,IsawChinesepeoplestrugglingterriblytolearnEnglishandotherlanguages,andsomyquestiongotrefineddowntohowcanyouhelpanormaladultlearnanewlanguagequicklyeasilyandeffectively?Nowthisisareally,reallyimportantquestionintodaysworld.Wehavemassivechallengeswithenvironment.Wehavemassivechallengeswithsocialdislocation,withwars,allsortsofthingsgoingonandifwecan’tcommunicatewearereallygoingtohavedifficultysolvingtheseproblems.Soweneedtobeabletospeakeachother’slanguages.Thisisreally,reallyimportant.Thequestionthenishowdoyoudothat？Well,it’sactuallyreallyeasy.Youlookaroundforpeoplewhocanalreadydoit,youlookforsituationswhereit’salreadyworkingandthenyouidentifytheprinciplesandapplythem.It’scalledmodelingandI’vebeenlookingatlanguagelearningandmodelinglanguagelearningforaboutfifteentotwentyyearsnow.Andmyconclusion,myobservationfromthisisthatanyadultcanlearnasecondlanguagetofluencyinsidesixmonths.NowwhenIsaythis,mostpeoplethinkI’mcrazy,thisisnotpossible.Soletmeremindeverybodyofthehistoryofhumanprogress,it’sallaboutexpandingourlimits.In1950,everybodybelievedthatrunningonemileinfourminuteswasimpossibleandthenRogerBannisterdiditin1956andfromthereit’sgotshorterandshorter.100yearsagoeverybodybelievedthatheavystuffdoesn’tfly.Exceptitdoesandweallknowthis.Howdoesheavystufffly?Wereorganizethematerialsusingprinciplesthatwehavelearnedfromobservingnature,birdsinthiscase.Andtodaywe’vegoneeverfurther,soyoucanflyacar.Youcanbuyoneoftheseforacouplehundredthousanddollars.Wenowhavecarsintheworldthatcanfly.Andthere’sadifferentwaytoflythatwe’velearnedfromsquirrels.Soallyouneedtodoiscopywhataflyingsquirreldoes,buildasuitcalledawingsuitandoffyougo,youcanflylikeasquirrel.Now,mostpeople,alotofpeople,Iwouldn’tsayeverybodybutalotofpeoplethinktheycan’tdraw.Howevertherearesomekeyprinciples,fiveprinciplesthatyoucanapplytolearningtodrawandyoucanactuallylearntodrawinfivedays.So,ifyoudrawlikethis,youlearntheseprinciplesforfivedaysandapplythemandafterfivedaysyoucandrawsomethinglikethis.NowIknowthisistruebecausethatwasmyfirstdrawingandafterfivedaysofapplyingtheseprinciplesthatwaswhatIwasabletodo.AndIlookedatthisandwent‘wow’,sothat’showIlooklikewhenI’mconcentratingsointenselythatmybrainisexploding.So,anybodycanlearntodrawinfivedaysandinthesameway,withthesamelogic,anybodycanlearnasecondlanguageinsixmonths.How:therearefiveprinciplesandsevenactions.Theremaybeafewmorebuttheseareabsolutelycore.AndbeforeIgetintothoseIjustwanttotalkabouttwomyths,dispeltwomyths.Thefirstisthatyouneedtalent.LetmetellyouaboutZoe.ZoecamefromAustralia,wenttoHolland,wastryingtolearnDutch,strugglingagreatdealandfinallypeopleweresaying:‘you’recompletelyuseless,’‘you’renottalented,’‘giveup,’‘you’reawasteoftime’andshewasvery,verydepressed.Andthenshecameacrossthesefiveprinciples,shemovedtoBrazilandsheappliedthemandwithinsixmonthsshewasfluentinPortuguese,sotalentdoesn’tmatter.Peoplealsothinkthatimmersioninanewcountryisthewaytolearnalanguage.ButlookaroundHongKong,lookatallthewesternerswho’vebeenherefortenyears,whodontspeakawordofChinese.LookatalltheChineselivinginAmerica,Britain,Australia,Canadawhohavebeenthereten,twentyyearsandtheydon’tspeakanyEnglish.Immersionpersedoesn’tnotwork,why?Becauseadrowningmancannotlearntoswim.Whenyoudon’tspeakalanguageyou’relikeababyandifyoudropyourselfintoacontextwhichisalladultstalkingaboutstuffoveryourhead,youwon’tlearn.So,whatarethefiveprinciplesthatyouneedtopayattentionto?First,therear